1. Here we come: One of the quietest yet most important stories lately has been the Philadelphia Phillies’ transformation from losers to contenders. Though everyone thought they were out of it after they traded Bobby Abreu for future prospects, they have suddenly rebounded and are in the NL Wild Card race. The Phils have won 5 in a row and 8 of 10 after they beat the Cubs last night. Jimmy Rollins drove in a run in the ninth to win it 2-1, while Ryan Howard’s earlier homerun gave him 44 on the year. Brett Myers pitched fantastically to win his 9th game of the year, as the Phillies improved to 16-8 since the Abreu trade. They are 1.5 back of the Wild Card after the Reds lost yesterday.
2. Two teams, a half game: That’s all that separates the Twins and the White Sox in the AL Wild Card race after both teams won yesterday. The 74-52 won their only game of the series against the Tigers by a 7-5 margin. Jermaine Dye hit a three-run homer, his 35th of the year, while Joe Crede hit two out as well. Bobby Jenks saved his league-leading 36th game of the year. Meanwhile, the 73-52 Twins beat the Orioles 4-1. Matt Garza, who is temporarily replacing Francisco Liriano in the rotation, pitched his first good start after two poor outings. He allowed no earned runs in six innings as Torii Hunter homered and Michael Cuddyer drove in 3. Both teams are still well back in the division but one looks to make the playoffs as we head down the stretch.
3. An untouchable offense: Despite scoring a combined 15 runs in their last two games, the St. Louis Cardinals have dropped both of them. That’s because the Mets offense has been even better, and they showed that yesterday in a 10-8 victory. Jose Reyes homered, drove in 3, and stole two bases to give him a league-leading 52 on the season. Slumping David Wright, who is hitting .211 on the month, had two RBIs. The Mets roughed up Mark Mulder for 9 earned runs in his first start after a lengthy stint on the DL. The Mets have the second-best record in the majors, while nine AL teams have better record than the Cards.
4. Even more scoring: If you’re one of the few who think the Mets-Cardinals series just doesn’t have enough scoring, then you would have been satisfied by the Indians-Royals game yesterday. The Indians started the scoreboard with Travis Hafner’s 39th homer of the season in the first. But in the bottom of that inning the Royals answered in a big way, with 10 runs. But the Tribe scored in each of their next 4 innings, making the score 10-9. The Royals scored three more runs then to put the margin at 4. But incredibly, Cleveland scored 4 runs in the ninth to tie the game up at 13. They won in the 10th on Hector Luna’s two-run single. The Indians’ 15-13 win showcased what their problems have been this year. While they have scored the 4th-most runs in the majors, their pitching staff has been too inconsistent. While they have shut their opponents out 12 times, second-most in the majors, they have only recorded 18 saves, by far the fewest in the majors. What a strange season for such a capable team.
5. Setback for the Yanks: The Yankees won again yesterday, 9-2 over the Mariners. Chien-Ming Wang won his 15th start as four players had multi-RBI days. While they now lead the division by 6.5 games and have scored the most runs in the league, it isn’t all good news coming from New York. Mike Mussina, the team’s ace this season, is hitting the 15-day DL. While the Yanks initially thought he would only miss one start, manager Joe Torre and Mussina decided it would be best for him to go on the DL. Admittedly the injury won’t affect the potent Yankees that much over the 15 days he is out. But if Mussina declines in any way after his return or the injury lingers, it could be a huge blow for a team that is poised to make an October run.
