Following the Action

Here's my running diary of the action in major league baseball tonight.

7:20 PM The Twins got rained out tonight. They'll play two tomorrow. I'm surprised that the start time is 4:00 PM Eastern. I would think that the Yanks would want to play that game early and clear out the stadium to collect two gates. Atlanta lost to the Mets in the first game of a double header today. Don't look now, but LA is only one game behind Atlanta in the loss column. Atlanta does hold the tiebreaker, I think, based on their head-to-head record, but if Atlanta does fall in the standings, they could draw St. Louis in the first round. I like this. Atlanta is playing the Cubs this weekend, and I'd like them to have something to play for. In the second game, it's scoreless in the third. Cincinnatti has the bases loaded in the second against Greg Maddux and the Cubs. I had the thought, get to him early, and it took me back to a game I saw at the Metrodome a couple of years ago. The Twins got to Maddux for 5 in the first inning and never touched him again. The Braves caught up and the game went 14 innings. Meanwhile, a huge windstorm is going on outside and the roof is moving so much that the foul screen in left field was bouncing about three feet. That was something else. Oh, and the Twins won. :) Damn, nothing across. Boston is in a slugfest with Tampa. I don't think that Boston really believes that they can catch the Yanks. Considering that they are the Twins likely first round opponent, I'd hate to see them get red hot right now. Derrick Lowe lasted just 2 1/3 innings. I can't believe he'll start in the playoffs against the Twins. 8:10 PM The Cubs are trailing 4-0. This is clearly the biggest game happening right now in the National League. Houston and St. Louis are tied at 1 in the fourth. The Truck Washer is batting right now. C'mon Truck Washer, strike out! Anaheim is leading Texas 2-0 in the fourth. Another loss and Texas is pretty much out. Hell, they're out already. Boston is tied 8-8 with Tampa. No pitching tonight for the Sox. Atlanta and the Mets are tied 2-2 after 5 1/2 at the Ted. I'm probably the only guy in America thinking about the ramifications of this game. Well, me and Bobby Cox. I wonder if Dusty Baker is thinking about it. I wonder if he's watching the scoreboard. I wonder how tight his shirt collar feels. 8:40 PM Atlanta has taken control, 5-3. I would love to see the Dodgers lose starting tonight, but realistically, it's gonna be tough for the Giants to catch the Dodgers. So, in a perverse sort of way, the Dodgers winning isn't the worst thing in the world if you are a Giant fan, especially if the Cubs continue to struggle. And they are stuggling tonight. They trail the Reds 6-2 after five. Adam Dunn, he of all the strikeouts and walks, also has 44 HRs after homering tonight. Houston leads St. Louis 2-1. Anaheim leads Texas 4-0. If you read my column earlier today, you know that these are the two teams I foresee coming out of the wild races that remain. Make it 5-0 Anaheim. Kansas City is going to lose its 100th game of the season. Wow, what a disappointing season for the Royals. I'll bet they feel real good about that Juan Gonzalez signing. For $4,000,000 they get 33 games and five home runs. Ouch. 9:15 PM Doug Mientkiewicz is 2-5 with a double and an RBI. Tonight is his first 2 hit game since August 11. But, he popped out with a runner on second in the tenth. Seattle has scored one in the first against Oakland and is threatening for more. What has happened to Oakland's pitching? Their ERA in September is 5.23 and this is after pushing Our Favorite Nine for the lowest team ERA. Now, Seattle has three runs in the first. Could Anaheim be in first place by the end of the night? The Astronauts are still hanging on against the Cards and the Cubs are getting pasted. Buster Olney has a story on ESPN.COM right now where he says, "Everything is in place for the Cubs to win the wild card. " If you read ESPN.COM regularly, you know that Buster is a big Yankee guy and has written a book about the latest Yankee dynasty. Hey, Buster. Stick to writing stories about Derek Jeter. The Astronauts are coming and the Cubs are the ones about to splash down. Colorado has an early 1-0 lead on the Dodgers. That, of course, is subject to change. The Giants in the top of the second. No Score. Sisyphus is coming to bat. He lined out on a 3-1 pitch. What? No intentional walk? 10:05 PM The Astronauts hold on and beat the Cards. The Cubs lose to the Reds. Atlanta splits. Boston wins in 11. Giants trail by two. In his second at bat, Sisyphus is walked intentionally with men on 1st and 3rd and two out. Snow grounds out. Good God. As of this moment, Houston is 1/2 game behind the Cubs and tied with the Giants. They have one game left with St. Louis and Roger Clemens is pitching it! Then, they have three left at home with Colorado. The Astronauts are blasting off! Oh, before I forget, Milwaukee and Arizona are tied at 4. These are two historically bad teams. I mean, Arizona might not win 50 games, and Milwaukee might not win 20 in the second half. Yuck. Seattle is beating Oakland 4-0. Anaheim is gonna be in first place. My picks are looking good! 10:20 PM Giants explode for 5 in the 4th and they are still batting. Sisyphus is walked with 5 runs in and a guy on second. Too late, the horse has left the barn. Oakland's picked up a couple of runs. Bonds has now reached base 367 times this year, the second most ever. Babe Ruth reached 379 times in 1923 according to Baseball-Reference.com. With five+ games to play, he's got a pretty damn good shot of topping that record (in fact, he's right on pace). Giants get 6 in the 4th and lead 6-2. Surprisingly, Colorado still holds a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning. Did I mention that Detroit beat Chicago? :)

10:45 PM Surprise! The Expos are headed to D.C.! Actually there's no surprise in that. It seems that finally MLB has been able to take care of everyone that needed to be taken care of to get this done. Now that the deal has been done, we can safely say that there are no more available markets left for major league baseball. So, my Twins will never move away, they are only subject to contraction. Yeah, right. Seattle's ahead 7-2. Ichiro has two hits. How'd you like to be Antonio Osuna? He just got brought in to face Sisyphus in a 7-3 game and guys on first and second. Well, Mr. Osuna got Bonds to ground to first to end the inning. That's it for me. I've gotta run.