Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
It's like déjà vu all over again.
The Phillies overcame a Brett Myers blown save in the tenth to beat the Cards, 7-4, in fourteen innings for their sixth straight win. They now stand 1-1/2 games behind the collapsing Metsgoes in the NL East. Six days ago they were seven games back. No team has come back from more than 6 games after the first week of September to win their division/league.
Just by getting within a game and a half of the Mets in September after trailing by seven is an historic feat. Just 15 teams have done it including the '07 Phils. The Phils are one of two teams, the '06 Atsros being the other, to make that comeback in less than a week. Both teams made their sudden ascension in six days. Unfortunately for the Phils, that Astro team did not make the playoffs. (And the good news for the Mets is that the team that held on to beat the Astros, the Cardinals, ended up winning the World Series.)
Here are all the teams that went from seven or more games out to less than two games out in September with the number of days that ascension took and their eventual record:
| Yr | Tm | Date 1 | GB | Date 2 | GB | Days | W | L | Rank | Won Div? | Won WC? | Won Lg? | Won WS? |
| 2007 | Philadelphia Phillies | 20070912 | 7 | 20070918 | 1.5 | 6 | |||||||
| 2006 | Houston Astros | 20060920 | 7.5 | 20060926 | 1.5 | 6 | 82 | 80 | 2 | N | N | N | N |
| 2005 | Cleveland Indians | 20050909 | 7.5 | 20050922 | 1.5 | 13 | 93 | 69 | 2 | N | N | N | N |
| 2001 | St. Louis Cardinals | 20010902 | 7 | 20010930 | 1 | 28 | 93 | 69 | 2 | N | Y | N | N |
| 1996 | Seattle Mariners | 19960913 | 7 | 19960920 | 1 | 7 | 85 | 76 | 2 | N | N | N | N |
| 1982 | San Francisco Giants | 19820905 | 7 | 19820926 | 1 | 21 | 87 | 75 | 3 | N | N | N | |
| 1971 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 19710906 | 7 | 19710914 | 1 | 8 | 89 | 73 | 2 | N | N | N | |
| 1964 | St. Louis Cardinals | 19640906 | 7.5 | 19640926 | 1.5 | 20 | 93 | 69 | 1 | Y | Y | ||
| 1964 | Cincinnati Reds | 19640918 | 7 | 19640925 | 1.5 | 7 | 92 | 70 | 3 | N | N | ||
| 1950 | Brooklyn Dodgers | 19500922 | 7 | 19500930 | 1 | 8 | 89 | 65 | 2 | N | N | ||
| 1938 | Chicago Cubs | 19380904 | 7 | 19380926 | 1.5 | 22 | 89 | 63 | 1 | Y | N | ||
| 1934 | St. Louis Cardinals | 19340906 | 7 | 19340925 | 1 | 19 | 95 | 58 | 1 | Y | Y | ||
| 1900 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 19000903 | 7 | 19000921 | 1.5 | 18 | 79 | 60 | 2 | N | |||
| 1891 | Boston Beaneaters | 18910904 | 7 | 18910925 | 1.5 | 21 | 87 | 51 | 1 | Y | |||
| 1873 | Boston Red Stockings | 18730903 | 7 | 18730929 | 1.5 | 26 | 43 | 16 | 1 | Y |
I like the Phils chances of getting to a half game out. Today the Mets turn to Mike Pelfrey, who is 2-7 with a 5.23 ERA and who has not started a game in 12 days, to avoid a sweep in DC. The Mets are 3-10 in games in which he has pitched. The Phils turn to veteran's veteran Jamie Moyer, who is 13-11 overall and 6-4 in the second half despite a 6.26 ERA, a 1.65 WHIP, and a .322 opponent's batting average. The Phils' opponents, the Cardinals, have lost 15 of 16 while the Mets' opponents, the Nats, are 10-6 in September. And Leon is getting laaaaaaaarger!
It's always going to be interesting with that bullpen, isn't it?
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