With the playoff chase coming down to the wire, our MLB editor rounds up the five biggest pennant race stories in Eye Toward October.- Phils Fighting Back: It looks like September will once again be a magical month for the Phillies. The reigning NL East champions ended August trailing the Mets in their division and with no real alternate path back to the postseason via the wild card. But since then, Philadelphia has kept pace with New York and erased the gap between it and the wild-card-leading Brewers.
With two weeks to go, Philadelphia has two avenues into the playoffs, and while there is still work to be done, things appear to be tilting its way because of a bullpen that is much stouter than what the Mets and Brewers have to offer.
The Phillies are built on star power. They have an ace in Cole Hamels, the best second baseman in the game in Chase Utley and the last two MVPs of the league in Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard. They depend on those stars to win. Rollins and Howard have struggled mightily at times this year, but they are at the heart of this surge just as they were in last year's whirlwind climb to the top of the NL East.
Rollins is hitting .340 and getting on base more than 40 percent of the time in September. Just like last year, when he stole 14 bases in the final month, he seems to be ratcheting up his running game in the stretch drive. Howard has been even better. He struggled to stay above the Mendoza Line earlier in the year, but he's hitting a scorching .386 in September and has seven home runs and 19 RBI.
Philadelphia's superstars appear to be shining brightest when they're needed the most.
- Price Is Right: It probably wasn't how the Rays drew it up, but phenom David Price made his major league debut Sunday at Yankee Stadium. Price came on in relief of Edwin Jackson, who gave up a grand slam to Alex Rodriguez and was knocked around badly.
There's been plenty of skepticism about Price's readiness for a pennant race here and elsewhere, but he silenced plenty of doubters with his performance Sunday, pitching a seven-pitch, 1-2-3 frame in his first inning and going 5 1/3 in all with four strikeouts.
More importantly, Price flashed the type of stuff that makes it seem like he'll be able to succeed in the shorter, high-leverage spells. Price is going to be a wonderful starting pitcher someday, but he's not going to displace Scott Kazmir or James Shields or Matt Garza this October. To make it onto the postseason roster this year, he's going to have a be a late-inning weapon for manager Joe Maddon. With a fastball that can touch the upper-90s, he has the potential to be just that.
- Bidding Adieu: The list of teams with a realistic shot at making the playoffs dwindled further this weekend. The Blue Jays went to Boston with a better shot at turning the wild-card race into an actual race over the last few weeks than most people gave them credit for and lost three of four. If Toronto wins its final 12 games, it would need the Red Sox to go 4-9 just to force a playoff.
Out west, the Diamondbacks lost in painful fashion Sunday, failing to pick up a game on the Dodgers, who lost to the Rockies. Even if Arizona goes 10-4 down the stretch, it would need Los Angeles to finish 5-8 to force a playoff. Unlike Toronto, the D'backs don't even have the luxury of a head-to-head matchup with the team they're chasing.
- Panic Over Papelbon: On the heels of a blown save against the Rays in the middle of the week, Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon struggled again Sunday, allowing two runs and needing the benefit of a blown tag call to escape with a save. Papelbon is clearly having command issues -- he just hasn't been able to throw any of his offspeed stuff for strikes. He also could be dealing with a tired arm.
Not only were Toronto hitters able to sit all over his fastball, but it seemed to lack the late life that makes it such a dangerous weapon. For now, expect Papelbon to sit Monday in Tampa Bay, with the closing duties falling to Justin Masterson. It's not time to panic, but there should be real cause for concern.
- Houston, We Have a Problem: Some of us might be virtually openly rooting against an Astros' playoff run, but you can't help but feel for them having to move key home games against the Cubs to Milwaukee of all places. Desperate Brewers fans probably won't be pulling for Houston against rival Chicago. There will also be plenty of Cubs supporters in town.
