Baseball Tonight 8-25-06

Three games for Albert Belle to watch from the comfort of his jail cell.

• New York Mets (78-48 1st NL East Brian Bannister 2-0 2.89) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (64-63 2nd NL East Randy Wolf 2-0 5.61)-The Mets have won seven in a row and eleven at Shea Stadium. Tonight, they start a series against another hot team. The Phils had won 5 in a row before getting their ass handed to them by Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs yesterday. This is a huge series for the Phillies cuz a sweep would move them to within 11.5 games of the Mets. I hope you realize I'm kidding. It is important for the Phillies though cuz they are only 2.5 back of the Reds and Cardinals for the NL Wild Card. But I don't think they can slow the Mets down tonight. (7:10PM Est.)
• St. Louis Cardinals (66-60 1st NL Central Jeff Suppan 9-7 5.03) vs. Chicago Cubs (54-73 5th NL Central Juan Mateo 1-1 3.79)-As far as the Cubs season is concerned, they have nothing left to play for this year. They do however have a chance to help ruin their arch-rival's season. After being swept by the Mets this week, the Cardinals have fallen into a tie with the Cincinnati Reds for the NL Central lead. To make things worse they start Suppan tonight, who is 1-2 with a 5.32 ERA this month. Also the Cardinals are 5-11 against the Cubs this season, but 3-3 at Busch Stadium. I'm taking the Cubs tonight as St. Louis fans creep closer to the edge of the ledge. (8:10PM Est.)
• San Francisco Giants (62-66 4th NL West Matt Morris 8-11 4.67) vs. Cincinnati Reds (67-61 2nd NL Central Aaron Harang 13-8 3.72)-The Cardinals will be looking westward tonight for an old friend to help them out. Unfortunately for them, that old friend is 0-4 with a 6.46 ERA over his last seven starts. Matt Morris will be opposed by the ace of the Reds staff, Aaron Harang. With a win tonight Harang would tie Carlos Zambrano for the NL lead with 14. The Reds are looking to be in first place for the first time since June 8th. It's very important for the Reds or Cardinals to win the division, cuz winning the Wild Card gets you a first round series against the Mets. Though I don't like the Reds too much, I think they deserve the spot more than the Cardinals this year. Tonight, I think they finally get it back. Take the Big Red Machine. (10:15PM Est.)

Yesterday: 2-1 (W-Mets Indians L-Orioles)

Season: 59-49 (Now a season-high 10 games over!)