Running Out of Steam Or Just Can't Take The Heat?

For a day at least, the wildcard two front-runners have been knocked from the hill. Last night's loss 5-3 loss to the Oakland A's knocked the Boston Red Sox from their AL wildcard perch while the Philadelphia Phillies did even worse, getting knocked from the lead by the lowly Milwaukee Brewers, who defeated the Phillies last night 6-3.

For Boston, today marks the first day since June 24 the Sox haven't been either leading the divisional or wild card standings. There's a simple reason why: since they made a splash by getting Cincinnati relief pitcher, 1999 Rookie of the Year Scott Williamson, the Red Sox have gone 5-9. Meanwhile, Williamson has a 7.71 ERA in the six games he pitched. To be fair, Williamson isn't the only acquisition the Red Sox made that has fallen flat on his face. Jeff Suppan has pitched two games from the Red Sox since he was acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates and is 0-1 with a 9.53 ERA. The only recent acquisition that hasn't floundered is Scott Sauerbeck, acquired from Pittsburgh on the 22nd of July. Sauerbeck hasn't given up a run in his eight appearances to date.

Since August, some of the hitters the Sox have come to depend on have floundered as well. Manny Ramirez has hit .186 with 1 homer and 2 RBIs in 12 games. Trot Nixon is hitting .189, Todd Walker is hitting .140 and David Ortiz is hitting .250. Only Garciaparra, who is hitting .340 with 5 homers and 10 RBIs and Johnny Damon, hitting .327, have been pulling their weight.

It can't even be pointed out anymore how much better the Sox play at home than on the road. During this last 12 game stretch, yes, the Sox are a miserable 1-6 on the road but at home, they aren't much better, 4-3. They can take some consolation in the fact that following one last game at Oakland and another 3 game series at Seattle, they will play their next 12 games at home after that. If this isn't the traditional Red Sox late summer collapse, the long homestand will help right them.

The Philadelphia Phillies, on the other hand, have lost 7 of their last 10 games. Last night's loss to the Brewers was particularly repulsive since the Brewers' starter, Wayne Franklin was 0-2 with a 14.00 ERA in his last two starts after allowing 17 hits and 14 runs in just nine innings. But he stymied the Phillies while their own starter, the terminally inconsistent Brandon Duckworth, their fifth starter, was unable to pitch through the sixth inning in for the 12th time in his last 17 starts. Ironically, the Phillies have lost 7 of the last 10 games Duckworth has pitched.

While the Phillies were losing to the Brewers, the Florida Marlins who beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4 amid great drama, on a walk-off homer by Ramon Castro in the 13th inning. The Florida Marlins are now in the NL wildcard lead for the first time all season.

So two teams, the Red Sox and the Phillies, who seemed shoe-ins for at least wildcard berths, are losing their way, disoriented in a free fall and have lost their exhaulted places as the wildcard leaders.

Welcome home.

If This Is August, Why Are We In Chicago?

Don't look now but this is only the 11th time in the 102 years that both teams have existed that both the Cubs and the White Sox are competing simultaneously for a postseason berth this late in the year.

The Cubs have not played in a World Series since 1945 against Detroit, and they have not won a World Series since 1908, when they topped the Tigers.

The White Sox last played in a World Series in 1959 against the Dodgers. They have not won the World Series since 1917, when they beat the New York Giants.

Neither is likely to make it as far as the World Series and I have serious doubts that the Cubs will even make the postseason, but for now anyway, Chicagoans are free to dream.

Victor Zambrano earned his fifth straight win Tuesday night, hurling his first complete-game shutout in a 3-0 win over the Houston Astros before 39,751 at Wrigley Field to move the Cubs to within 2 1/2 games of the Astros for the Central Division lead. In his last five starts since the All-Star break, Zambrano has an earned-run average of 1.43, striking out 34 and walking 13.

This afternoon, the Cubs will have to face Jeriome Robertson, who in three starts, is 1-1 with a 5.87 ERA against the Cubs. Shawn Estes, 2-1, 7.04 against the Astros this season, will start for Chicago.

At the same time, the White Sox despite pitching the disaster-in-waiting, Neal Cotts, who made the leap from Class AA Birmingham to start the game Tuesday, were able to roll to a 10-4 victory against the Anaheim Angels. Cotts was pulled after allowing six walks in 2-1/3 innings, but the end result left the White Sox JUST a half-game behind the Kansas City Royals in the American League Central. It was just the Sox's second win in their last 11 tries at Edison International Field.

Flyin' Fish

It may have taken three days and 13 innings, but the Marlins can finally lay claim to sole possession of the National League wildcard lead. Ramon Castro, a back-up catcher, who had just 40 at-bats for the season, hit a walk-off homer off Paul Shuey with two outs in the 13th inning lifted the Marlins to a 5-4 win over the Dodgers, ending an exhausting 4-hour, 5-minutes marathon in front of a miserably small crowd of 12,025 at Pro Player Stadium. It was the Marlins' first win over the Dodgers this year in five tries.

When play began on July 4, the Marlins were six games off the wild-card pace and trailing eight teams. They have since cruised past the entire group by going 22-11.

The bullpen, which has come on strong for the Marlins, was stellar again. Five relievers combining to throw seven scoreless innings. The Dodgers last hit came in the seventh.

The walk-off homer wasn't the only excitement in the game. A storm of controversy surrounded the Dodgers taking a 4-3 lead in the fifth. On a bang-bang play at the plate, Dodger Paul Lo Duca was called safe on what was clearly a missed call by first-base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt, who was covering home because home-plate umpire Scott Nelson shifted over to third. Irate at the ruling, catcher Ivan Rodriguez slammed his facemask into the ground and was immediately ejected by Wendelstedt.

TV replays support Rodriguez's claim that Lo Duca should have been called for the third out. "The ump didn't really have the right angle," said starter Josh Beckett. "He was back behind the plate by me. Pudge is out there fighting for us. The replay confirmed Pudge was right."

Right or not, Pudge has been getting a little too hot as the race for the wildcard gets tighter. Last night was his third ejection of the season, all within the last two weeks. The veteran catcher said he was ejected three times in his career before this year.

Big Shots Coming En Masse To Shea

Which was the bigger arrival, Barry Bonds, who hit career homers number 649 and 650 at Shea last night, or former President Bill Clinton, who stayed all nine innings and watched the New York Mets' 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants?

Clinton visited both clubhouses before the game, signed baseballs and shook hands with dozens of fans. It was his first visit to Shea since Jackie Robinson Night on April 15, 1997, when the Mets honored the man who broke baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers 50 years earlier. Robinson's No. 42 was retired by every team in the majors.

Clinton, looking trimmer than during his days in the White House from 1992-2000, smiled as he greeted fans up the first- and third-base lines and behind the plate. He looked ever the politician, offering a few thumbs-up and waves to fans yelling out his name.

Bonds meanwhile, continued his hot ways against the Mets. So far this season, he is hititng .500 with 8 hits in 16 at-bats, 3 of which have been homeruns. Last night was his 60th career 2-homer game.

And it looks like Mike Piazza is ready to return. The All-Star catcher, out since May 17 because of a severely strained right groin, planned to join the Mets in New York and work out with the team before Wednesday night's game against the San Francisco Giants. If all goes well, he could be activated in time to play. Piazza went 3-for-17 (.176) with one homer and two RBI with the Tides. Just what we needed. A catcher who can three-hop a throw to second base and take away valuable playing time from rookies who have performed admirably in his absence.