Holy Crap, Wild Card Wednesday Was Nuts

What a finish to baseball's regular season, the greatest show on dirt. That was literally the most exciting night of baseball we have ever witnessed in our entire lives. Sincerely hope you got to see at least one of these games.

The Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox polished off their respective collapses while the Tampa Bay Rays made the most improbable comeback of their young franchise's history. Also, Chris Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals plowed through the Houston Astros like they had the worst record in baseball... oh, wait.

Guys like Nolan Reimold and Robert Andino, who forced Jonathan Papelbon's soon-to-be infamous blown save, are maybe the last two names you'd expect to hear today. Maybe, if you're living outside of Baltimore, you have no clue who the hell they are. They're spoilers. Season-enders. Game-changers for a day.

Many Red Sox fans, already disappointed with Carl Crawford's once-promising season in Beantown, may want to kick him in the nuts today after his disgraceful, missed catch on Andino's low liner to end the game. Pure laziness. David Ortiz summed it all up in his post-game interview:

"Umm....this is... this might be the worst situation that I have ever been involved in, in my whole career."

Then there's Evan Longoria, who enjoyed a two-home run evening -- one being quite possibly the biggest walkoff bomb of his career -- at Tropicana Field as his Rays rallied from a 7-0 deficit in the eighth inning. And Dan Johnson. Batting .183 on the year and the last guy you want at the plate when your team is down to their last strike of the season in the bottom of ninth, goes yard to tie it up and give Tampa a shot at October.

Fear Not Braves Fans, Chipper Jones to Return in 2012

In case you were in panic mode that Chipper Jones might change his mind about finishing out the three-year, $42 million contract extension he signed back in 2009, you can calm the hell down.

The long-time Atlanta Braves third baseman reiterated his intention to stick it out through the 2012 season Wednesday night after his team polished off their epic collapse to lose the National League Wild Card bid.

Upon a more-than-disappointing 2010 season in which he hinted at retirement while limited to just 95 games due to injury, the 39-year-old Jones bounced back in 2011. Although he was hurt more this year, he was named to the NL All-Star team for the seventh time in his 18-year career and finished the season batting .275 with 18 homers and 70 RBI over 126 games.

Jones, set to make $13 million next season with a $7 million team option for 2013, had these words of wisdom to close out the 2011 season:

John Krasinski and Alec Baldwin: Ninth-Inning Pressure

Not everyone can handle the pressure in the ninth inning... especially if you have to pee.

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.

Red Sox and Rays Both Victorious, Wild Card Still Tied

If you watched any of the Boston Red Sox game against the Baltimore Orioles Tuesday night, we hope you caught the Adam Jones at bat in the bottom of the ninth inning with two out and a man on second. What an attention whore.

After ten agonizing pitches, Jonathan Papelbon eventually got Jones to ground out on a slider and end the game. The 8-7 victory, combined with the Tampa Bay Rays' 5-3 win over the New York Yankees, allowed the Red Sox to stay alive another day in the American League Wild Card hunt.

Boston went yard four times in the evening, including two homers off the bat of adorable rookie catcher Ryan Lavarnway. The Yale philosophy major who never even played a big league game before this August, nailed a three-run shot in the fourth before adding a solo shot for good measure to give his team an 8-4 lead in the eighth. The O's tried to rally late in the game, but Papelboner was having none of that.

The Red Sox will send workhorse Jon Lester to the mound on three days' rest to face Alfredo Simon in the season finale Wednesday night in an effort to punch their fourth ticket to the postseason in five years.

Rays Win, Red Sox Lose, AL Wild Card All Tied Up

With only two games remaining in the regular season, the American League Wild-Card is all knotted up between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays.

Boston found yet another way to lose a ballgame Monday evening, squandering their one-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays with a 6-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. This marks their 17th failure in 22 games, creating a giant sucking sound out of Beantown.

Josh Beckett started for Boston and ended up surrendering seven runs on six hits over six innings, losing to the Orioles for the second time in less than a week. Ouch. An attempted rally in the eighth was thwarted when the Red Sox loaded the bases with one out, missing the opportunity when Pedro Strop struck out Jarrod Saltalamacchia (who was hit in the throat with a foul ball in the bottom half of the inning) and retired Marco Scutaro on a grounder to end the threat.

The Red Sox must win their final two games, and at worst, back into the postseason by winning a one-game playoff against the Rays. That would be the most exciting scenario, of course, but either way they control their own destiny. Former Oriole Erik Bedard will face his old team Tuesday night against rookie left-hander Zach Britton, who has a career 10.80 ERA against the Red Sox over two games this season. Looking good for Boston.

Phillies Beat Braves for Win No. 100, Cardinals Lose

The Atlanta Braves were enjoying an early two-tun lead against Cliff Lee Monday night, but the postseason-bound Philadelphia Phillies did what they do best, rallying for their 100th victory of the season with a 4-2 win.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals managed to lose to the last-place Houston Astros 5-4 on a crazy squeeze bunt in the 10th inning, leaving Atlanta's Wild-Card lead at one game over St. Louis. The Braves are on quite the skid at this point, dropping their third straight and seventh of their last 10 for a 9-16 September record with just two games left in the regular season.

This marks the third time in franchise history that the Phillies have earned 100 victories, so that's pretty neat for them. Derek Lowe, who has struggled recently, will pitch for the Braves Tuesday evening against Roy Oswalt while Jake Westbrook (12-9, 4.48 ERA) takes the hill for the Cards against rookie right-hander Henry Sosa, who has never faced St. Louis in real life. Good luck buddy!

[MLB]

Boston Red Sox Cling to One-Game Wild Card Lead

The Boston Red Sox are hanging on for dear life to their one-game lead in the American League Wild Card race.

Thanks to a Jacoby Ellsbury three-run shot with two out in the 14th inning, his Red Sox managed to beat the AL East champion New York Yankees 7-4 during Sunday's doubleheader nightcap after dropping the opener. The outfielder is batting .322 on the season with 31 homers and 103 RBI with 38 stolen bases as well. God, that's sexy.

Cardinals Pull Within One Game of Braves for Wild Card

Exactly a month ago, the St. Louis Cardinals were staring down an autumn without a postseason. Now, in the last week of the season, they have pulled within one game of the Atlanta Braves for the National League Wild Card with just three games to play after Sunday's 3-2 win over those good old fashioned Spoilers, the Chicago Cubs.

Skipper Tony La Russa and the entire team decided to don Hawaiian t-shirts before the game in a showing of unity... I'm not sure I get that, but I guess it's kind of like the Tampa Bay Rays sporting their Rayhawks back in 2008. Whatever happened to old school superstisions like not washing your jock strap or eating turkey sandwiches before every game?

Diamondbacks Win NL West, Giants Fail Miserably

After a pair of 90-loss seasons and just a year after going 65-97, the Arizona Diamondbacks are sitting an impressive 91-66 and heading to the playoffs as the division champions for the first time in four years.

In his first full season as manager, Kirk Gibson watched in amazement as his team celebrated on the field, in the clubhouse, and of course, in the pool out behind the right field fence. Sadly, they still had their uniforms on.

Rangers Keep AL West Crown, Sip on Ginger Ale

While the Milwaukee Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks soaked each other in champagne after clinching their respective division titles at home Friday night, the Texas Rangers did no such thing.

Upon winning the American League West for the second straight season, the Rangers sprayed ginger ale all over the clubhouse, saluting their non-alcoholic beverages in the air in respect to their alcoholic teammate, Josh Hamilton. Now that's love.

Texas did their recovering buddy the same solid last season after winning the ALDS before eventually heading to the World Series, where they lost to the San Francisco Giants, who totally blew it recently.

Tampa Bay Rays Making AL Wild Card Race Interesting

After beating the Boston Red Sox 6-5 in 11 exciting innings Saturday night, the Tampa Bay Rays are pushing to make this an exciting September.

The Rays are sitting at a season-best 16 games over .500 at 80-64 heading into Sunday's series finale that pits Red Sox lefty Jon Lester against right-hander James Shields, who leads the majors with 11 complete games this season. Total workhorse.

NL West: the Final Countdown

It's the FINAL COUNTDOOOOOOOOOWN.

Happy October everyone! Who doesn't love a good divisional race? The National League West is coming down to the final weekend of the regular season. With just three sold-out games remaining, the San Francisco Giants need just one victory over the visiting San Diego Padres to win the division and end their six-year playoff drought.

Speaking of droughts, Pablo Sandoval finally ended his 66-at bat homerless skid with a shot into McCovey Cove last night. Kung Fu Panda has just 12 hits in his last 63 at-bats, but he insists he's feeling more chill lately and finding his stroke again:

Roy Halladay Wins No. 20 for the Phillies

The face of a winner.

That Roy Halladay acquisition is looking better and better for the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies.

The right-hander won his 20th game of the season Tuesday with a 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves to give the Phillies a five-game division lead over Atlanta and reduce their magic number to six. Even more impressive is the fact that Halladay became the team's first 20-game winner in 28 years.

The Clock is Ticking in the NL West

If you thought things were nuts in the American League East, get a load of the National League West.

Just a half game behind the division-leading San Francisco Giants and one behind the NL Wild Card-leading Atlanta Braves, the San Diego Padres are right in the thick of it. They'll go for their sixth consecutive victory Wednesday night during game two of their three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.

The Padres made a convincing case Tuesday with their 6-0 win in the series opener via a Clayton Richard complete game shutout (the first of his career) but failed to gain any ground since the rival Giants managed a 1-0 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Yankees Clinch, Ho Hum

Are the New York Yankees the only team to not high five each other over champagne after a playoff clinch? Really, don't get excited or anything guys.

After his team blew a 5-0 lead over the Los Angeles Angels Tuesday night, Alex Rodriguez (who always seems to have his hand on some guys' rear) homered and drove in three runs including the tie-breaking sacrifice fly in the ninth.

Get Your Boston Red Sox Runner-Up Apparel

Don't know what to get that sad Sox fan in your life? How about one of these to make them feel better?

[Baseball, You Know]

P.S. This marks BLB's 2,000th post in four seasons. Way to go, ladies.

Colorado Rockies Clinch in Wild Game

In the first playoff game to determine a postseason berth since 1999, the San Diego Padres put their future Cy Young ace Jake Peavy on the hill to face NL MVP hopeful Matt Holliday and the smoldering Colorado Rockies in the very last game of the season.

The NL wild card ended after 13 crazy innings Monday night, sending a stunned Trevor Hoffman and a sad bunch of Padres packing for a long offseason.

Colorado's celebration started pretty much immediately after Holliday failed to touch home plate and will continue until they are swept in the first round by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Bold predictions rule!

[USA Today]

It's the End of the World as We Know It

We all know the pain of Elimination. Some of us know it better than others.

But when the calendar turns to April and we feel like school girls in love, nothing will stop our team from winning the World Series. THIS IS OUR YEAR, DAMN IT.

May and June pass, and before you can say "player to be named later," the Mid Summer Classic is upon us. Some of our teams are enjoying a bountiful season, brimming with milestones and exciting acquisitions. Others are plagued by injuries and traumatic events, or clawing their way out of the cellar, just trying to avoid the sweep.

Then there are the pure, unadulterated shenanigans that no one can believe even went down... dawg.

Still, we love our team into August and September, when time begins to run out. Abruptly, it ends: our boys of summer are golfing in the Keys and we're staring down the impending loss of quality free agents and another quiet year at the Winter Meetings.

As a Minnesota Twins fan, I am spitefully elated by the doom that the Detroit Tigers face with just 5 games remaining in their season. After Carlos Silva and the Twins took the first of a three-game series in Detroit Monday, the Tigers are hoping for nothing short of a miracle to get into the playoffs this year, sitting 5.5 games behind the New York Yankees in the AL Wild Card race.

Muuuahahahahahahahaha...

Thank Baby Jesus For Football.

[New York Times]

Stick a Fork in Jeremy Bonderman

Detroit Tigers righty Jeremy Bonderman had his sore pitching elbow checked out after lasting just 1.1 innings in a 14-7 ass-whooping by the Seattle Mariners Sunday.

No structural damage was found, but inflammation on the outside of the elbow did occur with no timetable set for his return.

Bonderman drilled through an 8-0 start to the season before sliding to 3-9. Over his last 10 starts where he failed to mention his elbow was killing him, he went 1-8 with a 8.23 ERA.

The 77-66 Tigers entered this week just four games behind the 81-62 New York Yankees in the Wild Card race and six games behind the 83-60 Cleveland Indians in the AL Central.

When asked if Bonderman would pitch again this season, Tigers manager Jim Leyland assured, "If I was a guessing man, I'd guess no." He continued in a rather threatening tone,"This time, though, Bonderman has to come clean about how he really feels. He pitched with pain on Sunday because he wanted to see if he could and because he wanted to do his part. He won't do that again."

If the defending American League Champs plan on catching anyone this season, they need healthy, reliable pitchers to accompany their offense.

If they can't get that from Bonderman, The Gambler or their other young would-be studs with 18 games left to play, then you can go ahead and count them out of October.

[Detroit Free Press]