Trouble For Yanks, A's?

Trouble For Yanks, A's?

By Tom Brew
WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

Making the playoffs isn’t all about popping champagne corks and hooting and hollering. For a couple of American League teams – the New York Yankees and Oakland A’s – it’s all about medical reports and worries about a couple of their pitchers.

The Yankees, who have clinched the AL East and are fighting for home-field advantage in the AL, had some good news Monday with an easy 16-1 win over the Devil Rays.

But the bad news was really bad. Really, really bad.

Randy Johnson was scratched from his final regular season start, scheduled for Thursday, because of back spasms. Johnson said he’s been battling the back problem for his past three starts.

Yankees manager Joe Torre probably will now have to go with Chien-Ming Wang in Game 1 of the AL Division Series and slide Mike Mussina into the second spot. Certainly, the Yankees can live with that, because Wang has been great at Yankee Stadium all year and this would confirm that both of his starts (if necessary) would be at home.

But what if Johnson, a 17-game winner, isn’t available for Game 3? That could really be a mess for the Yankees, especially if they hit the road tied or, God forbid, down 0-2 to either the Tigers or Twins.

Torre isn’t overly concerned about Johnson, and views the missed start as more of a precaution. But if Johnson can’t go in the playoffs and the Yanks are forced to rely on an erratic Cory Lidle, that might be enough to shake that favorite tag off New York.

"It's a situation now that gives me the flexibility to miss a regular-season start that has no bearing on me statistically or the team, really," said Johnson, who is 17-11 but sports a 5.00 ERA in 33 starts. In his last three outings, he has given up 24 hits and 15 earned runs in 17 2/3 innings (7.64 ERA).

Johnson has always claimed that he prefers to stay on a rigid schedule of four days' rest between starts. But if he pitches Game 3 on Oct. 6, he will be working on 12 days of rest.

"I would rather have 12 days rest and feel good than go out there on my regular start and feel the way I do," he said. "I have back spasms. I am not injured."

OAKLAND’S STREET STRUGGLING
Because they had won 15 games in a row against the Seattle Mariners this year, the Oakland A’s were all set to inch closer to clinching the AL West title Monday night, and when they opened a six-run lead early, a win seemed to be a foregone conclusion.

The A's held a three-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, but closer Huston Street gave up four hits in a row to start the inning, and Greg Dobbs tied the game with a two-out base hit to left.

In the 10th, Willie Bloomquist came up with two outs and two on and cracked a 2-2 pitch to left center to score Ichiro Suzuki and give the Mariners an improbable 10-9 victory to snap their stumbles against the A's.

Meanwhile, for Oakland, the specter of spectacular collapses past began to emerge: the 1964 Phillies, the 1978 Red Sox. The A's lead by five games with six to play.

It was Street's 10th blown save of the season, second-most in the league, and his second in as many appearances. He has allowed 11 runs in his past 21 innings of work.

The A’s have to be concerned about Street, who missed three weeks earlier this month with an elbow injury. He hasn’t been all that effective since he returned, and he has been roughed up two outings in a row now.

The A’s lead the Angels by five games with six to go, so they’d like to get this thing wrapped up before starting a four-game series with the Angels this weekend. There’s no sense in giving them extra hope.

But the A’s need Street to do that. And they’ll definitely need him in the playoffs if they plan on sticking around more than a few days. For the A’s to succeed, it’s usually done by winning close, low-scoring games.

That won’t be happening if your closer is getting shelled every night.

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