It won’t happen today, but it will happen this week – the Orioles, Nationals, and Angels will clinch their division in the coming days. Furthermore, all three teams can clinch their divisions by beating teams chasing them. The Orioles face off with the Blue Jays in Baltimore. The Nationals battle the Braves in Atlanta. The Angels host the Mariners (who have fallen 2.5 back of the A’s in the AL West) in Anaheim. The other three divisions – and all four Wild Card spots, of course – are still in “too close to call” mode. Buckle up, folks – those three teams are going to be celebrating. It’s a question of “when” and not “if”.
Game of the Day: Rays 6, Blue Jays 5 (ten innings). The Orioles owe the Rays a thank you card for knocking their magic number down a notch on Sunday, despite the best efforts of Tampa Bay’s bullpen to blow the game. Chris Archer laid waste to the Jays through seven innings, allowing just one run on an Edwin Encarnacion homer in the seventh. The Rays got that run back in the eighth after a solo homer by Yunel Escobar, but Grant Balfour gave almost all of that four run lead back in the bottom of the inning. After getting Anthony Gose to ground out, Balfour allowed an infield single to Jose Reyes, a single to Jose Bautista, and a line drive, three-run blast to Adam Lind to make it a 5-4 game. Joel Peralta got out of the inning, and Jake McGee came in for the save. He got the first two outs quickly, but then allowed a game-tying solo homer to John Mayberry Jr., his first longball as a member of the Jays. The game moved into extras, and the Rays wasted no time getting a run on the board. Brandon Morrow walked Wil Myers to begin the inning, and a Logan Forsythe single put men on the corners with none out. Brett Cecil replaced him, allowed Forsythe to steal second, and walked Escobar to load the bases for Sean Rodriguez. Rodriguez brought Myers in with a sac fly, and that was somehow the only run the Rays got in the frame. But it was enough for Brandon Gomes and Jeff Beliveau, who retired Toronto in order to end the game in ten.
Pitching Lines of the Day: The aforementioned Chris Archer allowed one run on three hits in seven innings for the Rays, striking out nine and walking three. The Astros beat the Angels 6-1 to end their ten game winning streak, and Dallas Keuchel allowed one run on three hits in seven innings, walking one and striking out four. Clayton Kershaw pitched the Dodgers to a 4-2 win over the Giants, allowing two runs on seven hits in eight innings, striking out nine and walking one. Jon Lester pitched the A’s to a 4-0 win in Seattle, tossing six shutout innings while walking four, allowing four hits, and striking out seven. In the Nationals’ 3-0 win over the Mets, Jordan Zimmermann tossed 6 2/3 shutout innings, giving up six hits, walking one, and striking out five. The Orioles walked off on the Yankees 3-2, but Hiroki Kuroda gave up one run on six hits in seven innings, striking out five without a walk.
Hitting Lines of the Day: Boston beat Kansas City 8-4, and Xander Bogaerts went 3/4 with a homer, two runs, and four RBI. In the Pirates’ 7-3 win over the Cubs, Neil Walker went 3/4 with a double, a homer, two runs, and two RBI. Luis Sardinas helped the Rangers beat the Braves 10-3 and complete a sweep, going 3/5 with two doubles, two runs, and four RBI. Gregorio Petit went 2/4 with a double, a homer, two runs, and three RBI in Houston’s win over Anaheim. Yunel Escobar went 3/4 with a double, a walk, and a solo homer in the Rays’ win over the Blue Jays. Sam Fuld went 2/3 with a homer, two runs, and two RBI for the A’s in their victory over the Mariners.
Other Games: The Marlins used a four-spot off Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth to beat the Phillies 5-4. The Tigers scored five runs in the final three innings to beat the Indians 6-4. The Brewers stomped the Reds 9-2. The Twins edged the White Sox 6-4. The Cardinals swept away the Rockies after a 4-1 win. The Diamondbacks beat the Padres 8-6.
Today’s Games: Marcus Stroman starts for the Blue Jays in Baltimore against Wei-Yin Chen and the Orioles. Stephen Strasburg and Ervin Santana will duel in Atlanta. Jake Odorizzi and the Rays host the Yankees. Jarred Cosart starts for the Marlins in Flushing against Jacob deGrom and the Mets. James Shields and the Royalst host the White Sox. Max Scherzer takes the hill for the Tigers in Minnesota. Ryan Vogelsong and Wade Miley will face off in Arizona. Matt Shoemaker and the Angels host the Mariners and Hisashi Iwakuma. Andrew Cashner gets the nod for the Padres against the Phillies.
National TV: Nationals-Braves (7 PM, MLB Network), Yankees-Rays (7 PM, MLB Network), Mariners-Angels (10 PM, MLB Network), Phillies-Padres (10 PM, MLB Network)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
