Last weekend of the regular season: playoff picture

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Going into this weekend, the American League has one division that is still up for grabs while the National League’s divisions have been decided. Both league’s wild cards are still open with the Astros and Phillies going at it in the National League and the Yankees, Red Sox, and Indians all battle it out in the A.L.National League

On Thursday night, Wandy Rodriguez helped out the Phillies by throwing a wild pitch in the 7th inning of Houston’s game against the Cubs. The Phillies now move into this weekend two games behind Houston in the wild card and they will try to overcome the odds playing in Washington against the Nationals. It is a daunting task for Philadelphia considering that they will be facing the likes of Livan Hernandez and John Patterson for the first two games of the series.

In order for Philadelphia to have a chance it will be up to Jimmy Rollins to get the bats rolling.

On Sunday, Jon Lieber (16-13) will start for the Phillies but even with his very direct approach to hitters, Washington hasn’t been able to see the baseball unless it’s a beach ball with the Canadian flag on it.

The Astros have an easier time as they finish up their season at home against the Cubs. This will prove to be an easier series because the Cubs only have Derek Lee and someone named Matt Murton for power in their lineup.

For Friday night the Astros will put Andy Pettitte on the mound and Roger Clemens on Saturday. Their two best pitchers should have no problem extinguishing what little offense the Cubs possess, so look for Houston to win the wild card with relative ease.

American League

The playoff race in the American League is slightly more complicated with three teams vying for a chance in the postseason. The Yankees sit on top of the A.L. East one game ahead of the Red Sox while Boston and Cleveland are both tied for the wild card.

Thanks to David Ortiz’s (well, who else would it be?) game-winning single against the Blue Jays on Thursday night, the Red Sox host the Yankees this weekend with somewhat higher spirits. For had the Blue Jays been able to beat the Red Sox on Thursday, Boston would have had to sweep New York in the final three games of the season. As it stands now the team that wins the series wins the A.L. East, but it looks like both teams will make it to the playoffs no matter what happens at Fenway.

Rookie Chien-Ming Wang goes against David Wells on Friday night, a game that the Yankees should be able to win assuming Wang limits Boston to four or five runs. The Yanks should have a fairly easy time at the plate although Wells, a former Yankee, has an 18-10 career record against his former team. Then again he has shown in the past that Fenway is not a great place for him to pitch so his performance is crucial if Boston wants to put the standings back in a tie.

On Saturday, Randy Johnson will face knuckleballer Tim Wakefield who is pitching on short rest.

And finally, Sunday’s game will be a pretty even match up with Mike Mussina pitching for New York and Curt Schilling going for Boston. Despite his heroic performances against New York last season, the Schilling we will see on Sunday won’t be the pitcher who had the bloody sock in the ALCS. This year’s version of Schilling has had him working in the closing role and starting, but not with much success. He is 7-8 with a 5.98 ERA in 80-plus innings pitched.

Mike Mussina has been successful against Boston in his career with a record of 13-8 but his ERA of 4.41 is of concern. Also cause for concern was Moose’s last start against Baltimore on Tuesday when he lasted just 1.2 innings while giving up 5 runs on 7 hits.

Chicago and Cleveland

With Chicago securing the A.L. Central on Thursday, Cleveland’s only chance to make the postseason is in the wild card. This task is a tough one as they play the White Sox at home for their last regular season series. The White Sox, 11-5 against Cleveland this year, are putting Mark Buehrle on the mound for Friday night’s game. Former Philly Kevin Millwood will start for Cleveland and is looking to lower his 2.92 ERA against a lineup with little or no power.

The key in this series will be Chicago’s offense. If they can put up more than three runs per game they will have a shot at shutting down Cleveland’s explosive offense. White Sox pitchers should be worried about Grady Sizemore and Coco Crisp, the two leadoff hitters who really start everything in Cleveland’s offense. In the past Cleveland has been a team made up of speed and contact but with Jhonny Peralta (24 homers to date) batting third and Travis Hafner batting cleanup, Cleveland has become one of the most dangerous lineups in the American League since the all-star break.

For Saturday’s game it will be Jon Garland facing Jake Westbrook. Westbrook has given up 101 earned runs compared to Garland’s 84 so assuming that Paul Konerko can hit for power this weekend, the White Sox will have a dominating force in the middle of their lineup.

This weekend is one of the most exciting times in baseball, not including the trade deadline and (obviously) the postseason. As five teams wage war for a chance in the Fall Classic this weekend will show which teams can handle the pressure, and which one’s cannot.