Baseball In The Daytime: 9-17-08

And down the stretch they come. Tampa won a nail-biter at the Trop last night to regain a one-game lead over Boston in the AL East. The Phillies ascended once again to first in the NL East. In the AL Central, the White Sox are capitalizing on the fading Twins and hold a two and a half game edge. And out in the NL West it appears that the Dodgers could have finally locked up their race, holding a four and a half game lead with 11 to play.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of that same NL West, a couple of sorry clubs wrap up their season series with an afternoon delight at Coors Field. Watch it, if you must...

San Diego @ Colorado, 1:05 Mountain Livan Hernandez gets the nod in this one, and that's pretty much all you need to know about the Colorado Rockies this year. To find a culprit in the crime that is the 2008 season look no further than the performance on the mound. Instead of going after Dan Haren, Dan O'Dowd stood pat and watched Jeff Francis, Ubaldo Jimenez and Franklin Morales (remember him?) flounder. Livan came over in a deadline deal for the playoff push that never materialized. Lightning in a bottle only strikes once, kids--get some pitching.

As for the Padres, it's the Josh Geer Show today. Who's Josh Geer? It really doesn't matter, because we've got a San Diego team visiting a Denver team. There will surely be some umpiring tomfoolery afoot, what some may label home cookin'. In fact, I hear Ed Hochuli is throwing out the first pitch. Play Ball!