Phillies 10, Giants 2 — Phillies lead the Wild Card by .5 game over Houston and Florida, trail Atlanta by 3.5 in the NL East.
I’ve seen the Braves several times in the past few weeks and I can’t shake the idea that they’re not really that good. It’s been oft repeated in this space that the most disappointing thing about the Cubs’ season is that the NL is awful this year and they’re out of it in August. That goes for the Braves, too. Their bullpen is atrocious, their lineup is the Jones boys, a drunk leadoff guy and a bunch of rookies and they’ve got two real starting pitchers. I just can’t help but think that instead of wondering which NL East team will put the Astros in the rear-view and win the Wild Card if we shouldn’t also be wondering if the Braves won’t get passed, too?
Last night in San Francisco, Ryan Howard and Kenny Lofton were freed from Charlie Manuel prison because righty Brett Tomko was on the mound for the Giants. If you haven’t noticed, Ryan Howard is good. He had three hits, drove in three runs and nearly had two homers. In his first at bat he hit the top of the wall in center field for a double. In his second at bat, he had no uch trouble as he homered to left. Howard and Lofton combined for six hits. Perhaps somebody should write that on a sticky note and leave it in Charlie Manuel’s office?
Vincente Padilla continued his strong second half, and Peter Gammons mentioned offhandedly last night that the Cubs nearly had a deal for him in the first half for Glendon Rusch. Guh.
Next up: Cory Lidle against Brad Hennessey tonight from SBC or Pac Bell or whatever Park. The Phillies are off tomorrow and then head to the desert to play the Diamondbacks, who are getting humiliated by the Mets.
Detroit 4, Oakland 1 — Oakland is one game behind the Yankees and Indians in the AL Wild Card race and 3.5 behind the Angels in the AL West
Carlos Pena beat the A’s almost by himself last night. Sure, he had some help from the great Nate Robertson who only allowed two A’s hits in eight innings, but Pena hit two homers off Dan Haren and drove in all four runs. Yikes.
The interesting thing about the reeling A’s (they have a White Sox like 2-8 record in their last ten) is that they apparently are about to call up top prospect Daric Barton to try and save their suddenly inept offense. Barton was a catcher in the Cardinals’ system last year who played at Peoria and was dealt to the A’s in the Mulder deal. The A’s moved him to the outfield and if they bring him up, he’ll likely DH. He just turned 20 eight days ago. Does this move smack of desperation?
Oh yes.
Next up: Kurt Saarloos (too many a’s and o’s) against Detroit’s Jeremy Bonderman.
Cleveland 5, Tampa Bay 4–Indians are tied for AL Wild Card lead with Yankees, second in the AL Central behind the Sox by seven games
Some things never change. The Tribe fell behind 4-0 in the first and needed help getting back in last night’s game, and the help came in the form of a botched ground ball to former Cub Alex Gonzalez. Somewhere, in seclusion, Steve Bartman yelled at the TV about the “real killer.” Gonzalez booted a Grady Sizemore grounder (and it’s fun to watch how Sizemore’s speed makes infielders nervous) which opened the door to a three run rally in the seventh as Cleveland won it’s sixth game in a row.
It wasn’t without drama however. In the ninth, 420 pound closer Bob Wickman nearly gave up a game tying homer (that was foul by about a foot) to Toby Hall. Then with two outs and runners at second and third, Wickman clearly balked, but it wasn’t called. Lou Piniella went nuts, of course, and replays showed that Wickman didn’t even think about coming to a stop even though he was in the stretch. The batter, the great Jorge Cantu (and the little guy is really good) grounded out to Wickman to end the game.
Cleveland still has two games in Tampa Bay before heading to Toronto, and the Jays did them no favors last night, coughing up a ninth inning lead to the Yankees when the Indians had a chance to take the wild card lead alone.
Next up: Scott Elarton v. Tampa’s Seth McClung. McClung? Really? It sounds like something you’d order at a French McDonald’s. I’ll have the McLung value meal.
