Printer-friendly

Contact Author

September 30, 2004

Prospectus Today

Heartbreakers

by Joe Sheehan

Correction to yesterday's lead: when chasing October, it helps to beat bad baseball teams.

Powered by the sound of a ticking clock, on to some notes from Wednesday...

• The Cubs and A's both failed for a second straight day to take advantage of the schedule-maker's kindness, losing to the Reds and Mariners respectively, and falling out of first place in their races. The Cubs have now lost four of five games to two teams who would have been lucky to make hay in the International League in the second half. They still control their destiny, but just barely, and might well be on track for at least one extra game this year. The weekend series with the Braves is going to be very interesting given the disparate motivations of the two teams.

  Nate Silver made a good point in discussing the Cubs vs. the Braves as a potential first-round playoff series. The matchup isn't good for the Cubs in that they get a huge chunk of their offense from home runs, and the Braves don't give up many (15th in the NL, with 148 allowed). That's something to think about while you're watching what amounts to play-in games this weekend.

• The A's got a good start from, well, their one good starter, Rich Harden, but couldn't score much for the second straight night and lost, 4-2. It was a tough loss because it was Harden's last scheduled start, leaving them with four games left using four starters who have been indistinguishable from the Indians' rotation in the second half. And they now have to win at least three of their last four games just to assure themselves a tie.

  The last time the A's went 3-1 in a stretch of four games not started by Harden? September 1-4.

  The rest of this article is restricted to Baseball Prospectus Subscribers. Not a subscriber? Click here for more information on Baseball Prospectus subscriptions or use the buttons to the right to subscribe and get access to the best baseball content on the web.

  Cancel anytime. That's a 33% savings over the monthly price! That's a 33% savings over the monthly price! Already a subscriber? Click here and use the blue login bar to log in.