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Even though the 2010 season is an absolute chaos for the Chicago Cubs, they get a lot of attention at the end of the calendar year. 

They are put in a new mission—spoiling their opponents’ hopes to access to the playoffs.

In the span of the ongoing 10 days, they had faced teams in contention, the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals last week.  They opened another series Monday night in the last road trip of the season in San Diego, playing against the NL West second place team, the San Diego Padres who were only half-game behind the Giants.

Alfonso Soriano scored the only run of the game in the seventh inning and it was enough for the Cubs to beat the home team 1-0 in the opener of this four-game set.  The victory obstructed the Padres to regain the potential shared lead with the Giants in the NL West standings.

Both starters of the game, Carlos Zambrano of the Cubs and Tim Stauffer of the Padres formed a tight and outstanding pitching dual.  By completing seven scoreless frames, Zambrano (10-6) came out with a victory, his seventh in the last nine starts.

He scattered only three hits and four walks, striking out five.  The first and seventh innings were the toughest for him. 

In the first, he gave up two hits to leadoff David Eckstein and Ryan Ludwick but stranded them grounding out Matt Stairs.

The only other threatening situation occurred in the seventh.  He gave up a pair of walks to Stairs and Chase Headley sandwiched by the first out.  But again, he got out of the frame alright retiring Tony Gwynn and Oscar Salazar.

The Cubs’ winning run came in the seventh, the final inning of the night for Stauffer (5-5).  Leading off Xavier Nady grounded out to the hurler.  Soriano doubled to left field and the following batter, Blake DeWitt, sent him home with an RBI-single to center field.

Stauffer did pitch well enough but he surrendered.  He let the Cubs get five hits off him in seven innings but struck out five and walked two. 

Six of the Cubs’ seven hits came from two players: Marlon Byrd and DeWitt.  They both went 3-for-4. 

The Padres had their best chance in the last inning but their rally came close, too close for the comfort of the Cubs but failed.

Closer Carlos Marmol fanned Ludwick and pinch-hitter Mike Baxter easily. 

However, he put himself in the hole from then. 

He allowed a single to Yorvit Torrealba who was replaced by pinch-runner Everth Cabrera.  Cabrera stole second base before Headley, the following batter, was hit by a pitch.  Marmol escalated the problem by walking Tony Gwynn to load the bases. 

At the end, Marmol prevailed.  He forced Nick Hundley to hit the game-ending fly ball caught by Soriano to earn his 35th save of the year.

With the loss, the Padres skid to one-game behind the NL West leaders, the San Francisco Giants who were idle on Monday night.

The article is also featured on www.sportshaze.com.

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They trailed the Atlanta Braves by as many as seven games after the All-Star break. They had an extremely mediocre record of 48-46 on July 21.

Their hitting was terrible, their pitchers were struggling, and they couldn’t stay healthy.

Despite three consecutive National League Eastern Division titles, two World Series appearances, and a world championship, the Phillies appeared to be done.

Think again.

Following 46 wins in their next 63 games, the Phillies captured their fourth consecutive National League East title.

Although they trailed the Braves by three games at the start of September, they won 20 of their next 23 games, including an 11-game winning streak, their longest in nearly 20 years.

Our starting three of Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt, known as H2O, have been practically unbeatable. In fact, they won 12 straight decisions to begin the month of September.

Halladay became the first Phillies pitcher to win 20 games since Steve Carlton in 1982.

His complete game shutout to clinch the division has likely locked up his second Cy Young award, which would make him the sixth pitcher to win the award in both leagues.

Cole Hamels turned in a consecutive scoreless innings streak that reached 25, while lowering his ERA from 4.05 on July 26 to 2.93 by Sept. 20.

Despite receiving extremely poor run support, Hamels (12-11) has regained the form which made him a dominant pitcher in the 2008 postseason.

Remember how good CC Sabathia was after the Milwaukee Brewers acquired him in the summer of 2008? That’s almost how good Roy Oswalt has been.

After a loss in his Phillies debut, Oswalt has won his last seven decisions. His ERA? 1.76. Oswalt has a combined record of 13-13 this season, with a solid 2.80 ERA.

Heading into the postseason, the last thing I want to do is appear overconfident. But let’s just say that the past few years, as well as the past few months, have made me extremely confident.

We went 7-2 against the National League in both the 2008 and the 2009 postseason. That’s a combined record of 14-4 against the best the National League had to offer. We never trailed in any of the four series. Quite simply, we dominated.

I expect the same this season. Halladay has waited his whole life to pitch in the postseason. Hamels is a former NLCS and World Series Most Valuable Player. And Oswalt is undefeated in seven career postseason starts.

Pitching wins championships, and our Big Three is the best trio in franchise history. They’re one of the best trios in the history of major league baseball. And they’ll get their chance to show the world in October.  

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Sunday afternoon’s game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Chicago White Sox may have had no bearing on the playoffs, but it was certainly historic in nature.

In the first inning, right fielder Bobby Abreu stepped to the plate and hit his 40th double of the season, marking the fifth time in his career that he has surpassed 20 HR, 20 SB, and 40 doubles. No other player in Major League history has reached this trifecta more than three times.

It’s an extraordinary achievement for Abreu, who continues to provide speed, power, and timely hitting at the age of 36.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for the Angels, who eventually lost 4-3 to complete the sweep of the weekend series by the White Sox.

Halos manager Mike Scioscia started four rookies in this game, who combined for five hits, four strikeouts, and two errors. Both errors were committed by rookie shortstop Andrew Romine, playing in just his second big league game.

One of his errors was a pop-up that he lost in the sun, leading to a costly unearned run that denied starter Jered Weaver a chance at his 14th victory of the season.

Rookie catcher Hank Conger collected two hits and an RBI and continues to look more comfortable behind the plate; as Scioscia ponders the future catching prospects, Conger is certainly not hurting his cause during his September evaluation.

Sunday was Family Day at Angels Stadium, and although the team lost, Weaver was impressed with what he saw.

“Things aren’t always going to go your way with things like that,” said Weaver. “But this time of the year, when the playoff chances are done, it’s fun to give those guys a chance. I was one of those young guys at one time, and I was just itching to get out there too.

“It’s fun to see those guys work. But you know they’ve got some pressure on them too.”

With the Angels out of playoff contention and playing out the string, the rookies should get more opportunities to show their worth over the last week of the season, and Scioscia will be watching.

“We had a lot of young guys on that field, and there’s going to be some growing pains. I think we saw them this afternoon,” Scioscia said. “[But] they need to get into a major league game. It’s important for their growth.

“All the stuff that separates the major leagues from triple A, those guys need to experience it. See how their talent plays and move forward.”

For continuing Angels coverage, follow Doug on Twitter, @Sports_A_Holic.

You can also follow Doug’s featured articles at Green Celebrity Network.

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Ivan Nova had a tough time at it in the Bronx tonight as the Red Sox lit him up for four runs which was more than enough for Jon Lester who shut the Yankees out over seven innings in an eventual 7-3 Yankee loss.

Here are some highlights:

Nova pitched well as long as runners were not on base, but struggled mightily with men on allowing three runs in the third and another in the fifth.

With the Yankees down 4-0, Joe Girardi brought in his girlfriend Chad Gaudin who gave up back-to-back homers to J.D. Drew and Victor Martinez to put the sox up 6-0.

Over the last 16 days Gaudin has pitched seven times with an ERA of 9.82.

The Yankees used six pitchers in this game. Only one, Joba Chamberlain, is a lock to make the postseason roster.

Derek Jeter extended his hitting streak to 14 games.

Alex Rodriguez hit his 28th homer of the season.

Curtis Granderson hit his 23rd homer.

Francisco Cervelli was the only other Yankee with a hit, he singled in the 6th to break up a no hitter.

Austin Kearns played for the first time since last Sunday.

The Yankees are now 7-7 against the Red Sox on the season and are now 5.5 games ahead of them for the Wild-Card. People are panicking about the Sox knocking them out of the playoffs, but all the Yankees have to do is win one game against them and one against the Blue Jays and they are in. With seven games left, those are pretty good odds.

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After Minnesota‘s blundering 10-1 loss to the Tigers and the New York Yankees’ 10-8  loss to the Boston Red Sox, the Philadelphia Phillies sit alone with the MLB‘s  best record.

With a 93-61 record, they are a half-game above the Minnesota Twins and a full game ahead of the Yankees.

Thanks to a 11-game win streak, the Phillies‘ magic number is now down to two with the Atlanta Braves losing to the Nationals, 8-3.

The Phillies are now an amazing 19-3 in September, as scorching as today’s Philadelphia sun. Shane Victorino started off today with a leadoff home run and a second-inning RBI, to give Philadelphia to a 2-0 lead.

From there, the Phillies never looked back, led by Joe Blanton‘s seven innings of two-run ball.

The Mets tied the game up in the top of the fourth inning, but the Phils responded in the bottom of the inning, which has become common for the surging NL champs.

From there, the Phillies pitching didn’t allow any more scoring. The streaking Ryan Madsen and Brad Lidge wrapped the game up in the eighth and ninth inning.

The Phillies look poised to roll into October with unwavering skill and grace

According to Phillies Nation.com, the Phillies’ most wins in a month is 22 in September 1915. A year which eerily resembles 2010. In 1977, the last year the Phillies ended with the best record in the NL, they went 22-7.

This year, they hold the best September record at 19-3 with eight games to play, and have a great chance to break that record if they just split their final eight games.

The 2010 Phillies are putting their bid in as the best version of the team to step foot in America’s birthplace.

They currently have two more games against the Mets this weekend and three games next week against the Nats before finishing with three against the Braves.

For more writing from Vincent Heck visit: www.vincentheckwriting.com

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Randy Wells should be happy tonight. 

By beating the San Francisco Giants Wednesday night, following his win last week in St. Louis, it is the first time since April that he won two consecutive games.  He has been trying hard to turn his unfortunate season around but it took him until the end of the year to do so.

The right-hander (8-13) outdueled the hot Giants starter, Jonathan Sanchez in the Cubs’ 2-0 victory to tie the series at one game apiece in the three-game set.

The Cubs’ first run came in the third inning and it was the game-winning run.  Lead-off Kosuke Fukudome connected as his 13th home run of the year went over the right-field wall near the foul pole to make it 1-0.

They threatened to add more runs in the same frame.  With two outs, Darwin Barney had walked before Starlin Castro singled to center field which advanced him to third.  Marlon Byrd came up batting but ended up with a inning-ending strikeout.

In the fifth, the Cubs doubled the lead. 

Koyie Hill opened the fifth inning with a double to left field.  Wells tried to bunt while Jonathan Sanchez threw a wild pitch that ended up in the backstop.  Giants catcher Buster Posey attempted to throw out Hill who was trying to reach third on the play, but Posey’s throw was off-line that allowed Hill to score.

Cruising through eight innings, Randy Wells quieted the Giants offense by not allowing a single run.  He limited his opponents to six hits, striking out six and walking only one.

The Giants’ best chance was in the first; Freddy Sanchez hit a one-out double to center field.  Wells then served up the following batter, Aubrey Huff, a single which moved Sanchez to third on the play.  But he ended the inning striking out both cleanup batter Buster Posey and Pat Burrell.

Since allowing a double to Jose Guillen in the second inning, Wells retired 13 batters in a row.  And in the fifth and sixth, the hurler escaped from trouble with the help of a couple of double plays

Wells was pulled out after issuing a two-out walk to pinch hitter Travis Ishikawa and a double to Cody Ross.  Closer Carlos Marmol came in to rescue his team by fanning Freddy Sanchez.

He completed his mission shutting down the opponents in the ninth.  With two outs, he walked Pat Burrell but struck out the potential game-tying run Jose Guillen to earn his 34th save of the season.

With a record of 2-0 and an ERA of 0.67 in his last four starts, Jonathan Sanchez (11-9) pitched well enough in 5.2 innings by giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits.  His only mistake was the 89-mph fastball he served up which ended up as the third-inning home run.  He also struck out six and gave out two walks. 

The article is also featured on www.sportshaze.com.

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In the past couple weeks, baseball has begun to see its annual class of 20-game winners emerge. First was CC Sabathia, who will be going for win number 21 on Thursday. Second was Roy Halladay, who won his 20th game yesterday. Now, Jimenez is looking to win his 20th game.

This game is important beyond Jimenez trying to win 20 games though; the Rockies are 2.5 games back in the competitive National League West. They’re facing the Diamondbacks, who could still lose 100 games this season. It’s these games that any team has to win when they’re in a tight race.

The game starts at 9:40 Eastern Time, and I will continuously update on Jimenez and the other teams’ progress.

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The Atlanta Braves got on the board early last night, but a two-run fifth inning for the Philadelphia Phillies sunk the Braves, with the Braves losing 3-1.

Brandon Beachy, who made his major league debut last night, had a decent game, striking out one, walking three, and giving up three runs, only one earned.  He performed decently against one of the best offensive teams in the league. 

In fact, Bobby Cox said that he was the best option given the short notice.  When asked if Kenshin Kawakami could have filled that spot, Cox replied by saying, “Kawakami hasn’t pitched in a long time.  This kid is better prepared than he would be going out there right now.”

What sunk the Braves was a costly fielding error on a slicing liner off the bat of Shane Victorino.  That led to a two-run fifth that cost the Braves the game and, possibly, the National League East title.  With the Atlanta Braves now trailing by four games, they would need to take the next two games from the Phillies and play above .500 ball while the Phillies would need to have a serious downturn. 

I have two things to note here.  First, I believe they have finally given up on Kenshin Kawakami, as they should have awhile ago.  Kawakami isn’t worth his weight in wonton.  He has simply been ineffective, has only won one game, and, when he started against the Marlins in a test of his capability, he failed.  Miserably.  Kawakami is running this team’s budget up for nothing.  I would rather him just be hurt.  We would save money that way.

Secondly, I don’t think the Braves care enough.  They haven’t shown me that they want it that bad.  Either that, or they are trying too hard.  Hitters aren’t being patient at the plate, pitchers are getting too comfortable with the strike zone, and our rotation is starting to lose its ability to get the job done. 

Jurrjens is a good pitcher, but, as of yet, he hasn’t shown me the ability to last a full season.  Losing Kris Medlen seriously hurt this team, but Mike Minor has stepped up and shown his talent.  He had a similar game to Beachy in his debut, but dazzled with 12 strikeouts in his next start.  I think Beachy will be a good replacement if Jurrjens will be out longer. 

I hope this team wants it as much as its fans do.  As a Braves fan, I am fairly confident in saying that I speak for the majority of the Braves’ fan base in saying this: we want to see Bobby go out with a ring.  We have held Bobby Cox in such high esteem all these years and he has become family, in a way.  Seeing Bobby retire without a ring would seem disrespectful to the legacy of one of the bets managers in Major League history.

In any event, the Braves need to seriously step it up.  There is much to do and little time.  I hope to see the Braves atop the NL East when the final bell tolls.  If not, they have a man’s legacy to answer to.

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The first head-to-head, “for all the marbles” meeting between these two teams, came in 1915 when the surprising, Philadelphia Phillies, jumped from sixth to first in one year to lead the race for the National League Pennant.

That year, Philadelphia produced the NL’s best offense, in-part to career years from outfielder, Gavvy Cravath and first baseman Fred Luderus.

Pete Alexander’s 31-10 record and league-low 1.22 ERA led the league’s best pitching staff, rounded out by 21-game winner Erskine Mayer, Al Demaree, and Eppa Rixey, to a team ERA of 2.17.

The Phillies started that 1915 season 8-0 right out of the gates, taking over first place, a position they would, ultimately, hold for some 100 days that season.

Like the 2010 Philadelphia Phillies, the 1915 Phils lost first place in late May—May 29, to be exact. 

They didn’t regain their lead back until some 41 games later, thanks to a three game sweep of Rogers Hornsby and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Heading into August 13, 1915, the Boston Braves were making a strong campaign for first place in the National League. They trailed the first place Philadelphia Phillies by three games, and had a record of 6-9 against the Phils that season.

The series turned out to be a bust, as the Braves were swept being outscored 19-3.

Despite the hammering from the Phils, that didn’t shut the resilient Braves down, at all.

Playing in a brand-new Braves Field, Boston put on a 26-12 late-season drive leading into another three-game set with the Phillies, but they could only come up with a final record of 83-69—seven games back of the Phillies.

The two series down the stretch proved to be key for the Braves that year, allowing the Phillies win their first head to head race with the Braves.

Monday, September 20, 2010 was a night both fan bases have been looking forward to at one time or another.

The Atlanta Braves took a 7-5 head-to-head record into tonight three games back, looking to begin their run towards the top of the division once again after losing their number one spot, ironically, to the 2010 St. Louis Cardinals.

This game had every bit of that playoff feeling. Towels were waving, fans were screaming, and the stadium lights hung in the foreground of the evening back drop.

With Jair Jurrjens tweaking his knee last Friday during a bullpen session, the Braves called on rookie Brandon Beachy to open this all-important Game 1.

The Braves came out strong swinging their bats in effort to intimidate Cole Hamels.

All of the key batters, for the Braves, got into the mix early, with Jason Heyward getting on base, and Derrick Lee and Brian McCann doubling to help Beachy take the early 1-0 lead.

Cole Hamels, who had dominated the Braves this season, had to fight his way out of a, no-out jam, with runners on first and third, but he fought through the inning only sacrificing one run.

The Phils responded right away in the bottom of the second with a score off of a Carlos Ruiz double to shallow left sending Ryan Howard home.

At that point, it felt like this would be a dog fight.

In the bottom of the fifth inning a key error by rookie Jason Heyward moved Shane Victorino to third which allowed him to eventually come home making the score 2-1 Phillies.

After a few difficulties, Bobby Cox decided to replace his young pitcher with Eric O’Flaherty, but the news didn’t get any better after.

O’Flaherty loaded the bases on two consecutive walks with one out, allowing Raul Ibanez to advance the runners and score Utley on a ground out to short stop—making the score 3-1.

Despite runners being on base for the whole bottom of the inning, the Braves managed to pull through only allowing two runs. Peter Moyland replaced O’Flaherty to Strike out Ruiz.

Hamels started hitting a stride, buzzing through Braves as he had earlier in the season. Through seven innings he had, six K’s, and only allowed one earned run.

In the eighth inning, despite Hamels being in dominant stride, Manuel decided to pinch hit for Hamels, and rely on his guy, Brad Lidge, in the ninth.

Within a matter of minutes, despite the nervous energy in the stadium, Lidge tore a hole through the heart of Atlanta’s batting order, taking the first game in the much anticipated series.

With the win, the Phillies move their winning streak to eight games; 12 wins in the last thirteen games. The Phils now drop their magic number to eight more wins to secure a playoff berth, and they increase their lead in the NL East to four games ahead.

The second game will be held Tomorrow night, when they send their ace Roy Halladay to the mound. Same place same time, as the Phillies chase the same result they got 95 years ago in their first race with the Bravos.

Happy September baseball fans!

For more writing from Vincent Heck visit: www.vincentheckwriting.com

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