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In:
New York Mets and Yankees
Minnesota
Detroit
Oakland(just now)
So, the AL spots are all set, and the NL East is locked up. That leaves three spots, and five teams(LA Dodgers, San Diego, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Houston) fighting for them.
In a potentially historic turn of events, the Houston Astros have made up seven games in the NL Central division race in as many days. The St. Louis Cardinals are the Titanic, the Hindenburg, and Oliver Stone's Alexander all wrapped in one right now. They now have a slim game and a half lead on Houston, with another game against NL West leading San Diego, and a four game series against Milwaukee to close the season out(all at home). Houston arguably has the tougher road, facing Pittsburgh twice before finishing up with a foursome in Atlanta.
San Diego has a two game lead on the Dodgers for the NL West division title, which leaves LA with a one game lead on Philly for the wild card.
Minnesota and Detroit are both assured playoff spots, but are still competing for the division title, separated by just one game. Johan Santana won tonight to wrap up the MLB triple crown in pitching, as he leads both leagues in wins(19), ERA(2.77) and strikeouts(245). Only two other pitchers in the last 60 years have done that: Dwight Gooden and Sandy Koufax.
Perhaps even more interesting(...to me...) is that reports indicate that Santana will not pitch again in the regular season, meaning that this will be the first time in major league history, over 135 years, that there will have been no 20 game winner in a full, non-strike season.
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If the Cards don't make it, it will be the greatest September collapse in history.
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Houston has now cut the NL Central division lead to a half game. Detroit and Minneosta are now tied. Philly is now two games back in the NL wild card race. San Diego and Los Angeles stay separated by a game in the NL West.
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A's beat the Twins and the overrated Santana today 3-2.
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cant freakin believe that happend. and i cant get excited cause i know how many blown chances the A's have had in the first round...but im hopefull
big_pimp_tim-made it cool to roll in the first damn place! Mon Jun 11 2007 09:27 PM- harley finally rolled with me "I'm working with him...he's young but, there is much potential. He can apprentice with me and then he's yours for final training. He will remember the face of his father... Some day, Knutreturns just may be the greatest of us all...."-THE bastard
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A's win again. Can Minnesota win in Oakland?
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Johan Santana is correctly rated. That is all.
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Quote:
Brad Lee said:
A's win again. Can Minnesota win in Oakland?
heck NO!! I hope...
big_pimp_tim-made it cool to roll in the first damn place! Mon Jun 11 2007 09:27 PM- harley finally rolled with me "I'm working with him...he's young but, there is much potential. He can apprentice with me and then he's yours for final training. He will remember the face of his father... Some day, Knutreturns just may be the greatest of us all...."-THE bastard
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The A's suck. They're all on steroids and I hear they don't pay their taxes.
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They're bad tippers, too.
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They beat the Twins again today!
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Mets won too.....I predict that if the Yanks win tonight they will win the series and if they lose they will lose the series......we are getting alot of rain here so they might not even play.
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s'not rainin here yet.
i still say yanks take this series in 3 or 4.
and now that the mets are struggling (and i could have used quotes on that... but i didn't... i just detailed it in this parenthetical commentary) i don't fear any NL team in the series.
the dodgers? ... c'mon.
but a's and twins and even the tigers ... they all stand a pretty good challenge.
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The Yankees do look like the favorites to me, but with nagging injuries to Mussina and Unit, the rotation is still an issue.
Even though the Cardinals nearly laid a ginormous egg down the stretch(not too different from what happened with the White Sox last year), they still have the best player in baseball, and the best pitcher left not named Johan Santana. Some moderately healthy performances from Rolen and Edmonds, and who knows.
The Twins played two of the sloppiest games of their entire season, and still were close to winning. I don't see the A's as a serious threat.
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I really wish Pedro was healthy. New York media frenzy aside, I would have liked to have seen the Mets and Yankees go head to head at full capacity. That would have been the best World Series matchup, objectively.
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Quote:
Animalman said:
I really wish Pedro was healthy. New York media frenzy aside, I would have liked to have seen the Mets and Yankees go head to head at full capacity. That would have been the best World Series matchup, objectively.
i'll agree.
both had great seasons (tied for first place in the majors) and each has an amazing powerhouse of a team.
i think pedro would get kicked around a bit by the yankees, but el duque has that great post-season mystique about him, which would have proven helpful to the mets, to say the least.
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Quote:
Animalman said:
The Yankees do look like the favorites to me, but with nagging injuries to Mussina and Unit, the rotation is still an issue.
Even though the Cardinals nearly laid a ginormous egg down the stretch(not too different from what happened with the White Sox last year), they still have the best player in baseball, and the best pitcher left not named Johan Santana. Some moderately healthy performances from Rolen and Edmonds, and who knows.
The Twins played two of the sloppiest games of their entire season, and still were close to winning. I don't see the A's as a serious threat.
That's the thing with the Gardenhire Twins of the past years....they talk alota shit but when it counts they go home after the first round. overrated.
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I cannot confirm or deny the shit-talking, as I'm not aware of what, specifically, you continue to allude to...but the fact that the Twins are in the bottom half(if not bottom quarter) of the league in payroll every year makes their annual presence in the playoffs quite impressive, regardless of their often abrupt elimination. That's good scouting and coaching at work.
The same is true for the scum the world knows as the Oakland Athletics.
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a's and twin's were both in the low 60s this year
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Quote:
Animalman said:
The same is true for the scum the world knows as the Oakland Athletics.
 that made me laugh! something I would say!
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Quote:
Rob Kamphausen said:
a's and twin's were both in the low 60s this year
Yep. Both unusually high for the respective franchises, yet still bottom third(or very close).
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I dont usually say things like this but uh....
FUCK YOU ANIMALMAN!!
big_pimp_tim-made it cool to roll in the first damn place! Mon Jun 11 2007 09:27 PM- harley finally rolled with me "I'm working with him...he's young but, there is much potential. He can apprentice with me and then he's yours for final training. He will remember the face of his father... Some day, Knutreturns just may be the greatest of us all...."-THE bastard
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The Tigers just made this a series.  
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The Yanks pitching is weak now that there is a question mark with Randy Johnson's back....I hope I'm wrong but the Tigers may beat them. Good pitching always beats good hitting.
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Todd Jones will blow at least one game this playoffs. It's practically guaranteed.
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Quote:
PJP said:
The Yanks pitching is weak now that there is a question mark with Randy Johnson's back....I hope I'm wrong but the Tigers may beat them. Good pitching always beats good hitting.
the "lil" teams, that is teams that play smallball, always seem to do very well against the yanks.
i'm never afraid of powerhouse teams like the bosox or mets or whatever, but the angels or this year's tigers... the scrappy teams that bunt or hit and run or steal appropriately and look for one run an inning, rather than 30 in a game (like the yankees) ... they're always very successful in yankee stadium.
the yankees also ignore that whole line of thinking offensively. for example, there was no effort in getting matsui/melky to scoring position in the final inning. granted, rodriguez'sessz's arm is nigh invulnerable, but still... the lilball game would be very valuable if stressed more often.
Quote:
Animalman said:
Todd Jones will blow at least one game this playoffs. It's practically guaranteed.
he looked pretty shakey today. uh... despite the succesful save, of course. but still.
zumaya was great, tho. totally overpowering.
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Rob Kamphausen said:
zumaya was great, tho. totally overpowering.
Zoom Zoom will one day be one of the most feared closers in the game. 
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Like Papelbon, I think they should try him as a starter first.
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Quote:
Rob Kamphausen said:
the "lil" teams, that is teams that play smallball, always seem to do very well against the yanks.
i'm never afraid of powerhouse teams like the bosox or mets or whatever, but the angels or this year's tigers... the scrappy teams that bunt or hit and run or steal appropriately and look for one run an inning, rather than 30 in a game (like the yankees) ... they're always very successful in yankee stadium.
The Yanks have stolen more bases in this series, and have the same number of bunts: one. The Tigers were 24th in the majors in steals on the season(Yanks finished third), and 18th in sacrifice hits.
The Tigers did finish third in the AL in homeruns, just behind New York.
So, Detroit really isn't really a small ball team. They just win a lot of close, low scoring games because they have good pitching and a decent, but not great, offense. The Yankees look for 30 runs a game because they have great hitters. The Tigers look for one run an inning because they don't.
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Quote:
Animalman said:
Quote:
Rob Kamphausen said:
the "lil" teams, that is teams that play smallball, always seem to do very well against the yanks.
i'm never afraid of powerhouse teams like the bosox or mets or whatever, but the angels or this year's tigers... the scrappy teams that bunt or hit and run or steal appropriately and look for one run an inning, rather than 30 in a game (like the yankees) ... they're always very successful in yankee stadium.
The Yanks have stolen more bases in this series, and have the same number of bunts(one). The Tigers were 24th in the majors in steals on the season, and 18th in sacrifice hits.
The Tigers did finish third in the AL in homeruns, just behind New York.
So, Detroit really isn't a small ball team. They just win a lot of close, low scoring games because they have good pitching and a decent, but not great, offense.
thank you, statistical man.
however, i will hold with my original statement; that the yankees often refuse to play lil ball, where the tigers have no such aversion.
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Yes, damn me and those "facts"!
The Yankees steal a lot more, and bunt slightly less. Neither team has done much of anything in the regular or post season that would normally be defined as "small ball". They're homerun hitting teams(they've hit three each so far).
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Mets won last night so did the Cards...both are up 2-0.
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Game seven tonight. Jeff Suppan against Oliver Perez. Meanwhile, Detroit has been waiting nearly a week just to find out who they're playing in the World Series. I picked the Mets to be there at the start of the season, so I'm sticking with them.
The consensus, based on what they've done so far in the postseason(and the specious argument that, since the AL is better than the NL, any good AL team will beat any good NL team), seems to be that the Tigers will win it all with relative ease, regardless of who they play. I confess, that does appear to be a good possibility. On paper, I still think the Mets are the better team, and I might give the edge to a healthy Cardinals team too, but that didn't mean much to Houston last year, or the Yankees in '03. The Tigers are playing well at the right time, and lately, anything Jim Leyland pulls out of his ass turns to gold. Detroit definitely has the edge in starting pitching, which helps.
I'm still very sorry Pedro isn't healthy. I'm also sorry Billy Wagner has been such a dissapointment so far. He doesn't look 100%.
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Cardinals beat Mets to win NL pennant
By MIKE FITZPATRICK, AP Baseball WriterNo way anybody was catching Yadier Molina's ninth-inning shot. And by the time it landed beyond the left-field fence, the St. Louis Cardinals were headed to the World Series. Molina's tiebreaking homer and another Game 7 gem by Jeff Suppan helped St. Louis overcome Endy Chavez's astounding grab, giving the Cardinals a 3-1 victory over the New York Mets on Thursday night for the NL championship.
Adam Wainwright wriggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth, striking out St. Louis nemesis Carlos Beltran to end it and leaving a stunned crowd in deflated silence just moments after it had Shea Stadium shaking.
And with that, the Cardinals earned their second pennant in three years and a date with the Detroit Tigers on Saturday night in Game 1 of the World Series.
Hey Motown, here come the Cards.
Molina, a .216 career hitter with only six home runs during the regular season, drove the first pitch he saw from reliever Aaron Heilman into New York's bullpen for a 3-1 lead in the ninth.
Chavez, who made one of the most memorable postseason catches just three innings earlier, could only stand and watch at the fence as the Mets' World Series hopes were dashed.
Scott Rolen, robbed of a homer by Chavez in the sixth, got the St. Louis rally started with a single.
But the Mets, resilient throughout their stirring season, nearly came back in the ninth.
Jose Valentin and Chavez opened the inning with singles before pinch-hitter Cliff Floyd struck out looking. Jose Reyes lined out to center for the second out, but Paul Lo Duca drew a walk that loaded the bases.
That brought up Beltran, who homered three times in the series after hitting .417 with four home runs for Houston in the 2004 NLCS against St. Louis.
Wainwright, a rookie filling in for injured closer Jason Isringhausen, got ahead in the count immediately and froze Beltran with a breaking ball for strike three.
The Cardinals, with their 17th pennant in hand, charged out of the dugout and mobbed Wainwright in front of the mound.
Suppan won the MVP award for two outstanding starts. He limited the Mets to one run and five hits in 15 innings, and once again was at his best in a big game.
Suppan, who won Game 3, is 106-101 lifetime, but 2-1 with a 1.69 in five NLCS starts. In 2004, he outpitched Roger Clemens in Game 7 of the NLCS to lead St. Louis over Houston.
With a runner on in the sixth and Rolen coming up, Mets manager Willie Randolph went to the mound for a chat with Perez, who was 3-13 with a 6.55 ERA this season.
But Randolph, who often talks about how he likes to challenge his young players, stuck with the kid even though a reliever was warming up — and it nearly cost the Mets.
Rolen pulled the next pitch deep to left and Chavez, a defensive whiz starting because Floyd has an injured Achilles' tendon, raced back to the fence as fast as he could.
In one motion, the 6-foot Chavez jumped with all his might and reached his right arm up and over the 8-foot wall as far as it would stretch. His mouth wide open, he snagged the drive in the tip-top of his glove — the white of the ball showing atop the webbing like a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Chavez banged into the padded blue wall, buckling a couple of panels, but landed on his feet and came up firing back into the infield.
Jim Edmonds, who had walked, had already rounded second, so second baseman Valentin relayed to first for a spectacular double play that ended the inning with Albert Pujols and the bewildered Cardinals watching from the top step of the dugout in amazement.
A few Mets raised their arms high as they came off the field, and Perez waited near first base to give a hearty greeting to Chavez, who got more hugs by the bench.
Fans chanted "En-dy Cha-vez!" and roared "Whooaaa!" over and over again as the replay was shown several times on the big video board in left-center.
Chavez watched, too, and finally came out for a curtain call — quite a rarity for a defensive play.
Perhaps still thinking about his near-miss but more likely bothered by a slick ball, Rolen, a Gold Glove third baseman, threw away David Wright's slow grounder for a potentially costly error in the bottom of the sixth.
That helped the Mets load the bases with one out, but Suppan struck out Valentin.
The light-hitting Chavez then had a chance to deliver with his bat, but he flied out, leaving him 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position during the series.
A boisterous crowd of 56,357 settled in as the starters matched zeros through the middle innings — until Chavez's incredible catch left them roaring.
Perez, often leaping over the foul line on his way to the dugout, pitched the game of his life on only three days' rest. Picked for an unlikely start in the most crucial situation because of New York's depleted staff, he gave up one run and four hits in six innings.
This from a guy who was demoted to the minors by lowly Pittsburgh in June. In fact, he was barely an afterthought when the Mets acquired him with reliever Roberto Hernandez at the July 31 trade deadline.
Perez, however, won Game 4 in St. Louis and gave the Mets all they could have hoped for Thursday.
Randolph also stayed with the 25-year-old lefty after a visit to the mound with two on in the fifth. Perez promptly struck out Preston Wilson, then went right after Pujols. And when the big slugger popped up to end the inning, Perez pointed toward the sky as the Mets charged off the field.
New York took the lead with a two-out rally in the first. Beltran beat out a double, Carlos Delgado walked and Wright blooped an RBI single to right.
But the Cardinals responded to New York runs all series, and they did it again in the second.
Molina dunked a soft single into short left, putting runners at the corners and setting up Ronnie Belliard's run-scoring sacrifice bunt.
Pujols was intentionally walked in the third before Perez got cleanup batter Juan Encarnacion to ground into an inning-ending double play.
With shards of Encarnacion's shattered bat lying on the grass in front of home plate, Perez pumped his fist and pounded his glove before receiving an enthusiastic high-five from a fired-up Randolph when he reached the dugout.
Notes:@ The Cardinals lost their previous two Game 7s on the road by a combined score of 26-0 (the 1996 NLCS in Atlanta and the 1985 World Series at Kansas City). ... In the fourth, Suppan bounced a curveball far in front of the plate that kicked up and hit Valentin on the chin.
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this is gunna be the worst subway series, ever.
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It's the monorail series!
That Endy Chavez catch was amazing.
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Quote:
Animalman said:
It's the monorail series!
That Endy Chavez catch was amazing.
I got up off the couch and screamed so loud I made the dogs run away from me when he made that catch.....unbelievable. The Mets have alot to be grateful for and alot to build on....they'll be back next year. I don't think it really matters who won anyhow since they will most likely lose to the mighty Tigers of Detroit!
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