Fan News

For an inning or two Saturday afternoon, the Chicago Cubs could smell their fifth straight win, which would have tied their season high. Instead, the Cincinnati Reds beat them 7-5 after a two-run rally in the top of the ninth against Cubs closer Carlos Marmol.

The Cubs fell behind early, when three Cubs' errors gave Cincinnati a pair of unearned second-inning runs. Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Ryan Theriot each made miscues during the nightmare inning, and neither of the two runs allowed in that frame by starter Randy Wells were earned.

HOOVER, Ala.—The box score would indicate a pitching duel reminiscent of the night before. But what really transpired Friday night at Regions Park was a pair of back-to-back-to-back missed opportunities by the Barons, followed by a battle within of who could care less. And a visiting club that was happy to mow over an uninspired home team.

As of this morning, the St. Louis Cardinals are 84-58, 10.5 games in front of the Chicago Cubs for first place in the NL Central. 

How have they achieved this success?

One may attribute it to the MVP caliber season of Albert Pujols, the trade deadline acquisition of Matt Holliday, or the amazing pitching of Adam Wainwright.

Or Chris Carpenter.

The 34-year-old is 16-3, with a league leading 2.16 ERA in 24 starts this season.

<!--StartFragment-->

Be sure to listen to Sports Overnight America, where I will discuss the final three weeks of the season with Patrick Mauro tonight at 11 PM (PST). Listen here!

Here's a nasty little secret:  I love Los Angeles—the sprawling city, not its sports teams.

It's a rough admission because I'm a die-hard San Francisco Giant fan and, as such, there is no team on Planet Earth I hate more than the LA Dodgers. Honestly, if you told me a Bum broke his leg, there would be a nanosecond of glee.

Until you told me the player's name, it would simply be a uniform and one upon which I wish much ill.

Of course, then you have to bring an individual into the situation, trigger human empathy, and ruin the whole neat equation. Oh well.

I was going to wait until the season was over before writing this article, but considering that for all intents and purposes this season has been over in Atlanta for nearly two weeks now I figured it was okay to go ahead with it now.

To review, 2009 has been up and down all season long. One baseball person remarked during the season that this Braves team was "just good enough to break your heart." That turned out to be absolutely true.

I can't count the times this team has broken mine and many other Braves fans hearts this season.

In a season where the disabled list meant more than the lineup card, the Mets decided to auction off their disabled list at a charity event on Friday night.

For any who might wonder, all 30 teams are required to keep a physical list of all the players who get hurt and document the day of injury, the diagnosis, the day of surgery or start of rehab, and the day the player gets back to the team. 

Also featured on Rotoprofessor.com!

There aren’t too many options I’d feel confident using on Saturday, but if you desperately need to play a card there are two pitchers worth taking a chance on.

<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->

Anibal Sanchez – Florida Marlins – vs. Washington Nationals

David Wright is back in the lineup as an every day player and is struggling at the plate. 

Taking a 94mph fastball to the head is one of the most horrific things that can happen to you on a baseball field and that's exactly what happened to Wright on Aug. 15th at Citi Field.

In a lost season for the Mets, what matters the most is that he got back in the batters box the day he was eligible after being beaned by a Matt Cain fastball.