The Fynal Out: At least one race is heating up

It’s looking like the only “race” that’s going to be competitive coming down the stretch is the one for the N.L.’s Wild Card spot.

The top four teams are separated by just 2.5 games, and were all in action against each other last night.

Of those four teams, the Dodgers are probably the most surprising. An early contender in many people’s eyes, the Dodgers faded quickly in mid season, and were considered to be out of it.

But last night’s win over the Padres made them one of those teams trailing by just 2.5 games.

Los Angeles has won 6 of it’s last 10, and will face the Padres again tonight.

Padres 1, Dodgers 6: James Loney came up a triple short of the cycle in going 3-for-4 and hitting his fifth home run in six games. Sub Chad Billingsley (filling in for Derek Lowe) went 6 strong innings to get his 11th win of the season.

Rockies 12, Phillies 0: Philly is possibly the only team that could turn a triple play in the same game they lose 12-0. After hitting into the 3-outer, Matt Holliday homered in his fourth-straight game, a 3-run shot in the third.

Yankees 4, Blue Jays 1: Remember yesterday I said Phil Hughes posed the largest threat to the Yankees streak? Yea, that was before I saw last night’s starter. Somehow back in the rotation, Mike Mussina held the Jays scoreless over 5 2/3 innings, stretching the New York winning streak to 7 games. No player on the Yankees had more than 1 hit.

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The Fynal Out: Yanks keep rolling

Unlike some other teams I root for around here (ahem, Detroit), the Yankees are actually streaking at the right time of the season.

About a week and half ago, it seemed the Tigers could realistically catch the Yankees (who’ve been up-and-down all year) in the Wild Card race.

Now, it’s looking pretty impossible.

Last night, behind a Jason Giambi grand slam and 6 strong innings of work by Phil Hughes, the Yanks won again. The streak is now at six in a row.

Yankees 9, Blue Jays 2: If anyone was going to bring the New York streak to a screeching halt, it was Hughes, who hadn’t won since Aug. 10. But the young gun was excellent, allowing just 2 hits and lowering his season ERA to 4.91.

Brewers 6, Pirates 1: The N.L. Central is getting more annoying than exciting. Milwaukee rookie Yovani Gallardo has pretty much solidified his spot in the starting rotation, pitching a shut out through 6 innings while striking out seven Pirates. Prince Fielder hit his 44th home run of the season as the Brew Crew moved (yet again) to the top of the division.

Cubs 4, Astros 5 (F/11): See if this sounds familiar. The Cubs jump out to an early lead, get 5 strong innings from their bullpen, then bring in Ryan Dempster…you know how this ends. Dumpster gave up a walk-off triple in the 11th last night to drop the Cubs out of first. We’ve said before, Dempster isn’t that bad, he just seems to have horrible luck. Oh yea, and fans cringe when he heads to the mound. That’s always good.

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The Fynal Out: Any roar left?

With two outs in the 9th last night, it looked like the Tigers’ chances of playing in their second consecutive postseason were slim.

But as he’s done so many times this season, Magglio Ordoñez changed everything with one swing of the bat.

Mags hit a walk-off, two-run single which capped off a 4-run ninth as Detroit pulled within 3.5 games of the Yankees in the Wild Card race.

Of course, Cleveland couldn’t lose and help the brothers out, they beat the already-packed-it-in White Sox, 6-2. Play someone!

Blue Jays 4, Tigers 5: Detroit quite possibly has the worst luck in all of baseball. After Jeremy Bonderman’s potentially season-ending injury, Pudge Rodriguez suffered a dizzy spell and Joel Zumaya nearly tore off a fingernail — all this after Kenny Rogers was attacked by a bee the other day at the stadium. Why do you hate us baseball god?

Cardinals 3, Cubs 12: The Cubs, absolutely fed up with being in second their entire lives, pounded St. Louis yesterday to move back into a tie for first. Ted Lilly struck out seven over 7 innings to set his career high in wins — 15. For the record, I picked the Cubs, I just don’t believe in them.

Diamondbacks 5, Giants 3: We also selected Arizona to win its division, and what looked like a division race with the Padres is slowly growing into a insurmountable margin. The Diamondbacks are bringing the hotness once again (they’ve won 6 in a row), while the Padres are being the Padres — 4-6 in their last 10. In this case, the youth is going to prevail.

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The Fynal Out: That’s about right

As far as action goes, there wasn’t much of it yesterday in Major League Baseball.

But, there’s always something happening at Wrigley.

And yesterday, it was pretty much what we expect out of the Cubs.

Soriano leads off with a home run. Jason Marquis retires the first 14 batters he sees, exits in the 7th. Ryan Dumpster trots in, gives up four runs in the ninth.

If the Cubs make the playoffs, this is how every game is going to go down. Full of heartbreak.

Anyway, the Dodgers won the game on Andre Ethier’s pinch-hit three-run homer in the ninth. They also won three of the four games in the series. They also sent the Cubs back into a tie for first.

Dodgers 7, Cubs 4: Soriano’s lead-off shot was only his first of the game, he added another three-run, go-ahead dinger in the 7th. It wasn’t enough to save the Cubs from Dempster though. The guy isn’t actually that bad, but everyone cringes when he heads to the mound, not a good sign for October.

White Sox 2, Tigers 3: Finally, it feels like fall again in Detroit. Although still with a lot of ground to make up, the Tigers are finally winning some ball games. The Cardiac Cats patiently waited for Placido Polanco’s walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th for the win.

Pirates 4, Cardinals 16: Rick Ankiel (the best feel-good story ever, in the history of sports. ever) had 7 RBI in the game, rocking two home runs. The Cardinals season-high 22 hits were good enough (combined with the Cubs’ loss) to move the team within 1 game of first in the N.L. Central. We should have picked the Cards…sigh.

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The Fynal Out: Back at it

A-Rod is good again!

Well, at least worth being the lead SportsCenter item again.

Mr. Rod went yard twice in the same inning last night to help pile on the pounding of the Mariners taking place at Yankee Stadium.

Although catching the Red Sox may be impossible, we all know it doesn’t matter how the Yanks get to the playoffs (except to us, because we picked them to win the East of course).

And the way New York is playing right now, someone is going to have to pry the Wild Card lead out of its clutches. The Tigers and the M’s aren’t looking like much competition right now.

Mariners 2, Yankees 10: A-Rod’s two home runs were just part of an 8-run seventh inning which was just enough to edge Seattle (not!). Jarrod Washburn showed he sucks in all months, not just August (1-5). We joke, Washburn only allowed 2 ER on three hits, but that damn bullpen! The M’s have lost 11 of their last 12.

Padres 6, Diamondbacks 9: At least one of our earlier predictions has a chance of coming true. The D-Backs took back first in the West by knocking around the extremely underrated Jake Peavy (pitching on 3 days rest). Maybe next time Peavy won’t ask to pitch on limited rest, he gave up a career-high 8 ER.

Astros 2, Brewers 14: Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Corey Hart all (ALL!!) hit three-run home runs to finally get the Brewers headed back in the right direction. With a half-game to make up in the Central, the Brew Crew heads to lowly Cincinnati. It’s gonna happen Cubs.

**It’s gonna be a little slow around here today, apologies for that. It will be made up to you later tonight/early tomorrow morning.**

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The Fynal Out: Tamed

Pretty much all the Tigers had to do to put some pressure on Cleveland in the A.L. Central was sweep the White Sox.

Chicago IS in last place in the division, three games back of Kansas City.

You would think welcoming them to Detroit for a series would be sweet relief for the Tigers.

But no, see the Tigers are better on the road than they are at home. And that man to the left, that’s Jeremy Bonderman, who’s officially awful when he needs to be great.

So now, the division lead is 7 games. This was one of the tightest and most competitive races a month ago.

Now, the possibility of two A.L. Central teams in the playoffs looks about as probable as two N.L. Central teams playing in October.

Where’s the fiery Leyland speech? About how you aren’t going to take it anymore? It’s about time for one of those.

White Sox 3, Tigers 1: Jon Garland pitched a gem for Chicago, scattering seven hits during seven innings of work. The only Tigers’ run came off the bat of Carlos Guillen, who went 2-for-4. Detroit’s fifth loss in seven games has them 3.5 games out of the Wild Card.

Pirates 2, Cardinals 6: Yea, yea, so the Brewers have narrowed the N.L. Central lead to a half game. The Cubs continue tanking. And so on. But the Cardinals, the Cardinals are 7-3 in their last 10, and now just 1 game back. Everyone’s favorite firecracker David Eckstein was 3-for-4 in the game and Joel Pineiro got the win. We immediately regret choosing the Cubs to win the division.

Dodgers 6, Cubs 2: Still love Kerry Wood, Chicago? The former ace gave up two big runs out of the bullpen to ruin Steve Trachsel’s return to the Windy City. Matt Kemp went 4-for-5 for the Dodgers, but the most impressive stat of the game? 2:51. That’s gotta be a record for shortest game with Trachsel pitching.

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The Fynal Out: Another no-no

Picking the worst weekend the entire year to make sports history, Clay Buchholz decided to throw this season’s third no-hitter Saturday.

Even more impressive, Buchholz was making only his second start for the Red Sox.

Quick, name the last person to start his major-league career 2-0 with a no-hitter. Yea, me neither.

Meanwhile, Boston has now won three in a row and opened up (yet another) seven game lead in the A.L. East.

However, things aren’t looking completely bleak in the Bronx, the Yanks (even with their loss to Seattle Monday) are still in sole possession of first in the Wild Card race.

Blue Jays 10, Red Sox 13: Things weren’t looking competitive when Boston jumped out to a 10-1 lead after four innings Monday, but Toronto did all they could (they’re Canadians, remember) to make it competitive. The Blue Birds put up eight runs in the 6th, seven of them earned runs attributed to Dice-K. The Red Sox put up three of their own in the bottom half though, and the Asian Invasion got the (ugly) win.

Phillies 1, Braves 5: While everyone was busy downing hot dogs and trying not to drown after not waiting an hour to swim, the Phillies were making last week’s sweep of the Mets seem years past. Philly has now lost three in a row, the Mets have won four straight, and the division lead is now an even 5 games.

Mariners 7, Yankees 1: Speaking of collapses, remember when the M’s were entering that crucial series with the Angels? It was going to determine who won the division and all that jazz. Well, heading into yesterday’s game at Yankee Stadium, Seattle had lost (at least once a day) every day since Aug. 25. Ichiro’s 200th hit of the season (a homer off Clemens, surprise, surprise) helped stop the streak. Seattle’s now 6.5 games behind the Angels out West.

Cleveland 5, Twins 0: Here at the Cut, we’d like to personally thank the Twins for sucking so hard against Cleveland. In the last week, the Tribe has beaten the Twinkies four times (Nos. 5 and 6 come tonight and tomorrow), helping Cleveland open up a 6.5 game lead in the Central. Well, not that the Tigers are doing their part either.

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The Fynal Out: The Brewers are done

Like the sign says, “It’s gonna happen.”

Although we don’t necessarily think this means the Cubs “are gonna” win the division. It just means the Brewers will complete this giant collapse of theirs.

The struggling Crew has dropped 11 of its last 14 games, including five L’s in a row. Right beside them (for now) is St. Louis, a team that’s won three in a row and six of its last 10.

Brewers 3, Cubs 5: It was said Milwaukee needed a great game out of Jeff Suppan to win this crucial series opener. Well, Suppan was pretty stellar, giving up just two runs in six-plus. As soon as he was gone, though, the Cubs had their fun, scoring four runs in the seventh inning. The suddenly hot Jacque Jones had a two-run double and scored the game-winning run.

Red Sox 3, Yankees 5: Although maybe a case of too little, too late, New York got its statement win Tuesday night at the Stadium. Johnny Damon broke a tie in the seventh with a two-run shot that prompted the headline “Johnny Drama: Damon beats former entourage.” Is there a pop culture reference hiding in there?

Tigers 3, Royals 6: A day after showing they could win a series against a top team (Yankees), Detroit managed to lose its opener to Kansas City. Strangely enough, the Tigers had 16 hits in the game and Placido Polanco tied a club record for the most three-hit games since 1957 (23). Worse yet, Cleveland beat Minnesota again.

Diamondbacks 4, Padres 6: Ace Brandon Webb was off his game, walking three and hitting a batter, and San Diego took advantage. A four-run sixth inning propelled the Padres to the win, and the club is now just one game back in the West. Didn’t this used to be the Dodgers’ division? Like three months ago?
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The Fynal Out: Bronx bombed

Heading into last night’s game at Comerica Park, Yankees’ pitcher Mike Mussina needed practically a perfect start to stay in the New York starting rotation.

His outing was far from it.

Mussina lasted three innings, giving up six runs and nine hits.

From the other pen, the Tigers’ Justin Verlander looked his best since throwing a no-hitter in June.

The young flamethrower threw seven innings of three-hit ball and had six strikeouts.

When it was all over, Detroit had piled on 16 runs on 20 hits, including a triple by Sean Casey (yes, a triple), his first of the season. Placido Polanco, Curtis Granderson and Brandon Inge each had three hits.

The Yankees now head to Boston, practically needing a series sweep to put any pressure on the A.L. East leaders.

Yankees 0, Tigers 16: The somewhat reeling Tigers hadn’t won a series in a month, hadn’t beat the Yankees in a series at Comerica since 2001. A drubbing of Mussina put some fears to rest, especially combined with Verlander returning to early-season form. All that said, Detroit placed slugger Gary Sheffield on the DL before the game. Rumors of a trade for the Pirates’ Jack Wilson are swirling today.

Twins 3, Indians 8: Detroit’s big win meant very little in the A.L. Central standings paired with Cleveland’s pounding of Minnesota. The Twins’ Carlos Silva pitched a gem, giving up seven runs in 3 2/3. Cleveland remains 2.5 games up in the division.

Angels 6, Mariners 0: In the first game of a crucial series, the Angels cruised. John Lackey pitched a complete-game shutout while Garrett Anderson provided most of the offense with a solo shot and a two-run double.

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The Fynal Out: This week will change the season

As you probably know, we picked the Diamondbacks to win the N.L. West, so the thinking was this weekend’s series with the Cubs was going to be a good indication of how that whole prediction would play out.

So far, so good.

After dropping the first game of the series 6-2, Arizona bounced back to squeak out a 3-1 win on Friday and capped off the series with another close one Saturday (5-4).

The two wins kept the Diamondbacks 3 games up in the division, while the Cubs cling to a 1.5 game lead in the disaster that is the N.L. Central.

Both teams start showdowns that can make or break their divisions today as the Cubs welcome the Brew Crew and the Diamondbacks head to San Diego. Other showdowns between first and second place teams this week include: Angels @ Mariners, Red Sox @ Yankees and Mets @ Phillies.

Cubs 4, Diamondbacks 5: Chris Young (above) went yard in his first at-bat, then added a three-run shot in the second to put Arizona up for good. The Diamondback bullpen held the Cubs scoreless over the last five innings.

Yankees 4, Tigers 5: Basically, Curtis Granderson is the balls. The leadoff man who continues to amaze hit an inside-the-park home run to lift Detroit, who lost pitcher Jair Jurrjens in the second inning with shoulder tightness. The last three Tiger relievers held the Yankees scoreless.

Red Sox 11, White Sox 1: Remember when we called for Ozzie Guillen’s head? Yea…that’s looking a bit overdue now. The Sox (pale) are now in dead last in the Central. They’re 1.5 games behind THE ROYALS. There were Red Sox fans all over Chi this weekend, and they got their money’s worth as Boston outscored Chicago 46-7 in the four-game set. Seriously. Fire Ozzie.

Braves 1, Cardinals 4: While the Brewers and Cubs are tanking, St. Louis continues to hang on (just 2 games back). Adam Wainwright was brilliant for the Cards, giving up just six hits, the lone Braves run coming on a Brian McCann RBI single. St. Louis has won two in a row and heads to reeling Houston while the Cubs and Brewers duke it out.

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