As the St. Louis Cardinals sealed their National League Central title the Houston Astros, resigned again to a second-place finish, turned their attention to the League's fiercely competitive wild card race.
The Astros are leading the wild care race for now, but the lead is narrow. The Philadelphia Phillies and Florida Marlins entered Friday's games tied for second place, just half a game behind Houston.
The Phillies and the Marlins played an important series this weekend. Florida's pitching collapsed both Friday and Saturday, and Phillies stars Bobby Abreu and Jimmy Rollins turned in tremendous performances to clinch wins.
The schedule gods were also smiling upon the Astros. Houston swept the Milwaukee Brewers, and widened their wildcard lead to one and a half games.
The team's pitching rotation, led by aces Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte, has been one of the season's most explosive and dependable. The past three weeks, have been plain un-hittable.
Clemens turned in last Wednesday one of the most impressive performances of his lengthy career. Taking the mound just hours after his mother's death, the Rocket earned his 12th win of the season, lowering his ERA to 1.77. Clemens, at 43, might be pitching the best season of his career.
The same could be said of Pettitte, who will start tonight in an away game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The former New York Yankee won his last six starts and dropped his ERA to 2.43.
Houston's pitching roster has great depth. The squad's third starter, Roy Oswalt, is having an All-Star season. He's a 17-game winner with an ERA under three since June. Closer Brad Lidge has been dominant with solid help from the rest of the Houston bullpen.
The Astros' offense is also impressive. The clubhouse leaders include two future Hall-of-Famers in veterans Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell along with an influx of young talent.
Third baseman Morgan Ensberg is having a breakout season, leading the team in homeruns and RBIs despite missing over a week of September play with a hand injury. Thanks to a supporting cast of Lance Berkman and Jason Lane, the offense has continued to provide heavy bat support to a solid pitching game.
The Astros, with their mix of ageless veterans and young stars, have established themselves as the team to beat in the NL wild card race. It remains to be seen whether either Philadelphia or Florida will be able to put up a fight.
In another NL race as yet undecided, the San Diego Padres have a decent lead in the NL West, despite struggling to keep their record over the .500 mark. Complicating the race is the recent return of slugger Barry Bonds to the San Francisco Giants.
The Giants bested San Diego in a three-game series and stole three out of four from the Los Angeles Dodgers this past weekend. The Padres' NL West title is not a shoo-in. Bonds hit two home runs over the weekend, bringing his career total to 705, and they are back in the division title race.
The Cardinals are expected to run away with the league's best record in 2005, giving them the home-field advantage to start the post-season. If the season ended today, the Cards would play the West champion Padres, and the Astros, by holding onto the wild card, would play the Atlanta Braves, the favorites to win their 14th consecutive division title in the East.
The wildcard race will be the most intense in the NL, probably coming down to the final weekend of play. The Astros are shiningly brightly, but the Phillies and Marlins are not far behind.
With the last three World Series rings going to wild card winners, this could be the race to watch.
