Monday, September 12, 2005 games - While Eagles are Losing at Atlanta, the Phillies Beat Atlanta, 4-1!
As I write this, the bizarre opening "Monday Night Football" game of the 2005 season, is on behind me on ABC, as the Eagles' Jeremiah Trotter and the Falcons' Kevin Mathis were both ejected a half hour before the contest, during the pregame assembly at the 50-yard line at the Georgia Dome. The Eagles currently trail the Falcons 14-10. The ABC opening sequence was clever and well-done, with air traffic controllers feigning a crisis between a "Falcon" and "Eagle" (Michael Vick and Donovan McNabb, of course) and a cameo appearance by legendary New York Jets QB Joe Namath ("Jets" - get it?)
However, the Philly vs. Atlanta, North vs. South, battle of genuine importance was on the diamond at Citizens Bank Park, not the gridiron at the Georgia Dome. The Phillies, behind rookie Eude Brito, defeated a torrid Atlanta squad and Tim Hudson (12-8), by a 4-1 score. It was Brito's first major league victory, as he replaced the injured Vicente Padilla in the rotation. Padilla had been pitching very well of late and Brito did yeoman's work as his replacement. Closer Billy Wagner recovered from a brutal series against Houston last week, retiring the Braves in order in the 9th, to record his 33rd save of the season.
In one of the sport's many ironies, the venerable former Phillie, Julio Franco, made the last out for Atlanta in the 9th. Franco played for the 1983 NL-pennant winning Phillies, when Brito was five years old. (Franco was also one of the five players the Phillies traded to Cleveland for Von Hayes shortly afterward, but the only one of any significance).
Brito was awesome, keeping Atlanta scoreless for six innings, and was lifted for pinch-hitter Tomas Perez in the bottom of the 6th. Brito permitted only three hits and one walk, while striking out seven Braves. Atlanta's only run came in the 8th, when pinch-hitter Todd Hollandsworth homered off setup man Ugueth Urbina, who was guarding a 4-0 lead.
Brito also contributed with the bat, leading off the bottom of the 3rd with a single and igniting the Phillies' attack. Jimmy Rollins lined out, but Kenny Lofton singled Brito to second. Hudson struck out Chase Utley, and then walked Bobby Abreu to load the bases with two outs. Pat Burrell rapped a two-run single, scoring Brito and Lofton, and it turned out to be all the support Brito needed.
On the offensive side, Lofton and Burrell had strong games. Lofton went 2/4 and scored a pair of runs. Burrell went 3/4 with 2 RBI, before being lifted for pinch-runner Endy Chavez, in the seventh; Chavez played the final two innings in the outfield. In an increasingly common move, Charlie Manuel is having Chavez replace Burrell in the outfield late in games, and pinch-running Chavez for him, if it appears that Burrell has had his final trip to the plate for the evening.
As the days grow shorter, so do the chances of the fringe teams in the National League Wild Card hunt. Since there are less than three weeks remaining - the Phillies have but 18 games left - it seems fair to say that if you are more than six games out of a race, you are no longer contending for it, particularly if there are intermediate teams to jump over. This admittedly arbitrary threshold does simplify the standings process, however.
In the East division race, the Braves' magic number for clinching the title remains at 13, due to their loss to the Phillies tonight and Florida's victory; the Marlins are six behind them.
Other NL Games of Interest
By a remarkable quirk of National League scheduling, the Astros and Marlins are facing each other in a four-game showdown series of the top two teams in the wild-card hunt. This is unusual, since they aren't in the same division. But since there are an odd number of East and West teams (five each, with six in the NL Central), it can't be ensured that all September games are intra-divisional in nature.
This leads to the next question - is it better for the Phillies, if Florida or Houston emerges from this four-game series with the lead?
I am rooting for Florida, for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, Houston had the lead going into tonight's game, although Florida's 8-2 victory over Houston has now catapulted the Fish back into the lead.
Second, the Phillies no longer will have an opportunity to face Houston head-to-head the rest of the way, and thus can't directly gain ground against them. Given the Phillies' horrendous performance against the Astros this year, that is probably more of a blessing than a curse from the baseball gods.
However, what it does mean is that at least the Phillies will have three head-to-head games against the Marlins next weekend, where they can overtake them and at least control their own destiny.
Another factor is that Houston will be playing weaker teams the rest of the way, and the Phillies, like the Marlins, have to face tougher competition. It would be better to give Houston as many losses as possible now, before the Astros' adversaries grow weaker.
Probably the only undesirable scenario would be if Florida won all four games. But I might even take that, because the Phillies could still gain ground quickly head-to-head, and might put Houston out of the race for good. We'll see...
All of the clubs at the back of the pack, except the Cubs, were off (Washington, Milwaukee, and the Mets) - and thus gained half a game on Houston, but lost half a game to the Phillies and Marlins. The Cubs fell to 71-73 with a 5-2 loss to the Reds at Wrigley Field and saw their one-tenth of one percent chance at the wild card completely extinguished with the loss. The Cubs are six games behind the new leader Florida, with 18 to go. They also have to jump over five other teams, and all of the East teams have to play each other frequently. Even if the Cubs swept their final 18 games, they would have only 89 wins. It might not even be mathematically possible for them to make it due to the East playing each other, since someone has to win every game, obviously. The Mets and Brewers are clinging to life at 5 1/2 back of Florida.
So at the end of Monday, September 12, 2005
NL East (18 Phillies games remaining)
Atlanta 83-61 --- (magic number 13)
Florida 77-67 6
Philadelphia 76-68 7
NL Wild Card
Florida 77-67 ---
Houston 76-67 0.5
Philadelphia 76-68 1
Washington 73-71 4
New York 71-72 5.5
Milwaukee 71-72 5.5
Chicago 71-73 6
However, the Philly vs. Atlanta, North vs. South, battle of genuine importance was on the diamond at Citizens Bank Park, not the gridiron at the Georgia Dome. The Phillies, behind rookie Eude Brito, defeated a torrid Atlanta squad and Tim Hudson (12-8), by a 4-1 score. It was Brito's first major league victory, as he replaced the injured Vicente Padilla in the rotation. Padilla had been pitching very well of late and Brito did yeoman's work as his replacement. Closer Billy Wagner recovered from a brutal series against Houston last week, retiring the Braves in order in the 9th, to record his 33rd save of the season.
In one of the sport's many ironies, the venerable former Phillie, Julio Franco, made the last out for Atlanta in the 9th. Franco played for the 1983 NL-pennant winning Phillies, when Brito was five years old. (Franco was also one of the five players the Phillies traded to Cleveland for Von Hayes shortly afterward, but the only one of any significance).
Brito was awesome, keeping Atlanta scoreless for six innings, and was lifted for pinch-hitter Tomas Perez in the bottom of the 6th. Brito permitted only three hits and one walk, while striking out seven Braves. Atlanta's only run came in the 8th, when pinch-hitter Todd Hollandsworth homered off setup man Ugueth Urbina, who was guarding a 4-0 lead.
Brito also contributed with the bat, leading off the bottom of the 3rd with a single and igniting the Phillies' attack. Jimmy Rollins lined out, but Kenny Lofton singled Brito to second. Hudson struck out Chase Utley, and then walked Bobby Abreu to load the bases with two outs. Pat Burrell rapped a two-run single, scoring Brito and Lofton, and it turned out to be all the support Brito needed.
On the offensive side, Lofton and Burrell had strong games. Lofton went 2/4 and scored a pair of runs. Burrell went 3/4 with 2 RBI, before being lifted for pinch-runner Endy Chavez, in the seventh; Chavez played the final two innings in the outfield. In an increasingly common move, Charlie Manuel is having Chavez replace Burrell in the outfield late in games, and pinch-running Chavez for him, if it appears that Burrell has had his final trip to the plate for the evening.
As the days grow shorter, so do the chances of the fringe teams in the National League Wild Card hunt. Since there are less than three weeks remaining - the Phillies have but 18 games left - it seems fair to say that if you are more than six games out of a race, you are no longer contending for it, particularly if there are intermediate teams to jump over. This admittedly arbitrary threshold does simplify the standings process, however.
In the East division race, the Braves' magic number for clinching the title remains at 13, due to their loss to the Phillies tonight and Florida's victory; the Marlins are six behind them.
Other NL Games of Interest
By a remarkable quirk of National League scheduling, the Astros and Marlins are facing each other in a four-game showdown series of the top two teams in the wild-card hunt. This is unusual, since they aren't in the same division. But since there are an odd number of East and West teams (five each, with six in the NL Central), it can't be ensured that all September games are intra-divisional in nature.
This leads to the next question - is it better for the Phillies, if Florida or Houston emerges from this four-game series with the lead?
I am rooting for Florida, for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, Houston had the lead going into tonight's game, although Florida's 8-2 victory over Houston has now catapulted the Fish back into the lead.
Second, the Phillies no longer will have an opportunity to face Houston head-to-head the rest of the way, and thus can't directly gain ground against them. Given the Phillies' horrendous performance against the Astros this year, that is probably more of a blessing than a curse from the baseball gods.
However, what it does mean is that at least the Phillies will have three head-to-head games against the Marlins next weekend, where they can overtake them and at least control their own destiny.
Another factor is that Houston will be playing weaker teams the rest of the way, and the Phillies, like the Marlins, have to face tougher competition. It would be better to give Houston as many losses as possible now, before the Astros' adversaries grow weaker.
Probably the only undesirable scenario would be if Florida won all four games. But I might even take that, because the Phillies could still gain ground quickly head-to-head, and might put Houston out of the race for good. We'll see...
All of the clubs at the back of the pack, except the Cubs, were off (Washington, Milwaukee, and the Mets) - and thus gained half a game on Houston, but lost half a game to the Phillies and Marlins. The Cubs fell to 71-73 with a 5-2 loss to the Reds at Wrigley Field and saw their one-tenth of one percent chance at the wild card completely extinguished with the loss. The Cubs are six games behind the new leader Florida, with 18 to go. They also have to jump over five other teams, and all of the East teams have to play each other frequently. Even if the Cubs swept their final 18 games, they would have only 89 wins. It might not even be mathematically possible for them to make it due to the East playing each other, since someone has to win every game, obviously. The Mets and Brewers are clinging to life at 5 1/2 back of Florida.
So at the end of Monday, September 12, 2005
NL East (18 Phillies games remaining)
Atlanta 83-61 --- (magic number 13)
Florida 77-67 6
Philadelphia 76-68 7
NL Wild Card
Florida 77-67 ---
Houston 76-67 0.5
Philadelphia 76-68 1
Washington 73-71 4
New York 71-72 5.5
Milwaukee 71-72 5.5
Chicago 71-73 6
posted by Villanova Viewpoint Publisher | 10:58 PM
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