The NL Central is baseball’s only six-team division, and as July winds down, it’s also the only division that really has four teams in the playoff race. At the 100 game (or so) mark, the Pirates, Cardinals, and Brewers are tied at the top and the defending champion Reds are just three games behnd. So […]

It could just be because I’m a biased East-Coaster, but I feel like the amount of hype that Jered Waver’s gotten this year isn’t at all proportional with his great performance in 2011. Weaver tossed another gem on Thursday night, shutting out the red-hot Rangers over seven innings, out-dueling CJ Wilson, who’s been almost as […]

At about midnight, the Pittsburgh Pirates closed out a 2-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds just minutes after the Arizona Diamondbacks finished up a 3-0 win over the Milwakee Brewers. Those two results put the Pirates into first place all by themselves by a half-game over both the Brewers and the Cardinals.  For most teams, […]

Baseball finally returned to action after the All-Star Break last night, but only kind of. Only 14 of MLB’s 30 teams were in action on Thursday night, which means that more than half of the league actually gets a four-day All-Star Break. The Wednesday after the All-Star Game is always one of the most excruciating […]

In the first half of 2011, no division has been more fun to watch than the National League Central. The surprising Pirates have joined pre-season contenders in Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Cincinnati to create a four-team race that has the Brewers and Cardinals tied at the top, the Pirates a game back, and the fourth […]

In a post-All-Star Game shocker, Sports Illustrated’s

When Derek Jeter recorded his 3,000th hit last week, he became the first player in four years to reach the milestone, with the most recent before him being Craig Biggio during his farewell tour of 2007. Over the next four years, though, we might have as many as four more guys hit the milestone and […]

2011 really has been a renaissance year at Progressive Field in Cleveland. The Indians are back in first place in the AL Central and Travis Hafner is swinging the bat like one of the most feared DHs in the American League again. Tonight, Hafner added to his legend by coming up with one of the […]

Even with an 8-2 loss to the cellar-dwelling Houston Astros last night, the Pittsburgh Pirates are in the thick of the NL Central race. Their 45-42 record has them in third place, a game and a half behind the first place Cardinals, a half game behind the Brewers, and a game and a half in […]

With a 7-0 win over their cross-state rivals from Arlington, the Houston Astros avoided a sweep and snapped a five-game losing streak that started after they beat the Rangers to avoid a sweep last week. That sounds a little sad and depressing for Astros fans and the truth is that it probably is: the biggest […]

While problems mount for Dodgers’ owner Frank McCourt off the field, his team still has to play games on it. In fact, despite their owner’s bankruptcy filing on Monday, the boys in blue crushed the Twins 15-0 with an offensive attack that saw the Dodgers put runs on the board in seven different innings.  There’s […]

With 12 strikeouts against the Twins last night, Tim Lincecum has 30 career games with 10 strikeouts or more. If that seems like a lot, it is: it’s the most in baseball since the beginning of 2007. Actually, it’s the most in baseball in that span by a lot; Justin Verlander’s 18 ten strikeout games […]

In a truly bizarre move, the Nationals announced over their team twitter account that manager Jim Riggleman resigned this afternoon, almost immediately after the Nationals’ 1-0 win over the Mariners. Their third win in a row. Their 11th win in 12 games. A win that put the Washington Nationals, who have never finished a season […]

There’s plenty to talk about from last night’s Padres/Red Sox game. The Red Sox racked up ten runs in the seventh inning. Former top Tigers prospect Andrew Miller, who was a key piece in their trade for Miguel Cabrera, made his return to the big leagues after a minor league sojourn to fix his mechanics […]

When I wrote about Ramon Santiago’s walkoff triple for Tuesday’s Digest, I thought I’d hit the jackpot of unusual game endings. Then DJ Carrasco balked in a winning run on Thursday night. Carrasco’s balk came runners on first and third with two outs in the bottom of the tenth when he apparently lifted his left […]