The Diamondbacks have won 13 in a row, and threatened to set a new record for the longest stretch of innings without trailing. They swept the Dodgers, who still have the best record in baseball and, in the process, also won the season series against Los Angeles — they might be the only team to do so in 2017. Arizona’s lead for the first wild card in the NL is now 7.5 games, they have a better record than two AL division leaders, and they’re just 3.5 behind the Nationals for the second-best record in the NL.
While the D-Backs thrive, the Rockies try to hang on
Thursday’s Say Hey, Baseball looks at the increasingly interesting NL wild card race.
Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images
Meanwhile, the Rockies are just hanging on to the second wild card. Colorado’s record isn’t bad by any means — they’re 74-65, putting them on pace for 86 wins, but they aren’t having the season the D-Backs are. And that’s why they still have to concern themselves with holding on to a wild card spot at all: The Cardinals are now just two games behind Colorado after winning four in a row, while the Rockies are just trying to stop from falling any further.
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The Rockies were in first place in the NL West on June 20. The Dodgers happened right around then, and it coincided with the Rockies starting to slip. Colorado was 47-26 on that day, on pace for 104 wins. They then lost eight games in a row, and managed to hold on to a wild card spot as everyone relevant besides the Dodgers and Diamondbacks also played horribly in that stretch, but Colorado has never truly recovered. They would finish with a .500 record for July, go just 12-15 in August, and have kicked off September 2-3.
If there’s any consolation for the Rockies, it’s that the Cardinals haven’t played much better the last two months. They have played just well enough to put a scare into Colorado, however, and are close enough in the standings at this point in the season that a good week from one and a poor week by the other will likely end up being the difference in the end.
It seems a little unfair that one of these teams that refuses to keep winning is going to get to face the D-Backs in the wild card game, but that’s where we go to the most important thing you can remember about Baseball Thunderdome: If you didn’t want to participate in it, you should have won your division. All the Rockies need to do is hang on, and they’re in the postseason, and then their chances are as good as anyone else’s.
- The Rangers recently called up Will Middlebrooks, and now they’re probably glad they did. That’s because Middlebrooks became the first player to ever hit two pinch-hit triples during a doubleheader, which is one of those weird baseball moments you didn’t even consider existed until it did.
- Thanks to their cooperation in the investigation, it’s expected that the Red Sox punishment for sign stealing/Apple Watch usage will be a “slap on the wrist.”
- Meanwhile, the Yankees thought Doug Fister’s mouthguard was a secret listening device he and the Red Sox were using to cheat.
- MLB should consider just making all kinds of cheating legal, writes Whitney McIntosh. It would be like The Purge, except all the crimes are victimless.
- The Royals have the nicest record in baseball right now.
- The Rays are preparing for Hurricane Irma to hit while they’re on the road.
- Thinking about Hurricane Irma and the devastation it’s causing/going to cause is unsettling, so, here are photos of baseball dogs dressed up as tigers.
- Just in case we end up with some wild-card tiebreakers, you should be prepared and know what’s what in those situations.
- Over at Baseball Prospectus, Patrick Dubuque wrote about the monumental decision of building a stadium.
- Ian Kinsler is pretty close to a previously unreported vesting option for 2018 in his contract.
- That’s now 14 wins in a row for Cleveland.
- Doug Fister has a 2.79 ERA since rejoining the Red Sox rotation seven starts ago, but it’s too soon to be discussing the playoff rotation in Boston.
- The Angels have now accused the A’s of stealing signs. We’ve been over this, you guys. You’re all stealing signs.
- The Phillies swiped Juan Nicasio from the Pirates when Pittsburgh couldn’t get anything for him, and then turned around and traded him to the Pirates’ rival in St. Louis for a return.
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