Take 2 Roundup: Games of Sun, 5/4/08

[bernieh]

[size=24:a904bf6554][b:a904bf6554]I KNOW WHY THE RED BIRDS SING[/b:a904bf6554][/size:a904bf6554]
[size=18:a904bf6554]Cardinals Clinch On Last Day; Playoff Matchups Set[/size:a904bf6554]

<img src="http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/images/baseball/stratomatic/1986/story_photos/osmith_wmcgee_150x221.jpg" align="left" border="1" width="150" height="221" style="margin-right: 10px;" /> They did it with pitching; they did it with defense. They did it in spite of an almost comically weak offense. [b:a904bf6554]The St. Louis Cardinals are your 1986 NL East champions[/b:a904bf6554], clinching their postseason berth on the very last day of the season with a [url=http://www.sportingnews.com/baseball/1986/scores/boxscore.php?id=2099]3-2 victory of the Cubs[/url] on a 9th inning go-ahead single by .199 hitter Terry Pendleton.

The New York Mets, who had entered the final day in a tie for first with St. Louis, had their playoff dream ripped away by Pittsburgh rightfielder R.J. Reynolds' 2 homeruns as they [url=http://www.sportingnews.com/baseball/1986/scores/boxscore.php?id=2097]fell to the Pirates, 10-5[/url]. The Phillies, who were 1 game behind and thus needed a mini-perfect storm, couldn't handle Montreal's ace Floyd Youmans (he of the two no-hitters this year) and [url=http://www.sportingnews.com/baseball/1986/scores/boxscore.php?id=2098]went meekly into the night by the score of 5-2[/url].

We'd like to take a moment to congratulate all 26 teams on a hard-fought and memorable 1986 season.

The four teams still standing - the [b:a904bf6554]New York Yankees[/b:a904bf6554] (94-66), [b:a904bf6554]California Angels[/b:a904bf6554] (92-68), [b:a904bf6554]St. Louis Cardinals[/b:a904bf6554] (87-73) and [b:a904bf6554]Houston Astros[/b:a904bf6554] (92-68) - now face off in the 2 best-of-7 Championship Series, beginning Tuesday with ALCS Game 1. Stay tuned!

[i:a904bf6554]photo: SN Archives[/i:a904bf6554]