The Pennant Race - 8/19

CC Sabathia just keeps rolling along. Another complete game victory last night for the Brewers to up his record to 8-0 since the trade to Milwaukee. You do have to be concerned though with how Ned Yost is using him. He knows Sabathia won't be in Milwaukee next season so he obviously doesn't care. Already up 9-3 over the Astros, he not only had Sabathia bat in the eighth inning, but had him go out for the ninth as well. The big lefty ended up throwing 130 pitches.

Milwaukee sits 5 back of the Cubs, who had the night off.

The Mets bullpen imploded once again. Starter John Maine struggled, but still left the game after five innings with a 2-0 lead. Brian Stokes immediately blew the lead in the sixth, and Pedro Feliciano and Duaner Sanchez got touched up for three runs in the eighth to lose it, 5-2. Maine has allowed just 1 run in the 14.1 innings he's pitched since returning from the DL, but he has walked nine hitters.

The Phillies (1.5 GB) and Marlins (4 GB) both had the night off.

The Dodgers and Diamondbacks both were off so they remained tied for first place. There were interesting development in the NL West last night, though. For one nigh,t anyway, the Giants' Barry Zito looked like a pitcher. He tossed seven scoreless innings and only walked two batters in a 5-0 win over the Braves.

Jason Bay homered twice and drove in four runs to lead the Red Sox over the Orioles 6-3. Much has been made about Manny Ramirez's offense explosion in LA, but Bay hasn't been doing too badly himself. He's hitting .348-3-16 in 16 games with a .972 OPS. He's also 3-3 in stolen bases.

The Sox couldn't gain any ground on the Rays though, as Tampa defeated the Angels 6-4. Eric Hinske and Cliff Floyd went deep and Dan Wheeler picked up his second consecutive save in place of the injured Troy Percival. Hinske's home run was his 19th, the most he has hit since he belted 24 in his 2002 rookie campaign.

The White Sox pounded the Mariners 13-5. The Chisox couldn't work out a deal for Jarrod Washburn, so they blasted him for 8 runs in 4.1 innings pitched. Alexi Ramirez has quietly put together a very good rookie year. The soon-to-be 27-year old has played both middle infield positions as well as centerfield, and has driven in 51 runs in 98 games, including four last night. He's also batting .308 with 13 home runs. Carlos Quentin hit his major league-leading 35th home run in the game.

The White Sox are now in sole possession of first place in the AL Central after the A's beat the Twins 3-2. Justin Duchscherer had to leave the game in the third inning with a hip injury, but Kirk Saarloos and the A's pen did the job the rest of the way. Joe Mauer, looking to win his second batting title, moved into the AL lead at .325.

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