[Bub13]

September 17-19 @ TEXAS
Another also-ran, at 69-77, fourth place. Great fielding, meh pitching, terrible hitting.

#147: WIN 10-2 ... Martinez with four more hits and his 20th HR...Collins and Mullen two hits apiece, Mullen with 4 RBI...Little gets his 15th win
#148: WIN 7-3 ... Hart goes to 8-2, and our 30-HR crew all knock one out (Dunklee 39, Drayton 34, Groff 30)
#149: WIN 2-1 ... Jones now 18-5 with a six-hit outing, and two run-scoring singles in the third are all we need

Shh. Don't say anything. No jinxes, no tempting fate. ELSEWHERE...The NL Central is still the closest race, with the Cubs desperately holding tight to their 2 game lead over the Reds. Montreal and Pittsburgh are 4.5 games back. All four teams are 5-5 in their last ten.


September 20-22 vs SEATTLE
It's all home games from here on in, baby. Oakland has a death grip on the first wildcard slot, but the Mariners (along with Miami) are just a game behind the Minny/Boston/Chicago trifecta. So they still have something to play for. Pitching and defense are still what wins games in Seattle, and their hitting is coming along (now up to 9th in AVG).

#150: WIN 10-0 ... a six-run eighth is the icing on the cake...Casillas with 16 wins, Drayton hits his 35th
#151: WIN 16-6 ... this time it's a nine-run third inning that turns the game...teams combine for six HR and 27 H...Win #100
#152: LOSS 6-8 ... wind was blowing in and the M's still hit five out...Drayton and Groff are close to 100 RBI, fwiw

Bad loss to end things here, but we still but up 32 runs on one of the best AL pitching staffs....Josh Robertson strains a hamstring and is out for two weeks. Rest up for the post-season, little man. ELSEWHERE...Austin fires manager Brendan Illies after going 61-87 this year. To be fair, that .412 win pct is the best he's ever had. Pitching coach Paul Konerko is the interim until the new coach is named....Cubs pitcher Mike Martin no-hits the Cardinals for the fifth no-no this season. The Cards have been no-hit twice (as have the Cubs, for that matter)....Nate Johnson (NYM) becomes the first player with 60 HR in a season since Bonds and Sosa did it in 2001.


September 24-26 vs HOUSTON
Currently in last place, the Astros became the first AL team to be officially eliminated from the post-season, thus bringing their home-early-for-fall streak to 20 years. Congrats!

#153: WIN 13-9 ... McArthur comes off the DL with 3 H, 2 RBI...Martinez 2 more HR...Hart Ks 11 but gives up 6 R in 6 IP...DIVISION CLINCHED!
#154: WIN 14-7 ... we can't get folks out now but we're still battering the tar out of the ball...Dunklee hits his 40th, Jones wins his 19th
#155: WIN 6-1 ... four more home runs and a sweep to boot...Casillas wins his 17th while striking out 11 (vs zero walks)

We clinched the division and the A's clinched the top wild card slot....Every position on the roster has hit at least 16 HR, save for second base (four between two players). ELSEWHERE...Cubs LF Riley White suffered his third straight late-year season-ending injury. Cubs are now just a game ahead of the Reds....Preston Sorensen (TOR) hit his 50th HR, the third time he's topped 50, and keeping him in the running for his third MVP award....Andy Raaff, who won 95 games with Philly last year and got let go for his troubles, is the new man in Austin. His batters love him, his rotation doesn't.

Playoff Watch! Toronto just clinched the AL East, and we won the West. Oakland has clinched a wildcard slot. KC is 5.5 up on the Twins, and will probably hold on to win the Central. That leaves the final wildcard battle thus: Minny and Chicago (81-74 each), Boston and Seattle (80-75 each), and Miami (79-77).

In the NL, LA is 5.5 up on Arizona, and the Mets (93-62) are 3 up on Richmond. The Cubs (88-67) are one up on the Reds (87-68). Should the current placings hold, you're looking at a wildcard race like this: Richmond (90 wins), Cincy and Arizona (87), Brooklyn (86), Pittsburgh (84).


September 27-30 vs LA ANGELS
The former greats are 66-89 and are sucking everyone's dust. It's a failing of management that they didn't trade 35-year-old C Jared Grose, who still has some pop (33 HR), but hey, maybe they've got ideas. Eight players on the DL and three starters hitting sub-Mendoza means Happy Days are still a long way off.

#156: WIN 5-3 ... Martinez hits a 2-run double in the third, and we scratch out enough runs with our eight singles to take the win
#157: LOSS 2-4 ... Grose drives in all four LA runs with three HR. I guess he was listening...Little injured in the first, diagnosis pending. NO.
#158: WIN 7-2 ... Hart wins his 10th, and we turn ten singles, two doubles, and four walks into seven runs...Groff still stuck at 99 RBI
#159: WIN 7-6 ... Jones misses his last chance at his 20th win (5 R, 6 IP), but Holguin's walk-off single wins it in the 10th

Solid series except for the large bit of bad news concerning Bobby Little: radial nerve (elbow) surgery, out for four months....Otherwise, it's all smiles here, and we finish September with a 23-4 record. Next up: Oakland and their 20-6 September record....Rob Hart is named September pitcher and rookie of the month, after going 2.83, 6-0, 51 K, 41 IP. ELSEWHERE...KC clinched the Central, and the #2 wildcard standings are: Chicago (84 wins), Seattle (83), Boston and Miami (82), Minny (81). None of the contenders play each other coming up....In the NL, LA won the West, and NY and Richmond clinched playoff spots, with NY currently up by a game over the Eagles. Other contenders are: Cincy (91 wins and 1st in the Central by 2 games); Brooklyn, Chicago, and Arizona at 89 wins. For the final games of the season, NY hosts Brooklyn, Cincy travels to Chicago, and Arizona hosts the Dodgers. Stay tuned!


October 1-3 vs OAKLAND
As I wrote above, they were nearly as hot as us in September, and they have the second best record in baseball with 96 wins. Statistically they don't overwhelm you anywhere, but they are solid all around, with the (not so minor) exceptions of a below average bullpen and a shaky defense. Star C Vinny Vargas and his 39 HR are on the DL, and in fact may miss the playoffs. Fine by me.

#160: WIN 5-1 ... we cut former Islander Tom DiFranco for 11 hits over 6 innings, as everyone gets a hit...Casillas goes the distance, yielding just 3 hits
***AL PLAYOFFS: Chicago (85 wins), Seattle (84), Miami (83); Boston and Minnesota lose and are eliminated. NL PLAYOFFS: Cincy wins the Central. NY and Richmond lose, Mets still up a game. Brooklyn (90), and Chicago/Arizona (89) still in it.
#161: rained out. Rescheduled as a double header tomorrow
***AL PLAYOFFS: Chicago (85) loses, Seattle (85) and Miami (84) win. NL PLAYOFFS: NY and Richmond lose again, Mets still up by one. (Both teams have clinched already.) Brooklyn (91) and Arizona (90) win, while the Cubs lose and are eliminated. Cubs went from first place on September 1 to winning 13 of their last 32 to go home early.
#161: LOSS 4-5 ... solo HR in the 11th gives the A's the win...Groff 3 hits, but still stuck at 99 RBI
#162: WIN 5-3 ... Clark subs for Little and gives us seven 3-hit innings...Groff hits a solo HR for his 100th ribbie! And nobody gets hurt
***AL PLAYOFFS: Seattle and Chicago win, tying at 86 wins and forcing the dreaded 1-game playoff. Miami eliminated. NL PLAYOFFS: Arizona wins and the Mets beat Brooklyn, giving us another 1-game playoff to decide a wildcard spot. Mets also clinch the East.
***WILDCARD PLAYOFF: Seattle chokes out Chicago 6-1, and Brooklyn rides a big first inning to beat Arizona 11-3 and make the playoffs for the first time in their sixteen seasons.

A good way to end the season, and now we get a few days off to rest everyone and get the top of the rotation ready. Losing Little will hurt, as now I'll probably have to use the rather unsteady Brock (if I pitch four starters; may only go three). Josh Robertson gets an "unknown" return date on his hamstring injury, so I'll have to juggle the lineup there too. ELSEWHERE...Props to the Robins for finally making the playoffs, especially after missing it on the last day of the season in 2037. San Francisco and Atlanta fired their GMs and Managers. No word on the Giants replacements. Atlanta won the World Series last year, but slipped to just 74 wins this time, so I guess that means it was all an illusion. Their new skipper is Brian Esposito, who I had in Richmond for nine seasons. He never won fewer than 91 games, yet was still unemployed for all of 2038.

Next up: PLAYOFFS!