Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
August 26, 2008
Games of the Day

Three games today involve teams going head to head for a playoff spot. The Red Sox make what is probably their last visit to Yankee Stadium (a Rays collapse seems unlikely at this point, along with either the Twins or White Sox playing poorly enough to lose the wild card). Tim Wakefield gets the call against Andy Pettitte. Tim made two good starts before the Red Sox shut him down due to a stiff shoulder. We'll see how rusty he is tonight. Pettitte's overall number look okay, but he gives up a lot of power with men on base. Only six of his 17 home runs came with the bases empty.

The Mets go into Philadelphia for a two-game series leading the Phillies by 1/2 game. They'll send Pedro Martinez against Jamie Moyer in a battle of veterans. Pedro's posted a 3.16 ERA in August despite allowing seven home runs in the month. Moyer is enjoying his best season since 2003. He's brought the long ball under control, allowing just two home runs since the All-Star break, good for a 2.47 ERA. The opposition has not homered off him in August.

The Cardinals trail the Brewers by 3 1/2 games as Milwaukee visits St. Louis. Ben Sheets faces Todd Wellemeyer in game one. The Brewers lost four of Ben's last five starts, but only scored five runs in those four losses. Ben has a 4.36 ERA over those five games, so both sides are contributing. Wellemeyer's ERA is about 1 1/2 runs higher at home. In about the same number of innings, he's walked twice as many batters in St. Louis

Also on tap, Cliff Lee goes for his 19th win and third place in the AL Central as the Indians face the Tigers. Brandon Webb pitches for his 20th win as the Diamondbacks continue their series in San Diego.

Enjoy!

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Posted by David Pinto at 08:47 AM | Matchups | TrackBack (0)
Comments

"...a Rays collapse seems unlikely at this point, along with either the Twins or White Sox playing poorly enough to lose the wild card."

The Twins are already two games out of the wild card in the loss column, and their run diff is significantly worse than the Red Sox. I'd say it's more likely than not that the Twins will play poorly enough to lose the wild card. The team is only a half-run per game better than the opposition, which hardly makes them a juggernaut. Not to mention that they're six games below .500 on the road, and their longest road trip of the year happens to be hitting them right now.

The Rays have been lucky this year, with a run diff worse than the Red Sox. Their performance really doesn't justify their won-loss record. But with a five game lead in the loss column, they should be able to hold on. Once again, though, the team is hardly a great club.

Posted by: Casey Abell at August 26, 2008 11:09 AM

Should have finished my post. One-half of a possible miracle for the Yanks - the Twins losing the wild card - looks at least possible. The other half - the Rays collapsing to third in the East - looks very unlikely. So, yeah, the Yanks are probably out of it.

Posted by: Casey Abell at August 26, 2008 11:20 AM

NYY is 5 behind boston with 6 to play against them - I think if NYY finishes second they will win the wild card. At this point if they can get to 90 wins they'll be in it on the last weekend. Whether or not they can do that is another question.

Posted by: Bandit at August 26, 2008 03:23 PM

I was about to say, yeah, that section about the Rays and the Twins/White Sox was unclear. Were you talking about the Yankees' chances or the Sox's? Boston's chances at the wild card look pretty good at this point; they have games up in the loss column over Minnesota and a better RS/RA differential.

Posted by: NBarnes at August 26, 2008 07:16 PM

My point was supposed to be that for this not to be the last series at Yankee Stadium, both the Yankees and Red Sox need to make the playoffs. Since that would entail collapses by two teams, the Rays in the east and either the White Sox or Twins in the Central, I didn't really think the odds were too high.

Posted by: David Pinto at August 26, 2008 08:01 PM

Ah, yeah, I can see that.

Posted by: NBarnes at August 26, 2008 08:27 PM
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