Well, this is it. The final set of games before the playoffs begin on Friday with the Wild Card games. Or, maybe Thursday if we have any tiebreakers to settle. With three games left, here's what we know…
-In the National League, not much changed. Atlanta can still tie Washington for the NL East title after the Braves won and the Nationals lost on Sunday. The Brewers were eliminated with their loss to the Astros (Post-Mortem coming later this morning!), and the Dodgers are the last remaining threat to the Cardinals for the final wild card spot, sitting two out with three to play.
-Now, the American League…oh boy. The Angels' loss in the second game of their doubleheader with the Rangers clinched playoff spots for Texas, New York, and Baltimore. The Rangers split the doubleheader and Oakland beat the Mariners, so the A's are two out with three to play…against the Rangers. If the A's sweep, they're the AL West champions. One Rangers win, and they clinch the division. The A's are also one win from clinching a playoff spot and eliminating the Rays and Angels, both of whom are three behind them. The Tigers are one win (or one White Sox loss) away from clinching the AL Central). Finally, the AL East…the Orioles and Yankees are tied, and it's still a toss-up as to who will win the division. It's also possible for the team that doesn't win the division to get bypassed by Texas or Oakland for the top wild card spot, and have to go on the road for Friday's wild card playoff.
Confused yet? It's OK. Everything will be settled by this time on Thursday.
…maybe.
Game of the Day: Angels 5, Rangers 4 (game one). This game turned the Ballpark at Arlington on its head for about six hours, until the conclusion of game two. The Rangers put four on the board against Zack Greinke, and Yu Darvish was looking…well, positively Darvish-ian on the mound. He allowed a run on a sac fly in the sixth to make it 4-2, and the game turned into a one run affair after Mike Trout hit his 30th homer of the season in the seventh, putting him at the 30/30 mark for the season (first ever for a rookie). In the ninth, with the Angels still trailing 4-3, they were down to their last out against Rangers closer Joe Nathan. Torii Hunter proceeded to double to left center, bringing in a pair of runs and putting the Angels ahead 5-4, keeping their playoff hopes alive. Ernesto Frieri turned in a perfect ninth, and the Angels did the A's a huge solid with a big win.
Pitching Lines of the Day: Astros pitcher Jordan Lyles threw his team past Milwaukee 7-0 to eliminate the Brewers from playoff contention, pitching a complete game shutout while allowing four hits, one walk, and striking out three hitters. Cole Hamels finished his season off with a gem in the Phillies' 4-1 win in Miami, allowing one run on five hits over seven innings, walking one and striking out eight. Liam Hendriks pitched well for the Twins in their 2-1 loss to the Tigers, throwing seven shutout frames and allowing five hits, two walks, and tallying three strikeouts. Kris Medlen did Kris Medlen things for the Braves in their 6-2 win over the Mets, their 23rd straight with Medlen on the mound, allowing one unearned run on three hits in six innings, walking one and striking out four.
Hitting Lines of the Day: Mike Napoli brought the boom for the Rangers in game two of the doubleheader, going 3/3 with a double, two homers, a walk, and six RBI in the 8-7 win over his former team. Carlos Beltran went ham for the Cardinals in their10-4 win over the sliding Nationals, going 3/4 with five RBI, a walk, and a pair of homers. BJ Upton finished an unreal September for the Rays by going 3/5 with three runs, three RBI, a double, and two homers in their 6-2 win in Chicago. How about the game put together by Asdrubal Cabrera in Cleveland's 15-3 shellacking of the Royals, going 3/5 with three runs, four RBI, and his 16th homer of the year?
Other Games: The Yankees rallied back from a 5-1 deficit to beat the Blue Jays 9-5, and the Orioles held on against the Red Sox 6-3 to keep the AL East all square. The Reds beat the Pirates 4-3, but Johnny Cueto couldn't get win #20 and the Pirates officially clinched yet another losing season. The Giants beat the Padres 7-5 after five straight runs in the eighth and ninth innings. The A's beat the Mariners 5-2 after a pair of late homers by Yoenis Cespedes and Josh Reddick. The Dodgers beat the Rockies 7-1 to remain in contention for the NL's second wild card slot. The Cubs beat the Diamondbacks 7-2, and no one really noticed.
Today's Games: OK, here's what you need to watch: everything in the American League except Minnesota vs Toronto. The six other American League games all have potential playoff implications. The Central will be decided by the White Sox-Indians game and the Tigers-Royals game, with none of those four teams starting an above average pitcher. The East will come down to the Red Sox and Yankees (of course) with a Buchholz-Sabathia matchup and the Orioles and Rays, pitting Wei-Yin Chen against Alex Cobb. Finally, the AL West will see the A's and Rangers batting with Jarrod Parker taking on rookie Martin Perez, and the Angels needing a miracle in Seattle, with CJ Wilson taking on Felix Hernandez. In the National League…whatever. The Cardinals and Dodgers have to face the team they're looking up at in their divisional standings, with St Louis hosting the Reds and Los Angeles hosting the Giants. As for the NL East, the Nationals host the Phillies and the Braves travel to Pittsburgh.
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
