Myers Attacks Nationals, Pettite Battles Pirates, and Other Games to Watch on Tuesday

We’ll dispense with the niceties today and cut to the chase. Here are your key games for Tuesday, September 26, 2006:

National League

• Phillies at Nationals, 4:05 p.m. PT – The Phillies, behind MVP candidate Ryan Howard, are 15-8 in the month of September. With six games left in the season, they’re tied with the Dodgers for the NL wild card lead. Staff ace Brett Myers takes the mound for Philly, while Washington waits to see whether Ryan Zimmerman can win Rookie of the Year in a strong crop and how much Alfonso Soriano will command on the open market this winter.
• Astros at Pirates, 4:05 p.m. PT – Houston, we have a shot at the playoffs. Okay, it’s a remote shot, but that’s a lot more than the Astros had last week, before they’d rolled off six straight wins while the Cardinals were busy losing six in a row. The Astros still have to overcome some pretty long odds, but they’ve already done that just to get here, and they do have Andy Pettitte going for them on Tuesday. The Pirates, meantime, have Jason Bay.
• Padres at Cardinals, 5:10 p.m. PT – Cy Young candidate Chris Carpenter goes for St. Louis, which suddenly can’t remember how to win games, while former Redbird Woody Williams gets the start for the Padres. The Cardinals are 9-14 in September and are holding on for dear life. The Padres, at 16-7, have the best record in the NL this month and are looking to clinch their second consecutive division title.
• Dodgers at Rockies, 5:35 p.m. PT – The Dodgers are 33-42 on the road this season, while the Rockies are 44-34 at Coors Field. Greg Maddux tries to bounce back from Wednesday night’s loss against the Pirates at Dodger Stadium. He’ll face Jason Jennings, who has enjoyed unreasonable success at home in 2006.
• Diamondbacks at Giants, 7:15 p.m. PT – Brandon Webb is Carpenter’s chief competition for the Cy Young Award. Webb starts this game at Phone Company Park in San Francisco, which makes it the only game without playoff implications worth watching.

American League

• Blue Jays at Tigers, 4:05 p.m. PT – They’re already in; now the Tigers and Twins are just trying to figure out which of them takes the division and which takes the wild card. Detroit needs to win its final six games of the season to reach 100 victories. The Yankees are the only other team with a chance to accomplish that feat.
• Royals at Twins, 5:10 p.m. PT – This one has the potential to be very ugly, but it’s an excuse to watch Johan Santana pitch. He’s pretty much the Ella Fitzgerald of AL pitchers: the only discussion that makes sense is who’s second best.

That’s one man’s opinion, anyway…