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.

Morris Division happenings

Bridgewater held their position atop the Morris Division with a 4-0, 4-hit shutout. Starter Erik Bedard was removed after 2 innings after a 3 hour rain delay (Amityville's starter Hiroki Kuroda also was removed) and the Maller bullpen took over. Juan Aceves pitched 4 of the innings, giving up only 1 hit and striking out 4. The Ant Slayers held the Mallers to only 5 hits, but still gave up 4 runs, including 3 in the 9th.

Blue Ridge won their 4th straight to remain tied with the Mallers - a 4-3 edging of New Jersey. The Bombers only got 4 hits in the game and scored all their runs in the first 2 innings. The Buddahs tried to claw their way back, but ended up one run short. For New Jersey it was their 6th straight loss.

Josh Johnson outduelled Jake Peavy in a 2-1 Sardine City win over Vancouver. Johnson pitched 8 innings and gave up only 3 hits and struck out 7. Peavy pitched 7.2 innings, giving up 3 hits as well and struck out 11. Vancouver dropped their 4th straight and fell 2 games out of the division lead.

Yovani Gallardo held the Sugar Bears to just 2 hits in Carolina's 5-1 win yesterday. Gallardo pitched 8 innings and struck out 9.