The Texas Rangers' collapse in the AL West has been unbelievable. The club is 2-11 in September, worse than every club in baseball except for the Chicago White Sox, who are 2-12. The A's have picked up an outrageous 8.5 games on the club in the AL West standings this month, leading to their current 6.5 game cushion in the division. Their chance of winning the division, according to Baseball Prospectus, is down to just 2.4%. This collapse completely overshadows last year's 15-16 finish to the year for the Rangers, and the club is now tied with the Rays for the AL's two Wild Card berths, a half game ahead of the Indians.
PIC OF THE DAY
Josh Reddick goes down the tunnel of love (Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports)
Game of the Day: Brewers 6, Reds 5. Pirates and Cardinals fans, commence your high fiving of Brewers fans. Milwaukee took two out of three from the Reds, and this wild win put a cherry on top of their weekend series victory. A Todd Frazier solo homer stretched Cincinnati's lead to 5-1 in the top of the seventh, but no one told the Brewers they were dead. Sean Halton brought home a run in the seventh on a fielder's choice ground out to make it a 5-2 game. In the eighth, Norichika Aoki was walked by Sam LeCure to lead the inning off, and Manny Parra followed by plunking Khris Davis. JJ Hoover faced Jean Segura and allowed a two-run triple, cutting the Reds' lead to a run. Hoover allowed a sacrifice fly to Jonathan Lucroy to follow, tying the game at five and depriving the Reds of a chance to keep pace in the NL Central. After a 19 pitch, eight strike ninth from Jim Henderson, Zach Duke gave up a solo home run to Halton in the bottom of the inning to hand the Reds a walkoff win. And for the record, Aroldis Chapman has pitched once in Cincinnati's last six games. They're 2-4 in that stretch.
Pitching Lines of the Day: The Mets beat the Marlins 1-0 in 12 innings, but Miami starter Tom Koehler gave up three hits over eight shutout innings, striking out five without a walk. Dillon Gee countered Koehler by going 7 1/3 scoreless and allowing six hits, walking two and striking out eight. Burch Smith dominated the Braves in San Diego's 4-0 win, giving up three hits in seven shutout frames, walking a pair and punching out ten. Max Scherzer helped the Tigers beat the Royals 3-2 but once again fell short of win #20, despite giving up one run on five hits in seven innings, striking out a dozen and walking one. Jerome Williams helped the Angels beat the Astros 2-1, giving up one run on five hits in seven innings, striking out three without a walk.
Hitting Lines of the Day: Wilson Ramos carried the Nationals to an 11-2 romp over the Phillies, going 4/4 with two runs, five RBI, and a homer. The Diamonbacks topped the Rockies 8-2 thanks to Paul Goldschmidt going 4/4 with a double, a homer, and five RBI. Hunter Pence helped the Giants beat the Dodgers 4-3, going 2/3 with a pair of homers, three RBI, and a walk. Yadier Molina and the Cardinals destroyed the Mariners 12-2, going 4/5 with three runs and a solo homer. In Detroit's win over Kansas City, Alex Avila went 2/4 with a pair of homers and three RBI.
Other Games: The Orioles beat the Blue Jays 3-1. The Indians beat up the White Sox 7-1. The Twins rallied late to beat the Rays 6-4. The Pirates edged the Cubs 3-2. The A's swept the Rangers, taking the final game of their series 5-1. The Red Sox pounded the Yankees 9-2.
What You Missed: Post-mortem and hope for the hopeless continues along with the San Diego Padres. Todd Helton is retiring at the end of the season. Wladimir Balentien is Japan's new home run king.
Today's Games: Mike Minor starts for the Braves in Washington. Matt Garza and Alex Cobb will duel in Tampa Bay as Texas looks to reverse their rough September. Cliff Lee and the Phillies host the Marlins. Andrew Cashner and the Padres take on AJ Burnett and the Pirates. Scott Kazmir and the Indians take on James Shields and the Royals, looking to put Kansas City's slim playoff hopes on ice. Mike Leake starts for the Reds in Houston. Lance Lynn gets the nod for the Cardinals in Denver against Jorge de la Rosa. Hyun-Jin Ryu takes the hill for the Dodgers in Phoenix. Sonny Gray and the A's host CJ Wilson and the Angels.
National TV: Rangers-Rays (7 PM, MLB Network), Braves-Nationals (7 PM, MLB Network)
MLB.tv Free Game: Braves-Nationals (7 PM)
Pitching Matchup of the Day: Matt Garza vs Alex Cobb (Rangers vs Rays, 7 PM)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
