The Pennant Race - 8/21

You just get the feeling that for the second straight year, the Mets and Phillies will come down to the final weekend to determine the NL East winner. The Mets are playing good baseball, but they haven't been able to put much cushion between themselves and the Phillies since moving into first place.

Mike Pelfrey has really stepped up this season and did again last night, limiting the Braves to three hits in a complete game, 6-3 Mets victory. David Wright continued his run at the NL MVP with his 24th home run and 97th RBI. Rookie Dan Murphy's two RBI gave him 11 in 18 games and he's batting .404 in 47 at-bats.

The Phillies got a complete game of their own from Brett Myers, who scattered nine hits in shutting down the Nationals 4-0. Washington has lost 12 straight. After a brief stint in the minors, Myers has returned to form and is 3-1, 1.47 in his last five starts.

The Marlins' hopes are fading away. They dropped a 6-5 game to the Giants last night that put them 5 games behind the Mets and 7.5 behind the wildcard-leading Brewers. Florida rallied for 3 runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game, but Bengie Molina's sac fly won it for the Giants in the bottom of the ninth.

Speaking of the Brewers, they got themselves back to within 5 games of the Cubs with a 5-2 win over the Astros. J.J. Hardy hit a 2-run home run to help Manny Parra win his 10th game. Ryan Braun sat out for the 9th time in 11 games due to lower back soreness.

The Reds edged the Cubs 2-1 despite starter Ted Lilly allowing just two hits over seven innings.

The Cardinals remained 2.5 behind the Brewers in the wildcard with an 11-2 thumping of the Pirates. Todd Wellemeyer won his career-high 11th game and reached the century mark in strikeouts for the first time.

The Diamondbacks moved two games ahead of the Dodgers with an 8-6 win over the Padres. Neither starter Dan Haren nor Jake Peavy was good, but after allowing four runs in the first inning, Haren settled down to get the win. Adam Dunn belted a 3-run home run, his 34th of the season.

The Rockies played spoilers, beating the Dodgers 4-3. The Dodgers lead 3-0 early, but Brad Hawpe almost single-handedly beat LA. He reached on an error that cut the lead to 3-2, singled in the game-tying run in the seventh, and singled again in the ninth to drive in the go-ahead run.


There was no movement in the AL Central standings as both the White Sox and Twins were daytime winners. Chicago got four home runs in a 15-3 rout of the Mariners. Ken Griffey Jr. tied Sammy CheaterSosa with his 609th career home run, and his first in Chicago. Gavin Floyd earned his 13th win.

Francisco Lirano and four pitchers pitched the Twins to a 3-1 win over the A's. Little-used reserve Mike Redmond drove in two runs.

The AL East's top two teams remained 4.5 apart as they both lost last night. The Angels beat the Rays 5-4, overcoming an early 3-0 deficit, and then winning after blowing a 4-3 lead. Garret Anderson's ninth inning single was the game winner. K-Rod notched his 48th save.

The Red Sox jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but it was all Baltimore after that as the Orioles won it 11-6. Melvin Mora, who had four RBI, and Ramon Hernandez each hit 3-run home runs. Clay Buchholz was hammered for five runs in 2.1 IP and is reportedly headed back to Pawtucket.