Philly Phantastic

Do the Philadelphia Endzone Animals still have a shot at the post-season? After winning four out of their last five, they're just 1 1/2 games out of the final playoff berth. The 7th place Animals kicked off a three-game series against the Blue Ridge Bombers with a 12-1 win -- and chewed up the Bombers bullpen, requiring them to use eight pitchers in the losing effort. If the Animals are going to reach the post-season, they'll need some help as they don't have any games left against four of the six teams ahead of them in the standings. (On the positive side, that means 14 of their remaining 20 games are against teams with losing records!)

The team they're chasing in the standings, the 6th place Vancouver Iron Fist, were just swept by the 1st place Newark Sugar Bears in a three-game series -- their fourth straight loss overall. The Iron Fist had a much needed day off Sunday afternoon before starting a five-game road trip. They have 19 games left in the season, and it's a much tougher road than the Animals face -- they've got five games against the Carolina Mudcats, two against the Hillsborough Hired Hitmen and two against the Sugar Bears, three teams they've gone a combined 6-23 against so far this year! Vancouver's magic number to clinch a playoff spot stands at 18.

The Sugar Bears, by the way, became the first team to clinch a 2009 playoff berth with today's 8-1 win over the D.C. O-Bombers. The Sugar Bears are guaranteed no worse than a wildcard seed; their magic number for the Hanover Division title is down to 8, and for the Commissioner's Cup, it's 10.

It's still very much a race in the Morris Division standings, however, where the Mudcats have pulled to within 2 games of the Hitmen. The Mudcats had their seven-game winning streak today against the Amityville Ant Slayers, 3-1. But their remarkable 17-4 record over the last three weeks has put tremendous pressure on the Hitmen, who dropped a tough 6-5 game today against the Sardine City Straphangers. Each team faces a brutal end to its season, with the Mudcats facing the Sugar Bears six times in their final nine games; the Hitmen, meanwhile, close it out with seven against the 5th place Las Vegas Rat Pack and three against the 8th place Arkansas Golden Falcons, a team they've gone 1-7 against this year.

Carolina's hot streak has landed them in a flat-footed tie for the top wildcard seed with the Marietta Mighty Men, who have dropped 3 out of their last 7 games. The Mites were neck and neck with the Sugar Bears for the best record in baseball for most of the season, but the dog days of August have seen them fall all the way to 10 1/2 games off the pace. Marietta will look to get healthy next week as they have a six-game home stand with three against the 10th place Hoboken Cutters and three against 12th place Blue Ridge. The Mudcats and Mighty Men each have a magic number of 11 to clinch a playoff berth. Hillsborough's magic number for the division title is 18; for the playoffs, it's 9.

Las Vegas took the first of a three-game set in Sardine City on Sunday with a 9-7 win that also put young gun Joba Chamberlain on the shelf for the rest of the regular season. After the Straphangers, the 5th place Rats come home to the desert for a 13-game home stand. The Pack has a magic number of 12 to reach the playoffs.

The Golden Falcons still have an outside chance of reaching the playoffs -- they're 5 games behind the Iron Fist, and 1 game under .500. They got the ball rolling Sunday with a 4-3 win over the Rat Pack before beginning a stretch where they'll play 10 out of 12 games on the road, including seven games against teams with winning records. Their tragic number for elimination from post-season consideration stands at 15.

The O-Bombers, who have dropped three in a row, are 2 games behind the Golden Falcons and 5 games under .500; their tragic number is 12.

Hoboken is the only other team with a chance to have a winning record this year -- and they'd have to run the table to do it! The Cutters have won back-to-back games to stave off their 81st loss. Their tragic number is 7. Amityville sits 3 behind them, with a tragic number of 4.

Blue Ridge still has a chance! But their playoff hopes will officially be extinguished with their next loss or Vancouver's next win. The end has come for Sardine City, who could win out and still finish no higher than 7th place.

That leaves just last-place New Jersey Team Buddah, whose 4-3 win over D.C. is somehow their third straight (and fifth win out of their last eight games). The Buddahs were long ago eliminated from post-season consideration, and have a 4 1/2 game "lead" for the worst record in baseball. The only thing they can play for is to avoid the ignominy of a 100-loss season; they'd have to go 13-7 to do it.