|
Brewers take final wild-card spot over Mets
2008-09-29
CC Sabathia and Ryan Braun helped the Brewers end 26 years of frustration, while Mets fans watched a frustrating finale rerun of their wretched September collapse from a year ago. Muzi.com News 10080095-0 (muzi.com)With the NL wild-card spot up for grabs, the Mets and Brewers were both involved in tie games in the eighth inning on Sunday. But in a matter of minutes, the Mets bullpen imploded yet again and Braun hit a home run that put Milwaukee in the playoffs and sent Mets fans home from the Shea Stadium finale deeply disappointed. Again. Muzi.com News 10080095-1 (muzi.com) Scott Schoeneweis and Luis Ayala served up back-to-back homers in the eighth inning to Wes Helms and Dan Uggla, and New York completed their second consecutive September slide with a 4-2 loss to Florida. Muzi.com News 10080095-2 (muzi.com) "We failed. We failed as a team," David Wright said. "There's no pointing fingers. There's no excuses. We as a unit didn't get the job done." Muzi.com News 10080095-3 (muzi.com) Minutes later at Milwaukee, Braun put the Brewers ahead with a two-run homer. Sabathia did the rest, helping the Brewers hold on to beat the Chicago Cubs 3-1. Muzi.com News 10080095-4 (muzi.com) "It's our time," Sabathia said. Muzi.com News 10080095-5 (muzi.com) Milwaukee will face Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs. The NL Central champion Cubs will play the Los Angeles Dodgers. Muzi.com News 10080095-6 (muzi.com) In other NL games on the final Sunday of the regular season, it was: Philadelphia 8, Washington 3; San Francisco 3, Los Angeles 1; Arizona 2, Colorado 1; St. Louis 11, Cincinnati 4; Houston 3, Atlanta 1; and Pittsburgh 6, San Diego 1. Muzi.com News 10080095-7 (muzi.com) At New York, Ryan Church flied out to deep center with a runner on for the final out, ending the Mets' season. What followed was an awkward scene at Shea. Muzi.com News 10080095-8 (muzi.com) The Mets brought in former greats from Tom Seaver and Willie Mays to Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry for closing festivities that felt more like a funeral than a party. Muzi.com News 10080095-9 (muzi.com) Still, a vast majority of fans stayed in their seats and cheered their old favorites during a ceremony that lasted nearly an hour. Muzi.com News 10080095-10 (muzi.com) "It would have been better if we would have won today, but I don't think it spoils the celebration," general manager Omar Minaya said. "What's going on out there, it's about the history of this building, the history of the players, the history of this organization." Muzi.com News 10080095-11 (muzi.com) After filing into the clubhouse, several Mets started cleaning out lockers and saying goodbyes, another bitter winter ahead. Muzi.com News 10080095-12 (muzi.com) It was an eerily similar scenario to last year, when New York lost at home to Florida on the final day of season, ending its playoff hopes. Muzi.com News 10080095-13 (muzi.com) That defeat finished one of baseball's biggest meltdowns -- the Mets had led the NL East by seven games with 17 to play before they went 5-12 down the stretch. This time, they held first place by a season-high 3 1/2 games with 17 remaining before going 7-10 the rest of the way. Muzi.com News 10080095-14 (muzi.com) "I have to believe it, because it's happening," Carlos Beltran said. "It's a bad group for you to be there, as a player. I have no more words." Muzi.com News 10080095-15 (muzi.com) Excluding the 1981 split season, the Mets became the first team in major league history to hold 3 1/2-game division leads in consecutive Septembers and fail to make the postseason both times, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Muzi.com News 10080095-16 (muzi.com) "I'd rather not think about it," Carlos Delgado said. Muzi.com News 10080095-17 (muzi.com) Sabathia delivered a dominant four-hit complete game in his third straight start on three days' rest. Muzi.com News 10080095-18 (muzi.com) Sabathia, who came to the Brewers in a trade with Cleveland in July, celebrated by climbing on top of the Brewers' dugout and dousing fans with champagne. Muzi.com News 10080095-19 (muzi.com) It was a last-minute recovery for the Brewers, who took drastic measures after blowing the 5 1/2-game wild card lead they held going into September: They fired manager Ned Yost with only two weeks left to go. Muzi.com News 10080095-20 (muzi.com) But the details of the Brewers' wild ride to the playoffs don't matter now. Muzi.com News 10080095-21 (muzi.com) "As good as we feel right now, everything that's happened this month, everything that's happened this week is in the past now," J.J. Hardy said. "We're in the playoffs, and I don't think we could be happier." Muzi.com News 10080095-22 (muzi.com) Neither could thousands of their fans, who stayed in Miller Park to watch the Mets' game on the giant video board in center field and cheered wildly as the Marlins recorded the final out. Muzi.com News 10080095-23 (muzi.com) Streamers and confetti fell from the rafters and fireworks went off in the outfield as interim manager Dale Sveum and the Brewers began showering each other with champagne in the middle of the clubhouse. Muzi.com News 10080095-24 (muzi.com) Several Cubs, including Carlos Zambrano and Daryle Ward, sat in the Cubs dugout and watched the last few outs in the Mets game and the crowd's reaction. Cubs manager Lou Piniella avoided the on-field mayhem, but called to congratulate Sveum afterward. Muzi.com News 10080095-25 (muzi.com) "They took a tough loss in Chicago, Cincinnati beat them a couple in a row, but they bounced back," Piniella said. Muzi.com News 10080095-26 (muzi.com) Thanks in large part to their larger-than-life pitcher. Muzi.com News 10080095-27 (muzi.com) "Three starts, three days' rest, 115 pitches, he goes right through the top of the Cubs' order," Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio said. "That's CC Sabathia." Muzi.com News 10080095-28 (muzi.com) Phillies 8, Nationals 3 Muzi.com News 10080095-29 (muzi.com) At Philadelphia, Lou Marson and Matt Stairs hit back-to-back homers for the NL East-champion Phillies, who rested their regulars in a win over Washington. Muzi.com News 10080095-30 (muzi.com) Cole Hamels was scheduled to pitch, but took the day off to rest for his Game 1 start in the division series on Wednesday. Manager Charlie Manuel said he was undecided about his Game 2 starter and might wait until Monday to announce one. Muzi.com News 10080095-31 (muzi.com) Giants 3, Dodgers 1 Muzi.com News 10080095-32 (muzi.com) At San Francisco, Giants ace Tim Lincecum matched his career high with 13 strikeouts to finish with a majors-best 265 in a win over the NL West champion Dodgers. Muzi.com News 10080095-33 (muzi.com) Los Angeles concluded its division championship season at 84-78 and will face the NL Central champion Chicago Cubs starting Wednesday at Wrigley Field. Muzi.com News 10080095-34 (muzi.com) Astros 3, Braves 1 Muzi.com News 10080095-35 (muzi.com) At Houston, Brad Ausmus hit a two-run homer in his final game with the Astros. Muzi.com News 10080095-36 (muzi.com) Chipper Jones secured his first NL batting title, walking in his only at-bat. Jones hit a career-high .364 to edge Albert Pujols and become the NL's first switch-hitting batting champion since Terry Pendleton won in his 1991 MVP season for Atlanta. Muzi.com News 10080095-37 (muzi.com) Cardinals 11, Reds 4 Muzi.com News 10080095-38 (muzi.com) At St. Louis, Felipe Lopez drove in three runs and Brad Thompson threw five effective innings, helping the Cardinals end the year on a season-best six game winning streak. Muzi.com News 10080095-39 (muzi.com)
| 
