The dance ticket is almost filled out as the Marlins eliminated the Phillies and now only need one more win over the Mets to be the NL Wild Card team. Meanwhile, the Red Sox knocked the Orioles all over Fenway to send the Mariners home for the winter, winning the AL Wild Card race.

So, what does it all mean?

Can the Red Sox slug their way past the A’s?

Teams that rely on one pitcher are not very successful in the postseason.

What would happen to Boston if Pedro lost game one next Wednesday? Can they rely on their hitting to beat the best pitching staff in the American League? Do they have enough secondary pitching to close out three wins? No matter how great Pedro is or Derek Lowe is for that matter, you know it, I know it, the American public knows it and even Bob Dole knows it, you can’t survive without pitchers who can close the deal from the eighth inning forward.

That one area will decide this playoff, no matter what Pedro does in his two starts, if they are necessary. Both Pedro and Lowe will need bullpen help if the Red Sox are to beat the A’s. Boston has the hitting, do they have the pitching?

The Giants will face a Marlin team that is playing very well. The Giants have a deep bullpen and as I said yesterday, the Miami pen is coming up short these days. Do the Marlins have a reliable lefty to get Barry Bonds out? Probably not, Michael Tejera has struggled lately. Jack McKeon will walk Bonds every chance he gets, no matter the score or the inning. Can the Giants hit the Marlins starters? That may be the one area that will challenge the Giants. Josh Beckett, Dontrelle Willis, and Brad Penny can take you into the seventh inning, but that is where the series will turn because the Marlins pen most likely won’t seal the deal after that inning.

Chad Fox, Braden Looper, and Ugueth Urbina are hittable if used too often. They will be in every potential win. Jack McKeon has ridden this trio hard down the stretch, he had to each game, that’s how demanding the six games with the Phillies and the six with the Braves were.

So, these two series will be very exciting to watch because what I am suggesting is the games will be decided in the late innings which makes for dramatic baseball.

A playoff series changes from moment to moment, so enjoy the shifts during the game because it ain’t over until it’s over, and especially this year.

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When Shawn Estes comes out and throws a shutout you know things are breaking your way. Estes lowered his ERA to 5.73 with his whitewashing of the Cincinnati Reds Wednesday.

Seriously, the win was huge for Chicago because they control their own destiny and the rotation is set up with Carlos Zambrano today, Matt Clement Friday, Mark Prior (who owns the Pirates, the Cubs weekend entertainment), and finally Kerry Wood on Sunday, if necessary.

The Astros will not go away and have an excellent chance of forcing a playoff or actually overtaking the Cubs if the Bruins stall along the way because Houston gets Milwaukee at home for four beginning this evening.

Milwaukee’s Doug Davis has found a home in the NL, after limited success with the Rangers and Blue Jays in the AL. He pitches tonight against Houston’s Tim Redding (9-14) in a game Houston must simply win.

Bottom line this thing ain’t over yet Cub fans as much as we all would like to see the Cubs in the playoffs, they better keep winning this weekend (Pittsburgh is no easy team to put away).

Todd Van Poppel pitches for the Reds today against the Cubs. Somehow, Van Poppel has added an off speed pitch to his fastball and has held the opposition at bay.

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The baseball season unfolds very slowly. It starts with spring training in February, moves into a six month regular season covering 162 games and then finally into the postseason in October.

As fans we have plenty of time each day to analyze the outcome of the prior night’s game and get ready for the game coming up.

Because we can think about the season daily and all its ramifications over six months, we can remember the twists and turns and key events that occurred 10, 20, or 30 years ago as if they happened yesterday.

Last night was one of those magical historical baseball night’s that unfolded right before our eyes ever so slowly, each pitch, each at bat, each key game coming down to the last at bat. Things were not easily settled, emotions ran the gamut from dejection to ultimate exhiliration depending on which side of the fence you were on.

But one thing is for sure, if you are a baseball fan, Tuesday Sept. 23rd unfolded ever so slowly allowing the indelible prints to be fixed on your baseball mind forever.

Let’s start in Oakland where the A’s won the West.

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Last night’s game, with the Giants winning against Houston’s supposedly invincible bullpen, provided a few meaningful reflections. This was the opening game of the penultimate series of the season. It was more important for the Astros than the Giants. The Astros are fighting for a division win. The wild card being out of reach. The Giants are fighting only for home field advantage. Nevertheless, the Giants were not about to roll over. [Read more →]

The Chicago Cubs got the lift they needed Monday as the Giants knocked the vaunted Houston bullpen around enroute to a 6-3 win.

First, Brad Lidge couldn’t find the plate walking two on eleven pitches, then after Octavio Dotel settled things down, Billy Wagner came in and Pedro Feliz took him out for the game winner. Feliz who killed the A’s in June is a valuable player for the Giants. He hits homers and doesn’t seem to be fazed coming off the bench. He will hurt some lefthanders in the playoffs, just watch because Wagner is one of the best around and Feliz wasn’t fazed one iota.

The A’s and Barry Zito (12-0 lifetime) continued their dominance of the Texas Rangers. It got so bad for Texas that they even pulled their superstar A Rod after he jogged to first on a ground ball out late in the game.

Of course, with the game no longer an issue Rafael Palmiero homered in the ninth to reduce the Rangers deficit to 7-2. Up to that point, the dynamic two were 0-5 and not a factor against Zito.

Looks like the A’s are going to go with a three man rotation in the playoffs. Tim Hudson, Barry Zito and then Ted Lilly. The A’s braintrust had been reluctant to bring Zito back on three days rest in the past because of the high stress he puts on his arm (something about torque on the curveball), but with the prospect of facing Pedro Martinez twice, the now get tough A’s may ask Zito to do what Lilly did Sunday and that is extend himself at the most critical time of the year.

Well, I guess you have to grow up sometime as a player and this may be the time for Barry Zito to step up and pitch like the greats of the past Octobers.

Tonight the A’s can nail the West with a little help from Anaheim and Scott Shields who will be facing Freddy Garcia. The scouts all agree that Garcia has the best arm on the Seattle staff, it’s just the rest of his game that continuously befuddles them.

The A’s bring Rich Harden out of his chiropractor’s office to face Ryan Drese. Drese is notorious for giving runs up early and tonight should be no exception. I think the toughest game is tomorrow when Hudson faces Joaquin Benoit, so the A’s would like to take care of business tonight, then they can rest the staff for the playoffs.

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Ted Lilly needed some prodding from Tim Hudson before he went into the managers office and asked for the ball Sunday as he replaced Rich “My back is tight ” Harden prior to one of the more important games in the Athletics season.

That advice from Hudson was all the help Lilly needed Sunday as he went out and threw the same game he has thrown for the last month and completely shut down the Mariners enroute to a 12-0 win.

Lilly established his fastball early, blowing away Bret Boone and his MVP chances in the first inning with a 93 MPH pitch around Boone’s eyes with Ichiro on third and one out.

Boone was so overwhelmed by the pitch that was so far out of the strike zone, he slammed his helmet to the ground as he walked slowly back to the dugout.

Lilly didn’t finesse anyone Sunday: fastball in the low 90’s, followed by curves, changeups, and sliders, but it was his fastball that was popping against a team that was 30-15 against lefties and dying for another win.

Now the Rangers come in and the goal for the A’s is to wrap this thing up before Friday and the final three games in Seattle.

Tony Mounce (has pitched well in three tries vs. Oakland) tries for the fourth time to defeat Barry Zito who has never lost to Texas. Mounce will be gone by the sixth and that horrid Ranger middle relief will be on the spot if the game is still close.

Can A Rod get the big hit his team needs when it counts early in the game? Can Rafael Palmeiro the future hall of famer do the same? Or will they pad their stats as usual when the game is no longer up for grabs?

A loss to the Rangers and a Mariner win in Anaheim where Jamie Moyer faces tough Jarrod Washburn allows Seattle to dream about sweeping the A’s at home this weekend and forcing a playoff next Monday.

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Seattle won a game they absolutely had to have Friday night and now get to face the A’s two untested rookies on Saturday and Sunday.

The Mariners still cannot afford to lose a single game in this series and remain a longshot to do that, but like the playoffs you play these games one at a time.

Tim Hudson hasn’t been the same since his 127 pitch effort against the Angels. At the end of that game his arm was hanging by his side. If anyone can benefit from some rest, I think it is Hudson, a gritty, gutty competitor who is maximum effort on every pitch he throws.

Seattle’s problem is lack of consistent offense, they can pitch as Ryan Franklin showed last night. If they play some small ball and get a few clutch hits they can make today’s game interesting because Justin Duchscherer won’t have the fastball to blow the tired Mariner bats away.

The Phillies are now on top in the wild card by virtue of Randy Wolf’s six inning effort and Mike Lieberthal’s four RBI’s.

Today it is Amaury Telemaco still looking for the stuff he had in his first start against St. Louis this year against Todd Van Poppel and his straight as a string fastball.

Marlins better hope they wake their bats up in Atlanta and have to be a little concerned about the health of pitcher Brad Penny who left his last start with a sore elbow.

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Two weekends to go and things are much clearer in the AL Central where the Twins will have to collapse against the Detroit Tigers over the next week to lose the title after sweeping the White Sox at home.

Close to 40,000 fans created another playoff night atmosphere as Minnesota starter Kyle Lohse turned the game over to JC Romero from the left side in the seventh, who yielded to LaTroy Hawkins and his 98 MPH heat in the eighth, who then gave the ball to “Everyday Eddie ” Guardado for his 38th save.

Bartolo Colon pitched gamely, but Jacques Jones smacked two homers and all of a sudden with a rotation of Brad Radke, Eric Milton, Kyle Lohse, Johann Santana, and Kenny Rogers plus a hot bullpen, this team looks like it can make some noise again in the playoffs.

Let’s put it this way, the Twins won’t sneak up on their opponent like last year, this team will be well known by the time the playoffs start in twelve days.

Jack McKeon stubbornly went after Jim Thome with the game on the line and the big firstbaseman burned him with a game winning homer. Poor managing in one of the Marlins key games of the season. Late in the game, Chad Fox a righty on the hill and on a 3-2 count a hanging slider to one of the best power hitters in the game.

Jack, if you would have read the Daily Dish on Tuesday I warned you to stay away from this very confrontation.

Oh well, on to Atlanta tonight where Russ Ortiz, stuck on 19 wins forever, goes against power pitcher Josh Beckett in a game both teams need.

The Marlins are trying to hang onto their lead until the Phillies come into Miami on Tuesday for another showdown series, while Atlanta tries to stay ahead of the Giants for homefield, if the two should meet in the NLCS.

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Marty: I started to write a comment to your article today but it became too lengthy and began to look more like an article. However, I am thinking of doing an article addressing the entire season before the playoffs begin.

Here are my initial thoughts on the postseason.

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