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The Full Count: So much for the Brew Crew


1. From Leaders to Losers: The Milwaukee Brewers were the talk of the league in June, when they pulled out to a huge lead in the NL Central division. However, with a 19-34 record the last two months, the Brewers have fallen to third place. They have lost five straight, including a 5-3 loss to the division-leading Cubs on Tuesday. Milwaukee got a solid start from Jeff Suppan, but Scott Linebrink allowed three runs to blow the game and the offense was ineffective. Lack of offense has been a reoccurring problem for the Brewers, who rank 15th in the NL in runs this month. They fell below .500 with the loss, and were passed by the red-hot Cardinals.

2. Philly draws closer: The Phillies have won three in a row, pulling themselves closer to both the division and wild card leaders. They are four games back of the Mets and threeback of the Padres after a 4-2 extra-inning win over New York. The Phillies won off Ryan Howard’s 10th inning walk-off homer. It was the 35th blast of the year for Howard, who leads the NL with 108 RBIs. The Mets’ only score was on Carlos Delgado’s two-run shot in the second. The Mets, who have dropped five of their last seven, are still the NL’s best team. However, the Phillies can catch up easily, especially if they take the last two games from the Mets in this series. Philly should still be more concerned with the wild card race at this point.

3. Halo Power: The Angels got awful starting pitching on Tuesday, but it didn’t matter as their offense carried them to a win over the Mariners. Ervin Santana recorded only one out and allowed five runs, and with a 6.38 ERA is in jeopardy of losing his spot in the rotation. However, the Angels still won 10-6, thanks to Vlad Guerrero’s 4-5, 3 RBI night. Guerrero is now batting .509 against the Mariners this season. The Angels lead the season series over the Mariners 10-4, including two wins in this series so far. They lead by four games in the division, thanks to Seattle’s four straight losses. The Mariners still lead the wild card race by one game over the Yankees.

Player of the Day: Johnny Damon, Yankees: 2-4, HR, 2 RBIs in a 5-3 win over the Red Sox. Damon’s two-run shot in the seventh gave the Yankees a lead they would not give up in this one.

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The Full Count: Not even close


1. A Series of Dominance: The Boston Red Sox just pulled off one of the more one-sided series in the MLB this season as they swept the White Sox in four games. Boston outscored Chicago 46-7 in the series, scoring ten or more runs in each game and winning each game by at least eight runs. The Red Sox became the first team in the league this season to reach the 80-win mark, and they extended their lead over the Yankees to a whopping 7.5 games. Boston’s 11-1 win on Sunday included a solid pitching performance by Julian Tavarez and balanced play by the offense. David Ortiz had two more RBIs, giving him seven in the series and 87 on the year. Mike Lowell also drove in seven runs for the series, and he leads the team with 93 this season. The Red Sox are on a roll headed into one of their most important series this season: a three-game set at Yankee Stadium that begins on Tuesday. If they win that series, they will win the division title barring an epic collapse.

2. The Dark Horse: The American League Cy Young race is extremely crowded, though it’s surprising one name is rarely mentioned: Kelvim Escobar. Dan Haren, Josh Beckett, and Johan Santana are more commonly cited for Cy Young contention, but Escobar has as solid stats as anyone: a 15-6 record, 2.77 ERA, and 1.17 WHIP. On Sunday he pitched brilliantly for eight innings as the Angels beat the Blue Jays 3-1. Escobar allowed one run, six hits, and recorded five strikeouts. Though he didn’t even make the All Star team, Escobar has been the team’s ace, even superior to John Lackey. Since the start of July he has allowed three or fewer runs in all but one start. Hopefully Escobar doesn’t get ignored just because he is relatively unknown compared with the other candidates.

3. Another year, another run: The Minnesota Twins are one of those teams that seemingly always makes a run in the second half of the season. Last year the Twins rallied from many games back to overtake the Tigers and win the division. This year, though they’re still well out at this point, Minnesota could be making another jump up the standings. Since losing five in a row earlier this month, the Twins have won 9 out of 12, including a five-game winning streak. They swept the Orioles in four games over the weekend by a combined 31-10 score, including an 11-3 beatdown on Sunday. The Twins got a competent start from Scott Baker and pounded Baltimore ace Erik Bedard for six runs in the victory. At 67-63, they are 5.5 games back in the standings, though that will change shortly as they face Cleveland six times over the next two weeks, starting with a three game set at Jacobs Field beginning Monday.

Player of the Day: Chris Young, Diamondbacks: 2-4, 2 HRs, 4 RBIs in a 5-4 win over Milwaukee.

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The Full Count: Rangers’ bats must’ve been tired


1. Not Today: The day after the Rangers’ incredible 30-run outing, they were stopped in their tracks by the Mariners. Seattle, who leads the wild card and is one game back of the Angels, beat the Rangers 9-4. Ichiro had three hits and three RBIs, and Jose Guillen and Jose Vidro both homered in the victory. Jeff Weaver improved to 4-0 this month with another solid outing. Besides Brad Wilkerson (4-4, HR), the Rangers couldn’t get too much going offensively. They have the second-worst record in the AL, above only Tampa. The Mariners now have the third-best record in the majors, thanks mainly to a 41-24 mark at home.

2. Welcome Back: In Joel Zumaya’s second appearance since coming off the DL, he cost the Tigers a game. In a game that was scoreless through nine innings, Zumaya allowed three runs in the tenth, giving the Tigers another loss and putting them 2.5 games back in the standings. Both starters pitched brilliantly, with Nate Robertson and Jake Westbrook combining for 16.2 scoreless innings. The Tigers scored one run in the bottom of the tenth but couldn’t mount anything more. Since they had the best record in the majors on July 21, Detroit is 10-22. Now they have only the eighth-best record in the league, and they are five games out of the wild card chase. Unless the Tigers turn it around now, they will be out of the playoffs this season.

3. Padre Power: The San Diego Padres have held on tightly to their wild card lead. After losing the first game in New York, they won the last two, with their offense as the key component. San Diego won 9-8 on Thursday, in a game where two All Star closers both blew saves. Both Trevor Hoffman and Billy Wagner gave up runs in the ninth, then the Padres won in the tenth off Adrian Gonzalez’s homer. The Mets stole five bases in this one, including Jose Reyes’ 68th, but still lost. The Padres had 15 hits, including five players with multi-hit games. They still trail the nearly unstoppable Diamondbacks by three games, but it doesn’t matter as they have extended their wild card lead to two games. The Mets’ two straight losses have not affected their division lead, as both the Braves and Phillies have gone on losing streaks of their own.

Player of the Day: Mike Piazza, A’s: 4-5, HR, 5 RBIs in a 12-2 win over the Devil Rays. The A’s have won five straight and are one game above .500.

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Tim Kurkjian basically wet himself talking about the Rangers-Orioles game

If you thought that the Ranger faithful got excited about Wednesday night’s monumental 30-3 victory in which they rallied from a 3-0 hole, just wait until you get a load of Tim Kurkjian on Baseball Tonight. You can actually hear his inner prepubescent child cry out in elation.

Now, if we could just get Woody Paige to start showing a little on-air zaniness then we’d be set.

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The Full Count: Baltimore Beatdown


1. Power Rangers: In perhaps the most amazing accomplishment so far this season, the Texas Rangers beat the Orioles 30-3 on Wednesday. That set a record for the most runs any major league team has scored in a game since 1900. Incredibly, the Rangers only scored in four different innings, but in those innings they scored 5, 9, 10, and 6 runs. They were leading 14-3 going into the eighth, then put up sixteen runs their last two innings. Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ramon Vasquez each had two homers and seven RBIs. David Murphy had five runs and a team-high five of the Rangers’ 29 hits. All nine Rangers in the starting lineup had a multi-hit game. On the Orioles’ side of things, their four pitchers who appeared each allowed at least six runs. Their staff ERA for the season increased from 4.39 to 4.60 in one game. Meanwhile, the Rangers passed five teams on the runs scored list, now ranking ninth in the league in that category. Then in game two of a doubleheader, Texas scored nine more runs to set the American League record for most runs in a doubleheader with 39. Also, their 30 RBIs set a major league record, and their 29 hits were the most in 15 years. In what has been a mostly forgettable season for the Rangers this year, they had one of the more memorable performances of the season by any team.

2. The Streak Ender: If your team has a winning streak going, Jake Peavy will be happy to end it for you. The Mets had won four in a row and seven of their last eight, but Peavy more or less shut them down. He had 11 strikeouts in six innings, allowing two runs as the Padres won 7-5. Peavy, who is 14-5 with a 2.21 ERA, has to be considered the leading Cy Young candidate in the National League. His performance on Wednesday was his 7th start this season with 10 or more strikeouts. He leads the National League in that category 186. There is bad news for the Padres rotation though. Chris Young, who leads the league in ERA, has a hurt back and could go onto the DL again. That would be poor timing, considering San Diego is trying to hold on to a slim wild card lead.

3. Getting started in August: Albert Pujols and the Cardinals had both performed well below expectations this season until recently. Pujols had a great July, but has really turned it on this past week. He homered in his fifth straight game on Wednesday, giving him seven long balls this month. Wednesday’s homer was his 30th of the season, and his effort put his OPS above 1.000 for the first time all season. As for Pujols’ team, the Cardinals won their 10th game in their last 13. Yadier Molina and Jim Edmonds added homers and Braden Looper had a solid start as the Cards beat the Marlins 6-4. They are only three games back of the division-leading Cubs now.

Player of the Day: The entire Rangers starting lineup: 30 runs, 6 homers, 30 RBIs, 29 hits in a 30-3 win over Baltimore.

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The Full Count: Garrett Anderson gets a week’s worth of fantasy points in one game


1. One Man, 10 RBIs: Garrett Anderson of the Angels gave one of the greatest single-game performances of the season on Tuesday against the Yankees. Anderson powered the Angels to an 18-9 win with 10 RBIs, tying a franchise record and coming up one shy of the AL record. Anderson’s RBIs came off a three-run homer, and grand slam, and two run-scoring doubles. Ironically, the last person to reach 10 RBIs in a game, Alex Rodriguez, hit two homeruns for the opposing Yankees. That gave him 42 on the year as well as 121 RBIs, both of which lead the majors by a mile. But it wasn’t enough as the Angels put up ridiculous numbers offensively. Howie Kendrick went 4-5, Macier Izturis scored 4 runs, and Vlad Guerrero knocked in his 100th RBI as the Angels won their third straight. They are holding on to a two-game lead in front of the red-hot Mariners, while the Yankees have fallen to six games back behind the Red Sox.

2. Outdueled: The Indians’ Fausto Carmona shut down the Tigers, yet was outpitched by second-time starter Jair Jurrjens in Detroit’s 2-1 win. Carmona went eight innings, with three hits, two runs, and no walks allowed, but it wasn’t enough. The Indians were limited to only one hit by Jurrijens, and the Tigers’ bullpen was perfect. Joel Zumaya returned in his first appearance since May 1. Zumaya will be key to the Tigers’ stretch run, as their bullpen has been one of their biggest issues since his injury. The Tigers got homers from Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen in a game where all runs were scored off solo shots. The Tigers could pass Cleveland by Wednesday, as they are only a half-game back. Both of these teams have fallen behind the wild card leaders New York and Seattle in their recent struggles, so they both need to win the division to make the playoffs.

3. Beltran is Back: After a monstrous 2006 season was followed by an even better April, Carlos Beltran has struggled the majority of this season. He batted under .230 from May through July. However, in the past week alone he has managed to regain his power swing, with 6 homers and 18 RBIs in his last ten games. Beltran’s resurgence, which directly followed a short spell on the DL, has coincided with a dominant run by the Mets. They have won 7 of their last 8 games, giving them a comfortable five game lead in the division. On Tuesday they roughed up MLB ERA leader Chris Young and the Padres, winning 7-6. Beltran went 3-3 with a homer and five RBIs, and a two-run rally in the ninth off Trevor Hoffman gave the Mets the victory. If Beltran can continue swinging at nearly this level, and if Carlos Delgado can play to his potential, the Mets will have a nearly unbeatable lineup to go along with their improved pitching staff.

Player of the Day: Garrett Anderson, Angels: 4-6, 2 HRs, 10 RBIs in an 18-9 win over the Yankees.

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The Full Count: Teixeira still paying dividends


1. Terrific Tex: The biggest winner at the trade deadline is as clear now as it was on August 1. The Atlanta Braves, with their acquisition of Mark Teixeira, got one of the best hitters in the league. In 18 games with the Braves, Teixeira has nine homers and 25 RBIs, including two homers and six runs driven in on Monday against the Reds. It was Teixeira’s second straight multi-homer game as he led the Braves to a 14-4 blowout of Cincy. Brian McCann added a grand slam, and Andruw Jones also homered for Atlanta. Tim Hudson didn’t pitch at his best level (6 innings, 3 runs), but he was good enough to become the first National League pitcher with 15 wins. The win puts the Braves at one game back of the Padres in the wild card race.

2. Battle of the Best: Two of baseball’s best teams, the Angels and the Yankees, began a series in exciting fashion on Monday. The Angels won 7-6 in the 10th inning thanks to a game-winning RBI double by backup catcher Ryan Budde. The Angels barely survived in a game that had six lead changes and not a lot of pitching. For the Yankees, Alex Rodriguez became the first player in baseball to hit 40 homers this year, and had three more RBIs, giving him 118. Jorge Posada also homered and drove in three, but the Angels were able to win with a more balanced attack on offense. LA improved to 73-51, the second-best record in baseball behind the Red Sox. The Yanks fell to five games back in the division and 1.5 back in the wild card.

3. The Streaks are Over: Overall it was a good night for the Chicago White Sox, as they snapped an eight-game losing streak with 4-3 win over the Royals. But the best thing that has happened to the team this season, Bobby Jenks’ 41 straight retired batters, came to a close. Jenks gave up a leadoff single to Joey Gathright in the ninth, ending his remarkable streak, which tied the previous major league record. He then retired the next three batters for his 34th save. The Sox were able to win with a rally in the seventh, tying them with Kansas City for last place. It’s an embarrassment for the franchise to be even near the Royals, especially considering their above-average payroll and recent World Series championship. But it’s been a lost season for the White Sox for months now, so many Chicago fans are probably already looking forward to next season.

Player of the Day: Tim Wakefield, Red Sox: 7 innings, four hits, no runs, 5 strikeouts in a 6-0 win over the Devil Rays. Wakefield improved to 15-10, tying him for the major league wins lead.

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The Full Count: Santana strikes out seventeen


1. The Strikeout Machine: Johan Santana has led the American League in strikeouts three straight years, but he’s never fanned as many batters as he did on Sunday. With an incredible 17 strikeouts in eight innings, Santana set a personal and team single-game record. He struck out the side three times, and had at least two strikeouts in seven different innings. Santana allowed only two hits, both to Sammy Sosa. He could have challenged the major league strikeout record of 20 if he had stayed in the ninth inning, but with 112 pitches he was removed. Joe Nathan had two K’s of his own as he recorded his 27th save. The Twins needed all the pitching they could get, scoring only one run on offense. In Santana’s last seven starts, they have scored more than four runs only once, continuing a yearlong trend of poor run support for their ace. Despite mediocre play by the Twins recently, they are still only six games out in the division thanks to struggles by the Indians and Tigers.

2. New York, New York: Both teams from the Big Apple are red-hot, as each reached 70 wins with wins on Sunday. The Mets completed a sweep of the Nationals, while the Yankees took three out of four from the Tigers. For the Mets, Orlando Hernandez had another excellent start, while Carlos Beltran powered the offense with two homers. Beltran, who has struggled mightily since a stellar April, now has five homers in his last nine games. The Mets took advantage of a poor weekend by the Braves and Phillies in extending their division lead to five games. Meanwhile, the Yankees are now four games behind Boston after a 9-3 win on Sunday combined with a Red Sox loss. Hideki Matsui had three more RBIs, while recently acquired Wilson Betemit knocked in four runs. After the Tigers won the first game of this series on Thursday, the Yanks dominated with three wins in a row by a combined 20-6 score. Unfortunately for Detroit, they will face the Yankees four more times later this week. The Yankees’ first series with the Red Sox since June is coming up on August 28.

3. Moving up without playing: The Cubs encountered a unique situation on Sunday. Despite their game against the Cardinals on Sunday Night Baseball being rained out, they still managed to capture the lead in the NL Central division. That was due to another loss by the Brewers, who fell 7-6 to the Reds in a crazy game. Despite a poor start by ace Aaron Harang, the Reds came back thanks to homers by Adam Dunn and Brandon Phillips, as well as a go-ahead pinch-hit double by Javier Valentin. For Brewers starter Chris Capuano, it was his 16th straight start in which the Brewers lost. That is approaching the major league record of 18, set way back in 1912. Milwaukee hasn’t won in one of Capuano’s starts since May 8, when he was 5-0 with a 2.31 ERA. Since then he has lost ten decisions and his ERA has risen by three. The Brewers have given up a once-huge division thanks to a 7-20 record since July 25.

Player of the Day: Johan Santana, Twins: 8 innings, no runs, two hits, 17 strikeouts in a 1-0 win over the Rangers.

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The Full Count: Brewers going down the drain


1. Collapse of the Brewers: The Milwaukee Brewers may still lead the division, but at the rate they’re going now, it won’t be for much longer. They lost 8-0 on Thursday to the Cardinals, their fourth loss in a row. Adam Wainwright had one of his best starts of the year for St. Louis, with seven scoreless innings and eight strikeouts. Catcher Yadier Molina pounded two homers, despite coming into the game with one the entire year. The Brewers were swept by the Cardinals, who are now only 2.5 games back. The Cubs haven’t been great recently either, but they trail by only a half game. The Brewers, who have been outscored this season, are only 4-10 in August, and it’s looking like they will give up their division lead in the near future.

2. Desert Dominance: Like the Brewers, the Diamondbacks have been outscored for the season. That is where the similarities end, however. Arizona has the National League’s best record at 69-53, and is 10-4 this month. They have a three game lead over the second place Padres in the division. The D-Backs wrapped up a series win over Florida with a 5-4 victory on Thursday. It was a typical win for them–decent but not great starting pitching, hitting that just gets the job done, and great work by the bullpen. Despite their 22-10 record since the All Star break, the Diamondbacks still haven’t been great statistically in that span. They’re batting .250 with a 4.23 team ERA since the break, in fact. Sooner or later, those poor statistics will catch up with them. For now, though, the Diamondbacks appear to be on cruise control.

3. The Showdown Begins: The Tigers and Yankees hadn’t seen each other all year before Thursday, but they are scheduled to play two four game series in two weeks. The Tigers won the first battle of the majors’ two highest-scoring teams, handing the Yankees their third straight loss. Detroit’s 8-5 win was fueled by six runs in the first two innings, including a grand slam by Carlos Guillen in the first. Justin Verlander pitched well enough for his 13th win. The Tigers and Yankees now have identical 67-54 records this year, with the Tigers a half game ahead in their division and the Yankees a half game behind in the wild card. The Yanks have dropped to 5.5 games back in the division thanks to two inexcusable losses to Baltimore earlier this week.

Player of the Day: Mark DeRosa, Cubs: 5-5, 4 RBIs in a 12-4 win over Cincinnati. DeRosa was one of three Cubs to put up at least four hits in this blowout.

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The Full Count: Padding the records


1. 759 and 133: Two recently set major league records were furthered in Wednesday’s Braves-Giants game. Bobby Cox, who set the major league record for most ejections with 132 on Tuesday, got tossed again while arguing a balk call on Tim Hudson. Also, ejected in separate incidents were first baseman Ryan Klesko and manager Bruce Bochy of the Giants, both for arguing balls and strikes. There was plenty of other excitement in this one besides the ejections. Barry Bonds hit homerun #759 into the stands in right-center, remarkably close to Hank Aaron’s image along the outfield wall. The crowd at Turner Field reacted mainly with boos, though a few (including me) were applauding with respect if not admiration. As far as the actual game went, the Braves won 6-3, thanks to Hudson’s excellent pitching and a sixth-inning rally. Hudson went eight innings with three runs allowed and two questionable balk calls. He is undefeated since the All Star break, and at 14-5, is among the contenders for the NL Cy Young award. The Braves won took control of this one when they scored four runs in the sixth, as they took advantage of Russ Ortiz’s inability to throw strikes. With the win they improved to 64-56 and moved passed the Phillies into second place in the NL East.

2. Here Come the Cards: Once in last place, the St. Louis Cardinals are now inching closer to the Brewers and Cubs in the NL Central. With four wins in a row (and seven wins their last ten games), the Cards are now just 3.5 game behind the Brewers for the division lead. Their pitching staff, which has taken a beating the majority of the season, is actually the reason for their recent success. Joel Pineiro, acquired from the Red Sox earlier this month, won his second start in a row on Wednesday. Pineiro pitched seven strong innings as St. Louis topped Milwaukee 8-3. Albert Pujols hit his 25th homerun and Scott Rolen went 4-5 to power the offense. Though the Cardinals still have a losing record (57-60), if they continue this success they will be viewed as a serious contender in the NL Central.

3. Nine-run ninth: The Mets scored 5 runs in the first, 5 runs in the ninth, and nothing in between. Their win over the Pirates on Thursday still wasn’t easy. Despite leading 10-4 going into the bottom of the ninth, this game was a close call for New York. The Pirates piled on 4 runs in the bottom of the ninth off Aaron Sele, including a Jason Bay two-run double. The Mets held on for the win when Billy Wagner came in for his 28th save. New York’s ninth inning was fueled by a throwing error by Pirates pitcher Shawn Chacon. After the error they scored four runs off of five straight hits. The win was the third in a row for the Mets, who kept a 3.5 game lead in the division.

Player of the Day: Russell Martin, Dodgers: 2-4, 2 HR (14), 3 RBI in a 6-3 win over Houston.