Hello,
Although this blog is written about games that occurred on September 10th, I'm writing it on September 11th. Obviously today is the 12th anniversary of the attacks on the USA, the day sadly known as 9/11. It's amazing how just mentioning that date can bring up many memories, even 911 randomly appearing still causes all sorts of memories for me. I still remember so many things about that day.
However since this is mainly a baseball blog I'll not hit you over the head with politics. Although MLB and the Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City a few months later did help in the healing following the events of 9/11. It seems everyone temporarily became a Yankees fan after 9/11. I'm sure there will be many tributes and ceremonies at MLB parks today, especially in New York. Also Washington DC has a team now, they didn't in 2001.
Some people think of Alan Jackson's 9/11 song when they think of that tragic day. It hasn't ever been a favorite song of mine though. There's something about it that I don't like, maybe it's too passive. I prefer songs about Americans responding to the attack. People such as the crew and passengers of United Flight 93. One of the passengers uttered "Let's roll" before they attacked their attackers. That's one of the reasons why my favorite 9/11 song is Neil Young's "Let's Roll":
If you want a whole CD about 9/11 and it's impact I highly recommend Bruce Springsteen's "The Rising". What an amazing CD! Here's the full CD:
God Bless America!
Now back to much less important things. And anything else honestly feels anti-climactic.
The Dodgers continued their steam rolling of the NL West at the same time as they continue to lower their magic number. After their 5-3 victory over Arizona on Tuesday, LA's magic number is down to 6. The final game of that series is today, with another win LA can decrease their magic number to 4. I expect LA to wrap up the NL West title by this weekend. Then they can start focusing on getting home field advantage all through the playoffs leading up to the World Series.
The hero on Tuesday was Scott Van Slyke, he hit a 2 run walk off homer in the bottom of the 11th inning. It was Van Slyke's 7th homer this season, he has 18 RBIs and is hitting .259 for the Dodgers. Van Slyke has been on the yo yo between Albuquerque and LA all season. (Does he have a home or apartment in both places?) Thanks to Van Slyke for his timely home run, but I wonder will he be on the Dodgers playoff roster.
Another person I wonder whether will be on the Dodgers playoff roster is Matt Kemp. From espn.com:
"Mattingly said he's increasingly optimistic that OF Matt Kemp could return this season. Kemp has been rehabbing a sprained left ankle, although he was slowed recently by a strained hamstring."
From that comment I'm not feeling a lot of optimism. It would be nice to have Kemp back if he's near full health. However the Dodgers have won without him this season, his return won't make or break LA's season. After the terrible start the Dodgers got off too, I can't believe the Dodgers are even in this position now. Crazy and that's why I definitely won't say LA is in the playoffs until they actually are. You just never know.
On Tuesday the Dodgers only had 7 hits, but turned those hits into 5 runs. Adrian Gonzalez was 3 for 4 and is hitting .296 this season. It's funny how much he's been hovering around .300 all season. Mark Ellis had two more of the Dodgers hits and was 2 for 5, he's hitting .271 this season. Andre Ethier had a hit and of course Van Slyke's hit was the biggest of all.
Edinson Volquez started for LA again. He pitched well enough, 6 innings 4 hits and gave up 3 runs. He received no decision and lowered his frighteningly high ERA to below 6.00. Chris Withrow closed out the game and finished with the win. He's 3-0 this season and also has a much more palatable ERA at 2.83.
ESPN notes that LA has won 18 of their last 22 home games and things look good for LA to sweep Arizona on Wednesday. If Hyun-Jin Ryu's back holds up he's the scheduled starter for the Dodgers. Ryu has had a solid rookie season, he's 13-5 with a 3.02 ERA. Ryu has given up a lot of hits, and the Dodgers offense has saved him a few times. For the Diamondbacks they are scheduled to send Patrick Corbin (13-6, 2.97) to the mound. The Diamondbacks I'm sure will have a bit more incentive as they are trying to prevent themselves from falling below .500.
Like the Dodgers the Red Sox were able to beat the second place team in their division. The AL East has been a close race most of the season, but now it has turned into a rout. It's so good to have the Red Sox back after their Summer of Valentine, was he one of the worst managerial hires of all-time? Under John Farrell the Red Sox resume their rightful place atop the AL East. Boston leads the Rays by 8.5 games and the Rays still have 3 more games to play than does Boston.
Also it's good to see Clay Bucholz pitching again for the Red Sox. In his first appearance in over 3 months, he allowed 3 hits over 5 innings. Buchholz improves to 10-0 and has a 1.61 ERA. Although he won't have enough starts, he's the only starter I know of who has a better ERA than Clayton Kershaw. Koji Uehara earned his 19th save for the Red Sox.
Pittsburgh won another big game in Texas, however St. Louis also won. The Cardinals remain 1 game ahead of Pittsburgh in the NL Central. Thanks to the Cubs throttling the Reds 9-1, Cincinnati is 3 games behind St. Louis. Again it's almost assured all three teams will make the playoffs.
The two wildcard playoff spots was suppose to increase excitement in MLB, however it hasn't done that very well this season. We already know the 5 teams who'll be in the NL playoffs. An expert on MLB Network was suggesting that the Nationals still have a chance to reach the postseason, but come on he was just playing devils advocate. espn.com states the Nationals have a 2.7% chance of reaching the playoffs. The Nationals are 6 games behind the Reds for the second wild card spot following the end of games on Tuesday.
In the AL Boston is guaranteed of making the playoffs already. Unless sinkholes develop in Detroit and Oakland and swallow both those town's teams, the Tigers and A's will make the playoffs. That's 3 of the 5 teams making the playoffs in the AL. Texas is almost assured of making the playoffs too, then for the second wild card that battle will be between the Rays and Indians. Do you realistically think the Indians will sneak into the playoffs? I know Terry Francona did great work with the Red Sox. (Thanks for your part in the two Red Sox World Series Tito.) But I predict the Indians are at least a year away from seriously challenging to make the playoffs, although Tampa Bay is keeping the door open for them. Also Cleveland is only 1.5 games behind Tampa Bay in the AL wild card.
themusicaddict
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