Pittsburgh vs. San Diego, 18 September 2007

by Charlie Wilmoth on Sep 18, 2007 8:40 PM EDT in News

10:05 PM, FSNP, WPGB

Tom Gorzelanny (14-7, 3.45) vs. Greg Maddux 12-10, 3.91). Here's the box; Brian Giles gets the day off against the lefty.

There are a bunch of games to pay attention to while you wait for this one to start:

-P- Houston leads Milwaukee 1-0. I'm pulling hard for the Brewers to regain the NL Central lead.

-P- The Reds lead Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs, 3-0.

-P- Cole Hamels and the charging Phillies lead St. Louis 1-0. St. Louis has faded way out of the picture just as the Phillies have re-entered it.

-P- The Diamondbacks face off against the Giants starting at 9:40.

-P- In the American League, the Tigers and Indians are tied 4-4. Detroit is three and a half games back of New York for the wild-card spot.

-P- The Yankees, meanwhile, are destroying Baltimore 6-0.

Here's BP's playoff odds report.

Tweet Comment 14 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I don't understand

how the Phillies are trailing anyone. Seems like every time I check, they win.

by bucdaddy on Sep 18, 2007 9:17 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah

They just came back to tie tonight's game as well.

by Charlie Wilmoth on Sep 18, 2007 10:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Huh

Phillies 13-22 in one-run games. Kinda counterbalances their 12-6 record vs. the Mets.

by bucdaddy on Sep 18, 2007 11:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Trouble in (last year's) paradise

I've seen several people in the last few weeks suggest that maybe Tony LaRussa might be leaving the Cardinals, and that the Pirates or Reds might want to go after him.

Reading through tonight's game thread on their blog (viva el birdos) tonight, seems like the fans there are very anxious to get rid of him. And if what they say is true about his handling of players, I don't think he would be a good choice for our roster as currently constructed.

by Thunder on Sep 18, 2007 10:07 PM EDT reply actions

Odd you should mention that

In Buster Olney's most recent chat (on ESPN Insider, unfortunately), he very obliquely put LaRussa and the PBC together. It was something of an offhand musing, thinking out loud in print, and he basically said "probably not Cincy, NYY or HOU", and then said:

"La Russa might not want to go to Pittsburgh, if Jim Tracy is fired, because the team has so far to go."

and it was so bizarre that it almost startled me. I mean, who has ever even out those two concepts together? I have no strong opinion on whether or not LaRussa is right for Pittsburgh, and I'm leaning against if anything. (There are some similarities with this edition of the Bucs and the 1986 Oakland team, but there are some differences, mainly that they had Canseco and McGwire.) But that a guy like Olney, who has a lot of sources, is even writing this sentence... in my wildest speculation I never would have conjured that, whatever the merits of the idea. I wonder.

by KPatrick on Sep 18, 2007 10:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Bad fit

LaRussa's used to having a contending team every year and he likes veterans. The Cards' strategy most of the time while he's been there has been to trade prospects for veterans and rely on the free agent market, and I think LaRussa's had as much to do with that as Jocketty.

by WTM on Sep 18, 2007 11:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Not

a very good beginning for Gorzelanny.

by Charlie Wilmoth on Sep 18, 2007 10:29 PM EDT reply actions

Pyrrhic victories

The Yankees' win probably means that Moose is going to bump Humber and Kennedy out of their playoff rotation. I respect the hell out of what he's done throughout his career, but I think I know which of those three opponents would rather face right now.

Meanwhile, Sheets had to leave Milwaukee's game after one inning, with a bad hammy.

by Vlad on Sep 18, 2007 10:43 PM EDT reply actions

It was funny...

...to read Giles joking about steroids the other day.

Even if he was dirty, I sure liked watching him hit.

by Vlad on Sep 18, 2007 10:44 PM EDT reply actions

If Giles really did steroids...

He would've had to have cojones the size of coconuts - well, before he started doing them at least - to tell that joke.

That was really funny, by the way.

by Charlie Wilmoth on Sep 18, 2007 11:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Who'd have thought

that Gorzelanny and Maddux would only take three innings to cough up twice as many runs as Van Benschoten and Cassel last night?

by Charlie Wilmoth on Sep 18, 2007 11:11 PM EDT reply actions

If Gorzo...

goes out for the bottom of the 6th...Tracy should be fired tonight.

by Thunder on Sep 18, 2007 11:50 PM EDT reply actions

Don't you know?

Tracy has to maintain the integrity of the pennant races.

by bucdaddy on Sep 18, 2007 11:50 PM EDT up reply actions

By trashing

the arms of his best pitchers. Only 107 pitches and numerous pickoff attempts in 5 innings. He will probably get the start Sunday against the Cubs...but I see no real value in starting him against the Cardinals the last weekend of the season...unless it is to reach a personal goal.

by Thunder on Sep 18, 2007 11:57 PM EDT up reply actions