Few head-to-head games means chasers need help

A little help is what the Tigers need. And the Brewers. And every other playoff chaser still in the hunt, including the Phillies, Dodgers and Rockies. The Rocks, especially, need help.

Every one of those particular teams -- most are running after a wild card, though the Brewers have a better chance at the division leaders -- will have to get someone else to beat a team in front of them to squeak into the playoffs. The Tigers play the division-leading Indians this week, but even a sweep there won't do it. The Rockies have the Dodgers and Padres still on their schedule. But they also have three teams to leapfrog in the wild-card standings.

The rest of the teams in the pack don't even play the teams they're chasing in the final two weeks. So it's not going to be easy for the Tigers, even with a sweep of the Tribe. The Phils and Dodgers have their work cut out for them. The Brewers have it tough. It'll be especially hard on the Rockies.

They'll all get some help. The question is, will it be enough? And will they do their part?

We have two weeks to find out.

Here are this week's Power Rankings:

MLB Power Rankings Rank LW Team 1 1 Boston Red Sox What can you say about the Sox that hasn't been said? Plenty of good starters, plenty of decent hitters, a very good bullpen, a manager that seems to know what he's doing, the best record in baseball ... and still they can't beat the Yankees on a consistent basis. At least not lately. The Sox have fattened up on the likes of the Orioles and Rays (23-10), two teams they won't face in the postseason. 2 3 Cleveland Indians Since the All-Star break, C.C. and F.C. -- that's Sabathia and Fausto Carmona -- have allowed a combined 158 hits in 188 innings pitched and together have a butt-kicking 2.44 ERA. That's the kind of 1-2 punch in the postseason that will have a lot of playoff teams shaking in their spikes. The Indians can coast into the second season if they take care of business against Detroit early this week. 3 4 New York Yankees That Friday night comeback, and holding on Sunday night in a hairy ninth inning against the Sox, said volumes about the resolve of this team. A word of appreciation here for 36-year-old catcher Jorge Posada, studly all season (.335, 20 homers, 40 doubles great behind the plate). He survived a vicious home-plate collision with Eric Hinske on Saturday. Like the Yanks, he keeps coming back. 4 2 Los Angeles Angels It's hard to dislike what the Angels are doing, but with a hobbled Gary Matthews Jr. (ankle) and a limp-armed Vlad Guerrero (triceps), this team needs to get healthy in a hurry. Manager Mike Scioscia has had to start eight different players in right field this year, with Vlad stuck at DH right now. Versatility is great. You'd just like to be able to use it because you want to, not 'cause you have to. 5 6 Arizona Diamondbacks Since second baseman Orlando Hudson -- a valuable veteran presence on this team -- blew out a thumb on a slide into third base and was KO'd for the year, the D-backs are 6-3. Every time you think the next hurdle is too high for Arizona, the D-backs fly over it. Too young, not enough power, funny stadium with a pool, lose a series to the Dodgers ... the Diamondbacks just don't care. 6 7 San Diego Padres They stilled a shaky September with a weekend sweep of the Giants (that's eight straight wins against them), keeping the pressure on the D-backs while holding off a few wild-card challengers. Ace right-hander Jake Peavy has some incentive to finish strong. Two starts to try to win 20 (he's 18-6 with a baseball-best 2.39 ERA). Two starts to solidify a Cy Young bid. And, if he wins the Cy, an extra $3 million in salary. 7 8 Philadelphia Phillies If the Phillies could play the Mets every weekend ... hmmm, doesn't it seem like the Phils do play the Mets every weekend? However it is, the Phils are proving to be a major pain to the East-topping Mets (eight in a row), while keeping the Padres looking over their shoulders in the wild-card race. I still can't get over the second half of Pat Burrell: 17 homers (tied for second in the NL), 53 RBIs (tied for first). 8 5 New York Mets This is another team that's hard to figure out. If the Mets hold true to form, after having their cans handed to them by the Phillies (again!), they ought to whip through the last couple weeks of the season and roll into the playoffs on a high. But NL champs or first-round playoff flops ... who knows? "We have the lineup, we have the pitching staff, we have the tools," David Wright says. "We just need to execute." 9 9 Detroit Tigers Five straight wins has the Tigers 2 1/2 games from the Yanks in the wild card, and a good showing in an early week series with the Indians has the optimistic in Detroit thinking the Central's not out of the question. Good news: Their last nine games are all very winnable (K.C., Minnesota and at the White Sox). "We're all right," manager Jim Leyland said last weekend. "Just not as all right as we could have been." 10 13 Chicago Cubs With two straight good starts (six hits in 14 innings, two wins, a 1.29 ERA), Carlos Zambrano finally may have found his stride. We'll find out Tuesday, when he pitches on short rest at Wrigley against the Reds. "The only thing that concerns me is if I get a heart attack," Lou Piniella said. "Nothing else concerns me." If that's what worries Lou, he shouldn't be managing the Cubs. 11 11 Los Angeles Dodgers Back-to-back series wins against the two teams ahead of them in the West, the Padres and Diamondbacks, have breathed new life into the Dodgers. With three more against the Diamondbacks and seven against the Rockies, the Dodgers have a chance. It's not a great chance. But they have one. 12 10 Colorado Rockies They won a 13-0 game Sunday and a 12-0 one Wednesday, but the Rocks went 3-4 last week and lost a series to the miserable Marlins over the weekend. They're not yet dead, though. Seven games remain against the Dodgers, three against the D-backs and three against the Padres. 13 15 Atlanta Braves In a White House meeting with President Bush last week, according to the Journal-Constitution, GM John Schuerholz misunderstood the Commander in Chief when he said, "We need some pictures." The GM thought Bush said pitchers. It's not that funny in Atlanta. 14 12 Seattle Mariners The M's still haven't won a series in about a month, so if all hope isn't completely lost, it's at least going to take a search party to find it. With eight games left against the Angels and Indians, the Mariners will have a job finishing on the good side of .500. They have to win four more games to do that. 15 16 Milwaukee Brewers A series loss to the Pirates early last week did not bode well, but the Brewers are still just a game out in the NL Central. This could be the make-or-breaker: The Brewers play their last seven road games of the year this week (at Houston and Atlanta). They are a horrible 29-45 away from Miller Park. 16 20 Oakland Athletics Nick Swisher, after dinging the Rangers for homers on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, was plunked in the first inning Sunday and, rightfully, went after pitcher Vicente Padilla. The A's lost the game -- that's how thing have gone this year -- but Swisher got major points from everybody for taking on the punk Padilla. 17 14 Toronto Blue Jays The Jays have lost their past four series. They just lost a series, for goodness sakes, to the Orioles. They're below .500 again. Their next seven are with Boston and New York. Check, please! 18 17 Texas Rangers Anyone want Vicente Padilla? If GM Jon Daniels isn't busy shopping his boneheaded pitcher right now -- for whatever anyone wants to give -- he's not doing his job. The plunking of the A's Swisher was bad enough, but leaving your team, your bullpen, out to dry by going punk in the first inning? What a loser. 19 18 Minnesota Twins GM Terry Ryan resigned last week, stunning a franchise that has relied on his cool hand to keep it relevant for more than a decade. If it had to happen, now's probably as good of a time as any. After losing 10 of their last 13, the Twins will have to finish 9-4 to avoid their first losing season since 2000. 20 19 St. Louis Cardinals Now that they're done -- and after this 1-10 fall, the Cardinals are definitely done -- can't we all agree that it's a little classless of Tony La Russa to be talking about a possible future away from St. Louis while the Cards are freefalling into oblivion? He's nuking all those bridges that he already torched. 21 23 Cincinnati Reds As if the Reds don't have enough problems, Brandon Phillips went into a home run trot on what turned out to be a single the other day. To his credit, he blasted himself for it. Didn't fine himself, though. 22 22 Washington Nationals Manager Manny Acta had a long talk with shortstop Felipe Lopez the other day. Simply put, in an awful second half (.238, .313 OBP), Lopez's attitude has been terrible. Way worse than the Nationals deserve. 23 30 Florida Marlins The most disappointing thing about this young team -- and there's a lot disappointing about the Marlins -- is the terrible fielding. The Marlins have committed 117 errors. The Rockies have 64. You do the math. 24 21 San Francisco Giants Barry Bonds has a sore toe, which could keep him out of the lineup for a few days, which could give the Giants a nice little preview of '08. If GM Brian Sabean happens to be leaning that way, that is. 25 25 Pittsburgh Pirates The Bucs locked up a new president, and he's deep into a search for a new GM, and Pittsburgh could have a new manager for '08 ... but the Pirates just assured themselves of a 15th straight losing season. Old news. 26 26 Houston Astros Interim manager Cecil Cooper had to talk with the team the other day about tardiness. Only in Houston. Can't get Craig Biggio to leave, can't get some of these guys to get to work on time. 27 24 Kansas City Royals It's been a better year in Kansas City, but the young guys are about done, as that 4-10 September record shows. "We?ve got a lot of guys who are feeling the finish line," Mark Grudzielanek said. 28 28 Chicago White Sox Jim Thome cranked career homer No. 500 in style, with a walkoff job in front of family members Sunday against the Angels. "It's tough to hit home runs when people want you to," he said. 29 27 Tampa Bay Devil Rays As bad as they've been this season, the Rays last week clinched themselves a better record than they had in '06. And an 8-4 finish -- a longshot, I know -- will give them their best record ever. 30 29 Baltimore Orioles This is how far south the Orioles' season has gone: After an 8-3 loss to the Blue Jays on Saturday, acting manager Tom Trebelhorn said, "It was a closer laugher than it appeared."