Padres take 1 game lead
1. The Western Roller Coaster: On Monday the Dodgers took the NL West lead in incredible fashion. Yesterday, the lead was back in the hands of the Padres. Can somebody just clinch this one already? The Padres defeated the Diamondbacks 5-2 in what was pretty much your average game. Mike Cameron and Adrian Gonzalez homered for San Diego, and starter Clay Hensley remained hot with another win. Trevor Hoffman recovered from his Monday meltdown with his 40th save of the year. He’s at 476 career saves, two behind the all time record, and yet this is still not a more major story. This bugs us. Wouldn’t somebody chasing the all time homerun or wins record get unprecedented attention? And yet Hoffman is still pitching in relative obscurity in a pure case of East Coast bias. Whatever. Hoffman’s Padres are back on top.
2. Next to clinch: Yesterday the New York Mets clinched the first playoff spot and the NL East division title. Today the New York Yankees can do the same. Their magic number is just 1 after they beat the Blue Jays for the second straight day. Bobby Abreu hit a two-run homer in the seventh to break a 3-3 tie. Hideki Matsui, who returned from the DL a couple weeks ago, hit another homerun. He has two homers, five runs driven in, and is hitting .409 since his return from the DL. The Yanks won 6-3 to take their fifth straight game against the Blue Jays. They still have the AL’s best record.
3. Setback: The Tigers could have virtually eliminated the White Sox with a win against them yesterday. But with Freddy Garcia’s marvelous start and the usual homer-happy offense, the Sox crushed the Tigers 7-0. Garcia pitched 8 innings, allowing just two walks and one hit. It was his second straight eight inning, no run start as Garcia improved to 15-9. Offensively, Jim Thome hit his 41st homer of the season and Jermaine Dye hit his 43rd. AJ Pierzynski added four RBIs, and the ChiSox improved to five games back of the Tigers. However, the Twins won, so they are still four games behind them.
4. The Winners once again: The St. Louis Cardinals are just games away from clinching their third straight NL Central title. They’re seven games up on the Reds after both teams won yesterday. The Cards shellacked the Brew Crew 12-2, with good work on the mound and in the batter’s box. Jeff Weaver, who has slightly improved from his pitiful state earlier in the year, improved to 4-4 since joining St. Louis. He pitched six decent innings and got plenty of help from the team’s bats. Albert Pujols, who ranks in the NL’s top 10 in virtually every category possible, went 2-5 and had 2 RBIs. Ronnie Belliard went 3-4 with 4 runs, and Aaron Miles had a 4-6, three-RBI day. The Cards are 80-69 and have looked pretty good this month. They’ll go into the playoffs as a dangerous threat to the supremacy of the Mets.
5. Teams still alive: Here are the only teams still alive mathematically for the postseason. In the AL, the Yankees, Tigers, and A’s are leading their divisions, while the Red Sox (at least right now), Angels (only barely), White Sox, and Twins still have a shot. In the NL, the Mets are in, while the Cards are close. The Dodgers and Padres both refuse to claim the NL West, while the Phillies, Giants, and even the Marlins still have hope left. So there you have it. Those are the only teams still worth paying attention to.
