FRIDAY:
Brewers (Villanueva 8-4, 4.11) at Braves (Hudson 16-8, 3.33)
Pirates (Maholm 10-15, 4.76) at Cubs (Marquis 12-8, 4.07)

SEASON:
CHC 80-73
MIL 78-74 (1.5 GB)

SEPTEMBER:
MIL 11-7
CHC 12-8

The braves took a dive by starting a guy for his first MLB start.

signed Cubs

In other news, the J.R. Towles era has begun...

Post 2:

Stop that nonsense. Just because the home town threw up all over itself is no reason to lash out at a third party. It's childish and stupid.

I can't see any team coming back from 1 1/2 back in so little time. Race over.

Well, FOX should be happy at least.

In other news, the J.R. Towles era has begun...

He's not in the bigs because he can throw, that's for sure. His arm is in the Kendall/Estrada class.

Corey Hart almost stole a base on a PITCHOUT yesterday off Towles (he may have been safe, actually, it was a close call).

If the 'stros could take Quintero's arm and put it on Towles, that would be a heck of a catcher.

You know the only thing that will gall me?

That Yost will be hailed in the media for how the team fought back in September. Ignoring how they GOT themselves to UNDER .500 in the first place.

He's not in the bigs because he can throw, that's for sure. His arm is in the Kendall/Estrada class.

Corey Hart almost stole a base on a PITCHOUT yesterday off Towles (he may have been safe, actually, it was a close call).

If the 'stros could take Quintero's arm and put it on Towles, that would be a heck of a catcher.

Hehehe... check out tonight's box score for more details.
...and Josh Anderson is vying for the Gerald Young Trophy, awarded to the young, sorta toolsy speedster dude who puts up a jaw-dropping partial season, thereby raising false hopes and leading to several ensuing seasons of frustration. See also: Yelding, Eric and Hunter, Brian.
This next half-decade is going to be sooooo much fun...

6!!!
BOW BEFORE THE CHOSEN ONE!

I call dibs on organizing the "TowleHeads" cheering section next season.
Well I am half Indian... I could almost get away with that...

In a matchup between the Astros offense and the Cardinals pitching staff, SOMETHING had to give. 15 runs, though?

16.
Damn you, Chris Burke, you rally-killing ############.

I'd forgotten all about the carefree bliss of rooting for a non-contending, utterly irrelevant team. The rivers of blood flowing from tonight's Mets game thread makes it seem almost worthwhile...

The shutout... gone?! Wandy's gem... NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!1!

8!!!
WORSHIP HIM!
WORSHIP HIM, AND HE MAY SPARE YOUR WORTHLESS LIVES!!

MIL Journal-Sentinel:

Brewers manager Ned Yost had a succinct message Thursday for critics in Milwaukee who insisted he broke his stretch-run promise of "pulling out all the stops" by not using closer Francisco Cordero in a tie game in the 10th inning the previous evening in Houston.

"I didn't say I was going to be stupid," Yost barked.
...
Yost stuck to his modus operandi of not using Cordero in a tie game on the road but that didn't stop unhappy fans and talk-radio folks from ripping him to shreds. Yost explained why he is against using his closer late in tied games on the road.

"For me, it just doesn't make any sense," he said. "If your stopper comes in the ball game (with the score tied), he's got to get six outs (to close the game if his team scores).

"So, if you put your stopper in the game you better hope you score the next inning so he can close it out. If you don't score, he has to throw another three outs for you to have an opportunity (to win).

"If you throw your stopper out there for three innings and then you score, then you've got a decision. Do I throw him out there again and have him unavailable for the next three days? Or do I bring somebody else in?"

Having said that, Yost said he won't use Wise again with a game on the line after the meltdown of the once-dependable set-up man continued.

The ultimate goal for me here is a bit complicated. But I need the Mets to collapse, the Cubs rise and take at least the #2 seed. That way the home games won't be on a Saturday and Sunday. If they take the #3 seed that means I have to get tickets to Sundays game and prey the Cubs don't get swept.

Wow 18-1. I think that lets Houston jump 3 spots in the runs scored category. Kinda funny that a little over a week or so all my buddies and I were hanging are heads and saying the Cardinals were going to overtake the Cubs and Brewers.

Central winner is almost assured the #3 seed.

Even if the Mets collapse, the Phillies currently have a three game lead on the Cubs, while the Diamondbacks have six games on Chicago, the Padres 5.5 games.

Yes but the Phillies tend to choke at the end. Yes I realize it is a longshot which is why I said it is my ultimate goal.

Stop that nonsense. Just because the home town threw up all over itself is no reason to lash out at a third party. It's childish and stupid.

Amen. Then again, Beano's a borderline troll to begin with, so consider the source.

"I didn't say I was going to be stupid," Yost barked.

We were to simply assume it?

Kinda funny that a little over a week or so all my buddies and I were hanging are heads and saying the Cardinals were going to overtake the Cubs and Brewers.

I have a buddy who swore up and down around the end of last month that the Cardinals would finish second, in front of Milwaukee. I vehemently disagreed with him, arguing that, well, despite the Brewers' long slump, they were simply a better team than the Cardinals. I wish I'd put money on that.

I mean, I didn't figure the Cards would sh1t the bed quite as thoroughly as they have this month, but I didn't think there was any way they'd keep pace with the Cubs and Brewers. Not with that porous lineup and AAA-level rotation. As this race is making clear, either a good lineup/mediocre pitching staff combo or a good pitching staff/mediocre lineup combo is going to be enough to win the Central. But weak as the division is, a poor pitching staff/poor lineup combo was never going to be enough, much though the Cards defied the odds by even keeping things close for a bit.

If the NL postseason consisted of the Cubs, Phils, Pads and D-Backs, the Cubs would've actually won as many world series titles as the other 3 teams combined. That'd be kind of hilarious. (Yeah, I know, two of those are expansion teams, but the Phillies are about the only team the Cubs can look down on in terms of historical futility. Yeah, the Cubs haven't won a WS in 99 years, but that drought hasn't been long enough for the Phillies to catch them in total titles.)

And if the Cubs make the postseason this year, it would (despite the horror of '06, and the collapse of '04) represent the shortest hiatus between Cubs' postseason appearances since they won NL pennants in '35 and '38.

It's tough to believe, but the '04 Cubs not only represented the first back-to-back winning Cub seasons in 32 years, but if they hadn't collapsed down the stretch, they would've been the first Cub teams to go to the postseason in consecutive years since the great teams of '06-08.

And I should really refrain from posting on BTF while drinking cognac. The words flow far too freely, and far too randomly.

"For me, it just doesn't make any sense," he said. "If your stopper comes in the ball game (with the score tied), he's got to get six outs (to close the game if his team scores).

Apparently Ned's not familiar with the concept of "high leverage situations." (He's not exactly alone in that respect among major league managers, but still.)

VSOP does that, now is it Martin or Martell?

Since the Tribune as owned the Cubs they have gone to 4 playoffs and quite possibly a fifth playoff this year, in what 26, 27 years? The Wrigley's in 61 or so years only went to the playoffs 5 times. Also since their last hurrah in 1945 the Wrigley's had 8 winning seasons. The Tribune company had 8 winning seasons.

One thing I did discover that I never really realized was that the Cubs never suffered a losing season in the entire 1930's decade. In fact they realed off 14 straight winning seasons and 17 winning seasons in 18 years.

The Keepers are probably setting this up so the Brewers win the Smoltz and Hudson games (they do have Gallardo and Villanueva going), but lose the Bennett and JoJo Reyes games.

That would be so NL Central - win the games you're not expected to, and lose the ones you shouldn't.

Aw McCoy, I wanted to see how long retro would keep up this conversation with himself.

VSOP does that, now is it Martin or Martell?

Henessey VSOP. Good stuff.

And SU, I can keep up a conversation with myself as long as I can stay awake. :)

That would be so NL Central - win the games you're not expected to, and lose the ones you shouldn't.

I've absolutely given up trying to predict what's going to happen in this race. I'm just trying to enjoy the ride, not go insane in the process, and hope it turns out the way I want it to.

If Ned Yost is still the manager of the Brewers next year, I might need to find a new favorite team.

I'm not sure which team to pick, though. Frank Thomas has always been my favorite player, but I don't think I can root for a non-contender again next year, so Toronto might be out of the question. When Frank played for the A's, I really liked some players on the team (especially Nick Swisher), so they could be a possibility.

In either case, I really hope that the Brewers either completely collapse (which would be an historic collapse, and would have to result in Melvin firing Yost) or the Brewers make the playoffs. Narrowly missing the playoffs would be an unmitigated disaster. I have invested so much time watching, following, and listening to radio broadcasts of Brewer games that it's hard to even fathom rooting for someone else, but I can't take this anymore. Between not pitch hitting for Mench against a righty late in a close game when Jenkins is on the bench, mis-handling Cordero, abusing Villenueva (while not giving him a shot in the rotation for a long time), overvaluing Spurling, and waiting too long to make Hart a full time starter...I don't think that I can handle Yost for much longer.

Then again, it's possible for the Brewers to put together such a great team next year... an outfield of Braun-Hart-Gross/Dillon, with an infield of Fielder-Weeks-Hardy-Hall, a decent catcher in Estrada, and Sheets-Gallardo-Villenueva-Bush-Parra/Suppan/Capuano in the rotation...I couldn't possibly root against that team, no matter how incompetent and useless the manager is.

I just know that having Yost around for another year would probably induce either an ulcer, heart attack, alcoholism, or an anxiety disorder from me next year. Living with a hard core Cubs fan (not a good decision, although he's a great guy) is only exacerbating the situation.

Alright, that's my rant for the night. Good night everyone.

When I heard Mulder was coming back (but hadn't heard how bad he was) I said the race would turn on Sheets, Mulder, and Zambrano.

Mulder embodies what's happened to the Cards lately. A complete disaster.

Sheets obviously is breaking down.

The Cubs ain't guaranteed diddly squat right now. But if Zambrano pitches like he's capable of, the Cubs have a very good shot. His best spurt came right when the Cubs went 33-18 as a team. (I'm playing a little fast and loose with the numbers as the team had a couple wins before Z got going and they didn't end at the same time). Since he pitched good again, the Cubs have gone 9-4. The rest of the year they're 38-51.

As Zambrano goes, so go the Cubs.

Henessey VSOP. Good stuff.

I, and my glass of Don Eduardo Añejo, salute you.

MIL Journal-Sentinel:

Left-hander Manny Parra, who has been out with a thumb injury since Aug. 30, threw a bullpen session Thursday afternoon but has been out of action for three weeks and Yost said it wouldn't be fair to throw him into the final stretch run with a game on the line. "I wouldn't do that," Yost said.

The Cubs ain't guaranteed diddly squat right now. But if Zambrano pitches like he's capable of, the Cubs have a very good shot. His best spurt came right when the Cubs went 33-18 as a team. (I'm playing a little fast and loose with the numbers as the team had a couple wins before Z got going and they didn't end at the same time). Since he pitched good again, the Cubs have gone 9-4. The rest of the year they're 38-51.

As Zambrano goes, so go the Cubs.

I think that is a lot of non sense, very respectfully. Z is a wildcard and if he pitches well, the Cubs are a lock, but I think Lilly, Marquis, and the back of the Cubs rotation make all of the difference. Just as likely, the injured today, not tomorrow Mr. Sheets puts the Crew in the same place.

I'll take Marquis/Lilly (even as goofballs as he's been, Marshall squad, to the non-Gallardo Crew.

That would be so NL Central - win the games you're not expected to, and lose the ones you shouldn't.

that was the Brewers vs the Cardinals to end the year last year.

Doug Davis of the 4.91 ERA and rookie Carlos Vallinueva beat the Cards while Capuano and Sheets lose to the Cards. If STL had lost those two games against Sheets and Capuano and won the first to Doug Davis then Houston would have been a half game back with one game to play (and possibly one makeup game to play). Instead they go into the final game with a 1.5 game lead.