Baseball Thread No. 17: Let's Get Dizzy, Mr. Dean

This seems crazy to me.

Less than two weeks left in the season, the Phils and Mets fighting for the playoffs, and here are their starting pitchers tonight:

PHI: J.A. Happ (0-0, 5.71)

NYM: B. Knight (0-0, 6.43)

 

Peter Gammons' top NL East pitcher against everyone else's for those marbles.

 

Last weekend's rainouts created doubleheaders that screwed up both teams' rotations.

 

Yeah, I understand why it's happening.

Still crazy, though, that with playoff spots on the line both are throwing pitchers with 0-0 records.

 

And the Phillies just don't have a 5th starter. Kyle Kendrick has sucked so bad they can't run him out there anymore. But you're right, it's kind of ridiculous that two teams battling for the division can't come up with better starters than that.

 

I don't think it's any crazier than Tom Lawless hitting a grand slam and Dan Driessen starting at 1B for the Cardinals during the 1987 World Series.

Sometimes the tank runs empty in mid-September--or later--and you've got to figure out a way to keep pushing the car. That was too cliche. Sorry.

 

Plus Maine is out so the Mets are down one starter so Niese is No. 5 and Knight is the desparation No. 6 (ahead of the fabulous Nelson Figueroa!)

 

Aaron Heilman used to be a starter, didn't he?

 

The Phillies could trot out Ryan Madson, and we all know how well that worked out last time he started.

 

We do?

 

Hyperbole.

Maybe not all of us, but he was shelled by the White Sox when they last tried to use him. Madson's a much better middle reliever, set-up guy than anything.

Edit: I must have been thinking about a WHILE ago. His last start was against the Marlins in 2006, where he went six innings and struck out six.

 

awesome