Mets lose. Phillies win. Thus ended a collapse to rival that of the 1995 Angels. The Mets led by 7 games just over two weeks ago. And now they go home.
The failure of both teams to win their games today means that, once again, we will not have a three-way tie for a postseason berth. Or the 4-way tie that was a possible scenario entering today’s play.
We could still have a tiebreaker for the wild card, as the Padres don’t seem to want it. Tony Gwynn, Jr., spoiled a near clinch yesterday with a hit of the style that made the Gwynn name famous. Barring a huge comeback by the Padres today, San Diego will either “back in” or head to Denver for a tiebreaker tomorrow. Somehow, neither the Rockies nor the Diamondbacks could score in their game today till the Rockies broke through in the bottom of the sixth.
And the Diamondbacks already clinched the NL’s best record yesterday, and would need quickly to score a lot of runs in the remainder of today’s game (possible, it’s in Denver, after all) to avoid being outscored on the season. Best record, and thus home-field advantage in both rounds, for a team that would be “expected” to be under .500! What a season! What a league!
This was planted at about 1:50 PM, PDT.
