September 22, 2003
Races Recap
I was away for the weekend, and my only baseball information game from game scores I could pick up on my cell phone browser. In the AL, the division leaders each cemented their leads. The Yankees won all three of their games, and one more win gives them the division. Three gives them home field throughout the playoffs. For all the flaws this team has, they still have the best record in baseball, and will probably win 100 games.
The Twins swept Detroit, and with KC taking two out of three from the White Sox, the Twins magic number stands at two. The Twins have won nine in a row, and are playing their best ball of the season going into the playoffs. And congratulations to the Royals for reaching 81 victories and guaranteeing them at least a .500 mark this year. That voids the out clause in Mike Sweeney's contract.
The A's only had to win one game against the Mariners, and they did that yesterday. It reduces their magic number to three, so one win against Texas and one win against the Mariners next weekend, and the west belongs to them. With the two losses to the Mariners, however, the A's are unlikely to beat the Yankees for home field.
The Red Sox and Mariners maintained their 2 1/2 game separation. The Red Sox need to win five games, and they are playing the Orioles and Devil Rays the rest of the week. The Sox only have a 7-8 record against the Orioles, so that might be an interesting four game series. The odds are, however, that Boston wins the wild card. If they should fall to the Mariners, it will be just another arrow in the curse quiver.
In the NL, the Central and wild card were the only undecided races going into the weekend, and they are still undecided. The Astros hold a 1/2 lead over the Cubs. Neither team had a great weekend. The Cubs only managed a split of four games with the Pirates, while the St. Louis Cardinals, trying to stay in the race, took two out of three from the Astros. The Cubs have the easier schedule down the stretch, playing the Reds and the Pirates, while the Astros host the Giants and Milwaukee.
The Phillies have the day off while Florida finishes it's series with Atlanta, then tomorrow starts the big wild card series as the Phillies travel to Miami to meet the Marlins. I hope Flordia gets big crowds for those games. Dontrelle Willis goes against Kevin Millwood tomorrow night. That should really bring the fans out. One advantage Flordia has is that they finish against the Mets, while the Phillies play the Braves.
And of course, lurking in the shadows are the Cubs and Dodgers. They'll want some kind of split of the three games so they can gain ground. The Cubs best chance is still the division, so they'll be concentrating on that, but the Dodgers, by losing four of their last six, have blown a golden opportunity to gain ground. They finish with 4 games with the Padres and 4 with the Giants.
Should be a fun last week of the season.