Now is the Time to Panic

By Blaidd Drwg

A scant one month ago, on September 2nd, the AL and NL wild card standings looked like this:

It looked like the Sox and Braves were mortal locks. Injuries, poor play and a couple of hot streaks eventually brought us to this as of this morning with 2 games left to play:

The Giants were eliminated on Sunday and the Angels last night, so both divisions have a dog fight in the last 2 games. The Braves, just 8 – 15 in the month of September, have the unfortunate luck of matching up against the Phillies in Atlanta for the last 2. The Phillies are starting their regulars, so they aren’t rolling over and playing dead and making it easy on the Braves. Braves have to deal with Lowe vs. Oswalt tonight and Hudson vs. TBA tomorrow. I assume that pitcher is either going to be Joe Blanton or Tim Worley and not Cole Hamels, although Hamels would be in line to pitch game 3 of the NLDS on regular rest if he starts tomorrow.

The Cardinals play the worst team in baseball (the Astros) in Houston for the last 2. The Astros did beat the Cards last night behind their best starter, Wandy Rodriguez, and have Jake Westbrook and Chris Carpenter scheduled to start for their last 2 games, so they stand a pretty good chance, especially considering the opposing pitchers are Henry Sosa and Bret Myers.

Over in the AL, it is panic time for the Red Sox Nation. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote this as a comment to a post about the wild card race:

I am most concerned about the Yankees/Rays series at the end of the Month. If the Yankees have already clinched after playing the Sox and there is still a race between the Sox and the Rays, I would be concerned about the Yankees rolling over and playing dead, letting the Rays sweep the last 3.

Well, the worst case scenario is upon us. The Yankees started Hector Noesi last night, Bartolo Colon tonight and a TBA tomorrow. I would not be surprised if the TBA is someone making their first MLB start, while the Rays are countering with their 3 best pitchers – Shields, Hellickson and Price. The Yankees have been playing their regulars for part of the game and then pulling them out, so a sweep by the Rays, who are 15-8 in the month, is not out of the question.

As for the Red Sox, what can I say? They lost last night against the Orioles (!), dropping their record for the month to 6-17(!!!). I can’t imagine that they will be swept by the Orioles, so you have to figure that either Erik Bedard or Jon Lester will salvage at least one win. The critical game is tonight – the Sox need to win regardless of what the Rays do – and I would feel much more comfortable with a 1 game lead going into the last game of the season against the Orioles with Jon Lester on the mound.

What looked to be a boring September has turned out to be one hell of a finish.