Six left. Three down. Ten takeaways.

 

Six left. Three down against Toronto (counting tie-breaker.) Two up on Boston (counting tie-breaker.) 

$#%@ tiebreakers...

Ten taketh aways...

1. Tonight, Boston hits Toronto for first of three. Giolito v Gausman (advantage: Jays.) Then Crochet v Scherzer (advantage: Boston.) Then Bello v Bieber (advantage: Us.) 

2. Mets are in the shit. Tied with Cinncy, (thus behind with the tiebreaker.) One up on Arizona - sad, awful Arizona - for last NL playoff spot. They finish with Cubs and Marlins. (While D-Backs play Dodgers and Padres.) After all the pearl-clutching, Mets still have shot at postseason. But it's starting to pinch.

3. If Mets fail - fondle me, o, Calgon Bath Oil Beads! If the Mets fail, Juan Soto spends the winter carping about whatever - skin tags, support socks, the Emmys, security guards, the running toilet in his sky box - and Steve Cohen will blow out his left gonad. He might sign a Yankee - Cody Bellinger or Trent Grisham - to claim some tabloid back pages. But what a colossal glump. Can you taste it?   

4. The Rangers are this year's Chernobyl Home Team Meltdown (though Tigers are smoking.) Because Texas self-immolated, there is far less stress on AL contenders Boston, Cleveland, Houston and Yanks. All are basically guaranteed postseason berths. Thank you, Governor Roosevelt.

5. Tomorrow, Detroit visits Cleveland for climactic three-game party. Then, next weekend, it's Boston. If they lose, they're next big games should be against the Savannah Bananas.    

6. Jays and Redsocks spent 2025 touting young stars. Yeah? Well, tout THIS: I'll take Ben Rice, any time. Among AL DHs, Rice is 4th in OPS, with .823 - (behind George Springer, Yandy Diaz and Brent Rooker.) Giancarlo doesn't qualify, not enough ABs, but his OPS would be 2nd, behind Springer, at .919.

7. Cal Raleigh is on a tear and could hit 60. (He has 58.) But I'll still take Aaron Judge for MVP: He wins the batting title and rises nearly .600 points ahead of Raleigh in OPS. Not close. Certainly, you can understand a vote for Raleigh - he's great - but in hitting, there is Judge, and there is everybody else, including your mom. (And she can't hit lefties.) 

8. That said, Judge needs to show up in the playoffs. Just sayin...  

9. Big element in yesterday's win: In the first, Cam Schlittler struck out the side. He had been getting roughed up in early innings. If Schlittler can come into a game and throw strikes, he'll be a huge asset. If he can't, well, I'm not sure he makes the first-round roster. We need bullpen depth. Not a fourth starter.

10. Off-day, today. Then it's the White Sox and (surprisingly listless) Baltimore. Can we run the table? If we could run the table, wow, I wasn't thinking of that. But if we could run the table... Oh, where's my abacus?