With the trading deadline still a few days away, the wild card contenders continue to keep their pennant hopes alive.

Florida and Arizona are only two games behind Philadelphia with the Expos, Dodgers, Cubs, Cards, and (as Iowa Cubs broadcaster Dave Raymond pointed out to me last night) even the Rockies are not out of it as well.

In the AL, Boston is clinging to a two game lead over Oakland with Toronto still hanging on too.

This means that there will be many willing buyers in the market for the few healthy arms that are sure to change teams by the deadline.

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Marty, The times, they are a-changin, as the poet says. And few places more than in the way the game is played today. Let’s look at the Giants, by way of example. The team’s present roster, which has a way of changing from day to day, with players being shuttled in and out of Fresno as the perceived need arises, consists of 13 pitchers and three outfielders. Of the thirteen pitchers, five are starters, the traditional number these days in a rotation, and the remaining eight are in the bulllpen. The makeup of these pitchers is interesting. [Read more →]

The Red Sox are living right. Not only does Jeremy Giambi (.195) get a hit to start their winning rally in the ninth inning, but the slowest man on the field also steals second for his first career stolen base.

Maybe Giambi’s karma is turning around for him. Giambi who is infamous for not sliding in a close play at home in the 2001 division series, angering every A’s fan in the world, got the call as the replay showed he was out at second on his steal attempt.

The Red Sox should just let Byung Hyun Kim rest during the Yankee series. Not only did he figure in virtually every world series decision between the Diamondbacks and the Bombers in 2001, but he has been the hill for every crucial pitch between the Sox and the Yankees since coming to Boston. Yesterday he barely came out on top over much maligned set up man, righty Armando Benitez for NY.

More of the same on tap today with Derek Lowe against Jeff Weaver.

I don’t care what anyone says the Yankees rotation doesn’t scare me, all right maybe Andy Pettitte, but the rest can be beaten. Just watch tonight.

Kevin Millar has not only given the Red sox good at bats, but he is a lively presence in the clubhouse, a trait which is unknown by club outsiders.

The most impressive thing about Rich Harden is the stuff he throws when he is behind in the count, which is very often. Once Harden gets it together in the majors, he will be very difficult to beat.

I hate to say it, but Harden’s ascent means that Billy Beane now can pull the trigger on a deal trading one of the big three, if necessary.

My prediction is Tim Hudson is the one to go if it happens.

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What a night of baseball.

The Yankees and the Red Sox battled in a classic match up in Fenway Park, won once again by New York 4-3.

Pedro Martinez whose team is 8-13 against the Yanks in the games he has started, battled through 128 pitches to no avail.

It took a single off Mariano Rivera by Jason Varitek in the eighth to get Pedro off the short end of a 3-2 score.

Jesse Orosco came in for the Yankees in the sixth and fanned Johnny Damon with the bases loaded to end the inning. Next frame he got Todd Walker leading off the inning, ending the 45 year old lefties night on the mound.

Some debut for the Yankees newest member of their retooled bullpen.

Byung Hyun Kim who has endured world series nightmares facing the Yankees, came on only to lose the game again in the ninth. Enrique Wilson singled, stole second, went to third on a grounder to the right side by Alfonso Soriano, then came home with the leading run on a sac fly by Derek Jeter.

Small ball at its best.

With two on in the ninth, Rivera got Jeremy Giambi on a soft liner to second to end the game.

Pedro pitched a great game, argued with the umpire Dana Demuth and completely entertained the crowd with a tremendous outing. David Wellses back acted up as he walked five in less than six innings, one less than he had walked all year.

Today John Burkett, who the Yankees own, faces Mike Mussina in another wonderful summer afternoon in Boston.

The Marlins rallied against one of the best bullpens in the NL by scoring eight runs in the eighth inning to beat the Phillies 11-5, thus reducing their deficit to 4 games in the NL Wild Card.

Dontrelle Willis did his thing for six innings, leaving with a 3-1 lead before Placido Palanco hit a three run home roff of Ugueth Urbina in the seventh, which gave the Phillies a short lived lead.

Today the Marlins, who are 7-4 against the Phillies this season, throw youngster Josh Beckett who last threw seven shut out innings against Montreal on Monday against Brandon Duckworth who hasn’t won since May 17th.

And then there was Ted Lilly against the Angels!

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Dontrelle Willis faces fellow youngster Brett Myers tonight in Miami as the Marlins seek to close the five game gap between themselves and the wild card leading Phillies.

This is the biggest start of Willises career, the first game of any series sets the tone and he gets the ball.

The Phillies hit the ball in Wrigley against Kerry Wood and a host of inadequate relievers. Interesting with all the runs the Phils scored yesterday, Pat Burrell their 50 million dollar player wasn’t in the lineup.

Arizona limps into LA behind Randy Johnson, four games behind the Phils. Barry Bonds made the throw he should have made in 1991 when Sid Bream scored from second on Francisco Cabrera’s single putting the Braves into the World Series, yesterday’s throw was from almost the identical spot on the field, but this time Bonds threw Craig Counsell out at the plate with a laser from left field cutting down the potential lead run in the ninth.

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The Houston Astro bull pen continues to amaze me as they get the ball virtually every night as manager Jimy Williams tries to nail down a victory.

Williams burnt out the Red Sox bull pen numerous times during his stay in Boston. He can’t seem to wear these guys in Houston down.

Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel, and Billy Wagner rarely fail to hold the lead, thus bringing home the win.

In contrast, the Cardinals have trouble getting the ball to their closer and the Cubs disappeared as serious contenders when its bull pen went south in June.

The Giants continue to use all the pitchers on their staff effectively, similar to what Houston does and what St. Louis tries to do.

In today’s game the bull pen is critical to a teams success, but what I am realizing now is it is just not the three relievers who are used to nail the win down from the eighth inning on, but the good teams use the entire pen to hold a game in check from the sixth inning forward.

Check how many times Ken Macha uses Chad Bradford in the sixth inning, if he feels the game will turn in that inning. The problem for the A’s pen is other than Bradford and Keith Foulke you can’t rely on anyone else in the pen if a critical moment should arise. I mean RELY not just hope they have it that night.

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Baseball is heating up all over the US and in Canada today.

First of all, the A’s are expected to pick up Kelvim Escobar from their favorite trading partner, the Blue Jays for Ted Lilly. If that deal goes through, Billy Beane will have the one missing piece of his bull pen that he has sought for two years. Escobar throws in the mid nineties and will be the eighth inning man unless the A’s get nervous about Rich Harden and want Escobar to be their fourth starter. To me, he would be more valuable in the pen.

Once Peter Gammons reports something about the A’s it happens because it is well known that Beane uses Gammons as his own personal pipeline for information and must give Gammons the inside scoop about the A’s when it is available.

Gammons claims the deal is on.

So, stay tuned something is sure to happen shortly.

The Mariners throw Ryan Franklin to open the series. The righty has given up too many home runs to please his manager this year. Many scouts say Franklin is the most consistent pitcher the M’s have right now, and that is a scary thought for Seattle.

More importantly Arthur Rhodes and Jeff Nelson have been getting tagged lately and these two are usually very tough on the A’s. As usual the Mariners bull pen will have an impact on this two game series.

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You can say good bye to Aaron Harang, Eric Hiljus, Justin Duchsherer, and probably Ted Lilly. Rich Harden is here to stay and will get every shot to be the A’s fourth starter.

Like Dontrelle Willis, Claudio Vargas, Jeriome Roberstson, Jerome Williams, and Jesse Foppert, Harden looks like a young pitcher who can win right away in the big leagues.

The A’s took their patient approach with them in the ninth inning, walking four times in a row to completely unnerve the KC team, giving the A’s another ninth inning win against the Royals.

No Jose Lima today for KC as the righty will miss today’s game with a sore groin.

The Diamondbacks can keep positive because they only trail the Phillies by two in the wild card. The Giants won a key game last night with some little ball, clutch pitching, and some nice big time pitching from the rookie Williams who worked out of some major jams.

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With 65 games to go in the 2003 season the Mariners lead the A’s by 5 and the Angels by 9 and 1/2.

So, big deal. There is so much baseball left to play that it is ridiculous for anyone to feel like their pennant hopes are fading away after a bad weekend in the East or Midwest.

The Mariners have a tight defense, good pitching and a solid bull pen. The A’s have the best three starters in baseball and perhaps one of the top three closers as well. The Angels have true grit and will not go away easily.

It is only July the 21st. So much can happen over the next ten weeks, that you will think you are trapped inside a grade B Hollywood movie.

One solid week of baseball brings anyone over .500 into the chase. You just need a little cooperation from the teams ahead of you in the standings.

And every year it happens somewhere along the way.

Now, the A’s and the Mariners should stop pining for reinforcements. If Eric Chavez, Miguel Tejada, and Erubiel Durazo do what they should be doing everything will be fine. If Bret Boone, Freddy Garcia, Mike Cameron and John Olerud do what they are capable of doing, Seattle will be OK.

To put all your hopes on some mystical trade that a GM may or may not make is erroneous reasoning. No matter who Billy Beane brings in, the big three hitters in the lineup better do their job. Now, a new hitter may give them confidence to play better and if that is what they need to excel, then they have big problems as championship ballplayers anyway.

Ken Macha finally said the right words yesterday. These guys better dig down deep and play baseball and not look to the GM to save their season.

It is time for somebody on the A’s to get dirty, break up a double play, hit a three run homer, lay down a surprise bunt, get a clutch hit, and play some interesting baseball.

The whole team has the look of a deer in headlights.

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Dontrelle Willis pitches today for the Marlins against Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs. The way the Cubs hit Willis should be overpowering when facing this listless lineup.

I would expect close to 35,000 for this game. The Marlins are 5 games behind the Phillies in the wild card chase and are playing nice and loose right now.

The Cubs ought to go out and pull the trigger on a trade with Pittsburgh and grab Kenny Lofton for the rest of the season.

John Olerud is hitting around .130 in July and making Seattle very nervous at first base.

Kaz Sasaki threw without pain yesterday and gave Bob Melvin some reason to hope that he will be back sometime before Melvin retires.

Seattle is faltering, but you knew that already. Trouble is the A’s and the Angels are not showing any signs of consistent play and Seattle’s losing won’t go on forever.

The Angles starting rotation is not doing the job, but their bull pen is fantastic. Until the starters pick up the slack the Seraphs will win three, lose two, win two, lose two, and end up playing .550 ball which won’t be enough to get into the playoffs.

Now if Troy Glaus ever got out of his funk and the Angels offense reappeared, then they might have something to build on.

The A’s can bury the Angels next weekend when they meet Anaheim for four games in Disneyland.

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