The Final Sprint

I often refer the baseball season as a marathon because what happens early and in the middle means little as long as a team stays around .500.  However, we have reached the final sprint to the finish where every game seems magnified.  Although the 5 playoff spots in the National League are set, the final positions are still up for grabs.

With 5 games left there still five teams who could finish with best record in the league.  Atlanta and St. Louis have 92 wins while Cincinnati, Los Angeles, and Pittsburgh have 90 wins.  Altanta and Los Angeles have clinched their divisions while the NL Central could still go to any of the 3 teams.  Obviously, the Cardinals have the advantage because they have a 2 game lead.

Games left in the Central:

St. Louis

Nationals--Gonzalez vs Wacha
Nationals--Zimmermann vs Miller
Chicago--Wood vs Lynn
Chicago--Jackson vs Kelly
Chicago--Samardzija vs Wainwright

Pittsburgh

Chicago--Cole vs Rusin
Chicago--Liriano vs Arrieta

Cincinnati

New York--Niese vs Leake
New York--Matsuzaka vs Reynolds

Cincinnati vs Pittsburgh

Burnett vs Latos
Locke ( someone else) vs Bailey
Morton vs Arroyo

On paper, the Reds two games against the Mets seem the easiest but, as any baseball fan knows, things are rarely easy.

The pitching match-ups are not set in stone past the next couple of games.  With teams having an off day it is possible that the pitchers the last 3 games could be moved up so the Pirates could move Morton to Saturday and pitch Cole on Sunday.  The other teams could also move pitchers around.

Every day the teams play this week will alter the chances.  In two days the Pirates could be out of the race or tied for the lead.  To paraphrase Bette Davis in All About Eve, fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride