Climbing the Ladder with the American League 9/21/08

The Beginning of the End and Playoff Previews in this week’s Climbing the Ladder with the American League.

Tampa Bay Rays (+98 Run Differential)

The Tampa Bay Rays clinched  their first ever playoff spot and are just the 2nd American League and 11th Major League team to go from last place to the post season from one season to the next.  Tampa also became just the 2nd team all-time to reach the post season after having the worst record in the Majors.  Last week’s match against Boston ended with Tampa taking two of three from the Red Sox.  Tampa will likely end up winning the American League East but you would have to think that in a playoff series Boston’s pitching be favored in whatever match up the Rays can throw at them.  Scott Kazmir’sERA has gone up each month of the season and with the disaster start he had last week, he could be showing signs of tiring.  Evan Longoriaenjoyed a good first week back after recovering from a broken wrist. Longoria hit three doubles, collected 8 RBI’s and had a three home run game, adding to his already impressive rookie numbers.

Boston Red Sox (+156 Run Differential)

It appears that Boston ace Josh Beckettis back to his playoff form after posting impressive back to back performances against the Tampa Bay Rays. So far in September, Beckett’s thrown 19 innings while allowing just 2 earned runs, walking three and striking out 21.  With Beckett leading the Boston pitching staff into the playoffs, it will be hard to find another #1 starter to match up against Boston’s ace.  Boston has really played well leading up to the playoffs and holds the best record in the AL after August 1st.  Boston also leads the American League in a run differential but with a Mike Lowelland JD Drewhurting, the Red Sox will likely rest its starters in hopes of putting a healthy and rested team on the field come October.

Chicago White Sox (+85 Run Differential)

Chicago’s playoff fate rests in their own hands and the up coming series in Minnesota will give the White Sox their chance to end the Twin’s playoff run.  Chicago went just 4-4 over the last week but were fortunate that Minnesota lost 6 of their last 7.  Rumors of a Carlos Quentinplayoff return were flying around last week.  Quentin, who took a few swings with an exercise stick this week, stated that his wrist felt tight but was pain free.  That has to been good news for White Sox fans but Chicago will need to take a conservative approach and plan on playing without him.

Minnesota Twins (+77Run Differential)

The Minnesota Twins playoff run took a huge hit this week when they managed to win just 1 of 7 games this week.  The Twins saw their run differential drop from over 100 down to 77 and with it, their playoff odds reduced to just 28.7%.  Minnesota will need a series sweep against the White Sox this week to even hope to get into the playoffs.  The Twins season is most likely over but this is the reason they play the games.  You never know what can happen.

Los Angeles Angels (+71 Run Differential)

The Angeles responded to those who said that they would be hurt by playing meaningless games at the end of the season by going 8-2 over their last 10 games including a current win streak of 3 games.  LA wil need to make sure their starting pitching is well rested and ready to go in October.  Angel win leader Joe Saunder(+84.1) ,and Ervin Santana(+55.1) are both well over their career high in innings pitched and we saw what happened to CC Sabathiaand Fausto Carmonalast season when they ran out of gas in the ALDS.

Other News and Notes:

According to the Elias Sports Bureau , Tampa Bay’s 11-1 win over Minnesota on Friday night marked the sixth time this season that the Twins lost a game by at least 10 runs. The last season in which Minnesota had that many double-digit losses was in 1996, when they also had six such defeats. Only Oakland has more 10-run losses this season (seven).

Also According to the Elias Sports  Bureau , A six-run fourth inning propelled the White Sox to a 9-4 win over the Royals. All six of those runs in the fourth inning were scored with two outs. Entering the game, the White Sox had scored only 33.6 percent of their runs with two outs this season, the lowest such percentage for any American League team.

Evan Longoria hit three home runs for the Rays in their loss to the Twins. It was the 27th time that a player hit three home runs in a game over the last four seasons but the only the second time since 2005 that a player hit three homers in a game his team lost. The other player to do that was the Mets’ Jose Reyes, in a game in Philadelphia on Aug. 15, 2006. Longoria was the first rookie third baseman to hit three home runs in a major-league game since Sept. 27, 1952, when the Boston Braves’ Eddie Mathews hit three against the Dodgers in Brooklyn.

And finally,  the Yankees will play their last game in historic Yankee Stadium tonight when Andy Pettitte faces Chris Waters of the Baltimore Orioles.  How many people do you think would love to see the Yankees lose on this historic night? I know that I would….