Daily Pitch: Rockies close, but not close enough

The Colorado Rockies apparently like late-season drama.

The Rockies, the team that won 21 of 22 games to make their first World Series in 2007, are a couple of slip-ups away from making the National League's wild-card race another dramatic affair.

The Rockies, whose bullpen cost them a 5-4 home loss to the San Diego Padres Thursday night, go into the weekend with a 3 ½-game lead over the Atlanta Braves.

It's sizeable, but consider that the Rockies, losers of seven of 11, have a shaky bullpen and a home series this weekend against the St. Louis Cardinals, who have Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday in their lineup.

Consider, too, that the Rockies will be experimenting Friday with starter Aaron Cook, whose sore shoulder has sidelined him since Aug. 21, and will be limited to 70 pitches.

And, to make it all the tougher for the Rockies, the Cardinals, whose 89 wins are three wins behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for home-field advantage in the postseason, are pitching NL Cy Young candidates Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright Friday and Saturday.

Carpenter pitched eight shutout innings in his last start. Wainwright, who has 18 wins, should be going for his 19th win. In his last start, he struck out 10 batters and allowed two runs, but the Cardinals still lost.

Also, consider the pitching-rich Braves play this weekend in Washington against the 100-loss Nationals, a team the Braves play in seven of their last 10 games, including four in Atlanta next weekend.

"It's not like anybody is walking around here with their head down, thinking, 'We have to win today or it's the end of the world,'" Rockies third baseman Ian Stewart said in The Denver Post.

The Rockies' lefty reliever Franklin Morales was booed after he threw 11 of 15 pitches out of the strike zone, giving the Padres a chance to win.

"He's a guy who helped us get into the position we are in today," Colorado manager Jim Tracy said. "He's a young guy who has shown us brilliance, but every once in a while, he'll slip back and we'll see what we saw tonight."

Colorado plays at home vs. the Milwaukee Brewers next week and then finishes the regular season in Los Angeles.

Atlanta has won 12 of 15 since the first weekend in September, when they were swept in Cincinnati. With Tim Hudson, Javier Vazquez, Tommy Hanson, Derek Lowe and Jair Jurrgens, the Braves have the pitching depth to stay hot for 10 games.

The Braves hope it isn't too late.

"There's absolutely nothing we can do but keep doing what we're doing," Braves first baseman Adam LaRoche said in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Inge saves Tigers

The Detroit Tigers go into this weekend with a three-game lead in the American League Central, thanks to a horizontal mid-air catch in the ninth inning that preserved the Tigers' 6-5 road win against the Cleveland Indians.

The Indians had a runner on first and Peralta's drive would have gone into left field.

Inge's catch of Jhonny Peralta's line drive to end the game gave the Tigers a four-game winning streak and improved their September record to 13-9. The Tigers play in Chicago this weekend, while the second-place Minnesota Twins are in Kansas City.

The Twins and Tigers play a four-game series in Detroit starting Monday, but Inge's catch gives the Tigers, who had seen their lead cut from seven to two games, some breathing room.

"It's like I told the guys when I was congratulating them after the game, 'You have to keep grinding, you can't let up mentally or physically,'" Tigers manager Jim Leyland said in the Detroit Free-Press. "This is October baseball in September."

Nationals keep losing

In D.C., the Nationals lost 7-6 to the Los Angeles Dodgers to become the first NL franchise since the San Diego Padres in 1973 and 1974 to have consecutive seasons of at least 100 losses.

Baseball history has seen 134 teams lose in triple digits, including 10 other teams in D.C. But, the Nationals don't worry about the number of losses. They see a bright future of rebuilding.

"I think the stepping stones, we're walking on those," Nationals pitcher Jason Bergmann said in The Washington Post.

Said reliever Mike MacDougal: "We've got a chance to be really good. If you lose 100 games, you have to make the jump the next year, right?"

The quote

"I would vote for Felix (Hernandez for AL Cy Young), without a doubt. I don't know if anyone has meant as much to his club as he has with this one. The impact he's had on this club, especially after last year, is remarkable." –Seattle Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu after Hernandez won his 17th game when the Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in Toronto.

Of Hernandez's 17 wins this season, 14 have come after a Seattle loss.

On deck

The Dodgers and Angels, as well as the Philadelphia Phillies, go into this weekend with a magic number of four to clinch division titles.

The Dodgers are in Pittsburgh this weekend with Jon Garland and Randy Wolf pitching the first two games. The Dodgers haven't announced Sunday's starter.

The Angels are at home vs. the Oakland Athletics with Jered Weaver, John Lackey and Ervin Santana pitching while the Phillies are in Milwaukee. The Brewers will see Cliff Lee, Pedro Martinez and Joe Blanton.

Also, the New York Yankees' magic number for clinching the American League East is five, so that means this weekend, the Boston Red Sox could watch the Yankees celebrate at the new $1.5 billion Yankee Stadium.

The Red Sox, the wild-card team in 2004, won their final four road games en route to winning the World Series that season.