‘08 Phightin’s take 3 of 4 from ‘57 Braves to clinch homefield advantage in NL

9/26-9/27 - County Stadium
GAME 1 - Phillies 9, Braves 4
The Phightin's smelled blood in the water as Brooklyn and St. Louis were busy banging heads together in their big series.  Manager Gary Bringhurst didn't even have to tell his troops that even though Milwaukee was mired in last place the Braves would still come out and play hard in their roles as spoiler.  Heading into the 7th the game was tied at 4, but the Phightins put on their hitting shoes and knocked Lew Burdette (6-4, 4.96) out of the box en route to scoring 5 runs over the 7th and 8th innings.  Brett Myers (5-1, 3.19) hung on until the cavalry came late in the game.  Jayson Werth hit a huge 2 run, 2 out homer in the 7th and J-Roll hit a 2 run shot in the 8th.

GAME 2 - Phillies 7, Braves 1
Milwaukee definitely had the engine on the bus warming in this blow out contest.  Cole Hamels (4-4, 3.13) went the distance allowing just 1 run on 7 hits.  The Phightin's scored solo runs off of Bob Trowbridge (0-2, 6.23) in each of the first 5 innings and never looked back.  Chase Utley hit his 5th homer of the season and Ryan Howard clobbered his 11th.  Ed Mathews 5th homer of the season provided Milwaukee it's lone run.

9/28-9/29 - Citizens Bank Ballpark
GAME 3 - Braves 6, Phillies 3
Down 3-2 and heading into the 6th the Braves looked like they were about to pack in another game.  Kyle Kendrick had been performing beautifully in relief of Joe Blanton who was removed after 1 inning of work due to lack of velocity and possible arm trouble.  Kendrick hit a bump in the road by the name of Eddie Mathews, who hit a 2 run shot to put the Braves up 4-3.  Milwaukee would add 2 insurance runs in the top of the 8th when Billy Bruton singled home Hank Aaron and Del Crandall with the bases loaded off of J.C. Romero.  Ray Crone (1-0, 9.31) did a more than admirable job going 7 and giving up only 3.  Taylor Phillips pitched the final 2 for his first career save.

GAME 4 - Phillies 6, Braves 4
The math was simple.  If the Phightin's win they clinch the best record in the NL and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.  If they lose they would once again be tied with the 1946 Cardinals.  Making his final start of the season Milwaukee HOF'er Warren Spahn (3-6, 3.28) was hoping to get enough run support to play the role of spoiler.  Philadelphia's Jamie Moyer (4-1, 3.20) was hoping to clinch the divisional title for his team.  Things started off bumpy for Moyer who gave up a 2 run / 2 out triple to a lefty (Wes Covington) that he should have easily been able to get out.  Utley cut the deficit in half with a 2 out solo shot in the bottom of the inning.  Philly added 2 more in the 3rd to take a 1 run lead.  A solo shot by Frank Torre tied it in the 4th, but the Phils answered right back when Moyer bunted home Pedro Feliz to take a 4-3 lead.  Mathews led off the 6th with a solo shot to tie the fame at 4, but the Phills took the lead for good with 2 runs in the 6th on a 2 run single by the "Flyin Hawaiian" Shane Victorino, which was aided by a misplay by Bruton in center.  Moyer was gone after 6 innings of 4 run ball and the pen shut the door the rest of the way.  Brad Lidge notched his league leading 12th save by getting the final 2 outs in the 9th to clinch 1st overall for the Phightin's.

‘55 Boys of Summer split home and home with ‘46 Redbirds, who clinch playoff spot

9/26-9/27 - Sportsman Park
GAME 1 - Cardinals 3, Dodgers 2
Solo runs in the second by both teams carried the day until the top of the 8th when Duke Snider hit a solo shot off of Howie Pollet (3-3, 3.39) to put Brooklyn up by 1.  Newk, who up until this point in the season, had done a great job of shedding his "choker" label.  The bottom of the 8th would be one of those innings that would dredge up those old accusations that have dogged the big man throughout his career.  After quickly getting 2 ground outs the inning looked over, but Whitey Kurowski singled and Musial walked.  Up came Enos "Country" Slaughter and that would be the end of Newk’s day.  Southpaw Karl Spooner, who is poison to left handed hitters came trotting in from the pen to face Slaughter.  Spooner quickly got an 0-2 count on the future HOF'er, then caught too much of the plate on a waste pitch and Slaughter cranked it into the right field corner for a 2 run triple.  Just like that a 1 run lead became a 1 run deficit for the visitors.  The top of the 9th saw Murry Dickson take over for Pollet.  Don Hoak grounded back  to the box to lead off the inning and pinch hitter George "Shotgun" Shuba lined a clean single to center.  The Captain, Pee Wee Reese worked out a walk to move Junior Gilliam, who pinch ran for Shuba, into scoring position.  Due up next was "the Gerbal", Don Zimmer.  Lefty hitting backup catcher Rube Walker was called upon to pinch hit for Zim and lined a one hop bullet to HOF glove man Marty Marion, who scooped the ball up with ease and turned an easy 6-4-3 DP to end the game.

GAME 2 - Cardinals 4, Dodgers 0
Red Munger (3-0, 2.35) danced in and out of trouble for 7 shutout innings vs the frustrated Brooklyn bats.  St. Louis scored a solo run off of Johnny Podres (3-2, 3.58) on a Whitey Kurowski two bagger.  A fielding error by Junior Gilliam at second prolonged the inning and allowed Kurowski to do his damage.  A 2 run shot by Terry Moore the following inning put the Cards up 3-0 and another error, this one by Jackie Robinson in the 6th, cost the Dodgers another run.  With the score 4-0 Mury Dickson again came aboard to pitch the final 2 scoreless innings.  Kurkowski was the hitting star for the Redbirds, going 4 for 4 with a double and a walk with 2 RBI.

9/28-9/29 - Ebbets Field
GAME 3 - Dodgers 8, Cardinals 3
After dropping the first 2 games on the road Dem Bums returned to Pigtown with their post season future on the line.  Mid season call up Roger Craig (2-0, 2.42) was charged with holding down the lefty laden Cardinal lineup.  This was a lot to ask of a young player on the rise, but it was a must win if Brooklyn hoped to keep pace in the Wild Card race.  The first 3 innings saw Brooklyn grab a 4-2 lead.  Both Craig and his opponent Ken Burkhart (4-5, 3.02) finally settled down and threw scoreless ball until the top of the 7th when St. Louis had Craig's back up against the wall with 2nd and 3rd and only 1 out.  Craig made a big pitch to get Kukowski to ground out to short, which allowed Terry Moore to score to make it 4-3 Brooklyn.  That would be all for Craig, who would give way to Karl Spooner who's job was to get lefty superstar Stan Musial out.  Nicknamed "the Man", by these fans right here in Brooklyn, Musial has spent the better part of his career terrorizing Dodger pitching.  Young Spooner probably wasn't too up on his history,  for if he was he'd surely have know the damage this fine ballplayer from the heartland could do.  Spooner was able to jam Musial just enough to get him to fly to Snider in deep center to end the inning.  That would be the lynch pin for the Dodger offense that scored 3 runs in the bottom of the inning on a 2 out 3 run shot by Pee Wee Reese.  Roy Campanella would hit a solo shot to push the game to 5 runs in the 8th and Ed Roebuck would come on to toss a scoreless 9th to give Brooklyn a much needed win.

GAME 4 - Dodgers 7, Cardinals 3
Hal Brecheen (4-4, 2.44) and Billy "Never win 20" Loes (4-3, 4.34) were engaging in a 2-2 deadlock when the Cards took a 1 run lead in the top of the 5th on a Kurkowski solo homer.  The Dodger offense can never be counted out and sure enough they struck back big in the bottom of the frame.  Junior Gilliam singled to shallow center and two batters later Snider doubled off the right field wall to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out.  Breechen had no ideas about pitching to Campy as the stocky Brooklyn catcher was given a free pass to load the bases and put the force play everywhere.  As the late great Red Barber might have said, "With the bases FOB (Full of Brooks), up steps Gil Hodges...the quiet man from Indiana.  With the count 2-1, Brecheen has to pitch to him and Hodges knows it.  With one might swing of his bat Hodges launches an opposite field shot off the scoreboard in right center".  Gil wound up with a bases clearing triple and would score minutes later when and aging Jackie Robinson dropped a perfect squeeze bunt.  Hodges would strike again with a solo shot in the 8th for his 4th RBI on the day.  Gil would finish the campaign with a .362 average and 7 homers.  Take that HOF veterans committee voters who do not think this man is worthy to grace the hallowed halls of Cooperstown !  By virtue of the series split St. Louis assured themselves the 1st wild card slot, while Brooklyn more than likely locked down the 2nd.  St. Louis would be scoreboard watching to see in last place Milwaukee could upset the Phillies and take at least 2 games in their series or the Phils would win the division.

‘69 Amazin’s sweep ‘76 Big Red Machine to move to within 1 game of the division’s top spot

9/21-9/22 - Riverfront Stadium
GAME 1 - Mets 4, Reds 2
Heading into the 6th the game was tied at 2.  Credit Gary Gentry (3-3, 5.79), who has been nothing short of horrible this season, for finally putting it together in a meaningful game.  Holding the Big Red Machine to less than 3 runs is downright spectacular.  With that said, you need to have some runs too and Jack Billingham was victimized by his defense when Art Shamsky attempted to score from second on Ed Kranepools medium ranged single.  Ken Griffey charged it and came up throwing, but the throw was way up the line and wound up in the Met dugout.  Two batters later backup catcher J.C. Martin would single home "Steady Eddie" to make it 4-2 Mets.  Cal Koonce & Jack DiLauro would bridge the gap to Tug McGraw who would get the final 2 outs for his 3rd save.

GAME 2 - Mets 7, Reds 1
What a shocker !  The Mets usually score 7 runs in a series, let alone 7 in one game !  New York jumped all over Gary Nolan when Art Shamsky doubled home Wayne Garrett and Cleon Jones in the top of the 1st.  Shamsky would go to third on the throw to the plate, which narrowly missed nipping Jones as he slid.  In the 4th the Mets would add 2 more on a 2 RBI single by Tommie Agee.  Met starter Don Cardwell would bring a 3 hit shutout into the 9th, but lose his bid when George Foster hit a 2 out solo shots.

9/23-9/24 - Shea Stadium
GAME 3 - Mets 1, Reds 0 (10 inn)
When the score is this low the outcome favors the Mets, who have a plethora of pitching and pitching styles. Tom Seaver fanned 9 and allowed only 4 hits for 9 shutout innings of work.  On most nights you could put that in the books as a win, but tonight it would be easier to "made in the USA" label on a garment as it would to see a run scored.  Red starter Don Gullet went 7 scoreless innings and was long gone when Manny Sarmiento took the mound in the bottom of the 10th.  Catcher Jerry Grote greeted Sarmiento with a double off the 396 sign in right center, then moved to third on a perfectly executed bunt by Bud Harrelson.  Pinch hitter Ed Kranepool walked and the the sublime occurred.  Power hitter Art Shamsky was called upon to pinch hit for reliever Nolan Ryan.  The infield was playing back looking to turn 2, when Shamsky dropped down a pefect bunt to score Grote for a walk off win.

GAME 4 - Mets 5, Reds 4
Hard luck Jerry Koosman had a 4-2 lead heading into the 7th, but gave up solo runs to the Reds who tied the game up.  George Foster hit his second homer of the series to tie it.  After 8 innings of work Kooz was replaced by Nolan Ryan who looked good until his defense abandoned him.  The weakest link in NY's defense is usually Kenny Boswell at second.  As is the custom with baseball, the ball usually finds the bad fielders.  That is just what it did as Dave Concepcion's on hop bullet clanked off of Boswell's glove.  Met fans were now worried that they were going to be victims of poor fielding.  This was not to be the case when backup catcher Duffy Dyer pegged Concepcion out at second as he attempted to steal.  Jack DiLauro would come on to face lefty pinch hitter Mike Lum, who gave the ball a nice ride to the warning track for out number 3.  With runners on 1st and 3rd and 1 out Jerry Grote was called on to pinch hit and for the second consecutive days in a row the Amazin's won on a squeeze play.  New York incredibly stole this series from Cincy and moved to within 1 game of the division lead.  By virtue of being swept Cincy was not tied atop the division with the 1946 Cardinals.

‘08 Phightin’s split with ‘46 Redbirds to stay tied for first

9/20-9/21 - Citizens Bank Ballpark
GAME 1 - Phillies 3, Cardinals 1
Brett Myers (4-1, 2.85) put in a strong 7 inning performance where he surrendered only a solo run in the final inning of his 7 innings of work.  Madson/Romero and Lidge (10 saves) did the rest.  Philly broke a scoreless tie in the 6th when a Marty Marion error and 3 consecutive singles did in Max Lanier (1-1, 1.57). Pedro Feliz hit a clutch 2 out single to knock in 2 runs to cap off the 3 run outburst.

GAME 2 - Cardinals 6, Phillies 0
Red Munger carried a shutout into the 9th then gave way to Mury Dickson, who finished it out and preserved the shutout.  Cole Hamel (3-4, 3.48) had one of his poorest outings of the season giving up 5 runs in 6 innings.  Stan Musial, who went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI's hit a 2 run shot in the 3rd to break the ice.  Marty Marion, who's error the day before opened the floodgates for the Phightin's, atoned for his error with an RBI triple in the 4th to make it 3-0.  Kurowski hit a solo shot in the 5th and the Cards added another that inning to end Hamels day on an unhappy note.

9/23-9/24 - Sportsman Park
GAME 3 - Phillies 5, Cardinals 2
J.A. Happ (2-1, 0.69) had a 1 hit shutout going after 5, when Phils manager Gary Bringhurst felt he was tiring and wanted to lift him for a pinch hitter (Geoff Jenkins) in an attempt to break the game wide open.  Jenkins hit a one hopper back to the box, which turned into a rally killing DP.  By this point the Phils were up 4-0 thanks to a 3 run shot by Greg Dobbs off of Cardinal starter Burkhart in the top of the 4th.  The Cards posted solo runs in the 7th and 8th, but could not make it closer.

GAME 4 - Cardinals 5, Phillies 4 (13 inn)
In this battle for first the Cardinals found themselves down a game heading into the series finale.  A split would ensure them a tie heading into the final 4 games of the season.  St. Louis had a comfortable 4 run lead heading into the 8th when the Phightin's came back to life.  Once again Matt Stairs came off the bench and hit a big 2 run homer with 2 outs to tie the game in the 9th.  This would eventually force extra innings.  Happ who turned out to be Philly's 8th pitcher on the day started the 13th and got the first out easily, but then wound up getting into trouble by giving up a big double to Stan Musial.  He then walked pinch hitter Joe Garagiola to put runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out and Terry Moore coming to the plate.  That brought a call to the pen and Rudy Saenez came on to face Terry Moore who lined Saenez' first pitch into the left center gap for a game winning RBI double.

‘55 Dodgers and ‘03 Fish split 4

9/21-9/22 - Ebbets Field
GAME 1 - Dodgers 4, Marlins 0
Big Newk, Don Newcombe, who has been accused throughout his career of coming up small in the big games came up big today.  With his team fighting for their post season lives Newk went the distance and scattered 8 hit to increase his record to 5-3 (2.90).  The Flatbush Faithful were treated to 2 quick runs in the bottom of the 1st off of Chris Redman and never looked back.  Duke Snider went 3 for 4 and had 2 RBI's while hitting his 8th round tripper of the season.  Newcombe also went 2 for 4 with his 3rd homer of the season, a KOD record for pitchers.  His season batting average is .324, which is why he batted 8th ahead of poor Don Zimmer.

GAME 2 - Marlins 5, Dodgers 3
Tied at 3 after 6 Josh Beckett was able to outlast Carl Erskine.  Florida scored solo runs in the 8th off of Erskine and Clem Labine in the 9th.  Urgeth Urbina saved his 8th for the Fish who scored 5 runs on 11 hits.  Pudge Rodriguez was the only Marlin regular without a hit.  Carl Furillo hit a 3 run shot for 'Dem Bums in the home half of the 6th to account for all of Brooklyn's scoring.

9/23-9/24 - Pro Player Stadium
GAME 3 - Dodgers 6, Marlins 5
Roger Craig, who has been flat out fantastic for the Boys of Summer this season, had an off day.  Errors by Campanella and Reese helped to contribute to Craig's bad outing.  Clem Labine came out of the pen to keep it close until the Dodger offense was ready to explode to the tune of 4 runs in the top of the 8th to take a 6-4 lead.  The big blow came from little Sandy Amoros, who is more known for his leather than his lumber.  Amoros sliced a 3-1 offering from Wilson Alavarez down the left field line for an improbable Grand Slam.  Labine started to falter in the 9th and after 1 run in and men in scoring position Don Bessent came in from the pen to strike out Derrek Lee to end it.

GAME 4 - Marlins 13, Dodgers 6
With the Dodgers up 6-5 the Fish exploded for an 8 run 7th inning off of Jim Hughes.  To his defense, Hughes didn't have any defense as Don Zimmer made a huge error to help open the floodgates.  Making one of his rare starts Miguel Cabrera went 4 for 5 with 6 RBI, 3 runs scored and 2 homers.  Lee hit his 7th homer and Juan Pierre stole his 23rd sack.  Carl Furillo had a 3-4 day with 2 RBI's in a losing effort.

‘73 A’s take 3 of 4 from ‘91 Twinkies to move 2 games behind division leading Halos

9/21-9/22 - Oakland Coliseum
GAME 1 - A's 5, Twins 2
Vida Blue (3-6, 5.08) was tasked with beating the ultimate clutch pitcher of his time Jack Morris (3-3, 2.28).  Blue, who has been nothing sort of dreadful for the A's this season needed to revert back to his 1971 AL Cy Young form or he would have no chance at all.  For 8 glorious innings Blue was authoring himself a 3 hit shutout.  In the 9th he began to tire and as a result the Twinkies put a big scare into the A's by posting 2 runs.  Blue began running out of gas, but a vote of confidence was given to him when he looked into the home bullpen and saw nobody up.  It was his game to win or lose.  After Chuck Knoblauch sliced a 2 run / 2 out double to right center Pedro Munoz came to the plate and Blue found a way to blow three bullets right by him for the K and the win.  Oakland's offense spotted Blue two runs in the bottom of the 1st when Joe  Rudi singled home Campy Campaneris and Reggie hit a sac fly to score Billy North.  Oakland would score 3 more off of the normally stingy Morris in the 5th when North led off with a bunt single and stole second.  With 2 outs Sal Bando narrowly missed a 2 run homer and had to settle for a RBI double.  Gene Tenance followed that up with and RBI single as did Dick Greeen 2 batters later to make it 5-0.

GAME 2 - Twins 7, A's 6
If Oakland misses the post season by 1 game, they will look back on this game as the one that got away.  Down 7-3 after 7 innings the A's rallied back to score solo runs in the final 3 frames.  With nobody out, the bases loaded and 1 run already in Rick Aguliera was summoned from the pen and tasked with the impossible duty of getting 3 outs and not allowing the tying or winning runs to score.  Oakland fans had to think it was a sure thing to at least tie it.  The lesson to be learned, in baseball there are no sure things.  The first hurdle for Aggie to face was Gene Tenace, who struck out on 4 pitches for out number 1.  With the infield drawn in Derron Johnson hit a 1 hop bullet to Pags at third who turned fast and gunned down Joe Rudi for the 2nd out at the plate.  Aggie was now 2/3 of the way done when Dick Green stepped up to the plate.  Aggie and Green battled in a classic 11 pitch AB that culminated in the Twin reliever getting green to ground weakly to Pags at third to end the game and quite possibly Oakland's chances of making the post season.

9/23-9/24 - HHH Metrodome
GAME 3 - A's 4, Twins 1
After Catfish Hunter's poor performance the day before (8.1 IP / 7 ER), Ken Holtzman (7-2, 2.57) was once again asked to be the "stopper".  Holtzman not only rose to the occasion to put his team in a position to win, but he also battled through adversity all day.  Inning by inning he was in and out of trouble.  When he needed to get a DP a strike out or even a pop up he seemed to find a way to will it to happen.  With the score tied a 1 the A's finally got to Twin starter Scott Erickson (0-6, 5.89) by scoring 3 runs in the top of the 8th.  With 1 out and runners on 1st and 2nd Reggie singled home Campy Campaneris.  Sal Bando hit one to the base of the wall and narrowly missed a homer, which accounted for out #2.  With the score 2-1 the A's desperately needed a clutch hit to get some insurance runs.  Gene Tenace, who came up small yesterday by striking out with the bases loaded, came through today with a 2 run double, which gave Holtzman just enough runs to win 4-1.

GAME 4 - A's 5, Twins 0
With their season on the ropes the A's decided to go unconventional.  With John "Blue Moon" Odom scheduled to start A's manager Marc Weiss decided to go with a hunch instead.  The hunch:  Give the ball to veteran lefty swingman Darold Knowles.  Conventional wisdom would have sided with Odom getting the start vs the powerful righty lineup of the Twins in a game played in the homer dome.  Conventional wisdom did not win out, Knowles (1-1, 0.96) did.  Oakland posted a two spot in the 1st inning to give Knowles some breathing room and some margin for error.  The tablesetters (Campaneris & North) both singled to start the frame, then executed to perfection a game changing double steal.  That setup Joe Rudi with 2 ducks on the pond and Oakland's All-Star left fielder delivered a line shot single to left for two "Rib-eyes".  The A's would get 2 additional runs off of Minnesota starter Tom "East of" Edens in the top of the 6th when Sal Bando singled home Joe Rudi, then scored himself on a two out single by Ted Kubiak.  Knowles by this point was operating under the radar screen by getting key outs and just staying out of trouble.  The bottom of the 6th inning was Minnesota's big chance to score.  With runners on 1st and 2nd and two out Knowles was able to get Knoblauch to ground out back to the originator to end the threat.  Horacio Pina and Rollie Fingers would come on in relief for the final 2 1/3 innings to lock down the victory for the unheralded Knowles, who just might see some time on the hill vs the Angels in the final series of the season, which will be a battle for 1st place in the division.

Braves blow away Reds in 4 as Hank Aaron hits 4 homers in finale.

8/8-8/9 - County Stadium
GAME 1 - Reds 8, Braves 4
The great Warren Spahn took a comfortable 4-1 lead into the 8th inning when the wheels fell off his cart.  With 2 out pinch hitter Wally Post clobbered a 3 run shot to it.  RBI doubles by light hitting Roy McMillian and pinch hitter Jerry Lynch put the Reds up by 2.  Gus Bell's solo shot in the 9th helped add 2 more insurance runs as the Reds got Bob Purkey off the hook en route to a 8-4 comeback win.

GAME 2 - Braves 11, Reds 0
After a 2+ hour rain delay in the first both starters (O'Toole / Buhl) were gone from the game Joey Jay was wonderful for the Braves tossing 6 innings of no hit ball in relief.  Milwaukee unloaded on Red relievers Joe Nuxhall and Don Newcombe to the tune of 7 unanswered runs in the second.  Hank Aaron (3-4, 2RBI) and Johnny Logan hit homers in this lopsided win that evened the series.

8/11-8/12 - Crosley Field
GAME 3 - Braves 5, Reds 4
1957 World Series MVP Lew Burdette had a 5-2 lead heading into the 9th when he started to tire and began to make things real interesting.  With 2 out Vada Pinson doubled home Lee Walls and Wally Post to make it a 1 run game.  Fireman Don McMahon came on to get the final out when Andy Kasco flew out to Hank Aaron in right.  Joe Adcock went 2 for 4 and hit his 3rd homer of the tourney.  Brave catcher Del Crandall hit a 2 run homer in the 7th, which eventually provided the margin for victory.

GAME 4 - Braves 12, Reds 2
Milwaukee pummeled Cal McLish and reliever Bob Purkey by scoring runs in each of the first 4 innings.  By the end of the 4th inning the Braves had a 11-0 lead, which was more than enough for Warren Spahn.  Milwaukee posted 16 hits in this cake walk.  Hank Aaron had one for the ages by going 4 for 6 with 4 homers and 8 RBI's !!!  The most incredible fact about Aaron's day was the fact that he could have had 5 homers if he wasn't robbed by an amazing catch by Red left field3er Jerry Lynch in the 5th.