Three fringe playoff contenders were in action on Thursday night while the two teams they’re chasing had the night off. That reduced Thursday to a simple equation for the Rays, Angels, and Cardinals: win, and stay in the thick of their respective wild card races, lose and risk falling by the wayside as the final two series of 2011 start.
The Rays entered last night’s action on a three-game losing streak against the Yankees with a 2 1/2 game deficit to the Red Sox in the AL wild card race. The math there is not difficult. The difference between a two and three-game deficit with six games left is gigantic. At two games back you have a realistic chance to force a tie with four or five wins in the last six games; that’s much more unlikely at three games back.
The Rays turned to highly touted rookie Matt Moore to break their losing streak in his first big league start. He responded in spades. Over five shutout innings Moore, who’d made just two big league performances before last night, struck out 11 and left the game with a 13-0 lead. The Rays’ bullpen made things interesting, but they held on for the 15-8 victory. They head to Toronto this weekend while the Red Sox head to New York to face the same Yankees. The Rays are very much alive, thanks to the efforts of Moore and the offense that built them the huge lead.
The Angels came into last night’s action in the same situation as the Rays: 2 1/2 behind the Red Sox and needing a win to remain within the realm of a plausible comeback. They held a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the seventh, but quickly gave it back on an Eric Thames homer, a Jose Bautista walk, a Mark Trumbo error, and a wild pitch from Bobby Cassevah. They stretched the game out to 12 innings, but lost on a walkoff homer from Edwin Encarnacion.
What the Angels do have going for them, at least, is that they head home for their final six games and they’ll be playing the A’s and the Rangers, who should have clinched by next week’s season-ending series. Still, a three-game deficit is a steep one to make up over six games, especially with two teams in front of them for this last American League playoff spot. They didn’t make things easy for themselves tonight.
Things went even worse in St. Louis. The Cardinals went into Thursday 1 1/2 games behind the idle Braves. After seven innings, they were cruising with a 6-1 lead over the Met, probably thinking how they’d practically seem like favorites in the NL wild card race at a game back with the way they’ve played of late. They coughed up a run on a passed ball in the eighth, but their 6-2 lead still seemed safe heading into the ninth. It was not. The Mets rallied for six runs on just three hits (plus four walks and an error) and won the game 8-6. Instead of gaining a game, the Cards find themselves two games back.
All is not lost in St. Louis. They host the Cubs for three games this weekend, then finish the season in Houston with three against the Astros. Being two games back at this point is a siginificant deficit, as discussed above, but it’s hardly insurmountable. Still, when you’re in a pennant race doing the chasing, you hate to cough up six run ninth innings with a four run lead. This game will certainly haunt the Cards if they end 2011 a game behind the Braves.
Also last night: Honestly, the only three games really worth caring about are recapped above. The Nats finished up a four-game sweep of a sleep-walking Phillies’ team that can’t be caught for the NL’s best record. Also, Matt Kemp went 4-for-5 to raise his average to .326 and has made himself into a stealth Triple Crown candidate over the last few days.
Tonight’s games: The Red Sox and Yankees play in the Bronx, with Jon Lester facing Freddy Garcia on the mound. Which means it could be the Sox best chance to pick up a game this weekend while trying to hold the Rays off. The Rays head home to St. Petersburg to play the Blue Jays, pitting David Price against Brandon Morrow. The Angels’ last-ditch attempt to remain relevant heads home to play the A’s with Jered Weaver facing Gio Gonzalez. In the NL, the Cardinals will try to shake off last night’s debacle at home against the Cubs with Chris Carpenter facing Ryan Dempster. The Braves, meanwhile, have drawn the unfortunate task of facing Stephen Strasburg in DC against the suddenly red-hot Nationals. Tonight’s full schedule is here.
