The Pennant Race - 9/1

Labor Day is here, which means there's a month of baseball season left and Jerry Lewis is on the tube. With the exception of the AL West, and maybe the NL Central, all the divisional and wildcard races are up for grabs.

AL East

The Rays pounded the Orioles 10-4 on Sunday, to finish off a three game sweep in which they scored 34 runs. The victory moved them 5.5 games ahead of the Red Sox, who lost the finale of their three game series with the White Sox, 4-2.

AL Central

The White Sox win kept them a half-game ahead of the Twins in the central standings. Gavin Floyd picked up his 15th win and Jim Thome hit career home run number 536 to tie him with Mickey Mantle for 14th place on the all-time list.

In addition to being within striking distance of Chicago, the Twins moved to 2.5 back of the Red Sox in the wildcard race, with a 12-4 thumping of the A's. Justin Morneau homered and knocked in four runs, giving him 108 RBI entering September.

NL East

The Mets maintained their one game lead on the Phillies, by beating the Marlins 6-2 on Sunday. Carlos Beltran, who hit the game winning grand slam on Friday, David Wright, and Nick Evans each homered to help Pedro Martinez to pick up career win number 214.

The Phillies beat the Cubs 5-3 to gain a split of the four game series, after losing the first two. Jayson Werth homered for the third time in two games and Jamie Moyer won his 12th game. It was the 242nd win of Moyer's 22-year career. Remarkably, he only won 72 games in his first nine seasons.

NL Central

The Cubs lead in the division was reduced to 4.5 games due to the continuing heroics of the Brewers' CC Sabathia. The big man tossed a controversial 1-hit complete game shutout over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The play in question was the lone hit of the game. The Pirates' Andy LaRoche hit a tapper to the side of the mound that Sabathia bare handed and dropped. Had he picked the ball cleanly, he would have gotten LaRoche easily at first. But the official scorer ruled it an error. It would turn out to be the lone Pittsburgh hit. After the game, manager Ned Yost and Sabathia's teammates were clearly upset, and there was a plan (naive at best) to appeal to the league to have the call overruled.

The Brewers maintained a 4.5 game lead over the Phillies in the wildcard, while the Cardinals dropped to 6.5 back with a 3-0 loss to the Astros.


NL West

The Dodgers took two of three from the Diamondbacks to get back within 2.5 of Arizona in the west. LA dominated both wins, 6-2 on Saturday, and 8-1 on Sunday, with plenty of hitting and pitching. Derek Lowe threw six scoreless innings on Sunday night baseball, to beat Brandon Webb, who was walloped for the second straight time out in his attempt to win his 20th game.


Other News

The Indians, feel good about themselves, 10-game winning streak came to an abrupt end as they were swept by the Mariners in three straight.

The Padres Jake Peavy tossed a gem on Sunday (8 IP 5 H 0 R 13 K) only to see Trevor Hoffman blow the lead in the ninth. Hoffman then got the win when Luis Rodriguez drove in the game winner in the bottom of the ninth.

The Dodgers' Jeff Kent could be done for the season after it was announced he will undergo knee surgery to repair torn cartilage.

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Around the Horn - 4/16

Scores

For the first time this season the Tigers have won two straight. The Minnesota Twins were the victims once again as Miguel Cabrera homered for the first time, since opening day, in a 6-5 Tigers win.

The Red Sox beat the Indians in the 9th inning for the second straight game. Jason Varitek smacked the game winning home run in the 5-3 triumph.

The Angels came back from a 4-0 deficit to beat the Rangers 7-4. Gary Matthews Jr. drove in 3 runs.

The Blue Jays slapped around Steve Trachsel and the Orioles 11-3. Aaron Hill paced the way with a 3-run home run.

Jose Lopez and Yuniesky Betancourt combined for 7 RBI in the Mariners 11-6 win over the Royals. The victory moved the M's to within one game of .500, but they lost Erik Bedard to the DL with a bad hip.

Carlos Quentin belted a 3-run HR and John Danks threw 7.2 shutout innings in the White Sox 4-1 win over the A's.

Mike Pelfrey improved to 2-0 as the Mets blanked the Nationals 6-0. David Wright homered and drove in 5 runs. Tragedy struck after the game when a fan lost his footing on an escalator and fell to his death.

Connor Jackson and Chris Young homered in the Diamondbacks 8-2 drubbing of the Giants. Michah Owings improved to 3-0 with the win.

The Phillies rallied for 4 runs in the 9th to beat the Astros 4-3. Shawn Chacon tossed 8 shutout innings, but closer Jose Valverde would retire only one batter in the 9th. Chris Snelling started the comeback with a solo home run. Then Pat Burrell tied the game with a 2-run blast. Finally, Pedro Feliz delivered a walk-off double to complete the comeback.

Scott Olsen went 7 innings in the Marlins 4-0 win over the Braves. The Marlins lead the NL East at 8-5.

Derek Lee and Mark DeRosa homered and drove in 3 each in the Cubs 9-5 win over the Reds. But the Cubs might be without Alfonso Soriano for quite some time. Sori left the game in the 1st inning with a strained calf.

Padres starter Randy Wolf pitched 6.2 no-hit innings before the Rockies Brad Hawpe broke it up with a single to center. The Padres won anyway 6-0, scoring all their runs in the 5th inning.

In the battle of beer towns, the Cardinals beat the Brewers 5-1 as Braden Looper notched his 3rd win. Looper had control troubles, issuing 5 walks in 5 innings, but the Cards bullpen shut down the Brewers the rest of the way.

The Dodgers thumped the Pirates 11-2 behind Jeff Kent's home run and 3 RBI, and the 5 innings of relief work done by Esteban Loaiza.

News

Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter will throw his first live batting practice on Monday as he recovers from off-season elbow surgery.

Tigers outfielder Curtis Granderson could be closer to returning he put in a pain-free batting practice.

The Dodgers expect to get Nomar Garciaparra back form the DL on Friday.

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Wednesday Hot Stove

We told you yesterday that the Padres are constantly on the prowl for outfielders. They lost out on Fukudome, but now they are talking to the Pirates about Jason Bay, Nate McLouth, and Xavier Nady. The Pads are also expected to non-tender veteran 3rd baseman Morgan Ensberg. Source

Mark Prior's days in Chicago could be coming to an end. The one-time can't miss, who became can't stay healthy, may be non-tendered by the Cubbies. The team has to decide today whether or not they want to offer arbitration to the right-hander. Source

Jeff Kent was mulling retirement, but has officially told the Dodgers he will be back for the 2008 season. Source

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