They Won All Those Division Titles For A Reason

An interesting night in Atlanta - we saw something expected and something unexpected.

First up, while Mike Hampton was supposed to be making his first major league start in over two years, he wasn't able to. Hampton injured himself while warming up in the bullpen. I'll say that I thought he would make one or two starts before getting hurt again, but I guess Mike wants to cut right to the chase.

Later in the game, there was some unusual strategy being employed by Bobby Cox. When the game went into extra innings, Cox brought right-handed reliever Chris Resop in to start the 10th against right-handed Nyjer Morgan. Morgan walked and was sacrificed to second (why?). After a Jason Bay walk, a wild pitch put Morgan on third. With lefty-swinging Adam LaRoche coming up, Cox moved Resop into left field and brought lefty Royce Ring in to pitch. Ring was able to K LaRoche, and Resop went back to the mound to pitch to another righty, Xavier Nady. Nady came through for the Pirates with a single to make the score 4-3, and that's how it would end. The Braves lost, but the move itself worked out. It's was something we haven't seen in almost twenty years.

Also, who would have thought that the last remaining undefeated team would be the Kansas City Royals? Especially since they started the year in Detroit, against a team many picked to win the World Series.