Pennant Watch: Wednesday, September 27

A's Are In
Oakland finally managed to nail down a playoff spot last night, following their win and the Angels' loss to Texas.

Elsewhere in the American League
The Yankees, Tigers, and Twins all won, meaning the races for home field and the AL Central crown remain unchanged.

Philly Loses Ground
A one-run loss to Washington is all the more crushing when you have a Chase Utley home run ruled foul, and it turns out to be the difference between a loss and a tie game that would have gone into extra innings. Los Angeles beat up on Colorado to open up a one game lead over the Phils in the race for the NL Wild Card.

Sssssshhhhhh!!!
Avi points out that the odds of Houston passing St. Louis are extremely slim. Nonetheless, the Astros haven't gone away just yet. With 5 games left on the schedule, they have climbed to within a game and a half of the division lead. That half game is going to be a huge obstacle for Houston. St. Louis had a game cancelled somewhere along the line, meaning that they're going to finish the season with 161 games played. It's possible that, if Houston wins only one more game in their last five than St. Louis does, the Cards will back into the playoffs with a 1/2 game edge over the Astros. This means that Houston probably has to win 4, if not all 5 of their remaining games to make it in. Let's hope that St. Louis doesn't back in on a 1/2 game difference, though if this current home series is any indication, their reward will be the right to get swept by the Padres.

Game of the Day
Philadelphia at Washington. The Phils need a win not only to keep pace/gain ground on Los Angeles (who sends the Derek Lowe Face to the hill in Colorado), but to ensure that they don't suffer a letdown on the heels of the Chase Utley homer that wasn't. Rookie Cole Hamels gets the start against Pedro Astacio (he's still around?) in game three of this four game set.