Halos Roll Past Rangers, 4-3

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim continued their success in 2008, defeating the Texas Rangers 4-3 in front of a sell-out crowd in Anaheim. Angels' center-fielder Torii Hunter made a spectacular play in center-field in the 7th inning, as well as collecting 2 hits for starter Jered Weaver. Francisco Rodriguez saved game number 53, and the Angels' bullpen threw 4 scoreless innings.

Texas falls to 66-71, losing their third game in a row to the Angels. Center-fielder Josh Hamilton left in the 4th inning after experiencing pain in one of his molar teeth. He's expected to receive a root canal soon, and will be back in a couple of days.

Baldelli gives Rays Walk-Off Victory

The Tampa Bay Rays have been extraordinary this year, proving this once again on Saturday night by coming back and defeating the Baltimore Orioles 10-9. Designated hitter Rocco Baldelli connected with a walk-off double off Orioles' reliever Rocky Cherry in the bottom of the 9th inning, after the Rays gave up their one run lead during the top of the inning.

Rays starter Andy Sonnastine didn't impress, lasting a career worst 3 1/3 innings while surrendering 5 earned-runs. Still, if Tampa can find a win without getting strong starting pitching as they usually do, more power to them.

The Good: Orioles' RF'er Nick Markakis who had a 4-5 night with a HR
The Bad: Rays closer Dan Wheeler, blowing his 3rd save of the year

Photo Courtesy: (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Manny Hits 2 HR, Propels Dodgers To Victory

The Los Angeles Dodgers have finally ended their 8-game losing streak, defeating Dan Haren and the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-3. The Dodgers looked to the great Manny Ramirez to provide their offense, watching the left-fielder blast 2 home-runs and hit career double number 500. Dodgers' starter Chad Billingsley collected win number 13, with 7 strong innings allowing 2 earned-runs.

The NL West lead is now trimmed to 3 1/2 games, and the two teams still have another match-up tomorrow as well as a series at Dodger Stadium in a couple of days.

The Good: Manny Ramirez who went 4-5 with 2 HR after going 4-4 yesterday
The Bad: D-Backs starter Dan Haren, who gave up 10 hits and 5 runs in 6.

Photo Courtesy: (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)

Angels/Jays In Eckstein Talks

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are looking for short-stop help after Maicer Izturis went down for the season with a thumb injury. Now, they are making waves by attempting to acquire short-stop David Eckstein from the Toronto Blue Jays. Eckstein was a key part in the Angels' 2002 World-Series, and would probably love to come back to Southern California.

While he's still a fan favorite in Anaheim, he would likely have back-up duties to the young and talented Erick Aybar. Still, Eckstein could play some second-base until Howie Kendrick returns from the DL, giving the Angels quite a bit of flexibility. As an Angels fan, there's no doubt I want the Angels to bring David back. But now there's rumors out there that the Arizona Diamondbacks have also contacted Toronto about the veteran short-stop, so there's a chance talks will slip.

Photo Courtesy: (Getty Images/Nick Laham)

Diamondbacks Add One Game To NL West Lead, Defeat LAD

In front of 32,610 fans in attendence, the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated their division rival Dodgers 9-3. Wasn't a pretty win, as starter Doug Davis only lasted 5 innings and surrendered 8 hits, but it was a vital win which stretches their lead to 4 1/2.

New addition Adam Dunn hit a 2-R Double, and Manny Ramirez somehow stole his third base of the year. The two clubs face off again tonight at 8 EST.


The Good: Manny Ramirez, who went 4-4 with 2 R's and a SB
The Bad: Dodgers' Starter Hiroki Kuroda, who surrendered 4 runs in 5 innings

Photo Courtesy: (AP Photo/Matt York)

Beltran Powers Mets to Victory

Bottom of the 9th, Two outs, Bases Loaded. That's when legends are made right? Well, if thats the case, New York Mets' center-fielder Carlos Beltran was the legend of the night, blasting a fastball from Florida Marlins' closer Kevin Gregg into the right-field seats for a grand-slam. The shot propelled the Mets from looking at a 1-3 defeat into a commanding 5-3 lead going into the bottom of the 9th.

Still, you knew that the Marlins would get a chance at the worst bullpen in the bigs. And that wasn't a walk in the park. Closer Luis Ayala still ended up getting out of the inning only allowing 1 meaning-less run, but he stranded runners on second and third.

The Good: Carlos Beltran, who went 2-4 with the GS and 5 RBI
The Bad: Closer Kevin Gregg, who gave up 4 runs and 3 hits in the final inning.

Photo Courtesy: (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Arizona Claims Lefty Ledezma

The Arizona Diamondbacks have claimed left-handed reliever Wilfredo Ledezma from the San Diego Padres. Wilfredo wasn't doing bad in San Diego, putting up a 4.47 ERA in 54.1 innings for a last place club. Still, I guess there wasn't a need for him for the remainder of this year and the Padres decided to let him go.

Nice pickup for Arizona, getting a much needed lefty reliever in the bullpen to even out a pen which is most notably right-handed. Jon Rauch and Brandon Lyon should feel Ledezma's love once he returns.

Photo Courtesy: (Getty Images/Brad Mangin)

Phillies Add Depth, Acquire Stairs

The Philadelphia Phillies have added a much needed bench bat, acquiring veteran outfielder Matt Stairs from the Toronto Blue Jays. The prospect going to the Blue Jays is not known, but the Jays will now give their number one prospect Travis Snider a look at the major league level.

Nice move for the Phillies, adding to some depth that they've lacked all year after Geoff Jenkins failed to impress.

Photo Courtesy: (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Frank Gunn)

Mets Retake Division Lead

The New York Mets must've hated how it felt to be in second place, as a little over 24 hours later and they are back in the position that they've been in for most of this year. New York defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 6-3 to regain a half game lead in the division. The story of the day was Mets' first-baseman Carlos Delgado, who hit a pair of key home-runs to cut down the deficit and then give the Mets a 4-3 lead.

Johan Santana pitched well enough to keep his club in the ball game, scattering 3 earned-runs in 6 innings pitched. It was the Phillies bullpen which then gave up the game, surrendering 3 runs in the top of the 8th.

The Good: Carlos Delgado 3-4 with 2 HR
The Bad: Phil's closer Brad Lidge, who surrendered 2 runs in 0.1 innings

Photo Courtesy: (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

Garza Controls Jays For Win Number 80

The Tampa Bay Rays have added another achievement to their already amazing turn-around, winning game number 80 today against David Purcey and the Toronto Blue Jays. The story of the day was Rays' starter Matt Garza, who gave up zero runs in 7 2/3 innings and lead Tampa to a 1-0 victory. The lone run in the game came off of first-baseman Carlos Pena's bat, which was Carlos' 27th on the year.

This game just goes to show you why pitching wins games. If Garza would of made one mistake, the game would be a much different story. But he pitched well against Blue Jays' starter David Purcey, who had a career outing with 1 earned-run in 8 innings.

The Good: Matt Garza 7 2/3 innings 0 earned 6 hits 3 walks 5 K's
The Bad: The Jays' 3-4 of Alex Rios and Vernon Wells, who combined to go 0-6

Photo Courtesy: (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Afternoon Delight: Cubbies Take Care Of Pirates

The Chicago Cubs continued their dominant season, this time attacking the Pittsburgh Pirates with their pitching and winning a 2-0 pitchers' duel. Starter Jason Marquis came into the game with a 5.09 ERA in the month of August, but pitched extremely well going 7 innings allowing no runs and only 5 hits. He was then followed by strong innings from both Carlos Marmol and closer Kerry Wood. On the other side of the diamond, Pirates starter Zach Duke had a great game of his own. He went 8 innings only allowing 2 earned-runs with 7 hits and 2 walks. One of the runs came on a Henry Blanco suicide squeeze which plated Mark DeRosa, proving just how dominant Duke was today. Despite the great effort, Duke fell to 4-13 on the year while Marquis tallied win number 9.

There's no doubt that the Cubs are the best team in the National League, so anything less than a World-Series berth would be a huge dissapointment. As for the Pittsburgh, "there's always next year".

Photo Courtesy: (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Fuentes/Taveras Placed On Waivers

The Colorado Rockies have seemingly threw in the white towel, despite being only 6 games back of the NL West lead, and placed both closer Brian Fuentes and center-fielder Willy Taveras on waivers. Both shouldn't clear, with Taveras having a much better chance of clearing then Fuentes has. The New York Mets would be flabbergasted if they could bring Fuentes in to be their closer, but that seems doubtful with all the teams ahead of them in the wire.

Willy Taveras would be a nice fit for the Washington Nationals, but they don't seem to be willing to tack on extra salary in a lost season. There still is a huge market with someone who has 60 steals on the year, so check here for updates on who claims these rockies.

Photo Courtesy: (AP/Ben Margot)

Cliff Lee Wins Number 19, Cleveland Stifles Detroit

Cleveland Indians left-hander and soon to be American League Cy Young winner, Cliff Lee, compiled seven and two-thirds strong innings and took care of the division rival Detroit Tigers, 10-4. Mr. Lee now has 19 wins on the season, and has lowered his ERA to a dismal 2.43. He struck out 4 and surrendered only 6 hits and 1 walk. No one could of predicted such a great season for him, especially after he was absolutely horrid last year. Still, in this amazing year we call 2008, Cliff is standing tall and counting the days until he will hoist that Cy Young award for the first time in his career. At this pace, it's not out of the ordinary to predict a few more.

The Good: Ben Francisco, who went 3-4 with 4 RBI and a pair of HR's.
The Bad: Second-baseman Placido Polanco, who went 0-4 and left 4 men on base.

Photo Courtesy: (AP/Duane Burleson)

Boston Close To Acquiring Kotsay

UPDATE: Atlanta will receive minor-league OF'er Luis Sumoza. Kotsay has earned $325K for waiving his no-trade clause.

The Boston Red Sox have solidified losing right-fielder J.D. Drew to the DL, acquiring outfielder Mark Kotsay from the Atlanta Braves. Kotsay still has a no-trade clause, and is currently communicating with Boston to see if he will waive it. Until then, there will be no info on who Atlanta will be receiving. It shouldn't be more then some cash or a low-level prospect.

Very nice move for Boston, getting a veteran outfielder who knows how to play the game and won't hurt you in any aspect. His bat has much improved from his dismal year in Oakland last year, and the only questions will be about his health and ability to stay on the field without missing too many games. The Red Sox also took care of the New York Yankees today, pushing them one game closer to the Tampa Bay Rays and first place in the American League East. I still believe Tampa has enough to keep the division though, but thats the beauty of September baseball.

Photo Courtesy: (AP/John Bazemore)

Mets Pen Blows Another One, Phils in First

The New York Mets have continued to have horrific bullpen problems, this time losing a 7-0 lead and losing in 13 innings to division nemesis Philadelphia Phillies. Ever since closer Billy Wagner has went on the DL with some sort of arm fatigue, the Mets pen has been by far the worst in the bigs. This time it was the trio of Duaner Sanchez, newly acquired Luis Ayala, and Scott Schoenweis who blew the would be victory and ended up letting go of a 8-7 defeat.

What's worse is that the Philadelphia Phillies have now taken over sole-possession of first place in the NL East, and have been playing terrific baseball the last week. They completed a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and have now taken the first game of this series. There's no doubt in my mind that the Phillies are the better club right now, as they have a much better bullpen, rotation, and offense. The Metropolitans need to figure out their pen out or they might miss out in the postseason just like last season.

The Good: Shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who went 5-7 with 3 RBI's, 3 SB, and a HR.
The Bad: The Mets bullpen, blowing yet another lead.

Photo Courtesy: (AP/Tom Mihalek)