The Pennant Race - 9/25

Pandemonium in Flushing. Mets fans woke up this morning with a September hangover, unsure if it was 2007 or 2008. The Mets blew a 5-1 lead to the Cubs last night, blew a chance to win it in the ninth inning, and then lost to the Cubs in 10 innings, 9-6.

Dan Murphy tripled off of Bobby Howry to lead off the bottom of the ninth, sending the Shea faithful into a frenzy. But Howry struck out David Wright and after intentionally walking the Carloses, Beltran and Delgado to load the bases, got Ryan Church to ground to second baseman Ronny Cedeno, who forced Murphy at home. Howry then made a better escape than David Blaine could any day, by striking out Ramon Castro to retire the side.

Derek Lee doubled in the go ahead run in the tenth and Aramis Ramirez put the game away with a 2-run home run.

C.C. Sabathia pitched the Brewers into a tie for the wildcard lead with the Mets in Milwaukee's 4-2 win over the Pirates. The big left-hander won his 10th game in 16 Brew Crew starts, and his 16th win overall, by limiting Pittsburgh to one run and four hits in seven innings, while striking out 11. Sabathia was working on three days rest and is expected to duplicate that feat again on Sunday.

The Twins beat the White Sox for the second straight night, this time 3-2, to move within one-half game of the AL Central lead. Nick Blackburn threw a solid five innings and four relievers limited the White Sox to just one hit from the sixth inning on. Gavin Floyd faces Kevin Slowey in tonight's series finale.

The Dodgers magic number to clinch the NL West is down to one. Manny Ramirez hit his 17th home run since "going west coast" and the Dodgers pounded the Padres 12-4. Meanwhile, Adam Wainwright and four relievers limited the Diamondbacks to two runs in the Cardinals 4-2 win over Arizona. A Dodgers win or Diamondbacks loss today will give LA the western crown.

While the Angels are prepping for the playoffs, Francisco Rodriguez is improving his resume. K-Rod added to his record setting season with his 62nd save of the season.

The Rays maintained their three game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East with an 11-6 win over the Orioles. Aki Iwamura drove in three runs and Edwin Jackson, despite allowing six runs in 5.1 innings pitched, won his career high 13th game.

The Red Sox won their second consecutive 5-4 decision over the Indians. Mark Kotsay snapped a 4-4 tie with an RBI double in the eighth inning. Fausto Carmona got yanked after just one inning and an inconceivable 51 pitches thrown.

News and Notes

Twenty year veteran first baseman Mickey Vernon has passed away at the age of 90. The seven time All-Star won two batting titles and spent most of his career playing for the down trodden Washington Senators.

The Seattle Times is reporting that there is much animosity in the clubhouse towards All-Star Ichiro Suzuki. Teammates have nearly come to blows with the outfielder's selfish attitude.

The Diamondbacks' Mark Reynolds became the first player in major league history to strike out 200 times in a season when he k'ed this afternoon against the Cardinals. Reynolds had broken Ryan Howard's year old single season record last night. The record may not hold though since Reynolds has just four more than Howard this year. Oh, and Reynolds has committed 34 errors.

The Rockies' Todd Helton has opted for back surgery next week to correct a disk problem.