Race For the Wildcard Place Heating Up



AL Races


(Jared Wright stunned by Ibanez line drive)

The Oakland A's lost the recent battle against the Angels, two games out of three, but finished their big road trip winning seven of ten. In a brutal twist by schedule makers, the A's then turned their attention to host the Yankees as the Angels, A's and Yankees were all tied for the AL Wildcard lead.

Going in, New York had taken five of six from the A's this year, including all three at the Coliseum in May. ...Since losing their lone game to Oakland on May 6, the Yankees are 64-39, the second-best record in the majors in that stretch behind the Cardinals' 67-39 mark.

But last night, the A's rose up and routed the Yankees 12-0 in Game One, chasing Republican Chimp Al Leiter in the first innnig to keep them even with the Angels for the AL West and even with the Angels for the AL wildcard.



The Yankees' third loss in four games dropped them out of the wild-card lead, as they fell a game behind AL West co-leaders Oakland and Los Angeles and into a tie with Cleveland. They also remained 3 1/2 games behind the Red Sox in the AL East, failing to take advantage of Boston's loss to Baltimore.

Adding to Yankee yips was the news that Mussina said it's a "possibility" his season is over." Mussina traveled to the Los Angeles area to have noted orthopedic surgeon Lewis Yocum examine his injured right elbow, and the news wasn't good. After having Mussina undergo an MRI and X-rays, Yocum strongly advised him to shut it down completely for as long as it takes to make the tendinitis go away.

Lost in all this of course is that the Cleveland Indians are tied with the Yankees, one game out of the AL Wildcard after C.C. Sabathia mowed down Twins in the opener of their big series. Kevin Millwood faces Twins ace Johan Santana in what should be one of two excellent thick-of-the-race pitching duels of the day.

*****

NL Races

With the Braves and Cardinals both having sewn up their division titles (the Cards of course, having done so months ago and the Braves, 13 seasons in a row, by virtue of inevitability,) the races come down to the Phillies, Marlins, Astros, Mets and Nats struggling amongst one another to grab and maintain the wildcard lead.


The D Train Earned His 19th Victory of the Season

But the Nats and Mets both lost again, this time at the hands of the Phillies and Marlins respectively. Whilst the Phils and Marlins ease away from their NL East rivals, the Houston Astros stayed within a half game of the Phillies for the wildcard lead by stunning the Cardinals in 13 innings after Ensberg's 9th inning homer tied it.



In the West, the Padres, even at .500, appear to have won the division by default, six games ahead of the Dodgers.

On Saturday, Aaron Small, RHP (5-0, 3.03) will go for the Yankees against Kirk Saarloos, RHP (9-6, 3.98) and the A's.

Kris Benson, RHP (9-6, 3.91) will try to help the Mets regain some momentum in a must-win showdown against the Marlins' Josh Beckett, RHP (12-8, 3.62)

Philly Phreak Eude Brito, LHP (0-0, 1.59) will pitch against the Nats and John Patterson, RHP (8-4, 2.50).

Matchup of the night will see the Cardinals try to right themselves after Houston's stunning win - Chris Carpenter, RHP (19-4, 2.29) will try and go for his 20th victory of the season against the improbable yet deserving Cy Young candidate Roger Clemens, RHP (11-6, 1.51)

*****

Geordio Galactico



Critics will be quick to believe it's only for a season but given the adoration the Toon Army have already shown the newly-inked English forward, Michael Owen, it might be hard to leave. Especially if Newcastle use the momentum of this momentus signing to spur a sudden run of success in the Premiership.

But not this weekend. Instead, Wales host England in a World Cup qualifying match this afternoon.

Sven-Göran Eriksson will embark on a new experiment with his formation, with Wayne Rooney as the lone striker ahead of a five-man midfield in which David Beckham takes centre-stage. With Michael Owen suspended, Eriksson and his coaching staff have been mulling over a shift in tactics for this game since the 4-1 defeat against Denmark last month exposed England's defensive vulnerability.

Predictions:

Wales 2 England 3
Scotland 0 Italy 2
USA 2 Mexico 1
Turkey 1 Denmark 1
Romania 1 Czech Republic 3
Poland 2 Austria 0
Venezuela 2 Peru 1

Tennis Anyone?

I don't normally give a toss about tennis but hard to miss this bit: