Reds = Spoilers

I'm to depressed to write much about the Cubs tonight. Once more a lack of offensive production spoiled a beautiful 16-strikeout pitching performance by Mark Prior and Sammy Sosa tying Harmon Killebrew at 573 for 7th place. Adam Dunn also set the single-season strikeout mark and now has 191. Three extra-inning losses in the last week have been devastating.

With the Giants set to win tonight the Cubs will need to sweep the Braves this weekend and have both the Giants and Astros lose at least one game. In the event of a tie the playoff game will not be played at Wrigley I understand but I'm not sure who would have to play the extra game.

I spent an hour the other day updating the Big League Pocket Manager application per a suggestion from Jon Box. I've added a grid control that shows all of the strategy options simultaneously. Options that aren't viable because of the runners or outs situation are simply left blank. When a strategy actually lowers the odds a "No" is placed in the column. Here is a typical example.