Weekly Race In Review September 21-27

In the next to the last week of the season, the Rockies recovered from losing 2 out of 3 to the Padres to scratch out two wins over the Central Winning St. Louis Cardinals to finish the week 3-3. All 3 wins were 1 run wins. They are now 16-9 in September with 2 more games to go. Meanwhile the Atlanta Braves moved into 2nd place in the Wild Card race by sweeping the Mets and Nationals on the Road for a 6-0 week.

Results:
9/22 ROCKIES 11 Padres 10
9/23 Padres 6 Rockies 3
9/14 Padres 5 ROCKIES 4
9/25 ROCKIES 2 Cardinals 1
9/26 Cardinals 6 ROCKIES 3
9/27 ROCKIES 4 Cardinals 3

The Dodgers also went 3-3 and have all but locked up the West Division. Meanwhile the Marlins were also 3-3, Giants 3-4, and the Cubs went 5-2, but still can do no better than a tie for the Wild Card. The other division Leaders Phillies went 3-4, while the Cardinals finished 3-3.

Magic Number for the Dodgers to win the West 2, Rockies need 16. Magic Number for the Rockies to win the Wild Card is 5, while the Braves need 10.

Rockies finish their home schedule with Milwaukee, followed by a weekend Series and season finale in Los Angeles. Braves are home for 7 games, Marlins for 3 followed by the Nationals for 4.

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DOWN THE STRETCH: Remaining Games:
Rockies (3H, 3A)--Milw (3), @LAD (3)

Dodgers--(3H, 3A)--Pitt (1), @SD (2), Col (3)

Giants--(3H, 3A)--Ariz (3), @SD (3)

Marlins--(6A)--@Atl (3), @Phil 3)

Braves--(7H)--Fla (3), Wash (4)

The 90 Plus factors show the Dodgers at 96, Braves at 92 and Rockies 91

GIVE BARMES A SAVE: There have been moments over the last couple of weeks where the Rockies defense has let them down, but when they make the plays, there is nothing more fun to watch. Ian Stewart made an incredible play on Friday against Matt Holliday. In Sunday's game, Clint Barmes made one of the most incredible catches I've ever seen to end the game against the Cardinals. Obviously, Albert Pujols made a mistake by continuing to run full out before it dropped in, but even if he only goes halfway, the Rockies would have gotten Julio Lugo out at 3rd, as he continued to home plate after the catch and didn't realize that Barmes had made the catch until he got back to the Cardinals dugout. Sunday's win may or may not be the game that wins the Wild Card, but it has to give the team a huge lift heading into the final week.

UP AND DOWN MONTH: The Braves are on a tear, but overall in September they have only gained one game on the Rockies. They started the month 3.5 games behind the Rockies and are now 2.5 games behind. The Braves started out the month losing 6 of 8 while the Rockies were winning 10 of their first 11, which moved the Braves 8.5 games back. Since September 9 the Rockies have gone 8-8 while the Braves have won 14 of 16. The Braves still need the Rockies to lose at least 3 games (if the Braves win their last 7) to win the Wild Card berth. If the Rockies go 4-2 this week, the worst that can happen is there would be a Tiebreaker on Monday, October 5th in Atlanta.

DOMINANCE OVER CENTRAL: The Rockies finished the regular season series with the Cardinals at 6-1, increasing their Record against Central Teams to 28-11. The only Central team that will have a winning record against the Rockies this year is Houston, at 5-2 vs. the Rockies. The Pirates are the only other team to win as many as 3 against the Rockies (pending the Milwaukee series this week), but they had 9 chances to do it.

(ALMOST) ALWAYS ON SUNDAY: The Rockies finished the season with an 11-3 record on Sunday's at home. Their last Home loss on a Sunday, was on July 5th vs. Arizona 4-3. Their other home losses were April 12 7-5 vs. the Phillies and Jim Tracy's first loss on May 31 vs. San Diego 5-2.
Overall, the Rockies are 17-9 on Sundays with one left in LA next Sunday.