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「Rivals in Exile: Errors, Wild Cards and Building for October」
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/rivals-in-exile20/

Nomar Garciaparra. Trot Nixon. Bill Mueller. Mark Bellhorn. Scott Williamson. Byung-Hyun Kim. Ellis Burks. Pokey Reese.
That's the list of Red Sox players I expected to be of some use (Burks) or vital importance (Garciaparra) or anywhere in between who have (or will have soon) spent significant time on the disabled list. I'm not whining about how unfair it is. Quite the opposite, in fact. If the Red Sox were floundering because of all these injuries, I could at least rationalize this season. I could tell myself the Red Sox had a great team, but injuries ruined everything and there was nothing to do about it.
Despite all the injuries, however, only two teams in the AL (Yankees and Indians) have scored more runs than Boston, only four teams in the AL (A's, Angels, Twins and White Sox) have allowed fewer runs than Boston, and no team in the AL has a better run differential than Boston's plus-81. Yet somehow, five AL teams (Yankees, A's, Twins, Rangers and Angels) have more wins than the Red Sox do.

The fact of the matter is that this season has been inexplicably strange for Boston. A season full of hope turned to a season full of what-ifs. What if they had stayed healthy? What if Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe had pitched up to expectations? What if they knew how to use Foulke? What if they could hit with the bases loaded? What if their pitchers didn't fall apart every time somebody made an error?
And despite all the what-ifs, the Red Sox somehow find themselves just two games back in the wild card race. All of those what-ifs can't keep going against them all season, can they? They've survived four months of weirdness and still have a shot at the playoffs, and the fact that they've had to deal with all this crap must mean that they'll surge ahead if the crap goes away, right?

さて、ボストンとサンフランシスコがワイルドカードでプレイオフに出られるだろうか。
ヤンキーズ、ミネソタ、アトランタ、セントルイス、ドジャーズはだいたい決まり。地区優勝争いが続いているのが、アリーグ西でオークランド、テキサス、アナハイムの激戦。アリーグのワイルドカードは、西地区の二位とボストンの争い。ナリーグのワイルドカードはサンフランシスコ、サンディエゴ、シカゴ・カブスの争いである。
ジャイアンツ関連では、マーキュリー・ニュースなどから。

After winning two of three games against the Cubs, the Giants on Tuesday begin a stretch in which they will face just one team with a winning record in their next five series.

次の5シリーズ(ピッツバーグ、フィラデルフィア、モントリオール、メッツ、フロリダ)でどこまで貯金できるか。
土曜日の試合にトムコを中継ぎに使ったことについてのアルー監督のコメントがいい。

``It's very simple. This is a team here. I believe that our situation is something that you don't really have to be a rocket scientist to understand why things happen.''
Alou, somewhat pointedly, added,``There are many ways that starters don't need to be asked to pitch in the ninth and the eighth. When you have a lot of starters pitching into the seventh and eighth inning -- when you don't have to use your bullpen day in and day out, four or five guys -- you don't run into that type of situation.''