The hunt for a Red October
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The hunt for a Red October
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Things are getting mighty interesting in the National League. With the Dodgers' loss to the G-men yesterday, the Phillies are now just one game behind Los Angeles for the best record in the National League. St. Louis is in third place, two games behind the Dodgers, one behind the Phillies.
As most of you know, the No. 1 seed gets home field advantage throughout the playoffs and plays the Wild Card team in the first round. The No. 2 seed plays the No. 3 seed in the first round. But two teams from the same division cannot play in the first round, so if the No. 1 seed and the Wild Card team are in the same division, then the No. 1 seed plays the No. 3 seed and the No. 2 seed plays the Wild Card.
Here is how the top three teams stack up for the rest of the season:
Dodgers (88-60, 0 GB, 14 remaining)
Phillies (86-60, 1 GB, 16 remaining)
Cardinals (86-62, 2 GB, 14 remaining)
The Phillies have the tiebreaker over St. Louis, thanks to a 4-1 record in their season series. The Dodgers have the tiebreaker over the Phillies, thanks to their 4-3 record. So the Phillies need to win three more games than the Dodgers over these last 16 days, and need to win the same amount as the Cardinals.
9/19 PHI at ATL, LAD vs SFG, STL vs CHC
9/20 PHI at ATL, LAD vs SFG, STL vs CHC
9/21 PHI at OFF, LAD is OFF, STL at HOU
9/22 PHI at FLA, LAD at WAS, STL at HOU
PHI at FLA,
9/23 PHI at FLA, LAD at WAS, STL at HOU
9/24 PHI at MIL, LAD at WAS, STL is OFF
9/25 PHI at MIL, LAD at PIT, STL at COL
9/26 PHI at MIL, LAD at PIT, STL at COL
9/27 PHI at MIL, LAD at PIT, STL at COL
9/28 PHI vs HOU, LAD at PIT, STL is OFF
9/29 PHI vs HOU, LAD at SDP, STL at CIN
9/30 PHI vs HOU, LAD at SDP, STL at CIN
10/1 PHI vs HOU, LAD at SDP, STL at CIN
10/2 PHI vs FLA, LAD vs COL, STL vs MIL
10/3 PHI vs FLA, LAD vs COL, STL vs MIL
10/4 PHI vs FLA, LAD vs COL, STL vs MIL
For the first round, I think I would rather be the visitor. We have the best away record in baseball, and if we just split, the next three games are at home. Sounds like a best case scenario to me.— TBear- It doesn't matter where they play as the long as we get the Rockies in the 1st round. Not that we should scared to play the Dodgers or Cards, but it would be advantageous for us to play the inconsistent Rockies and let 2 division winners go head to head— duffers
- Dodgers lost to the Giants last night, not the Rox.— OBLawyer
- who cares who we play. chase utley's gonna say it again!!
- We'll catch the Dodgers and play the Rockies. They have a problem with lefties...good bye Rockies and Hello Cards. We'll handle them too. Bring on the freakin Yankees. We are the blankin world champions.— brinkmang
Bring em all on!!! Fightins' gonna repeat as the the WFCs...— kjuggs77- The only reason why I would say it matters is because, except for his first blown save, all of Lidge's BS's have been on the road......... otherwise, it really doesn't matter if the Phillies are home or away, they know how to play and win!!!!— joeolive
Comment removed.- LA has the easiest schedule. Phils will be second and host rocks.— P Even
- well whats even better is that we get two more games. So technically we could have the best record right now if it weren't for rain...— MFPhils
- you always want home feild advantage. St. Louis is the only team that I see being a challenge for the Phillies. The Dodgers have the best pitching in the NL and the Rockies are right near the top in offense, so pick your poison.— xanderphil26
- Maddy44: The Red Sox lost their last post-season game last year in the ALCS to the Rays. The Cards have not been back to the post-season since winning the WS in 2006, so they fit the description— judas_priest
- Comment removed.
- The ghost of 64 still haunts me. Of course that was before 80 & 08. 64 taught me to be causes. I still remember Gene Mauch's blunders. Please someone ease my worried mind. Tell me this is 2009 and the ghost are not real. GO PHILLIES— wiseoldowl
- Why don't they have comments open on the "Cop with Corn Rows" article? Of all the stupid looking... GO PHILS!!!!— BudSelig_isthenext_MrBurns
