Down To One Game for the Mets and Brewers

After 161 games this year, the Mets and Brewers are both 89-72. That means that six long months of baseball is going to be boiled down to one game for each team tomorrow afternoon to decide the final playoff spot in the National League. The Mets will play the Marlins again, while the Brewers play the Cubs. Each team has split the first two games of their series with their opponent.

The Mets kicked things off today with a gem from Johan Santana. On three days rest, he spun a complete-game three-hit shutout of the Marlins, striking out nine and leading the Mets to a 2-0 win. The decision to start him on short rest was made after their loss yesterday afternoon put them a game behind Milwaukee, and Jerry Manual certainly pushed the right button today, even if the mercurial Oliver Perez has to start tomorrow with the season on the line. With the Phillies win over the Nationals today, the wild card is all they have to play for.

The Brewers could've clinched at least a tie with a win today, but Ben Sheets got rocked in his return from elbow problems and the Brewers never entirely dug back from the 4-0 hole he dug them. Tomorrow they turn to CC Sabathia, who's pitching on short rest for the third time in a week. Of course, if both teams win that means there's one more game on Monday at Shea Stadium. I wouldn't really mind that, though Mets and Brewers fans would likely disagree.