• Remember what happened to the Mets on Aug. 26? Their bullpen gave up single runs in the eighth and ninth, then another in the 13th for an 8-7 loss to the Phillies. That dropped the Mets into second place, a half-game behind the Phils. Oh, how the pundits punded! The Mets don't have what it takes! They can't win with a bullpen like that!
I don't know who's going to win. But we might note in passing that, since that
devastating loss, the Mets have won seven of 10 games. And that the bullpen has given up five runs in 32 innings. And that relievers have inherited 15 runners and just one has scored.
I'm not saying the Mets have a great bullpen. They don't, especially with
Billy
Wagner gone. But their bullpen isn't horrible. Never was. Anyway, most pennant races are decided by the hitters and the starting pitchers.
• A Mets fan wonders why they
haven't been celebrating their 47-year history this season. It's a good question, but we may presume the Mets and the Yankees both will yet do some special things before they close down their old yards.
(Tip of the cap to
BallHype.)
• Yes, it's official: 16 straight losing seasons for the Pirates, tying the major sports record previously held by the 1933-1948 Phillies. Bucs Dugout's Charlie runs through
how the Pirates got here and, if just briefly, a note of optimism (which I share).
• On Saturday, the Giants called up third baseman Conor Gillaspie. Why is this news? Because Gillaspie is the first player from this year's amateur draft to reach the majors. And also because Gillaspie, the 37th pick, hasn't actually done anything to earn the promotion; in
24 professional games -- most of them in short-season Class A -- he'd hit .269/.352/.344 with no homers. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, 36-year-old Scott
McClain -- like Gillaspie, a third baseman -- is now hitting .429 with two homers in five games. But he'd better not look back, somebody's definitely gaining on him.
• Outside of Wisconsin,
nobody is pulling harder for the Brewers to reach the playoffs than the Indians. Why?
Read on.
(H/T:
Ballbug)
• At some point Monday evening, Major League Baseball will see its 250,000th home run.
Follow the exciting chase here!
• Yeah, I know it's easy to mock
Carl
Pavano. But while reading about
his long road back, ask yourself how you would feel if you were him.
• The Blue Jays now have a better run differential than the Rays. It's worth at least a passing thought, right?
• I was just thinking about
Angel
Berroa on Sunday -- pardon me: Angel Berroa,
starting shortstop of the
first-place Los Angeles Dodgers -- and, providentially enough, I found that Joe Posnanski has written one of his typical long, meandering and wonderful posts
about Berroa.
•
Mike
Mussina's quest for a 20-win season -- and maybe, just maybe the Hall of Fame -- took a hit
Sunday, but he still figures to get four more
starts: against the Rays and White Sox in New York, against the Jays in Toronto, and finally against the Red Sox in Boston. That last start will be in the last or the next-to-last game of the season, and the Sox probably will be resting most of their good players. So he'll have a great shot if he wins two of his next three starts. Too bad all three are against good teams.
Rob Neyer
