Baseball playoff update 9-29

Three days left in the regular season. Almost certainly this will be the last night that I’ll have to go through 11 games, as Cincinnati and Philadelphia are on the bubble tonight and Oakland could find itself locked into the #3 seed in the American League.

But thanks to a mistake on my part and then my damn server dropping on me for about 10 minutes, I only have time for the matchups and pitchers.

American League:

1. New York (96-63, won A.L. East). Toronto pitches Gustavo Chacin (9-3, 4.90) is at New York , who starts Mike Mussina (14-7, 3.57). Magic number for home field throughout is 3.

2. DETROIT (95-64, tied for A.L. Central lead with Minnesota). Kansas City will start Runelvys Hernandez (6-10, 6.38) in Detroit, the Tigers send out Wil Ledezma (3-3, 3.58). The Tigers’ magic number remains 3.

3. Oakland (92-67, won A.L. West) sends Esteban Loaiza (11-8, 4.84) to the mound in Los Angeles; the Angels counter with Ervin Santana (15-8, 4.43).

4. Minnesota (95-64, tied for A.L. Central lead with Detroit). The Twins host Chicago, pitching for the White Sox will be Freddy Garcia (16-9, 4.65) and he’ll square off with the Twins’ Boof Bonser (7-5, 4.15).

National League:

1. New York (94-65, won N.L. East and locked as #1 seed).

2. San Diego (86-73, leads N.L. West by 1 game over Los Angeles). In Arizona, the Padres turn to Clay Hensley (11-11, 3.73) to take on the D-backs’ Livan Hernandez (12-13, 4.95). San Diego’s magic number for the division title is 3; a Padres win or a loss by Philadelphia assures San Diego a playoff spot.

3. St. Louis (81-77, leads N.L. Central by 1/2 game over Houston and 2 1/2 over Cincinnati). Milwaukee is the Cardinals’ opponent tonight, they’ll start Chris Capuano (11-11, 3.87) against Jeff Weaver (7-14, 5.79 between the Angels and Cards) at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The Cardinals’ magic number is 4.

4. Los Angeles (85-74, leads wild card by 2 games over Philadelphia) will pitch Hong-Chih Kuo (1-5, 4.12) at San Francisco; the Giants counter with Noah Lowry (7-10, 4.84). A win by the Dodgers and a Philadelphia loss will put the Dodgers in as at least a wild card.

5. Philadelphia (83-76). It’s all on the line for the Phillies tonight, they’ll place their season in the hands of Jamie Moyer (10-14, 4.36 between Seattle and Philadelphia) as he takes on Florida’s Brian Moehler (7-10, 6.22).

6. Houston (81-78). They’re only alive for the N.L. Central title, but they’re sending out the Rocket, Roger Clemens (7-5, 2.35) to face Atlanta; the Braves will counter with Chuck James (10-4, 3.94).

7. Cincinnati (79-80). Again a must-win for the Reds, a loss would end their playoff hopes if either St. Louis or Houston comes out on top in their games. Cincinnati will start Aaron Harang (15-11, 3.83) against Pittsburgh’s Zach Duke (10-14, 4.44) in PNC Park.

I’m thinking I’ll have about 9 teams to do tomorrow.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.