So who will win the NL wild card? NICE INFO

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And if the Road Warrior says it, it must be true..
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[size=-3]Chronicle, AP, US Presswire photos [/size]
[size=-2]In the National League wild-card race, the Astros are the team to beat. The Astros, opening a six-game trip tonight in Phoenix against the Diamondbacks, enter the final two months of the season with a one-game lead over the Nationals for the wild card and looking to make the playoffs for the sixth time in nine seasons. [/size]
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[size=-2]Aug. 2, 2005, 1:09AM[/size]

[size=-2]Six teams vying for one wild-card spot
By BRIAN MCTAGGART
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
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Astros owner Drayton McLane has never been shy about making bold — and often far-fetched — predictions about his team, especially when it comes to chances of winning any kind of championship.
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[size=-2]So when asked last weekend if the Astros were going to catch the St. Louis Cardinals and win the National League Central division title this season, McLane's response certainly took no one by surprise.[/size]

[size=-2]"We're going to catch the Cardinals," he said. "The season's still got a long way to go, and we're going to catch the Cardinals."[/size]

[size=-2]Although the Astros have shaved seven games off the Cardinals' lead in the NL Central in the last eight weeks, catching St. Louis will be difficult. They are still nine games out of first.[/size]

[size=-2]But in the NL wild-card race, the Astros are the team to beat, which is more than they could say at this time last year when they hit August six games out and tied for fifth in the wild-card standings.[/size]

[size=-2]The Astros, who open a six-game trip tonight in Phoenix against the Arizona Diamondbacks, enter the final two months of the season with a one-game lead over the Washington Nationals for the wild card and looking to make the playoffs for the sixth time in nine seasons.[/size]

[size=-2]The Astros and Oakland Athletics in the American League are trying to join the 1914 Boston Braves as the only teams in major league history to make the playoffs after being 15 or more games under .500.[/size]

[size=-2]"We'd love to win the division first, and if that doesn't work out, you go for the wild card after that," closer Brad
Lidge said. "Right now I think the biggest thing for us is keep doing what we've been doing on the road like we did at the end of the last road trip we took."
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[size=-2]The playoffs seemed like a pipe dream for the Astros a little more than two months ago. They started 15-30 but have gone 42-18 in their past 60 games to take the wild-card lead.[/size]

[size=-2]They've done it with a rotation anchored by three of the league's best starters in Roy Oswalt, Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte and an offense that has taken off behind Morgan Ensberg and Lance Berkman.[/size]

[size=-2]The Astros won 92 games last year en route to the wild card, beating the San Francisco Giants by one game. In the last nine years, the NL wild-card winners have averaged 92.6 wins, ranging from 97 by the New York Mets in 1999 to 90 by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1996 and Chicago Cubs in 1998.[/size]

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92 an important number
The Astros would have to go 35-22 over their final 57 games to reach 92 wins, which should be enough to win the wild card. Thirty of those final 57 games are at Minute Maid Park, where the Astros own the best home record (36-15) in baseball.
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[size=-2]But if any team knows how unpredictable the final two months of the season can be it's the Astros, who last year went 36-10 in a historic finishing kick.[/size]

[size=-2]"We know what we can achieve, and that's not to say somebody else couldn't achieve a similar thing," Astros general manager Tim Purpura said. "We're in an opposite position than we were a year ago, and now it's a little easier to control your own destiny.[/size]

[size=-2]"In the last 46 games last year, it was a playoff game every single date. If we lost a game, it could have been all over. Now if we can continue on the road we're on, you're not going to have that much drama in the last month and a half, two months of the season."[/size]

[size=-2]There are eight teams within six games of the Astros in the wild-card lead, with the Florida Marlins two games out and the Philadelphia Phillies 2 1/2 back.[/size]

[size=-2]The Cubs, who are four games out, have struggled to stay healthy this year with Mark Prior and Kerry Wood both spending substantial time on the disabled list.[/size]

[size=-2]However, five-time All-Star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra is nearing a return after missing three months with a groin injury.[/size]

[size=-2]The Mets, also four back, dropped three of four games to the Astros last weekend but are capable of making a run in the final two months.[/size]

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Just find ways to win
Astros manager Phil Garner said his club has to keep doing the same things it has done the last two months.
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[size=-2]"I don't know if there's a key other than continuing to pitch well and continuing to hit well," he said. "On days that we don't pitch well, we need to hit and drive in runs."[/size]

[size=-2]If you're looking for another reason to give the Astros the edge in the wild-card race, consider their pennant-race experience. They were in the race in 2003 until the next-to-last day of the season, losing the division by one game to the Cubs.[/size]

[size=-2]"We've been there," Purpura said. "We know how hard we fought to get there, and going through what we did last year, we know how hard it was to stay in it. We passed a lot of teams last year who were maybe in similar situations to what we are right now.[/size]

[size=-2]"You can pretty much go through baseball and look at division championships and wild-card championships and look at how many games over .500 it takes to get there. At (nine) above right now, we're in decent shape, but certainly we need to add to that."[/size]

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