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Sunday, September 11, 2005 |
The Road Ahead
Angels Edition
Stephen (and others, but I'm too lazy to find them now) have commented that the Angels have, in theory, an easier schedule down the remaining stretch, with the Angels seeing only one team -- the A's -- with a record over .500, while the A's have to play the Indians, Red Sox, Twins, and Angels, all of whom are over .500. Some thoughts:- The Devil Rays, who swept the Angels earlier, are generally 31-23 since the All Star break.
- If the probables hold, the Angels will miss Felix Hernandez for the season. A sweep is possible.
- The Twins just lost, in today's game, starter Carlos Silva to a knee problem, possibly the same one that caused him to lose time on the DL earlier in the year. That could help the A's, because they would have to face him otherwise.
- The A's have four road games with Boston.
- The Angels have to play the A's on the road, and in a four-game series.
- On the other hand, Rich Harden has suffered another setback:
"There's no way I can start a game Friday. I don't even know when I'm going to be able to throw, period -- even on the side. We'll see how it is tomorrow, but it seems like every time I try to let it go, it gets hurt again and I'm back where I started.
Of the ten games Harden has missed, the A's have won two. Looks like Will Carroll's worries about the durability of Oakland's rotation were on-target, but not for the right pitcher(s). That's not all: centerfielder Mark Kotsay's back is acting up, and the A's are talking about calling up Hiram Bocachica for tomorrow's game against the Indians.
Dodgers Edition
If you hadn't noticed -- I sure hadn't -- the Dodgers are 7-3 over their last ten. With a team this bad, that probably doesn't matter, but it's worth mentioning that after this series, they still have a winning record against the division leader. Following the Dodgers' September 5 3-0 loss to the Giants, I predicted the team would be 3-2 over the interceding time. As it turns out, they're 4-1, so I'm already a game off. Regardless, I haven't seen anything to make me retract any of my other predictions; this team is bad enough that Pittsburgh could blow the team out with the right combination of events, though they are still tentative about the return of phenom Zach Duke, and Jose Mesa's finally done with the Bucs, and possibly, baseball, leaving the team floundering in the ninth. However: aside from the season closer with the Dodgers, the Pads face Washington (21-35 in the second half), seven games with San Francisco, four with Colorado, and three with the Diamondbacks. Most of those teams are a muddle, but here's the Pads season record against the teams they're facing so far:
Team W-L ================== Dodgers 5-10 Giants 8-3 Rockies 9-5 D'Backs 8-8
So let's be generous and say the Pads go
- 1-2 against the Bonds-enabled Giants (72-73)
- 2-1 against the reeling Nats (74-74)
- 3-1 against the Rockies (77-75)
- 1-2 against the Snakes, for no good reason (they have to lose sometime, 78-77)
- 3-1 against the Giants (81-78)
- Per my earlier prediction, 3-0 against the Dodgers (84-78). I'm beginning not to like this because I actually think the Dodgers can win at least one of those games in San Diego.
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