Perhaps the most exciting phrase in sports is uttered at the Kentucky Derby each May.

Down the stretch they come!

Baseball got it right when they set the final week of the schedule matching the teams in the division races.

The A’s have the advantage on the Angels and Rangers with their final seven games in Oakland beginning Monday night.

The Rangers hit the ball. They knocked the A’s starting pitching around for two weeks. Who do they think they are the Red Sox? If the season had 14 games to go instead of ten, then the Rangers win going away.

Click below for more!Anaheim has stopped scoring runs. Seattle beat up the Angels this week, but other than Ichiro no one on the Mariners roster hits the A’s pitching staff. Last I checked 200 singles won’t beat you.

Even with the Athletics offense in low gear, they should have little trouble outscoring the Mariners and the Halos at home.

Scott Hatteberg can use a day off. I never thought the A’s would miss Eric Karros, but they do.

The Giants are playing the best ball in the majors over the past three weeks. No surprise they are back in the race because pitchers Brett Tomko and Noah Lowery are dominating the opposition, allowing the Giants weary pen to take a couple of weeks off. The two pitchers saved the Giants season.

Remember, whoever pitches the best in the last week wins.

The Dodgers are doing an impersonation of the ’64 Phillies, a team that blew a 6 1/2 game lead with 12 to go. The Giants biggest problem will be finishing the season on the road in San Diego and LA.

Getting the Giants at home next weekend may be the ticket to the playoffs for LA.

It’s still tough to win on the road when the games mean something.

I don’t care what Adrian Beltre does or the Cards Albert Pujols and his buddies, after watching Barry Bonds this year, he wins the NL MVP hands down.

The Cubs will win the Wild Card. Dusty Baker’s boys have enough cream puffs on the schedule (Mets and Reds) to stay in front.

Atlanta might have a say in the equation next weekend when they meet the Cubs three times in Chicago ending the regular season. If the Cubs win the wild card, then they open with the Braves in the NLDS. The Braves won’t go all out against Chicago next week, instead taking the safe route and resting their regulars for the playoffs.

Big mistake.

The starting rotation for the Cubs is coming around. If I’m Atlanta manager Bobby Cox, I’d do everything I could to knock the Cubs out next weekend if the games matter because the Cubs will blast the Braves in the playoffs in the first round.

The Twins are starting to get some respect in the baseball world. For me, until I see Johan Santana, the probable Cy Young winner in the AL, go out and beat the Sox or Yankees in October, I say bring the Twins on.

The scariest part of facing Minnesota may be seeing closer Joe Nathan in the ninth inning. Mariano Rivera and Keith Foulke are lights out, but this guy isn’t far behind.

Houston not pitching Roger Clemens against the Giants was a huge mistake. Clemens could have arranged his schedule to pitch against SF instead of the lowly Brewers Sunday night.

Until rallying for a win Thursday night, the Houston team slipped into their usual October funk as soon as Carlos Hernandez threw his first pitch in game one Tuesday.

Clemens would have given the team a boost with his presence on the mound. Heck, he would have given the team a lift if he just showed up for the series instead of staying in Houston which his contract allowed him to do. Nice team guy. Andy Pettitte too, even though he’s on the DL where was he this week?

The Giants should send Clemens and Pettitte a case of rubber chickens.

If the A’s win the West, will they have a player in the top 10 in the AL MVP voting? I say Mark Kotsay gets in, but my Inside baseball Saturday Night co-host Shooty Babitt disagrees, saying the A’s get shut out in the top 10 list.

Here’s my top 10 for AL MVP: David Ortiz, Gary Sheffield, Manny Ramirez, Miguel Tejada, Vladimir Guerrero, Paul Konerko, Ichiro, Michael Young, Mark Kotsay and Johan Santana.