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.

Click below for more!The Marlins have dominated the Phillies this season. Carl Pavano is one of the hottest pitchers on their staff. The Phils Vincente Padilla can be erratic. I expect Jim Thome to have a big series. He has been in this position many times with the Indians and if I’m the Marlins, I don’t let him beat me.

The Marlins are a relatively inexperienced club when it comes to playing for the title. Pudge Rodriguez has been in the postseason, but not many of their pitchers have been there. My only concern so far about Miami is that they may be too inexperienced to hang on. So far, the bullpen is solid and that is one of my keys to success, perhaps Ugueth Urbina may get a chance to close if Braden Looper falters at all.

I look for this to be a very close series with the Phillies taking two of three to spite the manager they love to hate, Larry Bowa.

If the teams go back and forth trading wins, then the Dodgers can pick up a much needed game in the standings. Watch the loss column, the Dodgers are tied with the Phillies (68) this morning.

Tonight it is Kaz Ishii (better hope he doesn’t give up a homer after the walks you know he will issue) against Curt Schilling in LA. Dodger motto: Just win Baby!

The A’s Ted Lilly has Anaheim’s number, now 4-0 against the Angels. Miguel Tejada MVP? Why not, this team might win 100 games, they need to go 9-2 in the last 11. If you follow A’s baseball you know he is the man on this team, has over 100 RBI’s and is personally carrying the ball club to the West title once again, since May he is been awesome.

The A’s need a fourth starter in the playoffs. Who will that be? Rich Harden? If you are down 2-1 to the Red Sox and playing in Fenway who pitches game four? Tim Hudson on three days rest? Who goes in game five? They don’t throw Zito on short rest, Lilly either. Do you start Harden at home in the finale and hope the bullpen is ready. Joe Torre did it with Mike Stanton in 2000 when he brought him in in the fourth inning after the A’s had closed the gap Gil Heredia had put them into in the first inning. Bradford to Rincon to Foulke may be the key to the first series, no matter what inning they enter the game.

My advice, wrap it up in four games.

Pedro faces Tampa today a team he has simply dominated in the past. The Mariners lack of hitting will make this week very tough in Texas where the Rangers score 4-5 runs very easily no matter who they are facing on a given night.

Funny, Rafael Palmiero never hurts the A’s while he looks like Babe Ruth to Seattle. Palmiero tied a Jimmy Foxx home run record last night further ensuring his hall of fame election one day.

John Thomson and Gil Meche. Seattle can forget about the A’s, but they better be careful or the Red Sox can move to three up in the loss column with a Sox win and Seattle loss tonight.

Brad Radke beat Esteban Loiaza last week in Chicago in a game the Twins had to have. Tonight they face each other in Minnesota. I’ve stayed with Loiaza all year so I’ll stick with him tonight even though Radke is a big game pitcher who beat the A’s twice when it counted last fall.

Bullpens must be considered in just about every game, but these two pitchers can go very deep into the game. It wouldn’t surprise me to see a complete game by one of them.

Frank Thomas puts his MVP credentials on the line in this series against my second half catalyst, Shannon Stewart for the Twins.

Mark Prior comes off one of his toughest outings last week in Puerto Rico to face the Mets tonight. Keep in mind he is still a young man no matter how he looks on the mound.

Mike Remlinger pulled his season together at the right time for the Cubs. Dusty Baker gives him the entire eighth inning now whenever he can.

Can Greg Maddux get number 15 tonight? If he does, it’s 15 or more wins for 16 years, and that folks is a major league record.

Tim Worrell got the outs he needed last night for SF, but again looked shaky doing it.

Who is the third starter for the Giants in the playoffs? I’d go with Jerome Williams, I think he can handle the pressure and his stuff is way better than Kirk Rueter’s.

Did MLB really forbid Montreal from bringing up late season call ups from the minors? If so, shouldn’t someone say something about it in the press?

The injuries to Jose Guillen and Chris Singleton are burying the A’s bench. Ken Macha better look hard for some replacements for the playoffs and give them some at bats now.

Things may start to shake out in the close races by Friday, but then again unless one team sweeps another, it looks like the final week will be something to watch.