Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - Braves Win De Facto NL East Title, Topping Phillies, 4-1; Houston Wins, Florida Falls in 12 Innings

The Braves won their 11th consecutive NL East title, and their 14th consecutive division title (they won the NL West in 1991, 1992, and 1993) on Tuesday night. Oh, sure, the magic number is still at six, but it's over. To explain...

With a dozen games remaining, the Phillies arrived in Atlanta for a three-game series this week. Atlanta held a comfortable 5 game advantage. If the Phillies somehow managed to sweep the series, there would still be some doubt, as the Phils would have closed to within two games with nine to go.

However, Atlanta only needed to win a single game to prevent that scenario. Even if the Phillies take the next two, which is unlikely, they still would be four games back with nine to play and no head-to-head games remaining. So this was it. Atlanta will be in the playoffs for the 14th consecutive year.

(Thurs Sept 22 - As I'm trying to catch up - I will add more to this one later...)


NL East (just a formality)

Atlanta..........................86-65.....--- (magic number reduced to 6)
Philadelphia..................80-71.....6
Florida...........................79-72.....7

NL Wild Card (11 games remaining for all contenders)

Houston........................82-69.....---
Philadelphia.................80-71.....2
Florida..........................79-72.....3
Washington..................77-74.....5