>>> The tightest division race right now is in the AL Central, where the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox started the day tied for first. The Sox dropped another tough game to the Indians, 6-4, and they're struggling mightily (seven losses in eight games now). Issuing twelve walks was not the best cure for an already-stretched-thin pitching staff. The Tigers have all the momentum after rallying from a 4-1 deficit against the Royals to win 5-4. They now sit in first place by one game.
>>> The Oakland Athletics are under fire from the Angels and Rays, but they held their ground by pounding the Texas Rangers, 9-3. An astonishing fact: MLB announced that starter Travis Blackley was given rookie status, meaning Oakland now has a starting rotation composed of five rookies heading into the final week of the season. Holding on to their two-game lead in the wild card would be a tremendous accomplishment (their magic number is down to five). They're also just three games back in the AL West with four remaining games against the first-place Rangers.
>>> Torii Hunter continues to carry the Los Angeles Angels on his back. Thanks to his game-tying single in the seventh and walkoff single in the ninth, the Angels topped the Mariners 4-3. They remain two games back in the wild card race, and will be enthusiastically rooting for the Rangers to beat the Athletics over the next week. Any combination of Angels losses and A's wins totaling at least five eliminates LA.
>>> The Tampa Bay Rays made 13 outs before getting their first hit, and their last 11 outs were strikeouts. They still won 4-2 over the Red Sox. So goes it when you're playing well. That's the Rays' seventh consecutive win, an impressive streak for a team with no margin for error. They're three back of the Athletics but still behind the Angels, too.
>>> It was a good day for the AL East leaders, as both the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees enjoyed blowout wins over inferior opponents. The O's hit seven home runs to down Toronto 12-2 and C.C. Sabathia threw eight sharp innings to beat the Twins 8-2. The two teams are still separated by two games in the loss column. Baltimore gets Boston next and the Yankees travel to Toronto.
>>> The St. Louis Cardinals were finally tripped up by the Astros in a 2-0 loss. Both the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers won comfortably, so the Cardinals' lead in the second wild card drops to 3.5 games. It's still looking pretty good for St. Louis here. In more unfortunate news, the Pittsburgh Pirates were officially eliminated from wild card contention and the Philadelphia Phillies aren't too far behind.
>>> In the race for home field advantage in the National League, the victorious Washington Nationals pulled one game ahead of the Cincinnati Reds, who lost. It will be interesting to see how far the manager of each team is willing to go in order to finish with the better record, as opposed to resting guys for the playoffs. The Nats kept their NL East lead at four and it's only a matter of time before they clinch.
>>> One night after locking up a playoff berth, the Atlanta Braves kept their foot on the gas and shut out the Marlins 3-0. They likely won't rest their starters until the Nationals have officially won the division, just in case Washington collapses. Ridiculous Braves closer Craig Kimbrel got his 40th save by becoming the fifth player ever to pitch exactly one inning, face four batters, and strike them all out. Perhaps the best statistic of the 2012 season is the fact that Craig Kimbrel has struck out more than half of the batters he has faced. What's up with that.
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