I said before this series that I would be very happy if the stinky M's got a split in this series. And so I am pleased with where things stand right now. Boston built up some breathing room in their lead over the Junkees, pulling 2 games ahead in the standings to their current 3 1/2 game lead. And now we have a three-way tie for the wild card.
I was surprised by the way things turned out this series. I figured the Junkees wouldn't score much against King Felix, but I thought they would hit like crazy against Seattle's awful pitchers, the same way they did back in May. But aside from the Juice Man's big game in game one, the Junkee bats were uncharacteristically quiet the rest of the series. Shemp in a little slump, which is why Snorre DH'ed him last night. Perhaps the big X-factor here is Robby Cano's struggle: the guy added some depth to the lineup, and his performance, along with Bernie and Posada's subpar performances, has caused the Junkees' lineup to become very top-heavy. It has also caused some annoying Yankee fans to shut up about their "incredible" farm system.
And I think it's safe to say that Tanyon Sturtze has officially turned into the '05 version of Paul Quantrill (who just got dumped by the Padres, BTW). I think Snorre is to blame for burning out his relievers. It cost him last year, especially when Gordon was awful in the ALCS. And so far, the guy hasn't learned much from his mistakes. And if you want to give Snorre a pass and say, "it's not his fault that the starters have stunk and that he had to go to the 'pen a lot," then you've got to pin the blame on Cashman. A $200 million team should not have to burn out their relievers.
So now we have a great series coming up: Oakland and the Junkees. The A's didn't fare to well against the Angels, but they are certainly a different team than the garbage the Yanks faced in May. The big question though is how much Crosby's injury will affect the A's. Someone on ESPN said that the turning point for the A's early in the year was when Crosby came off the DL. Then again, the pitchers are more locked in now than they were back then. And Eric Chavez wasn't hitting back then, either. Let's see what happens, and hope the A's, Angels, and Indians all win.
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I'd wanted a split for Seattle as well, so I'm more than happy to take it. And there's nothing shocking about the A's dropping 2 of 3 to the Angels: both teams have very good pitching and only so-so offense. (Anyone noticed Vlad is in another big slump?) But that doesn't mean Oakland is washed up just yet. Among other things, they should have fun with Al "full count" Leiter since Oakland's hitters generally draw a lot of walks.
Oh, and I think this math is correct: if the Red Sox only play .500 ball for the month of September, the Yanks would have to go 21-8 in order to win the AL East. Good odds, I'd say. Don't know about the WC, though.
Leiter will be in PostSeason-on FOX. Maybe he'll be the one to choke the shit out of Tim McCarver.
If not that, then he'll be helping Bloomberg with his re-election campaign. (For the record, I voted for Bloomie in '01, but will not this time around. IMHO, he never saw a neighborhood that didn't need overdevelopment - in particular the area near the Atlantic Avenue LIRR terminal for that Frank Gehry-designed monstrosity. Gotta boost the tax rolls, you know.)
Oh, and remember Torre saying several weeks ago that he wouldn't respond to Steingrabber's tirade until after the end of the season? Here's hoping that it'll be on October 3rd, the day following their last regular-game series (against the Red Sox).
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