We've got a new leader for the AL's top wild card spot – the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays beat the Rangers 6-2 on Monday night to go a game up on Texas for that first wild card berth. Due to Cleveland's loss in Kansas City, the Rangers still stayed in the playoff picture, but they really need to get at least one win in Tampa this week. Monday wasn't a worst case scenario, but it was pretty close.
PIC OF THE DAY
Jean Segura, air guitar professional. (Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports)
Game of the Night: Diamondbacks 2, Dodgers 1. A win for Los Angeles would cut their magic number in the NL West to two, but it wouldn't come tonight. Trailing 2-1 in the ninth, Brad Ziegler allowed a classy single to Michael Young to lead off the inning, and followed that up by giving up a gritty single to Skip Schumaker. Juan Uribe's sac bunt resulted in Young being forced out at third, but Nick Buss' bunt worked at getting the runners over, but with two outs instead of one. It didn't matter though, as Ziegler struck out Matt Kemp to end the game and stave off elimination until at least Wednesday.
Pitching Lines of the Night: Andrew Cashner sure spun a gem in San Diego's 2-0 win in Pittsburgh, throwing a complete game shutout and allowing just one hit, striking out seven without a walk. Cliff Lee ran over the Marlins in Philly's 12-2 blowout win, allowing two runs on eight hits in eight innings, striking out 14 without a walk. In the Rays' win over the Rangers, Alex Cobb gave up two runs on six hits in eight innings, punching out ten and walking one. White Sox rookie Erik Johnson had himself a nice night in Chicago's 12-1 win over the Twins, giving up four hits in six shutout innings, walking a pair and striking out eight. You can't blame the Dodgers' loss in Arizona on Hyun-Jin Ryu, who allowed two runs on two hits in eight innings, walking one and striking out four.
Hitting Lines of the Night: Alexei Ramirez provided the thump in Chicago's victory over Minnesota, going 4/4 with two runs, three RBI, a walk, a double, and a homer, while teammate Jordan Danks went 2/4 with two runs, two RBI, a walk, a double, and a homer and Dayan Viciedo went 2/4 with three RBI, two runs, a walk, and a homer. Caleb Gindl helped the Brewers to a 6-1 win over the Cubs, going 3/3 with three runs, three RBI, a triple, a homer, and a walk. Cliff Lee also spurred the Phillies' offense in their win over Miami, going 3/4 with a run, four RBI, and a triple.Wil Myers was the man behind the Rays' offense on Monday, going 2/4 with two runs, three RBI, a double, and a homer. The Angels thrashed the A's 12-1, and Mark Trumbo went 2/4 with two runs, three RBI, a walk, a double, and a homer. Mike Trout went 2/5 with two runs, three RBI, a double, and a homer as well in the win.
Other Games: The Tigers doubled up the Mariners 4-2. The Royals topped the Indians 7-1. The Reds beat the Astros 6-1. The Rockies beat up the Cardinals bullpen, winning 6-2. The Braves and Nationals postponed their game because of the shootings in DC.
What You Missed: Post-mortem and hope for the hopeless for the Philadelphia Phillies. Jerry Seinfeld will be doing commentary on Tuesday night's Mets-Giants game.
Today's Games: Mike Minor and Dan Haren will duel in game one in DC. Andy Pettitte starts for the Yankees in Toronto against RA Dickey. Roy Halladay and the Phillies host the Marlins. Anibal Sanchez and the Tigers host the Mariners. Scott Feldman starts for the Orioles in Boston. Jeff Locke and the Pirates host the Padres. Alexi Ogando gets the nod for the Rangers in Tampa Bay. Zack Wheeler and the Mets host his former team, the Giants. Jeff Samardzija starts for the Cubs in Milwaukee. Heavily hyped Royals prospect Yordano Ventura makes his MLB debut against the Indians and Corey Kluber. Zack Greinke and Pat Corbin will duel in Arizona.
National TV: Orioles-Red Sox (7 PM, MLB Network), Rangers-Rays (7 PM, MLB Network)
MLB.tv Free Game: Mariners-Tigers (7 PM)
Pitching Matchup of the Day: Zack Greinke vs Pat Corbin (Dodgers vs Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
