EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted September 24, 2003 Philadelphia @ Florida Well, after that abomination of a game yesterday, the Phillies need to take the next two games to stay in the race. They'll put Brett Myers on the mound against Josh Beckett. NY Yankees @ Chicago White Sox Mike Mussina vs. Esteban Loazia. The White Sox are out of playoff contention. The Yankees are seeking home field advantage. The draw here is Esteban Loazia's final push for Cy Young, and twenty wins. San Francisco @ Houston Sidney Ponson vs. Roy Oswalt. The Astros need to turn it around NOW. They trail the Cubs by a game in the NL Central. The Giants are looking to gain home field advantage. Montreal @ Atlanta Zach Day vs. Russ Ortiz. Atlanta looks for home field advantage. Texas @ Oakland Jacquin Benoit vs. Tim Hudson. The A's have clinched their division. They're 3 1/2 back of the Yankees for home field advantage, so they might as well kick back and start setting their postseason rotation. Seattle @ Anaheim Ryan Franklin vs. John Lackey. The Mariners are screwed. Baltimore @ Boston Pat Hentgen vs. John Burkett. The Sox hold a three game lead over the M's in the Wild Card, which they hope to maintain over the last five games. They've been eliminated from the race for the East crown, since there wouldn't be a tiebreaker. Chicago Cubs @ Cincinnati Shawn Estes vs. Josh Hall. The Cubs are racing towards the finish line. They hold a game lead over the Astros in the Central. St. Louis @ Milwaukee Matt Morris vs. Matt Kinney. The Cards are 3 1/2 games behind the Cubs in the NL Central, with only four to play on their part. Los Angeles @ San Diego Kevin Brown vs. Ben Howard. The Dodgers are 3 1/2 games back, but they have six games left. They're likely out of the race. Eric Gagne has 54 saves, however, and if he approaches Bobby Thigpen's record, then the Dodgers will remain interesting. Games that don't matter Tampa Bay @ Toronto Pittsburgh @ NY Mets Detroit @ Kansas City Cleveland @ Minnesota Arizona @ Colorado Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted September 24, 2003 Cubbies are looking good. Two against the Reds, then a stretch against the Pirates at home? I like their chances. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bruiser Chong 0 Report post Posted September 24, 2003 Yeah, but ESTES? I thought they had realized how much he sucks and replaced him with Cruz. Cruz isn't a whole lot better yet, but he's got potential to be pretty good and he shows it at times, where as Estes just flat out sucks. Oh well, maybe this'll be a good night to give the bullpen some innings since they do need to get working if they really wanna be in the playoffs and actually have some effect. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted September 24, 2003 I guess they figured against the reds, they could take the estes risk. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted September 24, 2003 Keep in mind I still think the Cubs will choke dramatically in the playoffs, as they're not allowed to win the series until 2006. gotta make it an even 100 years. Edit: or did they last win in '08? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CanadianChris 0 Report post Posted September 24, 2003 Felipe Alou has said that he's going to be resting his starters today to effectively give them two days off heading into the final weekend. Now, can the Astros take advantage? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted September 24, 2003 If bonds still plays and he will so he can get the HR monkey at least Mays off for the off season and focus on MAYBE hitting 55 for the babe next year... Astros wont be cruising... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sfaJack 0 Report post Posted September 24, 2003 Keep in mind I still think the Cubs will choke dramatically in the playoffs, as they're not allowed to win the series until 2006. gotta make it an even 100 years. Edit: or did they last win in '08? It was '08. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sfaJack 0 Report post Posted September 24, 2003 Now, can the Astros take advantage? They better. After last night's abomination, they're looking like the same old crunch time Half-Astros. GO CUBS! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bruiser Chong 0 Report post Posted September 24, 2003 Now that they've got their own fate in their hands, the Cubs just need to keep winning and the rest shall fall into place. If they do make it into the playoffs, it'll be interesting, as they've got a nice mix of young guys (both inexperienced and experienced) and vets who've been there before. You figure, in a short series, facing Prior, Wood, and Zambrano wouldn't be a task that many teams would like to take on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sfaJack 0 Report post Posted September 24, 2003 Now that they've got their own fate in their hands, the Cubs just need to keep winning and the rest shall fall into place. If they do make it into the playoffs, it'll be interesting, as they've got a nice mix of young guys (both inexperienced and experienced) and vets who've been there before. You figure, in a short series, facing Prior, Wood, and Zambrano wouldn't be a task that many teams would like to take on. I think WHEN the Cubs get in, if the pitching holds up like it should, then Moises Alou is the key to winning. Sammy hardly ever gets any hits in the clutch, and Alou has been awesome in the playoffs in his career. If he hits, the Cubs should be able to hang with anyone, with the possible exception of the Giants. I think they may be too well balanced for anybody in the National League. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KingPK 0 Report post Posted September 24, 2003 Baltimore @ Boston Pat Hentgen vs. John Burkett. The Sox hold a three game lead over the M's in the Wild Card, which they hope to maintain over the last five games. They've been eliminated from the race for the East crown, since there wouldn't be a tiebreaker. They won't have to worry about maintaining a lead if they win and Seattle loses, because the Magic Number is only 2. Kinda wish I had tickets to this one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bruiser Chong 0 Report post Posted September 24, 2003 I think the funny (or not so funny thing for Cubs fans) is that the reason the offense has suffered at times, is because the three and four hitters (Sosa and Alou) don't usually come through when they're needed. The two first guys in the batting lineup tend to get on (or at least one of them) and so many times, Sosa and Alou have failed to even move them along. You won't go anywhere if your top hitters aren't getting anything done. Alou's been better lately, but Sosa rarely seems to get the job done, whether it's a clutch situation or not. He's never been a guy I've wanted up there in a clutch situation, because he just doesn't have the patience needed to make something of such an at bat. Luckily, Alou and Ramirez are getting hot at the right time, and the two leadoff hitters tend to have a good on-base percentage, so it's starting to show up on the scoreboard. But if the Cubs continue to not take advantage of the majority of their scoring chances, they won't go far. I've seen them come out of what should've been a huge inning with a run or nothing too many times. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JangoFett4Hire 0 Report post Posted September 24, 2003 Mariners just lost, so Red Sox can sew up the Wild Card tonight with a win... can you feel it? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Bobby Cox is God Report post Posted September 25, 2003 Score update on the Sox: The O's 7, The Sox 1. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vern Gagne 0 Report post Posted September 25, 2003 Loaiza got his 20th. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
