MLB: Day One Hundred and Seventy-Three

Posted on | October 6, 2007 | No Comments

On Thursday the American League had a light schedule with only three games being played. The only game of any importance at all involved the Anaheim Angels taking on the Seattle Mariners. The Angels won extending their lead even more in the AL West. So that race continued to be a non-factor as it’s looking more and more like the Angels will coast into October. The Angels now lead the division by nine and a half games. The magic number for the Angels is now just one – meaning they need to win one more game or have the Mariners lose one more game and then they win the division.

Over in the National League there were many important games. The Brewers lost, the Padres won, the Phillies won, and the Mets lost.

The Brewers continue to struggle and it looks more and more like the Chicago Cubs will be the team that wins the National League Central. What a job their manager, Lou Pinella, has done over the past couple of months. Granted, this is the worst division in baseball but Pinella has still done a great job to bring his team back.

Meanwhile, in the National West the San Diego Padres are making a major charge for the division title. They have now won seven straight games. Their most recent win over the Pittsburgh Pirates moves the Padres to within a half of the first place Arizona Diamondbacks. This race looks like it just might come down to the last weekend of the season.

Over in the National League East, the Philadelphia Phillies pulled back within a game and a half of the New York Mets. Right now the Phillies are actually two games back in the loss column so the Mets are still in a decent position. However, if the Mets don’t start winning then they will lose this division, which is unbelievable because no team has ever lost their division when they’ve had at least a seven game lead with seventeen or fewer games. But there’s a first time for everything and with the way the Phillies are playing, I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened for the first time.

If the Phillies don’t win the division then they still have a shot at the Wild Card. The Phillies trail the Padres by two and a half games right now. But given the way the Padres are playing, it would seem more likely that the Mets will be the ones to be caught.

Related posts:

1. MLB: Day One Hundred and Seventy-One
2. MLB: Day One Hundred and Seventy-Eight
3. MLB: Day One Hundred and Seventy-Five
4. MLB: Day One Hundred and Seventy-Four
5. MLB: Day One Hundred and Seventy-Nine

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