Braves Drop into Tie with Cardinals for NL Wild Card

“It's like living out a bad dream... You never expect this to happen to you."
-- Chipper Jones

The Atlanta Braves are in the middle of an absolute free fall. In fact, they're all but giving the National League Wild Card to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Derek Lowe struggled once again, surrendering five runs on five hits and exiting in the fifth inning to a chorus of boos from the home crowd at Turner Field during his team's 7-1 loss to the NL East-champion Philadelphia Phillies. Atlanta has now lost four straight and eight of 11, squandering the 8 1/2-game lead they enjoyed just three weeks ago.

Chase Utley, Hunter Pence, and Jimmy Rollins each went yard as the Phillies totally screwed up the Braves plans. They never even had a shot against Roy Oswalt, who gave up only three hits over six solid innings. Atlanta will send Tim Hudson to the mound Wednesday against Joe Blanton in an attempt to wrap up the Wild Card if they emerge victorious and the Cardinals manage to drop their final game of the season.

After rallying from a 5-0 deficit to crush the last-place Houston Astros 13-6, the Cardinals pulled even with the Braves, who had sole possession of the Wild Card lead since June 20. All good things must come to an end I suppose.

Watch Out Pirates, Here Comes Hunter Pence

The Houston Astros suck a lot right now, but Hunter Pence is on fire.

The 28-year-old outfielder extended his hitting streak to 23 games after going 3-for-4 with 4 RBI in his team's 8-3 win over the Atlanta Braves on Monday.

Pence, who missed his first game of the season on Sunday with tightness in his back, went yard off Derek Lowe in the third inning for his ninth homer of the year and drove in two more with a base hit in Houston's five-run sixth.

His hit streak is the longest in the big leagues currently, while batting .325 with 50 RBI on the season. He's now tied up with Art Howe, Moises Alou and Luis Gonzalez for the fourth-longest streak in franchise history. Good company. If he wants to be the best, he'll need to hit in eight more games consecutively to beat Willy Taveras' 30-game hitting streak from back in 2006.

Ruiz Remains in Philly, Stairs is Old School

The Philadelphia Phillies have reportedly reached an agreement with catcher Carlos Ruiz to the tune of $8.85 million over three years, avoiding salary arbitration.

After batting .255 with 43 runs batted in and a career-best nine home runs in his fourth season with the Phillies, Ruiz was also offered a $5 million club option for 2013 with a $500,000 buyout. The backstop, who turned 31 last Friday, boasts a .303 postseason average, including two World Series appearances and one ring, of course.

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