Jimmy Bramlett

Standing in the way between the Dodgers and a postseason berth are the St. Louis Cardinals, the San Francisco Giants and time. The Cardinals magic number to clinch the final National League wild card spot was two heading into play on Monday. And all three obstacles nearly eliminated the Dodgers Monday night. Nearly.

Against all odds, common sense, logic and what not, the Dodgers are still in contention for the final wild card spot. Coming into Sunday's game the Dodgers trailed the St. Louis Cardinals by two games for that final spot with four games left.

The big opening Saturday to start the Autumn Meet at Santa Anita, like last year, was a scorcher with the mercury reaching the 95-degree mark. Even hotter than the weather was jockey Rafael Bejarano who rode three horses into Breeders' Cup qualification including the intriguing Game On Dude.

Looking at the schedule of games below, it looks like a wading pool of shit for Week 5. LSU playing Towson? What the hell is a "Towson"?

It was a laugher at Dodger Stadium and not only because the Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 8-0.

The Dodgers beat the Padres 8-4. And as much as they want to drag this corpse of a season as long as possible, they still have only six games to make up three games in the standings against the St. Louis Cardinals.

While the Southland blisters in the expected heatwave, Carmageddon II forces people to become stationary and the Dodgers continue to flail away against the Colorado Rockies, Saturday is a big bang of events as Santa Anita opens their Autumn Meet which culminates with The Breeders' Cup World Championships on Nov. 2 and 3.

As much as I love college football, there are times when it is simply ridiculous. Last week USC head coach Lane Kiffin banned Daily News beat writer Scott Wolf from USC's game in Stanford because he reported about a game injury to a player. For reason that elude me, disclosing a player's injury can apparently cause such harm to a program that it melts down in the face of an opponent.

From the hardwood to the glossy pages of a fashion magazine, Chris Paul is expanding his profile. "I realize that I'm not going to be doing interviews for the cover of GQ for the rest of my life, know what I mean," Clippers point guard Chris Paul told Steve Marsh in GQ's October "Big Fall Style Playbook" Issue which goes on sale on newsstands nationwide on September 25.

After their 4-1 loss to the Washington Nationals, the Dodgers now have one foot off of the cliff. With the St. Louis Cardinals beating the Houston Astros 5-4, the Dodgers are now three games back for the final wild card spot. And just to make things even more rosy, the Milwaukee Brewers with their 9-7 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates jumped over the Dodgers taking a half-game lead.