Sunday, Red Sox v Indians: RHP Martinez v RHP Davis. Yes, that Pedro.
Has 3B coach Dave Myers ever seen a runner too slow to wave around third? Sure, it was great seeing Davis bash the hell out of Ramon Hernandez, but so far this series we’ve seen luck bail him out of two obvious bad decisions at the hot corner waving around slow runners.
Running Over the A’s
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Wild Speculation
5 games remaining against the A’s
3 games remaining against the Angels (for the A’s, 3 v Texas)
Ignore for the moment the Angels/Rangers
M’s win all 5 remaining: M’s 93-66, A’s 92-67, M’s by one
M’s go 4-1: M’s 92-67, A’s 93-66, A’s by one
M’s go 3-2: M’s 91-68, A’s 94-63, A’s by two
.. and so on
Let’s just look at the first two:
M’s go 6-0 in the last two series, it’s 93 wins to 92 wins. If the A’s manage to grab one more win from Texas than we do with Anahiem, it’s a tie, and we go to a tiebreaker. So 0-3 versus 1-2, 1-2 versus 2-1, all result in a tie. If Oakland grabs two more wins, which seems unlikely, they take the division title.
So even if the M’s sweep the remaining games, there’s still a very good chance we’ll end up tied and see a one-game playoff (and maybe another one with Boston if we tie them, too).
If the M’s go 5-1 in the last two series, it’s the opposite. If the M’s manage to grab one more win from Anahiem than Oakland does with with Texas, it’s a tie, and we go to a tiebreaker. So 0-3 versus 1-2, 1-2 versus 2-1, all result in a tie. If Seattle grabs two more wins, which seems unlikely, division title.
So if the M’s lose one of the next five games, there’s still a decent chance we see a tie.
4-2 or worse is pretty much wave bye-bye to the division title.
All of which to say is this:
Assume Oakland goes 0-3 against Texas. The M’s need to go 5-3 or better to finish the season with a good shot at a tie or the division title.
1-2, the M’s need to go 6-2.
2-1, the M’s need to go 7-1
3-0, the M’s need to win eight games in a row.
Anything can happen in this short a period of time. It’s worth noting that the Angels are essentially fielding a AAAA team of their PCL team plus 3-4 major leaguers a game (like spring training, which I highly recommend). Texas, though, got whupped the last time they faced Oakland, a three-game sweep in which Oakland outscored them 24-11. Still, they have a pretty good 1-5/6 lineup…
We’ll see.
Coming soon: more GM candidates not named Derek Zumsteg in further useless speculation about how to improve the team, and a HUGE HUGE HUGE preview of off-season turnover, or lack thereof.
“Don’t Give Up Hope” Picture of the Day ™
C’mon kid! The M’s haven’t been eliminated yet! You gotta believe!