When August ended, the Boston Red Sox lead the Yankees by a game and a half and the Rays by nine games in the AL East. Since then, the Rays have gone 15-10, which is worse than all three of the surefire American League playoff teams and the Royals in September, but they’ve closed the entire gap thanks to the complete and utter collapse of the Red Sox. That collapse became complete on Monday night, when the Sox blew early leads of 1-0 and 2-1 to lose 6-3 to the Orioles, while the Rays overcame a 2-0 deficit to beat the Yankees 5-2.
This is what the season boils down to for the team that entered September with the best record in the American League: tomorrow night, they’re starting Erik Bedard while the Rays are facing Bartolo Colon. I’ve been in the “the Red Sox lead is too big and the schedule is in their favor” camp for pretty much this entire collapse, but the reality is that their collapse is so complete that they’ve blown their lead without the Rays even doing that much to catch them. Does anyone think they turn this thing around at this point?
Meanwhile in the National League, the Cardinals blew their chance to even things up in their own wild card race by losing in extra innings to the Astros. After taking the better part of the last two weeks off, the Phillies put Cliff Lee on the mound tonight in a playoff tuneup to shoot for their 100th win. Lee responded with six strong innings and after the Braves took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, it was all Phillies from there in their 4-2 win.
Perhaps sensing their opening, the Cardinals tied up their game in Houston shortly after the Braves lost. Down 4-2 in the eighth, Lance Berkman doubled in Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday in the top of the eighth to tie the game up and put the go-ahead run on second for the Cardinals with no outs. They couldn’t bring pinch-runner Ardon Chambers, though, in part because of Nick Punto’s head-first slide into first base that likely cost him a safe call for the third out of the inning. The Cards threatened again in the tenth when Yadier Molina hit a one-out double, but Molina was thrown out at third on a fielder’s choice and Ryan Theriot was caught stealing with the top of the order up. The Cardinals lost in the tenth.
We entered tonight’s action with two identical wild card races in the AL and NL. Two teams held one-game leads over two challengers and none of the teams played each other. That gave us four teams playing four games that they had to view as must-win, more or less. Three of those teams lost. The end result of it all is a good one for baseball fans: both races stay within a game and now the Rays and Red Sox are tied. That means that of the four teams playing for these two playoff spots, three control their own destiny from here on out, insofar as the Rays and Red Sox would have to play a one-game playoff on Thursday should they both win their last two games. If the Cardinals win tomorrow we’re ensured that both playoff races will go down to the season’s final day. Hard to ask for more than that, given the playoff situation when this month started.
Also last night: Doug Fister dominated the Indians, striking out nine and wakling none in eight innings. Ubaldo Jiminez got roughed up for six runs in his five innings of work. That’s the AL Central post-trade deadline in a nutshell, right there. In the race to not have to play the Phillies in the event that the Braves win the wild card (that is: the race for the National League’s second best record), both the Brewers and Diamondbacks lost to inferior division opponents in the Pirates and Dodgers. Should the Braves hold on to their wild card lead, someone is really going to regret losing tonight.
Tonight’s games: The single most important game tomorrow is the Cardinals game against Houston, as if the Cardinals win, no one gets eliminated from contention no matter what happens. They send Jake Westbrook to the mound against Henry Sosa in their quest to remain in contention for one more day. The Braves, meanwhile, send Derek Lowe to the mound to face Roy Oswalt. In Lowe’s four starts in September, the Braves are 0-4 and have been outscored 29-5. Remember that tomorrow afternoon when you read about Lowe’s history of clutch starts.
As mentioned above, the Red Sox will send Erik Bedard out against Zach Britton in Baltimore tomorrow night. I don’t think the Sox are even sure who their starter is going to be on Wednesday for sure, so this is pretty much a must win for them even if they won’t technically be eliminated with a loss no matter what happens in the Rays/Yankees game. In Tampa, the Rays send Jeremy Hellickson out against the Yankees’ Bartolo Colon. Hellickson’s already exceeded his combined 2010 inning total by 23 1/3 innings and though he’s generally been pitching well in September, his control is starting to fade (11 walks in his last three starts). That may not mean anything, of course, but it’s something to keep an eye on.
Also, there are other games tonight. They won’t mean much, but they might still be entertaining. You can find the full schedule here.
