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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The heavy lifting is over for the SF Giants as they won the NL West last night. Not an unexpected event, they have had the West sewn up ever since they knocked the Diamondbacks around in August to open a double digit lead.

Now the party starts for Felipe Alou’s team, “a party” that is exactly what the postseason is. MLB takes over the show, they plan the event. Your team plays a short series with other champs to figure out who will be the survivor of the cutthroat tournament.

A postseason series can change like the weather, daily or hourly. One bad inning can doom a game, two bad games can doom a series.

The real test is getting there over the course of 162 games, the best team most often prevails, even if by only one game because you have to play them all, and the winner after 162 games in a division or a wild card race is the best in my book.

So, the Giants are in, the best in the West, the Braves will follow any minute, but the remaining two spots are still up for grabs in the NL.

Houston lost in Colorado last night, while the Cubs moved to 1/2 game in the Central as Kerry Wood served notice that he can do what Mark Prior has done recently, and that is throw a power game in the heat of the pennant race.

Jeff Conine, one of the original Miami Marlins led his team with a clutch first inning single driving in two important runs, made a great catch in the field, and then threw out Jimmy Rollins who was foolishly trying to score from third with none out on a short fly to Conine in left.

The result was a big win for the Marlins over the Phillies. The Marlins are now in position to take the series today with Dontrelle Willis facing Kevin Millwood in a game being played earlier than scheduled in an attempt to avoid the possible effects of Hurricane Isabel.

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As expected Tuesday’s baseball results shed some light on how this 2003 story will end for the playoff contenders.

Esteban Loiaza was outpitched by Brad Radke in Minnesota last night. Radke carried the Twins last season all the way to the ALCS with his excellent work against the A’s in the ALDS.

Radke has been on the top of his game now for about one month (13-10 overall with a 4.67 ERA doesn’t tell the story of how he is pitching today). The White Sox are now one back in the loss column, with 12 to play. No big deal, but seeing your ace get trumped by your biggest rival now puts the pressure on Jon Garland to pitch effectively for at least six innings today. Minnesota comes back with Kenny Rogers, a notorious choker in big games. If Minnesota wins today, it will be because its bullpen rescues Rogers around the fifth inning.

The White Sox held Shannon Stewart in check at 0-3, but walked him twice in five at bats. In fact, Loiaza’s five walks in 2 1/3 innings really led to his downfall. Sayanora to Loiaza’s Cy Young award chances, the spotlight now goes onto Roy Halladay who is looking for victory number 21 today against Detroit.

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With less than two weeks to go in the baseball season some things seem certain to happen.

The Yankees, Athletics, Braves, and the Giants will fill four of the playoff spots in this year’s tournament.

The Red Sox look stronger than the Mariners and should hold on to win the wild card in the AL.

The Twins face the Tigers seven more times, while the White Sox have to pound their way through a tough finishing schedule. KC just has to keep winning to stay in contention. The Royals are now a longshot, but Tony Pena is AL Manager of the Year and Carlos Beltran should get some serious votes for MVP.

The Cubs can’t slip up against the Mets or any of the other patsies they will face to end the season. Dusty Baker has proven he is a pro going down the stretch.

Houston will face a mine field in Colorado this week. Pitchers have told me that it is the series after leaving the thin air of Colorado that is the problem for them. The next series (at St. Louis) is where the wear and tear on their arms will show up.

Today the Phils and Marlins square off in a series that may determine the fate of the Phillies and the Dodgers.

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The flu bug hit the Boston Red Sox Sunday as all star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra became the latest victim of the malady (I’m sure his 5-73 slump had nothing to do with his absence) that had already taken Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez from Boston’s line up earlier this month.

Maybe these guys don’t eat properly or get enough rest, but this team seems to suffer more “flu outs” than any other team in baseball.

Mark Buehrle didn’t help the Red Sox either as he dominated the home team for seven innings. John Burkett got tagged early by Carlos Lee, the unknown outfielder for Chicago who is hitting .294 with 30 homers and 104 RBI’s. Amazing, but Chicago tried to trade this guy all winter without success.

The Angels got an excellent performance from former A’s farmhand Kevin Gregg and edged Seattle 2-1 with the winning hit coming on a single by Scott Spiezio off a 95 MPH fastball from Rafael Soriano. Ichiro, Brett Boone, and Edger went 0-11 and that’s all she wrote as the Mariners are now 3 1/2 behind the A’s in the West.

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So who is the most unheralded power hitter in the game today?

Try Richie Sexson. Saw him hit two bombs at Pac Bell Saturday, pitches crushed into Barry Bonds territory. He is no Dave Kingman, big slugger from the 70’s and 80’s who struck out all the time as well as hit long homers. Sexson can play first base, run, and is languishing in obscurity in Milwaukee.

Some enterprising GM will make the Brewers a legit offer and get this guy, he can be an MVP.

Ken Macha told me in December that he wanted to bat Erubiel Durazo in the second spot in the batting order. Wonder why it took 140 games to make the move? No matter, Durazo looks like a force in the low pressure two hole. After seeing Jose Guillen play three or four games, I suggested he would look better in the five spot, glad Macha made that move too.

With all these moves, the key to Oakland is still pitching. Tim Hudson, Barry Zito, Ted Lilly and three relievers Bradford, Rincon, and Foulke are making this run happen, notwithstanding the hitting which is coming around at the right time.

Jermaine Dye hit two rockets last night, what a week he is having.

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With only three weekends of baseball left in the regular season, all the races still up in the air have critical matchups beginning today.

Some people say that a win in April is just as important as a win in September, they all count the same, one game in the standings. I don’t buy it.

A bullpen collapse in September can carry over to the next game, with only 15 games left to play, the cushion of making up for a blown save is gone. A head on loss to a rival counts two games in the standings, there may not be enough games left if you do that too many times.

In other words, when you have 100 games to go, you can make up for your mistakes, with three weekends to go, it may become too late. That is why clutch players are remembered (Yaz, Giambi, Frank Robinson) in history, especially during the stretch run, since they keep the team on track for the playoffs.

Tonight Barry Zito faces Texas, a team he has beaten nine straight times. The game is in Texas which means nothing will be easy for Oakland this weekend. Zito has pitched some of the best games of his career in Arlington and faces Cal alum Ryan Drese, a righty who seems to give up three or more in the first inning whenever he starts a game.

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