AL WILD CARD RACE
The Red Sox who held a nine-game lead over the Rays in early September, but a 7-19 September allowed Tampa to begin the final day of the regular season tied for the AL Wild Card. RHP Jonathan Papelbon blew his third save of the season, allowed three hits and two runs of 2/3 of an inning in a 4-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night. Up 3-2, Papelbon recorded the first two outs easily before giving up a Chris Davis double, followed by a Nolan Reimold double and game-winning Robert Andino single. Boston finishes September with a bitter 7-20 record, ultimately missing the postseason. Papelbon, who is set to become a free agent, will have a sour taste in his mouth all winter. To make matters worse, his days in Boston appear to be over.
In Tampa, after New York took a 7-0 lead, 3B Evan Longoria took RHP Luis Ayala deep to centre in the eighth inning, cutting a 7-2 Yankees lead to a 7-6 ball game. In the ninth, pinch hitter Dan Johnson took RHP Cory Wade over the wall in right–with two strikes, two outs and zero options on bench–to tie the game at seven. Then in the 12th, Longoria homered AGAIN to win it in an 8-7 walkoff, sending the Rays to the ALDS–just four minutes after the BoSox lost in Baltimore in an epic collapse for the ages, Longoria sent RHP Scott Proctor’s pitch just over the low wall around the left field foul pole. Absolutely amazing.
Notes: A 1:26 rain delay in Baltimore had the Sox leading 3-2 in the seventh. Looking at the scoreboard, it was 7-0 Yankees–when play resumed, it was tied at seven-apiece…3B Alex Rodriguez had his major league-record stretch of 13 straight seasons of 30 homers and 100 RBIs end. He had 16 home runs and drove in 62 runs over 99 games this year
NL WILD CARD RACE
– After getting spot a five-run first inning, Cardinals’ RHP Chris Carpenter had his best start of the season Wednesday, throwing a complete game shutout while giving up just two hits, one walk and striking out 11 in an 8-0 win over the Astros. Carpenter, who threw his second shutout of the month and 15th of his career, never allowed a runner past first base, as both hits were singles. The 11 strikeouts were a season high, while the nine innings give him 237 1/3 on the year. That’s the second highest total of his career, and the most for any National League pitcher this season. The win guaranteed, at the very least, a one-game playoff for the NL Wild Card on Thursday, assuming the Braves beat the Phillies…
Braves’ RHP Tim Hudson held the Phillies to just two runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings Wednesday, but Philly would win it in the 13th inning, eliminating the Braves from the postseason. RHP Craig Kimbrel, who has been an absolute rock all season, surrendered the tying run in the ninth, and OF Hunter Pence came through with a two-out, run-scoring single in the 13th to give the Philly the win.
Many will see this as a monumental Atlanta collapse–the Braves led the Wild Card race by 8.5 games entering September, but would go just 9-18 as St. Louis closed out the season 18-8. The Braves were 10.5 games ahead of St. Louis before play on August 26. They were still up by 8.5 games on the morning of September 6, but instead of a second-consecutive postseason appearance, they became the first team in major league history to blow a lead of at least eight games for a playoff spot in September. Atlanta, however, went the entire month without a single inning pitched from No. 2 and No. 3 starters RHP Tommy Hanson (shoulder) and RHP Jair Jurrjens (right knee), while top offensive leader C Brian McCann (oblique) couldn’t get it going again. As such, Atlanta scored only seven runs in its last five games. It’s fair to wonder how things would’ve changed had Atlanta been healthy.
Notes: The Giants are now the first team since the 2007 Cardinals to win the World Series and miss the postseason the next season…the Phillies set a franchise record with their 102nd win…Atlanta finished the season with an attendance of 2,372,940, its lowest total since 2004…1B Albert Pujols streak of 30/100/.300 seasons is over at 10. He finishes the 2011 campaign with 37/99/.299.
LDS
Looking ahead, we’ll see the Tigers @ Yankees on Friday, and the Rays @ Rangers on Friday. In the NL, we’ll see the Cardinals @ Phillies, and the D’Backs @ Brewers. Stay tuned for your LDS preview and prediction article!
– Twins’ RHP Nick Blackburn (right arm) will have surgery Friday to relieve pressure stemming from an entrapped nerve in his right forearm muscle. He will need 6-8 weeks of recovery time, and his normal offseason throwing program will not be affected. “I usually don’t start throwing until around Christmas so even if I didn’t have the surgery I wouldn’t have started throwing any earlier. So this will work with the timing because I’ll be done rehabbing by the time I start throwing. So it won’t be a concern next year.” Barring any setbacks, Blackburn should be fine for the start of spring training.