bad night for the NL west

[M2d]

with the Dodgers losing last night, the NL west took a pretty big blow. Now, the Giants are hosed pretty good. If LA were able to sweep the Rockies and SF dropped on to SD, the Giants probably would have had their best shot at the playoffs, having to face an LA team that had already clinched in the final set. Now, with the magic number at two, the giants will have to lose at least one more game for the dodgers to clinch.

With the Giants loss last night, the dodgers could have clinched the west by winning out against Colorado. That can't happen, now.

On the bright side, I think the wild card out of the central might be the best of the many bleak playoff scenarios that the dodgers face. I like LA's chances in a shorter series against the cardinals much better than I like their chances in a longer series. the fewer times Rolen et al get to see the daihatsu's (Ishii and Nomo, the broken down japaese imports) the better. In a five game series, lightning can strike and either or both of these guys can come up with a gem. twice? forget it.

the central winning the wild card also helps the Dodgers out in the other series. Again, I like Houston or the Cubs' chances against the Braves much better in a short series, given that they have rotations that can do damage one time around. Kerry, Prior, et al can catch lightning, but their chances of getting rocked increase if they have to face the braves lineup twice. Same thing with Houston, but even moreso, since they're kind of geriatric.

It would be great to be able to see my dodgers in the postseason, beating the giants at Pac Bell for the title, but it doesn't seem like it's going to happen. Either the Dodgers will lose out and miss the post season (this is the dodgers; it could happen), or the Giants will not make it. Both in seems like a pretty big dog. best situation for both making it, I think, is dodgers clinch tonight and the giants sweep the dodgers. even then, with Houston playing Colorado to end up, it'll be tough.

[Clarkmeister]

Man, that Giants loss was pathetic.

First batter - Error
Second batter - Error
Third batter - Intentional walk to load the bases
Fourth batter - Bad throw that was nearly an error, and cost them a double play
Fifth batter - Catch of a foul ball that would have allowed the winning run to score anyways. Should've dropped the ball. Had they turned the DP on the prior play, it would have gotten them out of the inning though.

Ugh.

[Zeno]

Enjoyable post. What hurt the Dodgers was Brad Penny not being back in the rotation by now. With Penny healthy then they stand a better chance in a long series and in the postseason in general. I think he is done for the year.

And now Gagne has a stiff shoulder.

And Milton acts like a five-year old and gets suspended.

-Zeno

[andyfox]

I was surprised the ESPN announcers, especially Morgan, didn't point out that the outfielder should not have tried to catch the ball once he crossed the foul line.

Anyway, how they can build a new ballpark with the bullpen on the field of play has always been a mystery to me.

And yes, the Giants played miserably in the field. If they get out of that inning, they have a good chance to win, since Hoffman had already gone 2 innings and would likely have come out of the game.