The Mets have not been this close to first place since early May, and closer Armando Benitez has helped them get there.
You want to legitimately be good, and there's that element — like being outscored — that normally doesn't happen when you're in first place or close to first place, being outscored like that.
The Red Sox have not been this close to first place since Aug. 7. "They're not going to go away," Torre said.
The Rangers played their first game since the All-Star Game, and they are 3-10-1-1 over the past 15 games, leaving them perilously close to ninth place in the N.H.L.'s Eastern Conference.
What once was the height of baseball excitement -- a pennant race that goes to the wire -- has been replaced by hyperventilating over the Phillies and the Marlins, teams never remotely close to first place all year.
But we've got the results and the points and a little bit of a buffer, so even if there's a dip at any stage we should still be pretty close to first place.
"We have no right, with our wins and losses over the last month, to expect to be that close to first place the way we've been playing," Torre said, "but hopefully we can use this to our advantage of the fact that we're not out of it".
Usually it works, but you may want to stay close to third place in case it's already latched onto you so then you can take third down with you.
The Griffins tried to move closer to second place on Tuesday, but host Newport Harbor gave itself a chance to defend its league title with a 22-25, 21-25, 215-11 25-16, 15-11 victory.
Shane Sutherland fired Elgin's winner from Brian Cameron's pass, keeping them close to fourth-place East Fife.
