Playoff race thread
Posted by ubelmann on Sunday, September 30th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Rockies up 1-0 on the D-Backs, and Brewers up 10-4 on the Padres.
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D-Backs tie the game 1-1, with a Carlos Quentin RBI single off Jorge Julio.
Hurdle playin' the matchups here, inserting Brian Fuentes to face Conor Jackson. I'm not really following Hurdle's logic of going to Julio and then Fuentes, but yeah...
Ex-Twins sighting: Jeff Cirillo has just been inserted by the D-Backs to face Fuentes with runners on first and second, two outs (Jackson just struck out) and the game tied in the 7th.
Cirillo strikes out, but he pretty much got jobbed by the HP ump, who expanded the strike zone for him.
Wow, Cirillo stays in the game at second base. That could prove to be interesting.
The Padres have three outs to score (at least) six runs if they want to clinch without help from the D-Backs.
Scored two runs in the ninth, but not enough to catch up--Rockies can tie with a win.
Tony Clark is gigantic. I had no idea he was that big--6'7", 240 lbs.
Yeah, Tony's a big strikeout of a guy.
True, but 244 career HR isn't too shabby.
Yeah, he's a big HR of a guy, too.
Fuentes was dealing, but now he's having a tough time finding the strike zone. Walked Clark after going 3-0 on him, and has now gone to 3-0 on Mark Reynolds, and eventually walked him.
Then comes back to strike out Salazar to end the inning. Going to the bottom of the 8th tied at 1.
Mark Reynolds with an errant throw from 3B to give the Rox a lead-off ROE. The door is slightly ajar.
Hammock can't hold on to a Holliday smash, gets an IF hit, and Tulowitzki hustles hard to reach 3B.
Todd Helton at the plate with runners on 1st and 3rd, no outs.
If the Rockies don't win, they can't say they didn't have their chances.
Helton walks, bases loaded, no outs.
Garret Atkins with an RBI single--over the drawn-in infield. Bases still loaded.
Awesome--Brad Hawpe with a 2-run double! Rox with a 3-run lead. One-game playoff with Padres looking more and more likely.
Interesting, I guess the Rockies won the coin toss, so they would be hosting the game against the Padres.
I love one-game playoffs.
It's kind of like a best-of-seven series where the first six games are assumed to go 3-3. I don't think they're necessarily fair, but they're certainly fun.
I look at it like this, if 162 games of baseball can't separate these teams, it's essentially a coin flip as to who moves on. Rather than flip a coin, they play another game, which may not necessarily be fair, but either way you're getting a team of about the same strength.
Plus it's a lot of fun to watch.
In 1951, the Dodgers and Giants played a three game series. I can't remember who won that, but I hear it was thrilling.
As I recall, before divisional play started in 1969, the leagues had different rules about playoffs. The American League had a one-game playoff, and the National League used a best-of-three series.
Now, that is interesting!
Torrealba strikes out, then Sullivan hits into the old 1-2-3 DP. No BOSO for Lyon.
Manny Corpas on to close for the Rockies. Chopper in the 1-3-4 bermuda triangle gets the D-Backs a runner.
Corpas' FIP is just 3.51. Decent for a reliever, but not spectacular. Looks like he's had an unsustainable LOB% and a good DER.
Alllrighty then, let's not schedule that game just yet. Runners on second and third for the D-Backs with no outs.
So, who gets to broadcast the tiebreaker games?
Just the local affiliates? I'd be way more interested in this than MNF on ESPN tomorrow night.
TBS should get it.
Also, one of the best things about baseball is that tiebreakers that are important (i.e. who gets to continue playing) are settled with extra games rather that record against common opponents and strength of schedule. Does any other sport do that? I understand that it's not feasilbe for the NFL, but do the NHL and NBA have one-game playoffs? If not, their commishes should get on that pronto.
With the NHL and NBA so many teams make the playoffs, that it almost doesn't seem worth the time to determine who the 8th seed in a conference is. A wild card team in baseball can certainly win the WS, but when's the last time a last-place seed won a championship in the NHL or NBA?
NHL: I think the 2005-2006 Oilers were a #8 seed who lost the Stanley Cup Finals in Seven games.
And yeah, the eigth seed isn't that important, but if you're gonna consider them important enough to make the playoffs in the first place, let them play one game to determine who makes it. Probably the most attention the teams will get all season.
If nothing else, an extra game is extra revenue.
In the realm of local experience, the 7-seed Wild hosted the 8-seed Ducks in the conference finals a few years back, with the Ducks moving on to the Cup.
In 1991, the 8-seed North Stars made it to the Cup finals. They went up 1-0 on the Penguins but lost in 6.
In the NHL, the first tiebreaker is # of wins (since a team gets points for overtime/shootout losses). If that is tied, then I believe they go to head to head record.
Informationally yours,
Big Mak
I think of Octavio Ojeda as the guy that could have been Nick Punto. When they were both Twins Futility infielders, fresh from AAA, I dinae know one from the other.
.232/.309/.316 -- Ojeda career
.245/.314/.322 -- Punto career
Seems like a fair comparison.
Ojeda's career pitching Line:
0.00 Whip, 0.00 ERA.
So he's got that going for him.
Augie Ojeda?? He was kind of a tough out, getting a sac fly, now Cirillo is up with a runner on second, D-Backs down by 2.
Just like calling Sabathia "Carsten Charles", I'll call Ojeda "Oactavio." His MLB.com page says that his middle name is "Augie"... I don't remember that from when he played with the Twins.
Oh, my 'Augie Ojeda??' comment was more that Augie Ojeda was appearing in an at-bat with potential playoff implications. I thought he was sub-Punto, but apparently not.
Callaspo reaches way out and barely pokes one over Kaz Matsui. Rockies up by one, Stephen Drew at the plate, runner on first, two outs.
That was an awesome play! Corpas apparently did his PFP in spring training. Helton was pretty freakin' psyched.
Anyone know when the playoff game is and who's carrying it?
According to wikipedia:
I don't have any more specific info than that right now.
My guess, then, would be TBS---if Fox doesn't even want the first round of the playoffs, it's hard to imagine them wanting this. Still, that's just my guess.
After googling for a while, I finally stumbled upon the obvious source of info--the Rockies' official home page--looks like the game is scheduled for Monday at 5:37 MT on TBS.
Thank you.
I'm excited to see what TBS brings to the postseason.
I love listening to Gwynn and Ripken, so I hope they're a significant part of it.
This sucks. I don't get TBS.
Wait, never mind, the GF does.
Also, the wikipedia entry isn't written very well, since technically, a one-game playoff is part of the regular season, not the post-season. Still, one knows what they mean.
A wiki not written well?? Shocking!
Does that mean that any stats during tomorrow's game count towards player's actual stats? If Peavy has a start like Glavine did today, could he lose the NLCY?
In the past, at least, the stats from a one-game playoff counted in the regular season stats.
More importantly, do I have a chance to win my fantasy league if Tulo has a big game (like 10 HR, 25 Runs, and 21 RBIs big)?