AND THEN THERE WERE FIVE . . .

...teams vying for the three remaining playoff spots!

Because, on their final day of play, the Pottsylvania Creepers returned to the winner’s circle, using ace Cliff Lee to quell the Anomalies in Black Mesa while their rivals in Casselton fell to the Firebirds on the road in Yuma. The Horned Toads loss guaranteed that they could finish no better than a game behind the Creepers despite having three games left in their season. Pottsylvania had clinched!

And so, with that, the Creepers were winners of the competitive Central for the second time in the last four years, and the celebration began in earnest, hours after their game had actually ended and the results of Casselton’s contest with Yuma became known.

Things could’ve gone differently! Lee (15-9, 2.86) allowed back-to-back singles to open his final start of the 2009 regular season, and when Rick Ankiel airmailed a throw over the glove of relay man Erick Aybar, he and his teammates trailed 1-0 after just half an inning. But Lee scattered five singles the rest of the way, and a two-out double by Matt Kemp led to a run after a clutch hit by Ryan Theriot tied the score in the fifth. Anomalies rookie Ricky Romero started the seventh was some juice still left in his arm, but allowed two on with two out. Carlos Gomez pinch-hit for the slumping (.144 his last 29 games) Rick Ankiel, and delivered a two-run go-ahead single to knock Romero (3-4, 5.24) out of the box and give the Creepers a 3-1 lead!


After that, it was all Lee, who was particularly effective at denying the club’s hottest hitter down the stretch, OF Vernon Wells. Lee induced four straight grounders to short off the Toads run producer, one of them a double-play ball, and one of them part of a 1-2-3 ninth to close out the victory. Pandemonium ensued in the visitor’s locker room, which by becoming the first team to clinch will have a little extra time to think over how they will approach a five-game playoff matchup with one of the other division winners.

POTTSYLANIA SCOUTING REPORT:

Certainly, their lineup offers a little of everything (all numbers from the simulation):

Lineup:

IF Ryan Theriot (.257 20 sacrifices)
RF Rick Ankiel (.236, 28 HR, 98 RBI)
LF Ryan Ludwick (.307, 38 HR, 101 RBI)
3B Aramis Ramirez (.235, 11 HR in 96 G)
DH Aubrey Huff (.293, 27 HR, 91 RBI)
CF Matt Kemp (.354, 16 HR, 17 SB)
1B platoon (Garko/Tracy)
IF Erick Aybar (..259, 51 runs scored)
C Kelly Shoppach (.226, 50 RBI in 108 G)

Bench: OF Carlos Gomez, C Kenji Johjima, Garko and Tracy)

Rotation: LHP Cliff Lee (15-9, 2.86), RHP Chris Carpenter (11-3, 3.03), LHP Mark Buehrle (14-5, 3.61), RHP Yovani Gallardo (11-10, 4.19). And, oh year, an insurance policy in Pedro Martinez (2-2, 4.09 in five starts)

Bullpen: Rafael Betancourt, Jonathan Broxton, Manny Delcarmen and Carlos Marmol are a solid setup crew (7-9, 2.45 in 124 appearances) to left-handed closer Brian Fuentes, who has struggled at times (1-7, 3.28 ERA, 17 saves in 52 appearances).

On the bubble: veterans Todd Wellemeyer and Kyle Lohse, rookie Sean West, minor-league insurance policies like OF Felix Pie and IF Blake DeWitt A healthy Ramirez and a productive Huff helped in the second half, but the team’s hottest hitter is Matt Kemp (nearly .425 in the last month of play). Kemp will probably be bumped up in the lineup to take advantage of his speed, while the slumping Rick Ankiel (.144 in the last month, and four throwing errors in the final week) will be dropped in the order, or maybe even assume a platoon role with Carlos Gomez. Lee and Carpenter are sure things to start in a short series, but whether or not the club takes Pedro Martinez could depend on the likely matchup. A foe with many left-handed sluggers would probably have a harder time digging in against Mark Buehrle than the 38-year-old Pedro....

In other BARB news:

TEXAS 6, DARWIN 0

WP: Tommy Hanson (4-5, 3.03)
LP: Clayton Kershaw (4-5, 3.41)
SV: Miller (2)

Andre Ethier, Alex Rodriguez and Miguel Tejada all hit solo jacks in the seventh to pad a 3-0 lead against rookie Clayton Kershaw, and Tommy Hanson and Andrew Miller combined on a seven-hit shutout to snuff out what little offense the slumping Finches have to end a ten-game losing streak on the road in Darwin.

The Finches nevertheless clinched at least a playoff berth by the failure of any Eastern club to win on Game Day 142, making it a certainty that the Unnatural Selections would finish no worse than the second-best overall record to division rival Yuma.

The Finches will send out the unreliable Scott Kazmir the next game and (if they need a win), ace Zack Greinke on short rest for the season finale. The rebuilding Tornadoes will counter with some combination of Mat Latos, Derek Holland or Colin Balester for the final two games.

BROOKLYN 13, WORCESTER 5

WP: Jon Lester (12-10, 3.71)
LP: Ryan Dempster (11-8, 3.32)

Miguel Cabrera, slumbering for much of the second half, went 4-for-4 with a pair of home runs (#20 and #21) while driving in four to lead a 16-hit attack as the Moabs (dead last in the wild-card race) won a must-win game to stay within one game of the Squirrels and Eliminators. The latter dropped into a tie for first after allowing their host rivals to score seven times in the first three innings.

Brooklyn, though, still hangs by a thread despite winning four straight, because their only sure path to the postseason with two games left is to win the division: The only scenario that could see them qualify otherwise would be if Yuma drops its final three games, forcing a one-game playoff for the wild card.

Toward that end, the Moabs will go to the mat with inconsistent James Shields and a well-rested Scott Baker versus Worcester ace Adam Wainwright and (if needed) rookie Jair Jurrjens.

FROSTBITE FALLS 3, FRESNO 2

WP: Tim Lincecum (14-9, 2.75)
LP: Jeremy Affeldt (2-8, 4.26)
SV: Nathan (32)

Tim Lincecum’s final start of the regular 2009 BARB campaign was just good enough to get the ball to Joe Nathan in the eighth, and the loop’s top closer claimed the last five outs to force a tie with Worcester (80-62) with two games remaining. SS J.J. Hardy, who lost his job at mid-season after being nearly sent to the minors, continues to play well with Michael Young nursing an injury. He lifted his stretch drive average to .376 and had a go-ahead RBI single and a sac fly to lead the Squirrels offense against a surprisingly-stingy Mike Pelfrey.

The Squirrels will send out Cole Hamels and Felix Hernandez for their final outings of the season, while the Regulators will counter with Josh Beckett and Danny Haren, a pair of marquee matchups if there ever was one.
AND THEN THERE WERE FIVE . . .
AND THEN THERE WERE FIVE . . .