Pennant Race Matchups for the Weekend
September 21, 2007 by Geoff Young
Filed under Games Worth Watching
San Diego Padres outfielder Scott Hairston, who hit a walkoff homer Wednesday night against the Pirates, takes a mighty cut.
Teams are running out of time to make their move. The AL West and Central have been decided — if not mathematically, then practically speaking. The AL East is still up for grabs, but unless you’re a fan of the Red Sox or Yankees, that’s not a particularly compelling story line seeing that the runner-up almost certainly will win the wild card.
In the National League, things are a little more interesting. The Mets continue their free fall and now are just 1 1/2 games ahead of Philadelphia in the East. The Mets head to Florida for a series with the Marlins (hopefully in front of more than 375 people), while the Phillies are in Washington to face the Nationals. Advantage? Well, someone has the opportunity to make up ground in the wild card race.
The same 1 1/2 game gap separates the Cubs from second-place Milwaukee in the Central. Chicago plays host to the Pirates, fresh off losing four straight in San Diego; the Brewers face the Braves in Atlanta. This could be a great chance for the Cubs to get some separation headed into the final week.
Out west, meanwhile, Arizona’s lead over the Padres has slipped to a half game, while the Rockies — a long shot — find themselves five out and playing excellent baseball. The Diamondbacks are at home against the stumbling Dodgers. Here in San Diego, two of the hottest teams in the National League square off in what could be the Rockies’ last grasp at a playoff shot — a tremendous run considering their extreme youth and relative inexperience.
The real question is how much pride the Dodgers will play with now that they’re essentially out of the race. If you’re a fan of the Padres or Rockies, you hope LA will come out fighting. The Dodgers have been so inconsistent that it’s impossible to say which team will show up over the weekend.
Whatever happens, we’ve got some potentially exciting matchups. Seriously, is this the best time of the season or what?
This is a fun time of the year, even if my Braves and Mariners are not even going to so much as sniff at the post season.
That’s why I’ve adopted the Padres for the final stretch and into the playoffs. They’ve got strong pitching, and with the way the play offs are set up this year – they may only need Peavy and Young in the first round.
It’s this time of the year I love being a baseball fan.