Astros beat Cards AGAIN!!!

[Jimcs50]

Houston wins 2-1 tonight for 2nd straight against the league leading Cardinals....The Rocket pitches tomorrow night....can you say sweep??? :elephant :elephant :elephant



Cubs lose to Reds too!!!

[Jimcs50]

Now when the Giants lose at San Diego tonight, it will be a sure thing for Houston to get the wild card....

[Jimcs50]

Red Sox gain on Yanks after beating D-Rays
Story Tools: Print Email
Fred Goodall / Associated Press
Posted: 2 minutes ago



ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - The Boston Red Sox crept closer to the New York Yankees in the AL East on Tuesday night, beating the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 10-8 on Kevin Millar's two-out, two-run homer in the 11th inning.

Boston, which clinched a playoff spot Monday night, moved within 2{ games of the Yankees in the division. New York was rained out and will make up its scheduled game with Minnesota as part of a doubleheader Wednesday.
The Red Sox matched their win total for last season and have won 95 in consecutive seasons for just the third time in franchise history. They also did it in 1977 (97) and 1978 (99), in addition to 1948 (96) and 1949 (96).

Boston also climbed 33 games over .500 for the first time since Oct. 1, 1986, improving the best record in the majors since Aug. 1 to 39-16.

David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Doug Mirabelli, Doug Mientkiewicz and Pokey Reese drove in a run apiece for the Red Sox, who also got a bases-loaded triple from Johnny Damon to help erase a four-run deficit after a slow start against left-hander John Halama.

Brook Fordyce hit a two-run homer and Aubrey Huff, Tino Martinez, Julio Lugo, Rey Sanchez and Jose Cruz Jr. drove in one apiece for Tampa Bay.

Boston rallied from deficits of 5-1, 6-5 and 8-7, pulling even for the last time on Ramirez's RBI double in the sixth. The Red Sox didn't have another hit until Ortiz doubled off Danys Baez (4-4) with two outs in the 11th. Millar followed with his 18th homer on a 1-1 pitch.

Ramiro Mendoza (2-1) pitched two scoreless innings for the victory. Keith Foulke got three outs for his 31st save.

The Devil Rays built a 5-1 lead by scoring one in the first, two in the second and two in the third off Boston starter Derek Lowe, who lasted 2 1-3 innings and has allowed 17 runs and 21 hits in just 8 1-3 innings over his last three outings.

Mirabelli's two-out double started Boston's four-run rally in the fourth. Bill Mueller was hit by a pitch before Mientkiewicz singled to load the bases. After Reese walked, forcing in the first run of the inning, Damon ripped his triple down the right-field line to make it 5-all.

The Red Sox went ahead 7-6 in the fifth on RBI doubles by Mirabelli and Mientkiewicz, but Adams couldn't hold the lead. Julio Lugo singled with two outs in the bottom half and Fordyce followed with just his second homer in 143 at-bats this season.

Boston made it 8-8 when Orlando Cabrera singled and scored on Ramirez's RBI double in the sixth. Tampa Bay reliever Travis Harper escaped further damage when he got Mirabelli to ground into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.


The bad news is Lowe totally blows this year, he has gotten knocked out of his last 3 starts and was hit hard tonight....thank God for the offense.

[Jimcs50]

The Padres are up 2-0 on the Giants in the 4th.:elephant :elephant

[Spurminator]

2-2 now... Giants with runners on the corners.

[Jimcs50]

3-2 now, still only 1 out...big inning for the Giants.

No worries, either Padres come back tonight or win the next two, as Giants are using their only decent pitcher tonight.

[SequSpur]

:lol

[Jimcs50]

Sequ, why don't you bet me $100 on the Giants...put your money where you big fat mouth is.

[SequSpur]

:rollin :wacko :rollin

:flipoff

:blah

:lol

[Jimcs50]

I knew it, all talk no action.

:baby

[SequSpur]

$100? on the Giants?

Uh... I don't bet on baseball. I am not Pete Rose.

I only bet on basketball. Because it's easy and more than half of the teams in the NBA totally suck.

What are you wishing for? The Astros? The Red Sox? What do you want?

Its a close race, anyone could win the wild card. The Giants have a tough series against LA left. So we'll see.

The Astros have a few games left but they have Biggio and Bagwell. Even if they make the playoffs these yahoos will never get a hit in a playoff game.

[Jimcs50]

Sequ, unlike football and basketball, baseball has always allowed one to root for two teams, one AL and one NL team, because they never used to play against each other. I have been a BoSox fan all my life and have been an Astros fan since the 1985 season when I moved to College Station. Mike Scott, Nolan Ryan and JR Richard were the best pitching tandem in baseball, and I always liked great pitching over great hitting. The Astros were a great defensive team, and would lose games 1-0 or 2-1 when they lost, because of the Astrodome's dimensions making it a pitcher friendly park. The worst year for me was 1986 when the New York Mets beat both of my teams, when it looked like I would have the Red Sox and Astros in the WS. I would have been for Boston for sure, but at least I would have had some consolation had the Astros beaten the Mets for the NL pennant. I remember that Mike Scott had won 2 games in that NCLS only allowing 1 run in two complete games, with one of the greatest pitching performances of all time, but the others could not match his performance, so the Stros lost. Just think, had the Astros beaten the Mets in game 7, Bill Buckner would still be a beloved sports personality in Boston.

[Jimcs50]

Cubs and Reds are tied 1-1 in the 5th inning.

[Jimcs50]

Cubs up 2-1 in the 7th.

[ducks]

cubs will win
this offseason sosa will be traded

[Jimcs50]

Cubs and Reds are in 11th inning, all tied up 2-2.

[travis2]

Mike Scott, Nolan Ryan and JR Richard were the best pitching tandem in baseball...

ummmm...tandem means 2, Jim...

Must be an Aggie thing...:lol

[Spurminator]

Cubs lose 4-3 in 12.

Not getting my hopes up.... I promise.

[Jimcs50]

Travis, I had Richard and Scott in there and I added Ryan on my edit, but forgit to change the tandem to unit...so sorry Mr Grammer.:flipoff

[Jimcs50]

If Giants lose tonight and Astros win tonight, it is s three way tie for wild card......:elephant

[Spurminator]

Actually, if that happens, the Astros will be half a game up, and the Cubs will be tied with the Giants.

However, if that happens, and then the Cubs and Giants win tomorrow... you'll have your three way tie.

I LOVE SEPTEMBER.

[Jimcs50]

All that matters is the loss column, they will all have the same amt of losses....who would have thought that the Cubs would lose 2 of 3 to the Mets then lose 2 to the Reds? Improbable things can happen in sports, that is for sure.

[Jimcs50]

Ensberg just hit a 2 run homer to put Astros up 3-2 in the 4th!!!! Cards just had an inside the park homer with an error to go up 2-1 at the top of the inning prior to this. The Rocket is pitching well tonight....AGAIN.:elephant

[Jimcs50]

Bags just hit a 1 run double to put Astros up 4-2. Yes!!!

[Jimcs50]

Astros win again!!!! 6-4....Bags is the Player of the Game.

Astros won for a record 15th straight at home.

[SequSpur]

Give it up.

[Jimcs50]

Unlike quitters like you Sequ, I do not give up.

[Jimcs50]

Sequ must be French, they always want to be on the winning team, but they also always quit when the going gets tough.

[SequSpur]

Yeah sure.... Don't get your hopes up.

Look, i don't want to see the Astros get fucking swept in the playoffs. So please let some other team play to at least make it competitive.

Biggio and Bagwell suck. Period.

[Das Texan]

shut the **** up sequ.


astros are winning the wild card.



period.

[Spurminator]

Giants lose... Astros now have sole posession of the Wild Card.



Wow. That right field foul line is cursed for the Giants. This reminds me of Jose Cruz Jr. blowing the catch over there (was that last year? year before?) in the Playoffs. This trip up might have cost them a trip to the Playoffs.

[Jimcs50]

NL Wild Card
Team GB
Astros -
Cubs ½ back
Giants ½ back
Padres 2 ½ back


If you would have told me that the astros were going to sweep the cards and the Cubs would lose 2 of three at home to the lowly Reds, I would have thought you were crazy. This is unbelievable. Now, the Astros need to keep their focis and beat the Rockies all 3 games and they will be a virtual lock, because the Giants and Dodgers play each other now, and the Dodgers are very tough at home and beat SF last weekend 2 of 3. The Cubs play the Braves who want to lock up the 2nd best record.:elephant