Play On

The Orioles' magical carpet ride has at least one more scheduled stop thanks to their latest late-inning victory, a 2-1 victory over the Yankees in thirteen innings.

At this point it seems astonishing those guys have any energy left after a season of late-inning heroics.  Without doing the actual calculations, it wouldn't surprise me to learn the O's have played the equivalent of about 175 games so far in 2012.  Not that they are complaining.  They would gladly play at least nine more!

Meanwhile, in DC, Jayson Werth prolonged the Nationals' magical season with a walk-off home run to even the series versus St. Louis.  While I have no particular love for the Nats, I don't dislike them with nearly the same intensity as I feel toward the Cardinals, even without self-anointed genius Tony LaRussa at the helm.  Right now the $126 the Nats paid Werth looks like a good deal.  I also have to keep reminding myself Washington is playing without one of its top pitchers.  I'm sure management has privately second-guessed itself on the decision to shut down Strasburg.  I applaud the unselfishness of their decision, a sentiment apparently not shared by everyone in the clubhouse according to reports.

In the Queen City, on the other hand, it appears Dusty Baker's tenure is in serious jeopardy as the Reds collapsed along the river front and dropped their series to the Giants.  San Francisco is another team I love to dislike, but I do have to admit they have learned how to win, in this case at the expense of their former skipper.

Detroit closed our their series with Oakland behind Justin Verlander, who hurled a brilliant game.  Detroit needs good news, the city, not the team, and I wish them well...until they face the O's.

One final note on the playoffs to date:  how did the alleged brain trust of MLB ever decide to award the play-in teams home field advantage?   Why did Washington and New York, both division winners, have to play their first two games on the road?  Do Bud Selig et al want to turn the regular season into the somewhat meaningless exercise it has become in the NHL and NBA vis-a-vis winning the division as opposed to qualifying for the playoffs?