Three For The Playoffs

The schedule-maker. weatherman and scoreboard operators have joined forces in what promises to be an exiting last weekend in September as the Phillies, Mets and Brewers battle it out, though not against each other, for the NL East Division title and Wild Card berth.

Only two of the three will make it to the post-season but as of Friday afternoon all have a decent chance. On paper the Phils, with their one game lead on the Mets in the divisional race, have the best odds of making it but they face a pesky Washington club that gives them fits. The Mets face the Marlins, who are far more dangerous than the Nats and relish their role as spoilers. The Brewers face the Cubs, who have already clinched their division and have begun resting some regulars in anticipation of the playoffs. Of course the Cubs rested some regulars last night in New York and gave the Mets all they could handle.

According to some reports, the Cubs fear the Phillies most of the the three remaining contenders, having lost 3 of 5 games to the Phils during the regular season. The Mets will face two opponents in their final series: the Marlins and the ghost of last year's historic collapse. David Wright, for one, wants to vanquish both foes equally. The Brewers face two contenders, too; the Cubbies and history. Milwaukee has not been to the post-season in 26 years.

The Brew Crew, which took the unprecedented action of firing its manager with two weeks remaining in the season and a Wild Card berth still very much alive, has rebounded lately from a disastrous stretch during which the lost a ton of games. Last night they came back to win on a dramatic grand slam home run by Ryan Braun.

The Phils made things tighter the last few days by dropping two of three to the Braves at home. As if the losses weren't bad enough, the fact that their two alleged aces pitched in both of them made things worse. Down-to-the-wire races are a "Philly thing" according one Jimmy Rollins, who has personally participated in a few of them.

The schedule maker has already left all three buildings. The scoreboard operators are standing by. Now, if the weatherman cooperates, we have a lot of baseball to watch and listen to in the next 72 hours.