Baseball playoff update 9-24

Now 8 days to play until the end of the season next Sunday. We lost Boston but the Angels and Arizona stayed alive. Many of these teams are either finishing their road or home schedules today, which may be an advantage to those who will have home cooking the remainder of the season.

American League:

In:

New York (93-61, AL East champions). Their magic number to clinch home field remained 8 after losing yesterday, magic number for first round stayed at 7. Today the Yankees continue their series at Tampa Bay, Mike Mussina (14-6, 3.57) faces rookie Brian Stokes (0-0, 6.94).

Possibly in after today:

DETROIT (93-62, leads AL Central by 1 1/2 over Minnesota). A win today at Kansas City assures the Tigers at least a wild card. Justin Verlander (16-6, 3.74) goes for the Tiger sweep against the Royals’ Runelvys Hernandez (6-9, 6.40). For the division title, the Tigers’ magic number is now 7. They conclude the season at home after an off day tomorrow.

Oakland (90-64, leads AL West by 7 over Los Angeles). The champagne stayed on ice yesterday, but they again host the Angels in the series finale. Pitching matchup is Ervin Santana (14-8, 4.57) for Los Angeles against Danny Haren (14-12, 4.01) on the hill for Oakland. The Athletics would love to clinch the division in their home regular season finale.

Working on that magic number:

Minnesota (91-63, leads wild card by 5 1/2 over Chicago). The Twins square off against Baltimore in the finale at Camden Yards for 2006. Matt Garza (2-5, 5.40) is the Twins starter, the Orioles counter with Adam Loewen (6-5, 5.35). Their magic number to clinch at least a playoff berth dropped to 3 yesterday as they knocked off the O’s. Today’s ballgame is the last road game for Minnesota.

Falling away:

Chicago (86-69). The White Sox are still on the division title bubble today and a loss could drop their only hope to winning out and hoping the Twins lose all their games at Kansas City this week. Seattle’s rookie Ryan Feierabend (no record or ERA in 6 innings pitched) starts against onetime Mariner Freddy Garcia (15-9, 4.63), who shut down the Tigers for Chicago in his last outing. It’s the last home game for Chicago for the regular season and it’s looking likely to be the last for 2006.

Could be gone today:

Los Angeles (82-71). See Oakland above. A loss by the Angels and you can stick a fork in them. If they do win they will play home games the rest of the way.

National League:

In:

New York (93-61) is in and has home field throughout.

Possibly in after today:

Again, no team can clinch a playoff spot in the NL today.

Working on that magic number:

San Diego (82-72, leads NL West by 1 1/2 games over Los Angeles). San Diego got a little breathing room as they won last night while the Dodgers lost. Their home finale today against Pittsburgh sees Pirates’ minor league veteran Marty McLeary (1-0, 4.76) face the Padres’ Clay Hensley (10-11, 3.81). Magic number for the Padres is now 7 for the division title.

St. Louis (80-73, leads NL Central by 4 1/2 over Houston). The Cardinal swoon continues, they’ve dropped 5 in a row. Tonight they play on ESPN with Jeff Weaver (7-14, 5.84 between the Angels and Cards) against Houston’s future Hall-of-Famer (whenever he decides to retire!) Roger Clemens (7-5, 2.37). Their magic number to win yet another NL Central crown stayed at 5, but they do finish their season at home.

Philadelphia (81-73, leads wild card by 1/2 game over Los Angeles). They flipped places with Los Angeles as they won yesterday while LA lost. Today’s contest against the Marlins was supposed to be their last home game, but Philly fans get a bonus tomorrow night with a makeup game against Houston that now looms large. Youngster Scott Olsen (12-8, 3.87) goes for the Marlins against veteran lefty Jamie Moyer (9-14, 4.27 between Seattle and Philadelphia). Now they hold the magic number of 8 to secure the wild card.

Falling away:

Los Angeles (81-73). The Dodgers were blown out last night, so now they’ll sit and watch the scoreboard as the Phillies game should be concluding when they start. This will be the Dodgers’ last home game as they tangle with Arizona, it’s Livan Hernandez (12-13, 5.08) for the visitors and Hong-Chih Kuo (1-5, 4.72) on the mound in Dodger blue.

Houston (76-78). See St. Louis above. Could this be the final chance for Houston fans (and everyone else via national TV) to see the Rocket? He’s going on three days rest to pitch the Astros’ last scheduled home game.

Florida (76-79). See Philadelphia above. Florida finishes the season at home, but the question is now becoming if they’ll even draw 100,000 for their last 6 home games since they’re dropping from the race.

Cincinnati (75-79). The Reds continue a series with the Cubs today as they struggle to stay in the race. Rookie Juan Mateo (1-3, 4.38) gets the nod for the Cubs, he’ll square off with Aaron Harang (14-11, 3.91) for Cincinnati.

San Francisco (75-79). This Midwest trip has pretty much killed whatever chances the Giants had, but they’ll press on with Matt Cain (13-10, 3.99) as their starter against Milwaukee’s Ben Sheets (5-7, 4.21). After today San Francisco is home for what’s left of their season.

Could be gone today:

Atlanta (75-80). Another loss by the Braves last night has put them in an odd position, needing to win out to avoid a non-winning season for the first time in 15 years. That effort starts today in Colorado as the Braves go with Chuck James (10-4, 3.62) against the Rockies’ Juan Morillo (12-8, 4.62 at AA Tulsa) making his major league debut. Then the Braves come home for the last 6 games needing the miracle of all miracles to make the postseason.

Arizona (73-81). See Los Angeles above. Still seeking the .500 mark at least.

I’ll probably do tomorrow’s update during the St. Louis – Houston game tonight (since most games will be completed by then) so the standings may not quite be in perfect order unless one team’s getting blown out. A few teams have travel days tomorrow so the schedule will be lighter.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.