With a 4-1 victory at home against the Nationals, the Phillies earned a sweep of the National League's top team. The funny thing is…some of their fans aren't throwing in the towel. No, instead a certain sector of Phililes fans are drawing up all sorts of ridiculous scenarios that would result in their team getting to the playoffs. But here are the raw facts: the Phillies are still six games under .500, they're still 9.5 games behind the Cardinals for the second wild card spot, and they have just 34 games left to make up that race. If the Cardinals play just .500 ball in their final final 35 games (well, we'll put them at one game under .500 to be safe), they're still going to finish with 87 wins…meaning that the Phillies would need to go 26-8 over their last month of the season to just force a tie. That's a .765 winning percentage against a schedule that six games with each the Braves and Nationals, and three against the Reds. Even if the Phillies go 10-5 during that stretch, they'd need to go 16-3 in their other 19 games. That's a tall order indeed. In last year's two collapses, the Red Sox went 12-22 down the stretch and the Rays went 21-13 to sneak into the playoffs, while the Braves went 13-21 and the Cardinals went 23-11. That's all you need to do, Phillies…hope for a collapse again, and play the best baseball you've played all season. No big deal.
Game of the Day: Mets 2, Astros 1. On a day filled with uninspiring games, this was the best of the bunch. The Mets took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on an Ike Davis solo homer, one of just two hits that Houston starter Lucas Harrell would allow in his seven innings of work. Jeremy Hefner started the ninth looking for a complete game shutout, but a Jose Altuve single and Marwin Gonzalez RBI doubled knotted the game at one and ended Hefner's day. The Mets bullpen got out of the inning and the game went to the bottom of the ninth, when with one out, Ike Davis took a 2-0 fastball from Wilton Lopez just over the right field wall to give the Mets a 2-1 walkoff win.
Pitching Lines of the Day: Hefner and Harrell were the pitching stars of the day. Hefner allowed one run on five hits over eight innings, walking one and striking out seven. Harrell allowed one run on two hits over seven, walking two and striking out seven. Of course, both got no decisions. In Detroit's 5-2 win over the Angels, Max Scherzer allowed one run on four hits over seven innings, walking two and striking out nine. I'll give a hat tip to Chris Volstad of the Cubs, who led his team to a 5-0 victory against the Rockies by throwing 6 2/3 shutout innings, and giving up three hits, three walks, and three strikeouts.
Hitting Lines of the Day: The Cardinals beat the Reds 8-2, and Matt Holliday went 4/5 with two runs, four RBI, a double, and a triple. His teammate Allen Craig continued to mash, going 3/5 with three RBI and his 20th homer of the year. Ben Revere led the Twins to a 6-5 win over the Rangers by going 4/4 with three runs, an RBI, a walk, and a triple. Ike Davis, of course, went 2/4 with a pair of solo homers to give the Mets all of their offense yesterday. Pedro Ciriaco gave the Red Sox a spark in their 8-6 win over the Royals, going 3/5 with two runs, two RBI, and his second homer of the year.
Other Games: The Yankees beat the Indians 4-2, and Curtis Granderson hit his 200th career homer in the process. The Brewers shut out the fading Pirates 7-0. The Marlins hit four homers in a 6-2 win over the new and improved Dodgers. The White Sox beat the Mariners 4-3 in seven, with Tyler Flowers' go-ahead two-run homer coming just before the rain stopped the game. The Padres edged the enigmatic Diamondbacks 5-4. The Braves throttled the Giants 7-1 behind Tim Hudson and Jason Heyward.
Today's Games: AJ Burnett starts for the Pirates and takes on Kyle Lohse of the Cardinals in a crucial wild card matchup. Francisco Liriano starts for the White Sox against Wei-Yin Chen of the Orioles, with playoff implications for both teams. Brett Anderson makes his second start in his recovery from Tommy John surgery in Cleveland against Roberto Hernandez. Josh Beckett makes his Dodgers debut in Colorado. Tyler Skaggs makes his second career start for the Diamondbacks against the Reds. David Price and the Rays head to Texas to battle the Rangers in an ALDS rematch from last season. Paul Maholm starts for the Braves against Casey Kelly of the Padres, making his major league debut. Felix Hernandez and the Mariners travel to Minnesota to take on Liam Hendriks and the Twins.
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
