The NL West is shaping up to be the closest of all the races, with the latest results meaning only 1.5 games cover the top three teams - no other division is less than eight. The Padres appeared to have it sewn up: on August 25th, coolstandings.com gave them a 93.3% chance of winning the division, but a ten-game losing streak and the evaporation of their offense has seen that now sliced to just 38%.
The NL West Looks To Be Going To The Wire
Meanwhile, San Francisco have reeled San Diego in, most notably over a four-game set at Petco this weekend, where they held the Padres to a total of five runs in winning three contests. And the Rockies are making one of their patented late-season runs, having reeled off ten games straight, to put themselves back in content - and they face the Padres this week at Coors. After the jump, we’ll take a look at the contenders.
Giants. Have the easiest schedule down the stretch: while they face San Diego and Colorado, their other four series are all against losing teams, including what should easy ones against the Cubs and D-backs. The loss of Andre Torres to appendicitis won’t help, but whatever happened to Tim Lincecum in August appears to be entirely cured now, and the team will be leaning on him the rest of the way. Despite fewer wins, Matt Cain and Jonathon Sanchez both have better ERAs than Lincecum, and top-to-bottom, SF’s rotation is as good as anyone’s.
Padres. If San Diego doesn't make the post-season, it will be the third-biggest collapse since 1962, trailing the '07 Mets and '95 Angels. There's no doubt where the problem is in San Diego. It's an offense which has scored four or less runs in sixteen contests, going into tonight. That single-season streak has not been surpassed in the NL since 1981, when the Mets went eighteen straight. With 12 of their 19 remaining games against sides with winning records, they need to start playing a lot better, right now.
Rockies. Since 2007, Colorado have a .635 winning percentage after the calendar turns to September. They went 21-8 in 2007, won another twenty games in 2009 to make the post-season again, and have reeled off ten straight victories this year. Can they do it again? Certainly, they’re close to unstoppable at Coors, where they’ve won 19 of the last 23, and the good news is, that’s where they face their two rivals in the remaining series. Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki deserve mention on anyone’s MVP ballot this winter.
See More:
