Alright, so it seems that "Inside the NL" was perhaps just a little too hasty last week when it counted the Houston Astros and San Francisco Giants as just temporary National League wild card contenders. This is what was said, just to show "Inside the NL" is not shirking its mistakes: "the Giants could fade very quickly with a one-man rotation named Jason Schmidt and a disastrous bullpen." And about the 'Stros, who have 20 percent of their starting rotation on the DL: "Good pitching wins ballgames..."
Naturally, much like the Boston Red Sox' Kevin Millar, who has caught fire after NESN's "Angry Bill" upbraided him about his first half slump, both teams have since responded by locking onto the wild card leading Chicago Cubs and not letting go.
Houston has won 12 straight through yesterday afternoon's action, better than even Boston's recent ten-gamer. Kudos go to Roy Oswalt and The Rocket (three wins each), and Pete Munro (2-0). And none of them even pitched particularly well - note their Mike Mussina-esque combined ERA of 5.61.
But regardless of the score, the Astros are winning. So maybe bad pitching can still win ballgames. Just ask pre-trade deadline Derek Lowe. They've received some great offense from the "Killer B's" - Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Lance Berkman and Carlos "Rental" Beltran - with Jeff Kent and Mike Lamb chipping in.
San Fran and the Cubbies may both be just 5-5 over their last ten games, but the Giants haven't faded from contention yet. They could very well still crack due to lack of pitching depth, despite BALCO Barry's quest for 700 homers. But it's fun to watch a playoff battle like this one.
The Giants and Astros meet for a three-game set later this month, which could help determine who goes home before October. The Cubs, however, could face the easiest road to the wild card, with a relatively easy September schedule of non-contenders like the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and the New York Mets.
But don't look now, the Florida Marlins are coming! The Fish won their eighth straight on Tuesday night over the lowly Mets to settle in just two games out of the wild card lead. Florida has a mixed schedule over the next couple weeks, including series against the Montreal Expos, NL East-leading Atlanta Braves and the disappointing Philadelphia Phillies, who seem to lose every time they go to Florida. Is it the weather?
With a strong pen consisting of Guillermo Mota and "El Foldo" Armando Benitez - who remarkably has just three blown saves this season - the Marlins have the staff to carry them this month. Whether they can stay competitive offensively is not so much of an issue since they added Juan Encarnacion and the hot-hitting Paul Lo Duca at the trade deadline. The pair joins current sizzler Miguel Cabrera in anchoring the lineup.
The Marlins, Cubs, Astros and Giants could be tough news for the San Diego Padres, who remain just off the wild card pace, but continue to scratch out wins.
Last week, Inside the NL discussed the St. Louis Cardinals in the Central and the Braves in the East, with both teams basically guaranteed to win their respective divisions. But in the NL West, the race is far from over. The Pads and Giants are wild card contenders, but neither team is completely out of division title consideration either.
San Diego, San Francisco and the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers will play one another a total of 16 more times this month. So as many times as we have to listen to "Welcome to the Jungle" when Eric Gagne marches in from the Dodger bullpen, the residents of Chavez Ravine will still be looking over their shoulders in September.
LA leads the West because of three factors. They have great defense (just 59 errors as a team through Tuesday), decent offense, including career years from third baseman Adrian Beltre and shortstop Cesar Izturis, and solid pitching, even though Kaz Ishii is the team leader with just 13 wins.
But that could all change very quickly when the three teams begin facing off. Just like the Anaheim-Oakland-Texas battle in the AL West this month, the trio could help cost one another a shot at the playoffs.
And what does that mean? Well, maybe Roger Clemens or Nomar Garciaparra will be saying "told ya so" to a couple of East Coast cities come October.
