This division race, aka the Battle of the Bads, is down to the final 6 games. A 1-game lead is tenuous at best for Jack Bauer Squared, and all that’s saved us is no one else in the division is playing well either.
We’re all playing each other at this point, so the team that finishes strongest could emerge on top. Hoping it’s us is about all there is left, since the results are largely beyond my control.
After losing two low-scoring one-run games at Yankee Stadium to A Rod, some Wood and a Big Unit, we needed something good to happen in a hurry. It took until the 5th inning, but Bobby Bonilla hit a 3-run homer (his 14th) to put us ahead 3-0. Garry Maddox doubled in a run in the 7th to make it 4-0.
Meanwhile Teddy Higuera wasn’t allowing anything. As in, no hits through 6 innings.
Alas, Rod Carew tripled to lead off the 7th, and A Rod pushed a pair of runs across. We got them back in the top of the 9th as Bobby Murcer tripled in a run and scored on a pinch single to push the lead back to 4.
In the bottom of the 9th A Rod got a run in, and Bob Woodward came out of the pen to get the final out. He ended the rally for his 36th save to wrap up a 6-3 victory.
Meanwhile, Steroids lost and that dropped our magic number to 4 while increasing our division lead to 2 with 5 to play. Our destiny was still in our hands.
The series finale had a lot riding on it, and we opened with a run in the first on a single by Bonilla. Mike Cuellar did his best Higuera impression and held A Rod hitless through the first 3 innings, but it didn’t last.
The hosts chalked up 2 runs in the 4th, and it stayed 2-1 until they broke through again in the 7th, this time for 4 more runs. We threatened to make a game of it in the 9th but dropped an 8-4 decision.
With Steroids winning its series finale, our magic number didn’t budge and our lead dropped once again to 1 game. That sends us to the final four-game series of the season, at home against $24 and Some Change. Nervous time all the way now.
