Dugout Digest – not so fast

The Orioles went into Monday looking to close the gap on the Yankees in the AL East standings. Things didn't go as poorly for Baltimore as they did for Detroit on Sunday, but the result wasn't the best case scenario. Baltimore split a doubleheader with the Blue Jays, winning game one 4-1 and losing game two 9-5. The Yankees, their AL East adversaries, won 6-3 in Minnesota to extend their AL East lead to 1.5 games. The Orioles are 1.5 games up on Oakland for the top AL wild card, but they're thinking division still.

Game of the Night: Rangers 5, Athletics 4. Big win for the Rangers, moving them five games up on the A's in the AL West standings. The A's were out front of the Rangers all night, taking a 4-2 lead in the sixth after a Cliff Pennington RBI single. A two-run homer by Adrian Beltre in the seventh tied the game, and Beltre singled in Craig Gentry in the ninth after Josh Hamilton was intentionally walked to give Texas the victory and shrink their magic number to clinch the AL West to four.

Pitching Lines of the Night: It was an offense-based day around the league, but we can still find some bright spots. The Cardinals beat the Astros 6-1 behind Lance Lynn, who allowed one run on five hits over seven innings, walking two and striking out nine. In Washington's 12-2 blowout win over Milwaukee, Jordan Zimmermann allowed one run on four hits over 6 2/3 innings, walking two and striking out seven. Justin Verlander destroyed the Royals in a 6-2 Tigers win, allowing two runs on nine hits over eight innings, striking out eight without a walk. 

Hitting Lines of the Night: Ike Davis was the entire Mets offense in a 6-2 win in Pittsburgh, going 2/5 with two homers and five RBI. In game two of the doubleheader in Baltimore, JP Arencibia went 3/3 with a homer and five RBI for the Blue Jays. Adam Jones did just as well in game one for the Orioles, going 4/4 with two runs, two RBI, a stolen base, and a homer. Adam Dunn powered the White Sox to a 5-4 win over the Twins, going 2/4 with two homers and four RBI. Ryan Zimmerman gave the Nationals a spark offensively, going 3/4 with two runs, four RBI, a walk, and a homer. Adrian Beltre went 3/5 with three RBI, a double, and a homer for the Rangers.

Other Games: The Rockies beat the Diamondbacks 4-2 to continue Arizona's erratic season.

Today's Games: Francisco Liriano starts for the White Sox against the Indians. Cole Hamels starts for the Phillies against the Nationals. Kris Medlen looks to continue his hot streak and potential clinch a playoff berth for the Braves against the Marlins. Anibal Sanchez starts for the Tigers against the Royals. Mike Fiers and the Brewers take on Johnny Cueto and the Reds. David Price starts for the Rays in Boston against Clay Buchholz and the Red Sox. Tommy Milone starts for the A's against Yu Darvish in Texas. Jaime Garcia starts for the Cardinals in Houston. Erasmo Ramirez and the Mariners will try to slow the Angels freight train and starter Zack Greinke. Tim Lincecum starts for the Giants against the Diamondbacks.

Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.

About Joe Lucia

I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.

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