Well, your Phightin’ Philalala Phillies left it quite late, indeed to the final game of your 162-game regular season, but they got over the line yesterday by defeating the Rays, 7-3 at the Bank, and that was enough, no matter the outcome of the Phoenix Serpientes’ game. As mentioned in yesterday’s post, it was another memorable Sept. 27: birthdays for us & Schmitty, and another postseason-clinching afternoon for the Philadelphia baseballers. Ring the bell!
Yes, the Phillies appear to be in shambles as the last National League club to make the playoffs this season, and the mighty Chris Sale & the Atlanta Bravos are locked-and-loaded to play inhospitable hosts tomorrow in Game 1 of the Wild Card series at Truist Park. Nevertheless, anything can happen in a best-of-three elimination. You just have to look at this current five-year playoff streak for the Phillies: in 2022 upsetting the heavily favored Cardinals in the opening round via some crazy luck in the ninth inning of Game 1 of that series, then beating the heavily favored Bravos in the Division Series, then somehow getting past the Padres in the Championship Series before taking the Trashstros to six games in the World Series while coming-up just short for all the marbles. Then in 2023 they encountered the Bravos again and beat them before choking-away the pennant to those aforementioned Serpientes in Game 7. Their last two playoff appearances have been first-round flops, especially the 2024 fiasco vs. The Metropolitans; however, last year’s four-game failure to the La-La Land Los Doyers was just an Orion Kerkering brain-burp away from perhaps going the distance against the eventual World Champeens. (Yes, we can furnish you with made-up alternate names for all the baseball clubs all the time.)
So, who knows? It’s baseball, it’s three games only, to start, and weird stuff happens in the postseason, or else it wouldn’t be Major League Baseball. Teams get to within one strike or one out of a championship, and still don’t close it out and then never get back to the World Series for years and years and years — looking at you, Boston, Mass., and you, Arlington, Texas. But everyone gets their day, and even Boston & Arlington erased those heartaches and got their rings later on. Jury’s still out on Toronto, which had a similar near-miss in last-year’s heart-in-mouth Game 7 — no postseason for them this year, but will they have to endure a decades-long frustration before achieving their sweet deliverance? We shall see!
Meantime, maybe Cleveland, Ohio, name-checked this past week by a famous female pop-music star, can end its hoodoo and finally win the whole thing after going without since taking the Series in 1948. Nineteen-forty-eight! You think you & your team got problems? Chief Wahoo wasn’t even able to stay alive to celebrate the next Indiguardians championship! Play ball!
No post-bedtime issues to report from last night’s (Sunday’s) late action, so here’s your playoff-eve (Monday) rundown here…
Starting weirdly with Albuquerque, where #6 American Prada (.237 / 3.22 / 3.94) won Race 8 for Mario & Miuccia at $15.60.
At Fort Erie, Ont., #6 Shoot (.278 / 2.60 / 3.21) fired her winning shot in Race 5 at $8.20.
Your Canandaigua, N.Y., opener had #4 White Sport Coat (.240 / 3.17 / 4.00) wearing a win well past Labor Day at $10.38; your winning $80.88 exacta had a premium price of $49.76 and was completed by #2 Missionattheglen (.201 / 3.98 / 5.22).
At Shelbyville, Ind., your winning $56.20 exacta in Race 5 had a premium price of $56.95 and was completed by #1 Polka Polenta (.223 / 3.48 / 4.25) and #6 Woodruff (.179 / 4.59 / 5.70). Then in your Race 8 Thoroughbred finale, which had a first-timer in the mix, #2 Blazy (.288 / 2.47 / 2.96) blazed a trail to the winner’s circle for the old heads at a sorry-not-sorry $8.40; #1 Nayak (.210 / 3.76 / 4.71) completed your winning $86.60 exacta whose premium price was $33.80.
Race 3 out of Bossier City, La., had #2 Lil Ashley B. (.192 / 4.21 / 5.09) running her A game to get the W at $12.60.
#1 Cassation (.193 / 4.18 / 5.06) took Race 1 on your Cornwells Hts., Penna., card at $12-even.
Finally from No. Randall, Ohio, #6 Check the Facts (.232 / 3.31 / 4.17) definitely won Race 5 at $17.80.
Two on the shoe for your last Monday of this year’s September now…
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