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Save us -- again

Cubs-Cards, Sammy, Big Mac highlight the weekend

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Sammy Sosa entered the weekend hitting just .220 with five homers and 13 RBIs against the Cards. Jonathan Daniel/Allsport

By John Donovan, CNNSI.com

At this time of the year, with the standings as close as they are, with the wild card there to be had, with so much darn uncertainty around, you'd figure, heck, you can't go wrong sitting in front of the 125-channel satellite dish hookup this weekend.

Sure you can. Cincinnati-Montreal leaves us wanting. Colorado-Milwaukee seems like a warm pool in 95-degree weather. We sure can't get worked up about Minnesota-Kansas City. And if you can, we're thinking you may be spending too much time in the sun.

Thank goodness Sammy and Big Mac are here to save the day. Again.

For the final weekend before September, the NL Central takes center stage. There are a couple nice East-West things going on, too (Cleveland-Seattle, Arizona-Philly).

After that, though, it's best to stay in the shade and wait for next month.

Here are the goods for This Weekend in Baseball. Four balls, remember, are all a series can get.

Somebody could get hurt
St. Louis Cardinals Team Page | Schedule	at	Chicago Cubs Team Page | Schedule
Here's the score, so far: 7-7. So, as they say in the biz, there's a score to be settled. The Cardinals and Cubs have one of the better rivalries in baseball, headlined by two of the biggest names. When Mark McGwire's Cards meet Sammy Sosa's Cubs, well, it's just a feel-good kind of thing. Though, on the field, it's a lot tenser than it looks. The two clubs have split their 14 games and go into this three-game series, their last meeting of the year, a sliver apart in the NL Central standings. How close are these two teams? The Cards have posted a 4.40 ERA against the Cubs. The Cubs have a 4.80 ERA against the Cards. St. Louis is hitting .263 in the series, Chicago .261. For the Cards, Fernando Vina (.393, 11 RBIs), Jim Edmonds (.358, four homers and 10 RBIs) and Albert Pujols (.306, three homers and 12 RBIs) have been the big sticks. But then there's McGwire, who is hitting just .200 against Chicago this season -- with four homers. Sosa? Just .220 -- with five homers and 13 RBIs. The Cards are coming off that recent 11-game win streak that put them back in the picture. The Cubs, thanks to Sosa's finest year ever (.322, 49 homers, 127 RBIs), simply will not go away. Oh, yeah. This promises to be a corker. Matchups of particular note are Friday's between Matt Morris (16-7, 3.20 ERA) and Chicago's Jason Bere (8-7, 4.22) and Saturday's with Woody Williams (10-8, 4.83 overall, 2-0, 3.86 in four starts since joining the Cards) against the Cubs' Jon Lieber (16-5, 3.38). The Astros will be watching.

Cleveland Indians at Seattle Mariners, Friday-Sunday Pitching? say the Indians. Ah, who needs it?

Everyone said this was going to be the tough part of the Indians' schedule. So what do they do? Take three straight from the A's, in Oakland, as a warmup to this possible playoff preview with the Mariners. Cleveland may be playing its best ball of the year. Jim Thome is on one of those trips (.324, 17 homers, 43 RBIs since the All-Star Game), they have the biggest lead in baseball outside of the Mariners ... John Rocker actually didn't blow a save the other night. Things are going well. The M's are the M's. Still looking to set the AL record for wins (114, '98 Yanks) and maybe take a shot at the major-league record (116, '06 Cubs). Matchups to note: Cleveland's Bartolo Colon (10-9, 4.18 ERA) vs. Jamie Moyer (14-5, 3.78) on Friday. Chuck Finley (5-6, 6.44) against Seattle's Freddy Garcia (14-5, 3.33) on Saturday.

Arizona Diamondbacks at Philadelphia Phillies, Friday-Monday One-run wonders

When Randy Johnson strikes out 16 batters and the Diamondbacks still get whupped -- by the Pirates, for heaven's sake -- well, that doesn't look good for the NL West leaders. On the other hand, the Phillies can't catch a break lately, either. They've lost six of their last seven (after five straight wins). Four of the six were by one run. Their one win, too, was by a run. You have to wonder whether Larry Bowa can take this much longer. Omar Daal (11-4, 4.59 ERA) goes Friday for the Phillies, but the matchup of the weekend is Arizona's Curt Schilling (18-6, 2.94) vs. young Nelson Figueroa (4-4, 3.88) on Sunday.

Houston Astros at Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday-Sunday You guys? Again?

The Astros have taken hold of the NL Central with a 15-6 run in August and now come up against the lowly Bucs, a team they're supposed to beat. But, whoa there, pardners. That's not the way it's worked. The Pirates have played the Astros even this season (7-7) despite Richard Hildalgo's .370 average, three homers and 11 RBIs. Not to mention Jeff Bagwell's .319, two and 11. Jason Kendall (.370, three homers) and Brian Giles (.313, nine RBIs) have kept the Pirates in the game. Of course, it was just last week the Bucs lost four straight in Houston by a 25-10 score. Something's got to give. Roy Oswalt (10-2, 3.13 ERA) goes Friday for the Astros, who can't afford to slip too much with the Cubs hanging around and the Cards coming on strong.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta Braves, Friday-Monday: Maybe they're just taking their own sweet time

Neither of these teams is exactly, shall we say, tearing things up. The NL East-leading Braves are just .500 at home, the Dodgers are under .500 on the road. Still, L.A. is just 1 1/2 back in the NL West, and with Luke Prokopec now recovered from a blister on his pitching hand, the Dodgers may be ready to make another run at it. Prokopec (6-6, 4.69 ERA) is scheduled to pitch Saturday against Jason Marquis (3-4, 3.59). But the recently blistered Chan Ho Park -- ripped by manager Jim Tracy for a lazy outing -- will be interesting to watch. Park (11-9, 3.04) faces Tom Glavine (11-6, 3.79) Friday.

San Francisco Giants at New York Mets, Friday-Monday West to East, north to south

At one time, this might have been considered quite the late-August showdown. Now, it's Barry Bonds trying to keep his Giants in the NL race and Bobby Valentine, who refuses to acknowledge that his defending NL champs are out of the picture. Bonds (55 homers, or hadn't you heard?) is always worth a watch. Jason Schmidt (9-7, 4.46 ERA overall, 3-1, 3.91 with the Giants) against Steve Trachsel (7-11, 5.27) on Saturday. Bonds has two homers in 31 at-bats against Trachsel. San Fran throws Russ Ortiz (14-6, 3.21) against Al Leiter (8-10, 3.33) on Sunday.

New York Yankees at Anaheim Angels, Friday-Sunday
Welcome back, El Duque. Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Well, that didn't work out quite the way Joe Torre had planned, did it? Orlando Hernandez (0-6, 6.00 ERA) was supposed to bolster a shaky rotation, but with outings like Tuesday's (four homers, 11 hits, eight runs allowed against Texas), Yankees fans better hold on. El Duque goes again Sunday. Roger Clemens (16-1, 3.60 ERA) goes Saturday for the world champs.

Detroit Tigers at Oakland Athletics, Friday-Sunday
The Indians put the brakes on the A's runaway express with three straight wins in Oakland. That's no way to win a wild card. But A's fans, don't fret. Oakland doesn't play a team that currently has a winning record until Sept. 13, a stretch of 18 straight games that could give them quite a cushion for the last couple of weeks of the season. Tim Hudson (14-6, 3.11 ERA) goes Friday for the A's.

Boston Red Sox at Texas Rangers, Friday-Sunday
How much difference can one man make? The Red Sox are hoping a lot. Pedro Martinez is scheduled to make his return to the mound on Sunday in his first appearance since coming out of a game against the Devil Rays on June 26 with a sore shoulder. Since that game, the Sox have gone 24-26 (before Thursday night's game), they've fired manager Jimy Williams and they've fallen out of first place in the AL East. Still, they're a long way from being out of things.

Chicago White Sox at Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Friday-Sunday
Since the day after the trading deadline, after they dumped just about everyone they could with a pulse and a paycheck, the Rays are 11-11. Brent Abernathy is hitting .352 in August, Chris Gomez is hitting .333. If they go to a 15-man roster next season, they could be a threat.

Toronto Blue Jays at Baltimore Orioles, Friday-Sunday
The Blue Jays still have a chance, although it's an outside one, to get back to the .500 mark before the season ends. They have three with the Yanks and six with the Indians in September, and after that ... Detroit, Baltimore and Tampa Bay. It's not much to hope for, but it's more than the Orioles have.

Minnesota Twins at Kansas City Royals, Friday-Sunday
Pull out our thumbnails. Put us alone in a closet with Barry Bonds. Let us lollygag in front of Larry Bowa, or make faces at Carl Everett. Make us watch 16 straight hours of Big Brother if you must. But, please, please, pleeeeeeeease, don't make us watch the Twins self-destruct any more.

San Diego Padres at Florida Marlins, Friday-Monday
Tony Gwynn makes his final stop in South Florida. Of course, even if he hangs around for another year, he might be making his final stop in South Florida, the way that franchise is going.

Colorado Rockies at Milwaukee Brewers, Friday-Sunday
A terrible hitting team (Milwaukee is at .248, better only than the Mets) against a team that can't throw (the Rocks' 5.43 ERA is worst in the NL). Wow. Step back and watch the fireworks not happen.

Cincinnati Reds at Montreal Expos, Friday-Sunday
Isn't this the time of the season when every series is supposed to mean something? Won't be seeing any of these on the Game of the Week.

 

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