I apologize to those of you who have missed reading my blog over the last couple of weeks. But I'm back with a vengeance, and I'll be writing through October and into the hot stove off-season.
Since coming over from the Nats, Luis Ayala turned his season around and looked great in the closer role for the Mets. Until last night. Casey Kotchman, who was 6-9 in the series despite his .219 batting average since joining the Braves in the Mark Teixiera trade, and pinch hitter Kelly Johnson, the resident Met-killer, led off the ninth with back-to-back singles off Ayala. Then Greg Norton stepped up to the plate as a pinch hitter, and belted a line drive over the right field fence on the eighth pitch of the at-bat. The home run gave the Braves a 5-4 lead, and the blown save was Ayala's second, and the 27th of the season for the Mets' bullpen. The two runs Atlanta tacked on against Pedro Feliciano were just gravy, as the Mets came up empty in the bottom of the ninth against Mike Gonzalez. Meanwhile, the Phillies swept a double header from the Brewers to pull within a game of the Mets (two in the loss column) for the lead in the NL East.
It's been well documented how unreliable the Mets bullpen has been this season, both with and without Billy Wagner. Should the Mets fail to win the division like last year the blame will be squarely on the bullpen's shoulders. As a unit they have underperformed and have not pitched as consistently as they should have. Jerry Manuel has done a fine job since taking over as manager, and he has played the matchup game with this bullpen as well as he could have. The bottom line is that the pitchers he has to choose from in his bullpen frankly just aren't any good. Regardless of whether the Mets make the playoffs this season, Omar Minaya's first off-season priority will be to upgrade the bullpen--something he failed to do after last year's September collapse.
Around The League
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have clinched the AL West, and this is the earliest any team has clinched the division in the Wild Card Era, which started in 1993. There has been some controversy over whether clinching early is good for a team's chances in the playoffs from a momentum standpoint. Ordinarily I would think a long layoff between meaningful games can be detrimental to a team's performance in the postseason. There have been examples of this in each of the last two years. In 2006, the Cardinals barely eked out the NL Central title at 83-78, but beat the Padres and Mets, who had the two best NL records, in the playoffs en route to a World Series title. And then of course, the improbable run of the Colorado Rockies last year stands out. They won 14 of their last 15 regular season games, then beat the Padres in a one-game playoff to win the NL Wild Card, and then swept the Phillies and Diamondbacks on their way to face the Red Sox in the World Series. Then, after a long layoff between clinching the NL pennant and the game one of the World Series, the Rockies' fortune reversed, and they got swept by the less-rested Red Sox. For this year's Angels though, I think the excellent coaching of one of baseball's best managers, Mike Scioscia, will keep the team focused in October, and the Angels will be ready to roll when the postseason begins.
Manny Ramirez and the Dodgers' hot starting pitching has Los Angeles in first place by 4.5 games over the Diamondbacks in the NL West. Just 10 games ago, Arizona was in first by 1.5 games, but the Dodgers have won eight of 10 and the D'Backs have lost eight of 10 to turn the tables.
After sweeping a four-game series against Milwaukee, the Phillies are now tied with the Brewers for the lead in the NL Wild Card race. The red-hot Astros are just 2.5 games behind after losing two straight to the Cubs in Milwaukee (due to hurricane conditions in Houston). Milwaukee fired manager Ned Yost today with just 12 games remaining. This is a stunning move--clearly a sign that the front office views this season as a one-time chance at winning a pennant. Dale Sveum replaces Yost as interim manager for the remainder of the season, and it will be interesting to see how the team responds to the managerial change this late in the year.
The AL East and Central races have tightened up as well. Tampa Bay now just leads Boston by one game, and Chicago leads Minnesota by just 1.5 games. Should the Rays falter and finish in second place, they will still win the AL Wild Card in all likelihood, as Boston currently leads the Twins by eight games in that race.
Keywords: Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Billy Wagner, Boston Red Sox, Casey Kotchman, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, Dale Sveum, Greg Norton, Houston Astros, Jerry Manuel, Kelly Johnson, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Los Angeles Dodgers, Luis Ayala, Manny Ramirez, Mark Teixiera, Mike Gonzalez, Mike Scioscia, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, Ned Yost, New York Mets, Omar Minaya, Pedro Feliciano, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Washington Nationals
