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MLB Preview: Phillies Inch Closer But NL West Battle Rages On

  • Al Dannity's Author profile. Al Dannity

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The race for the playoffs is nearly over and Philadelphia looks poised to enter the post-season in pole position.

It’s called momentum
At the time of writing, the Phillies hold a 92-61 record and a 10 game winning streak. Philadelphia not only tops the NL East by 6 games, it’s got a 6 game lead on the whole National League. Cincinnati may be a lock for the NL Central while the NL West is the deepest division in the league, but nobody is going to stop the Phillies from securing home advantage right through the playoffs. For once that could include the World Series, as the NLCS winners will have home advantage by virtue of the National League winning the All-Star game earlier this year.

What may await the Phillies down the road is not an immediate concern. Instead the team most immediately impacted by Philadelphia’s charge is Atlanta. The Braves now have just one realistic route to the post-season and it’s going to be a dogfight of a Wildcard race. Atlanta now travels to Washington for a three-game series that could make or break the Braves. Having lost three in a row, Atlanta needs a win badly tonight and I like Tim Hudson to deliver. Derek Lowe should pick up a second victory for Atlanta as he has enjoyed particularly good form against Washington. Sunday however looks to be a much tougher ask with the injured and out of form Jair Jurrjens taking the mound. Even with good run support, it’s going to be tough for Jurrjens to pick up the win.

Giant battle in the NL West
San Francisco unloaded some heavy artillery last night in a 13-0 demolition of the Cubs. Now the Giants will turn to its big arms to deliver some big results at Colorado this weekend. First up is Tim Lincecum who is back in good form at just the right time for San Francisco. I like Lincecum to win on Friday with Barry Zito adding a second win for the Giants on Saturday. Zito has a surprisingly good record in Coors Field and should deliver against the Rockies. Matt Cain however faces a much tougher duel, taking on the hot Jorge De La Rosa. I like the Rockies to salvage the series by winning on Sunday, doing just enough to stay in the Wildcard race.

San Diego is currently wedged between the Rockies and the Giants in the NL West. The Padres will find it tough to catch the Giants this weekend as they must contend with the Reds. With Cincinnati keen to get home advantage for the NLDS, I like the Reds to take two out of three.