Playoff Race Tightens With Little Decided

Some critical matchups over the weekend did little to quell the uncertainty of the playoff race as the 2012 regular season heads in the final week.

Rowdy (84-73) will begin play today in a tie with Hoboken (84-73) for the 6th and final playoff spot as they prepare for a three-game series at Hillsborough. After reeling off five straight wins, the Hit Men (82-74) now sit just 1 1/2 games back of a wild card but also 5 games behind Drabek division leader Amityville (87-69), whom they face in a season finale series this weekend. The Ant Slayers, with a magic number of 2 to clinch the division, host St. Louis (72-85) for a three-game series starting tonight.

Scheduled starters for Rowdy include two pitchers acquired before the trade deadline while Hillsborough counters with its ace in the third game:

RWD @ HIL
Lee (4-3, 5.31/10-8, 4.38) v. Scherzer (6-15, 6.27) 
Colon (4-3, 4.34/7-9, 3.55) v. Neimann (0-2, 6.12)
Gallardo (8-11, 5.80) v. Verlander (18-8, 2.67)

Meanwhile, a three-game set in Bridgewater looks like it could be a play-in game of sorts between the Mallers and Straphangers. Bridgewater (83-74) is just a game out of a wildcard and Sardine City (81-76) continues to cling to hope, 2 games back of the Mallers and 3 games out of the playoffs -- with 5 to play. Bridgewater lost two out of three to Hopatcong over the weekend in a critical series while Sardine City has won 4 of its last 5, including a sweep of Philly.

Neither Doug Fister nor Javier Vazquez, two starters the teams swapped earlier this year, figure to be among the probable starters in this showdown:

SAR @ BRI
Bailey (7-9, 4.56) v. Beckett (10-9, 3.61) 
Morrow (10-14, 4.67) v. Ogando (12-11, 4.62)
Detweiler (3-4, 6.75) v. Beachy (16-6, 4.75)

If the season ended today, playoff seedings would look like this:
No. 1 Marietta*
No. 2 Vancouver*
No. 3 Amityville
No. 4 Hopatcong
No. 5 Newark
No. 6 Rowdy/Hoboken
* Clinched playoffs

In this scenario, Hoboken and Rowdy would play a one-game playoff to determine the final seed, with the winner facing Amityville while Kruk division rivals Newark (84-72) and Hopatcong (85-71) would duel in the other first-round series. The two appear headed for a potential division title-deciding three-game series to end the regular season, with the runner-up hoping to be in the mix for a wild card. Marietta (103-53) and Vancouver (91-66) would earn first-round byes.

***

In other news over the weekend, Marietta's R.A. Dickey took the loss versus St. Louis, dropping to 18-5, and with just one start remaining, has lost his chance to be the league's only 20-game winner in 2012. Dickey had a respectable 8-inning, 6-hit, 4-run performance against the Farrakhans, but St. Louis prevailed, 6-2. Newark's James Shields and Hillsborough ace Justin Verlander have matched Dickey for the league lead with 18 wins. All three figure to be in the mix for the Ben McDonald Award.

Berkman makes a move

Longtime Golden Falcon Lance Berkman went deep in an 11-2 pummeling by Arkansas on Thursday. The third-inning homer off Bridgewater's Josh Beckett was his 22nd of the year and broke up a logjam on the DMBL's all-time home run list.

Entering the game, Berkman was tied with fellow first basemen Edgar Martinez and Fred McGriff for 22nd place in DMBL history with 271 homers. Berkman is chasing Bridgewater's Todd Helton, who has only eight home runs this year and is just two ahead of "The Big Puma," with 274.

At No. 20 in all-time home runs is yet another first baseman, Rafael Palmeiro, with 330 dingers.

First half, pitching review

Though he didn’t start the all-star game, it’s tough not to call Tim Lincecum of Las Vegas the first half’s Ben McDonald Award winner, especially after closing out the first half with a near-perfect game. Lincecum is the league’s leader in ERA (2.96), wins (11), winning percentage (.917), quality starts (13) and strikeouts (136). In fact, Rat Pack pitchers ranked 1-2-3 in strikeouts at the break: Lincecum, Haren (125) and Burnett (118). But teammate Josh Beckett had a worthy first-half as well, earning the starting nod in the all-star game. Just 6-4 at the break, Beckett was right behind Lincecum in most every pitching category. Even if Lincecum slows down in the second half, it could be a Rat Packer going home with the McDonald this year.

But if this year’s winner doesn’t come from Las Vegas, a safe bet could be placed on the Carolina Mudcats, whose rotation boasts three pitchers in the top 10 in the league in ERA: Roy Halladay (3.31), Daisuke Matsuzaka (3.31) and Carlos Zambrano (3.50). Halladay ended the first half as the league’s leader in complete games (7) and innings pitched (127 2/3) while Matsuzaka had the lowest batting average against (.170). It’s no surprise that Carolina (3.66) and Las Vegas (3.87) finished the first half ranked 1-2 in team ERA.

Newark’s Chien Ming-Wang could make a case for the trophy, matching Lincecum for the league lead in wins (11-2), and right behind Halladay in innings pitched (125). Hoboken’s Jeremy Guthrie finished second to Dustin Pedroia in Pat Listach Award voting last year and also has followed it up with a solid sophomore, ranking 3^rd in ERA (3.28). His 7-6 record could look better if not for a shaky Cutters bullpen.

It’s unclear whether the Mighty Men get their name from their fearsome batting lineup or their impressive starters, three of whom have nine wins at the break: Mike Mussina (9-4), John Danks (9-2) and Ervin Santana (9-6). Or perhaps it’s the bullpen that makes Marietta so mighty, led by future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera’s league-leading 18 saves and rookie Brad Ziegler’s league-high 11 holds at the break.

Cliff Lee of Arkanas hit the all-star break on the DL, but a strong second half might put the lefty hurler into the mix for the McDonald. Only 7-6 at the break, Lee still had an ERA of 3.70 with 101 strikeouts.

Youngster John Lester has been a workhorse, logging 118 innings in the first half with a 3.51 ERA but just a 6-5 record to make a forimidable lefty-right, 1-2 punch in Amityville. Teammate Roy Oswalt finished the first half strong after a slow start, going 9-4 with two shutouts.

Greg Maddux has experienced a resurgence in Vancouver, coming off the bench for the Iron First and starting 10 games in the first half, including three complete games. The all-time league leader in starts, wins, and innings pitched, Maddux may only be 3-3 at the break but he sports a 3.36 ERA with eight quality starts. It must be rubbing off, as Zach Greinke is 8-5 with four complete games and a 4.09 ERA.