News and notes from the playoff chase:
- Philadelphia hasn't been able to beat anybody in the last couple of weeks, but, then again, they haven't been playing teams as shaky as the Braves: the Phillies claimed a 4-2 win in Atlanta last night, running the Braves' losing streak to three games with two to play. The Braves insist they're remaining calm with the world crumbling around them, and they also claim they're focused on their own business and aren't worried about what the Cardinals are doing, but ...
- Speaking of what the Cardinals are doing: St. Louis picked a very bad time to play a very sloppy game, running into outs all over the basepaths and stranding 12 runners on base in a 10-inning, 5-4 loss to the Astros. The loss kept Atlanta's advantage at one game in the standings and reduced the Braves' magic number to two.
- Arizona also frittered away a plump opportunity last night, losing 4-2 to the Dodgers after Milwaukee dropped a 9-8 decision to the Pirates. A Diamondback win would've evened the teams in the standings, but the loss drops the Crew's magic number to clinch home field advantage in the NLDS to two.
The Wild Card race looks like this right now:
| W | L | GB | Last 10 | Streak | Wild Card E # |
|
|
Braves |
89 | 71 | -- | 3-7 | L3 |
-- |
| Cardinals | 88 | 72 | 1.0 | 6-4 | L1 |
2 |
| Giants | 85 | 75 | 4.0 |
5-5 | W1 | Done |
| Dodgers | 81 |
78 | 7.5 | 8-2 | W2 |
Done |
And here are the playoff participants, if the season ended today:
| W | L | GB | Last 10 | Streak | Magic # |
|
| Phillies (East) | 100 |
60 | -- |
2-8 | W2 | -- |
| Brewers (Central) | 94 | 66 | 6.0 | 7-3 | L1 | -- |
|
D-backs (West) |
93 | 67 | 7.0 | 6-4 | L1 |
-- |
|
Braves (Wild Card) |
89 | 71 | 11.0 |
3-7 | L3 | 2 |
On tap for today:
-
Philadelphia @ Atlanta: Oswalt (8-10, 3.86) vs. Derek Lowe (9-16, 4.92)
-
Milwaukee vs. Pittsburgh: Wolf (13-10, 3.61) vs. Ohlendorf (1-3, 8.29)
-
Arizona vs. Los Angeles: Parker (0-0, ---) vs. Kuroda (13-16, 3.17)
- St. Louis @ Houston: Westbrook (12-9, 4.48) vs. Sosa (3-5, 4.68)