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Jeff Haynes/Reuters - Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval enjoys a moment of quiet reflection after booting a seventh-inning grounder in Game 4 of the NLCS in St. Louis.

By Barry Svrluga, Published: October 18

ST. LOUIS — There was a time when Tim Lincecum’s mere appearance on a mound brought a peaceful excitement to fans of the San Francisco Giants. He was an oddball, but he was their oddball. He threw baseballs by hitters and won games with such regularity it seemed to be a relationship that was just beginning, one that would prosper for years... read more

Matt Carpenter slides past the plate as he is safe as Giants catcher Hector Sanchez dropped the ball in the fifth inning.

By Andy Martino Tim Lincecum, a puzzle all season for the Giants, allowed four runs in 4.2 innings and once again appearing diminished. Matt Holliday, Yadier Molina and Jon Jay all drove in multiple runs.

CARDINALS 8, GIANTS 3

ST. LOUIS — Let’s play a game called Name That Year. Here’s the setup. Carlos Beltran limps down the dugout steps, having just delivered an update on his sore knee. It’s improving, Beltran says, and he can pinch-hit tonight, but probably not play the outfield... read more

• The Giants' Bruce Bochy is in his 18th season as a major-league manager after spending nine seasons as a backup catcher. Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle / SF

By Bruce Jenkins

When last observed in the land of kayaks and moving masts, the Giants had reached the brink of humiliation - and it felt like elimination.

Anxious fans sat mostly in silence through a two-day festival of nothing. We know AT&T isn't a hitters' park, but that was ridiculous.

The Cincinnati Reds didn't seem to mind, laying waste to the countryside, but something came over the Giants upon their arrival at Great American Ball Park... read more

By Houston Mitchell

October 12, 2012, 12:30 p.m.

Wow. Alex Rodriguez will start the New York Yankees' biggest game of the year on the bench. Eric Chavez will start for the Yankees in the decisive Game 5 of their AL division series with the Baltimore Orioles.

Rodriguez is two for 16 with nine strikeouts in the series. With runners on second and third and one out in the eighth inning of a 1-1 game Thursday night, he struck out against Darren O'Day. Baltimore went on to win 2-1 in 13 innings.

"I think he's just going through a difficult time," Yankees Manager Joe Girardi said... read more

Detroit Tigers' Justin Verlander (35) is drenched with sparkling wine by teammates at the end of Game 5 of during the American League division baseball series in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) (AP2012)

OAKLAND, Calif. –  The Detroit Tigers are headed to the AL championship series for a second straight year after a 6-0 victory over the surprising Oakland Athletics Thursday night, thanks to a dominant performance by their star pitcher Justin Verlander.

Miguel Cabrera danced on a chair in one corner of the visiting clubhouse, puffing a cigar... read more

By JANIE McCAULEY (AP Baseball Writer) | The Associated Press – 5 hours ago

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Dusty Baker walked down the hallway in his former ballpark to cheers from Giants fans. He smiled, waved hello, offered handshakes, high-fives and hugs - even a few hang loose signs.

Baker is still beloved in the Bay Area 10 years after managing the Giants within six outs of a World Series title before falling short. That didn't change even after his Cincinnati Reds routed San Francisco 9-0 on Sunday night for a commanding 2-0 lead in their NL division series... read more

By R.B. FALLSTROM (AP Sports Writer) | The Associated Press – 13 hours ago

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Rookies in the postseason, the Washington Nationals played like poised veterans.

The Nationals escaped a bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning, Tyler Moore blooped a two-out, two-run single in the eighth and Washington beat the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 Sunday in an NL playoff opener.

They have just four players with postseason experience on the roster. But they have the lead.

''Not many people have probably watched too many Nationals games, but we have a great starting rotation and a great bullpen,'' said Ian Desmond, who singled for his third hit in the go-ahead rally... read more

By Zack Meisel / MLB.com

 

The beauty of baseball is that history can happen in unexpected places and at surprising times. Take a non-descript Wednesday afternoon in August, when Mariners right-hander Felix Hernandez threw the 23rd perfect game in Major League history.

The news was quick to spread around the league. Commissioner Bud Selig, who was in and out of meetings among Major League owners in Denver on Wednesday, caught a glimpse of Hernandez on television and couldn't turn away.

"Once we got to the sixth or seventh inning, I wasn't leaving," Selig said... read more

Steve Aaron

St. Louis Cardinals Triple-A first baseman Matt Adams undergoes right elbow surgery – MLB News

The St. Louis Cardinals were met with shocking news on Tuesday, August 14, of Triple-A first baseman Matt Adams’ season-ending surgery on his right elbow. Adams was expected to be part of the Cardinals’ line-up in September.

The surgery to remove bone spurs, nonetheless, proved decisive and led to the end of any chance that Adams would be part of the Major League team once again this year.

Cardinals which have recently witnessed some improvement – after weeks of unimpressive performance, will definitely benefit by the arrival of this young talent... read more

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH -- Chad Billingsley can't put a finger on why he's been pitching so much better since a stint on the disabled list that spanned the All-Star break.

Dodgers teammate Hanley Ramirez has a theory, though.

"I was thinking about that today," said Ramirez, who acquired in a trade two days after Billingsley began his streak of five consecutive wins on July 23. "I think maybe I am good luck."

Billingsley pitched eight dominant innings and Los Angeles won for the fifth time in six games, routing the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-0 Tuesday night... read more

Written by John Fay The Cincinnati Enquirer

CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Reds figured something had to give eventually Tuesday.

They had, after all, filled the bases with runners for eight innings. They were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded 14.

But in the ninth inning, Jay Bruce cleared the bases with a three-run, walk-off home run to lift the Reds past the New York Mets 3-0 before a crowd of 26,113 at Great American Ball Park.

"You keep putting them out there, sooner or later somebody's going to score," Reds manager Dusty Baker said... read more

Associated Press

CHICAGO -- David DeJesus has been haunted all season by unfavorable winds at Wrigley Field.

He got the best of the Friendly Confines on Wednesday.

DeJesus hit two home runs, Justin Germano breezed through six innings and the Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros 7-2 to win the three-game series.

Asked how many home runs he thinks he's missed out on this year, DeJesus, who now has four on the season, couldn't help but grin.

"The other day when I hit one against Bronson (Arroyo) and it was caught at the wall, I came running in and (manager Dale Sveum) was like, 'You should have at least 10 right now,'" DeJesus said... read more

CHARLES ODUM, AP Sports Writer

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves hope they're seeing the start of another second-half hot streak byDan Uggla.

Uggla's three-run homer in the third inning gave Atlanta the lead and Paul Maholm threw seven strong innings to lead the Braves to a 6-1 win over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night.

The Braves remained 4½ games behind NL East-leading Washington, which earned a 6-4 win at San Francisco.

Uggla is hitting only .215 but has homers in two straight games, giving him 15 for the season. He is hitting ... read more

By T.R. Sullivan / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- Ryan Dempster had a simple explanation for what he needs to do better.

"You've got to execute pitches," Dempster said. "It's that simple. I have to do a better job of it."

Dempster was doing a superb job of that for two innings on Monday night, retiring six straight hitters on just 25 pitches while his offensive teammates staked him to a two-run lead. Then the Yankees scored five runs in the third inning and went on to an 8-2 victory at Yankee Stadium.

Nick Swisher's grand slam was the big hit in the third, and it's the first time that Dempster has allowed five runs in an inning this season... read more

By Lyle Spencer / MLB.com 

According to Baseball-Reference.com, here is your current WAR (wins above replacement players) leader board among American League position players:

1. Mike Trout, 7.6 2. Robinson Cano, 5.53. Miguel Cabrera, 5.04. Josh Reddick, 4.35. Austin Jackson, 4.1

No, that's not a clerical mistake. It's the right Josh -- Reddick, not Hamilton.

What this category of statistical analysis, evaluating both offense and defense, informs us is that only three position players in the AL are more irreplaceable than the right fielder of the Oakland Athletics... read more

By Andrew Simon / MLB.com

The rotation Zack Greinke was supposed to solidify after his July 27 trade from the Brewers to the Angels instead has crumbled in August.

The month's first nine starts made by someone other than Jered Weaver resulted in a 6.88 ERA, and Greinke hasn't made the impact the Angels envisioned, going 0-1 with a 5.68 ERA for his new team. Manager Mike Scioscia is surprised by his rotation's performance, not just since Greinke's arrival, but since Opening Day.

"I don't think you have to go back to the Greinke trade. I think if we were talking about this in Spring Training, we'd be surprised to see some of the numbers that would project our rotation to have," said Scioscia, whose starters carried a 4... read more

By Alex Angert / MLB.com

Tuesday's matchup of Chad Billingsley vs. Kevin Correia would have seemed like a dud not too long ago. However, after rough starts to 2012, both pitchers have turned things around and enter the second game of this four-game set on their own respective winning streaks.

After being reassigned to the bullpen in July, Correia is making his second spot start on Tuesday as the Pirates reshuffle their rotation in the midst of a stretch of playing 20 straight games.

Correia began the season 1-5 with a 4.50 ERA, but he has won a career-best seven straight decisions... read more

By Rhett Bollinger / MLB.com

MINNEAPOLIS -- Samuel Deduno has been described as effectively wild seemingly all season, but with the way things have gone in seven starts, it might be more apt to describe the rookie right-hander as wildly effective.

Deduno has been a nice surprise for the Twins, and it was again the case against the Tigers on Monday night. Deduno tossed seven-plus strong innings, and Darin Mastroianni and Ryan Doumit each drove in three runs to help lead the Twins to a 9-3 win at Target Field.

Deduno had trouble with his control yet again -- walking five -- but gave up three runs on five hits with six strikeouts while pitching into the eighth inning for the first time in his career... read more

Reuters

The Colorado Rockies host the Milwaukee Brewers for a three-game series in a matchup of disappointing teams. Colorado is a major league-worst 21-37 at home, while Milwaukee had lost 11 straight on the road prior to their 5-3 victory at Houston on Sunday. The bullpens have contributed greatly to the teams being a combined 36 1/2 games out of first place. The Brewers lead baseball with 22 blown saves while the Rockies, whose home ERA of 6.13 in the highest in the majors by more than a run, are next with 20. Colorado, though, leads the majors by scoring 5.7 runs per game at home... read more

By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com

MIAMI -- Three times previously the Marlins had gotten the best of Cole Hamels this season.

They couldn't make it four.

Hamels threw a seven-hit shutout and gained a measure of revenge as the Phillies cruised to a 4-0 victory in front of 23,309 on Monday at Marlins Park.

Miami had beaten the All-Star left-hander three times this season, and his ERA in those games was 5.21. The Marlins had also defeated the Phillies in five consecutive games.

But in the series opener, Hamels was in control, striking out five on his way to his second straight shutout victory... read more

By Josh Liebeskind / MLB.com

SEATTLE -- Blake Beavan was terrific on the mound for five of his six innings on Monday night. Unfortunately, neither he, nor the 16,205 at Safeco Field, could erase the one disastrous inning.

The Mariners offense was unable to bail out Beavan after he allowed four runs in a laborious third inning, as they dropped the opener of a three-game set with the Rays, 4-1. The loss snapped the Mariners' seven-game home win streak and Beavan's personal four-game win streak.

After Beavan retired the first batter of the third, the Rays put together five consecutive hits... read more

By Gregor Chisholm / MLB.com

TORONTO -- Steve Delabar is now the proud owner of a unique feat in Major League history.

Toronto's right-hander became the first pitcher to record four strikeouts in one frame during extra innings. Along with that, he also became the first pitcher in franchise history to strike out four batters in one inning.

It's a rare accomplishment and while it won't necessarily come with a lot of notoriety, Delabar does have something to call his own.

"I guess there are all kinds of different records out there that guys can set and I'm just privileged to be part of it," Delabar said after picking up the win in Toronto's 3-2, 11-inning victory over the White Sox on Monday night... read more

AP

PHILADELPHIA — Juan Pierre beat out a run-scoring infield single in the 11th inning, lifting the Philadelphia Phillies to an 8-7 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.

Jimmy Rollins reached against Barret Browning (0-2) on a fielder's choice. He advanced to second base on a grounder and then stole third.

Pierre hit one deep into the hole that shortstop Rafael Furcal made a great stab at and fired to first. Pierre just beat the throw to score Rollins and help the Phillies win two of three against the Cardinals.

Philadelphia's Erik Kratz hit a three-run homer off Mitchell Boggs in the eighth that tied the game 7-all... read more

By WILL GRAVES, AP Sports Writer

PITTSBURGH (AP) — No matter what uniform he's wearing, Shane Victorino always gives the Pittsburgh Pirates trouble.

The newly acquired outfielder hit his first homer in Dodger blue and drove in three runs to lift Los Angeles to a 5-4 victory on Monday night.

Picked up from Philadelphia at the trade deadline to give the Dodgers an experienced bat as they try to make it back to the postseason for the first time in three years, Victorino was his usual pesky self at the top of the lineup as Los Angeles drew within 1½ games of the Pirates for one of the two National League wild card spots... read more

Jeff Gray

The Cincinnati Reds completed their seven-game road trip with a victory Sunday as Johnny Cueto pitched 8 innings of shutout baseball to move his record to a league leading 15 wins to go with 6 defeats.  The Reds defeated the Chicago Cubs, 3-0.

Cueto allowed only 3 hits and struck out 3 en-route to the victory. It was the third win in a row for the Reds, who broke a season high five-game losing streak while in Chicago. The win kept the Reds (69-46) four-and-a-half games ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the division.

The Reds were lead by Jay Bruce, who had a two-run homer in the 5th inning, and by Ryan Ludwick, who had a solo shot in the 6th... read more

By Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune reporter

The cool weather, thousands of empty seats and two teams on the road to nowhere lent an end-of-summer vibe to Wrigley Field on Monday night.The Cubs are playing out the string before the end of August for the third straight year, and the smallest crowd of the season — 31,452 — showed up to watch a 7-1 win over the Astros.Jeff Samardzija pitched seven strong innings, allowing one run on four hits and tying a career high with 11 strikeouts to snap a personal two-game losing streak.Samardzija wasn't counting, but Matt Garza came up to him afterward and said: "You can't get that elusive 12 (strikeouts)... read more

By CHARLES ODUMAP Sports Writer

ATLANTA - The members of Atlanta's new six-man rotation have about two weeks to show they deserve to remain starters.

Enlarge

Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones (10) throws after fielding a ground ball by San Diego Padres' Alexi Amarista in the first inning of a baseball game, Monday, Aug. 13, 2012, in Atlanta. The Padres won 4-1. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Manager Fredi Gonzalez said Mike Minor's loss to the Padres is not a mark against the left-hander's hopes of staying in the rotation.

Minor gave up three runs in six innings but had too little support as San Diego's Eric Stults combined with two relievers on a five-hitter to lead the Padres to a 4-1 win over the Braves on Monday night... read more

By  Stephen Skinner

On July 24th, Alex Rodriguez was struck by a Felix Hernandez pitch and suffered a broken hand.  Since then, the New York Yankees have gone 6-7.  Has the aging third baseman's importance to the team been underestimated?

Looking at the statistics, one would think that the Yankees haven't missed a beat at the plate since "A-Rod" was hurt.  The team is hitting .286 in his absence—a very decent team average.  In eight of the 13 games without Rodriguez, the team has 10 or more hits, and the club has scored 75 runs—an average of 5... read more

Associated Press

Mat Latos was dominant for seven innings. Then the Reds just couldn't catch a break in eighth.

Ryan Braun snapped a 0-for-18 slump with a two-out RBI double in the eighth inning, lifting the Milwaukee Brewers to a three-game sweep with a 3-2 win Wednesday over the Reds.

"That's a tough one to lose right there, especially when they have to get two two-out hits to win," Reds manager Dusty Baker said.

But that's just what the Brewers did against Jonathan Broxton (1-1), who started the eighth in relief of Latos.

With the Reds leading 2-1, Broxton quickly retired the first two batters before an infield single by Norichka Aoki... read more

By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- Time away doesn't seem to have messed with Giancarlo Stanton's timing.

Stanton blasted a pair of two-run homers, and he finished 4-for-5 with four RBIs to help power the Marlins to a 13-0 win over the Mets on Wednesday night at Citi Field.

In his second game back after spending a month on the disabled list, Stanton made his impact felt. Jose Reyes added a home run, extending his hitting streak to 26 games, the longest in the Majors this year.

"Last year, I had the opportunity to see him play from the other side," Reyes, formerly with the Mets, said of Stanton... read more

By Scott Merkin / MLB.com

CHICAGO -- There's no reason to demean Jeremy Guthrie's pitching ability in order to emphasize the White Sox lack of offense during their 2-1 loss to the Royals Wednesday night before 25,151 at U.S. Cellular Field.

But the statistical truths are hard to overlook.

Guthrie entered this series finale with a 0-9 record and 7.43 ERA over his last 14 games. There were eight starts on Guthrie's 2012 ledger where he allowed at least five earned runs or more.

On this night, though, Guthrie (1-3) looked like Justin Verlander to the White Sox (60-50)... read more

By Joe McIntyre / MLB.com

Angels starter Ervin Santana has been pitching on thin ice for most of this season, but after two not-so-bad starts, he remains in the rotation.

With their off-day on Thursday, Santana was a candidate to have his spot in the Angels' rotation skipped without any other starters having to throw on short rest. But for the time being, he'll keep his spot for a start on Friday, when the Halos face Felix Hernandez and the Mariners.

Santana is having a down year in 2012, and that's putting it lightly. He's 5-10 with a 5.83 ERA in 21 starts. If the season were to end today, those numbers would be the worst of the right-hander's eight-year career... read more

By Gregor Chisholm / MLB.com

ST. PETERSBURG -- Carlos Villanueva has dealt with more than his fair share of adversity in the past couple of weeks, but he didn't let it show on Wednesday night.

The veteran right-hander made his return to the Blue Jays rotation following a brief absence due to a family member's illness and picked up right where he left off.

Villanueva had just one bad inning, but with the Blue Jays offense continuing to struggle, that was all it took to end up on the losing end of a 3-2 game to the Rays at Tropicana Field.

"It was a game that stayed close until the end," said Villanueva, whose team has now lost 14 of its past 18 games to Tampa Bay dating back to 2011... read more

By James Walker / MLB.com 

The Orioles have tenaciously hung in the race for a spot in the American League playoffs and rookie left-hander Wei-Yin Chen has stepped forward to become their most consistent starter.

The Royals are coping with the difficulties that come with having the worst record in the American League, but they have hopes that their own young left-hander, Will Smith, can soon do some of the things Chen has accomplished for the Orioles.

The two left-handers will oppose each other on the mound Thursday in the first game of a four-game series at Oriole Park at Camden Yards... read more

CBSSports.com wire reports

ST. LOUIS -- The San Francisco Giants have had a reputation as a team with good pitching and light hitting.

After Marco Scutaro's grand slam and career-high seven RBI helped the Giants paste the St. Louis Cardinals 15-0 Wednesday night, that may be changing.

The Giants have scored 56 runs on the first six games of their seven-game trip. San Francisco leads the NL with an average of 5.17 runs per game on the road.

"You see this lineup, and I don't see any reason why we can't continue doing that," said Scutaro, who had the most RBI in a game for the Giants since Jeff Kent had seven on May 1, 2001... read more

Last season, the Pittsburgh Pirates flirted with contention before fading badly, again.

This season, they are legitimate threats. Don't expect them to simply move out of the Cardinals' way in the National League Central or the wild card race.

The Pirates have the likely NL MVP in Andrew McCutchen. They have the pitching to hang around. Their starting rotation features a surprise “stopper” in A.J. Burnett.

In the last 17 games started by Burnett (14-3, 3.19 earned-run average overall), the Pirates have won 16 times. He beat the streaking Reds 6-2 Sunday, helping Pittsburgh move back within 4½ games of division-leading Cincinnati... read more

Houston, TX –  Gio Gonzalez threw the second complete game of his career and hit his first major league home run to help the Washington Nationals take a 4-3 win against the Houston Astros in the third portion of a four-game series.

Gonzalez (14-6) gave up three runs on nine hits with two walks and seven strikeouts and hit a two-run home run in the second inning for the Nationals, who have won five straight.

"Gio couldn't have been any better. He pitched an outstanding ballgame," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said of his starter.

Ryan Zimmerman added two hits and a run scored... read more

Written by John Fay

MILWAUKEE — The baseball gods are suddenly against the Reds. The balls are falling in for hits or the other side. When a play has got to be made, the opposition makes it.

Wednesday's 3-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Reds' fourth straight, was clinic in that. The Reds came up a couple inches short three or four times in the Brewers' two-run eighth.

Afterward, the Reds were feeling frustration, not alarm."The good thing about baseball is there's always another game tomorrow," said reliever Jonathan Broxton, who took the loss. "We'll be back out there... read more

By Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune reporter

9:51 p.m. CDT, August 8, 2012

SAN DIEGO — After being shut out 2-0 by the Padres on Wednesday to finish 0-6 on their West Coast trip and extend their losing streak to eight games, the new-look Cubs return to Wrigley Field Thursday night to face the first-place Reds.For former first-round draft pick Brett Jackson, his first trip to Wrigley since signing with the Cubs in the summer of 2009 will be special."A lot of excitement and anticipation," Jackson said. "It's going to be a whole new debut. Can't be a better place to play than in front of fans like that... read more

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Dan Uggla got the big hit that can bust a slump.

Uggla hit a tiebreaking three-run double in the seventh after Tim Hudson blew a five-run lead and the Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 12-6 Wednesday night.

Ryan Howard's three-run homer off Hudson during a five-run fifth tied it at 6, but the wild card-leading Braves scored four runs after Antonio Bastardo (2-4) got the first two outs in the seventh.

• BOX SCORE: Braves 12, Phillies 6

Michael Bourn had three hits, including a two-run homer, and drove in three, and Uggla also had three hits... read more

By  Christopher Connors

The New York Yankees are 63-46 and four-and-a-half games up on the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East. One-third of the season remains (53 games), and it would take a monumental collapse for the Yankees to squander their lead in the division, much less miss the postseason altogether.

Then why is there such a sense of urgency that this team needs to right the ship, and quickly?

The Yankees are 6-12 since July 19th and are looking a bit wobbly entering the dog days of summer. The Yankees have shown that they can have big scoring nights, producing a 12-run performance against Baltimore last week and a couple of six-run outputs in wins over Seattle last weekend... read more

By Tom Green / MLB.com

A lot of talk entering the Marlins' three-game set against the Mets focused on Miami shortstop Jose Reyes -- and for good reason.

The former Mets star was returning to his old stomping grounds at Citi Field for the second time since signing with the Marlins in the offseason, and he has also been one of the hottest hitters in the Majors. In Tuesday's series opener, Reyes extended his career-best hitting streak, which is also the longest in the Majors this season, to 25 games.

While the spotlight has been on Reyes, the man who replaced him in the Mets' infield, Ruben Tejada, has been on a bit of a tear himself... read more

By Alex Angert / MLB.com

LOS ANGELES -- In the midst of a division race with the Giants, the Dodgers were presented with six straight games against two of the National League's worst teams. After taking care of business through the first three of those games against the Cubs, Los Angeles has run into trouble against the even-worse Rockies.

In front of a sold-out home crowd Tuesday, the Dodgers managed just four hits en route to a 3-1 defeat for their fourth loss in the last five games against the Rockies.

"In a series, you never know what is going to happen," Dodgers manger Don Mattingly said... read more

By Matthew Leach | Archive

NEW YORK -- Giancarlo Stanton caught himself fairly quickly, though not quite immediately. With more than eight weeks remaining in the Miami Marlins' season, the slugger realized he was talking about the 2012 season in the past tense.

The campaign began with the highest preseason hopes this young franchise has had. Now with eight weeks of games still to play, Stanton had to stop himself from talking about it as though October had already come and gone with the Marlins nowhere to be seen.

Stanton sat out a full month due to a knee injury, returning on Tuesday night in a 4-2 win against the Mets... read more

By Scott Merkin / MLB.com

CHICAGO -- The Detroit Tigers survived a treacherously shaky ninth inning from closer Jose Valverde on Tuesday night to beat the Yankees, a victory that was completed about 15 minutes before the Royals toppled the White Sox, 5-2, in front of 27,194 at U.S. Cellular Field.

White Sox losing pitcher Jake Peavy (9-8) really didn't seem overly concerned with the Tigers' results after the White Sox (60-49) lost for the 14th time in their last 23 contests against the Royals (46-63). It was more about his team's shortcomings on this perfect Chicago evening.

"I did not see the scoreboard tonight... read more

By Dennis Manoloff

As the Indians continued to pile up losses late last week, conventional wisdom held that they would win again.

Anyone who watched Tuesday night's game at Progressive Field has a right to wonder.

Somehow, some way, the Indians lost another one.

The Twins scored three in the seventh inning and three in the ninth for a positively ridiculous 7-5 victory at Progressive Field.

The Tribe (50-60) has dropped 11 in a row. It is the franchise's longest losing streak since an 11-gamer in September 2009 and one shy of the club record, set in May 1931... read more

By Chris Toman / MLB.com

Pitching has been the key to the Rays' success this season, and they have stepped it up a notch since the All-Star break, sporting the best team ERA in the Majors over that stretch.

Right-hander James Shields was solid in Tuesday's series opener against the Blue Jays -- going eight strong innings for his 10th win in the Rays' 4-1 victory.

Right-hander Alex Cobb will look to duplicate that performance on Wednesday when the American League East rivals continue their three-game set at Tropicana Field.

Tampa Bay's offense also clicked into gear as it snapped a 22-inning scoreless drought with a Sean Rodriguez RBI single in the second inning of Tuesday's win... read more

By Brittany Ghiroli / MLB.com

BALTIMORE -- You can pore over statistics about this Orioles team -- the negative run differential, the alarming rate of errors and the all-too-frequent short starts -- and it won't do you a bit of good.

Because there's only one number Baltimore cares about and it's in the win column, a total fast approaching unbelievable proportions, particularly when you get past another number: nine.

Yes, these plucky O's did it again Tuesday night, rallying from an early five-run deficit for the second time in a week to pull off their Major League-leading 12th consecutive extra-innings win... read more

The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS — Buster Posey continued his second-half tear with a three-run homer, Barry Zito pitched 6 2-3 innings of two-run ball and the San Francisco Giants defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 Tuesday night.

Posey leads the major leagues with a .448 batting average and 30 RBIs since the All-Star break, including 12 in his last six games. Posey has an 11-game hitting streak, batting .431 (19 for 44) during the stretch

Joaquin Arias drove in the Giants' other run with an RBI double. Melky Cabrera also doubled for San Francisco, giving him a big league leading 152 hits... read more

By KRISTIE RIEKEN — AP Sports Writer

HOUSTON — Danny Espinosa hit a two-run homer early, and his RBI single in the 12th inning lifted the Washington Nationals to a 3-2 win over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.

Michael Morse was 0 for 4 when he doubled to start the 12th inning and extend his career-high hitting streak to 16 games. He was replaced by pinch-runner Cesar Izturis, who was making his first appearance for Washington after being claimed off waivers from Milwaukee on Monday.

Roger Bernadina advanced Izturis to third with a sacrifice bunt... read more