COMMENTARY
This is the time of year when the cream rises…Rick Wynne’s Dodgers went 6-0…Mark Druyos’ DBacks were 5-2…the division is surely sewn up since the Dodgers are up by a full 17 games — which is by itself worth mentioning — but Marks’ club had the 2nd-best record in the NL this week and he’s in a 4-team shootout along with the Brewers, Giants, and Padres for the last wildcard spot…wildcard teams win World Series, and getting into the playoffs is the priority right now…back in the NL East the Braves and Phillies are on cruise control, but both are sitting in very safe playoff positions…neither team had a week to write home about, but the Padres picked up a few games on the Giants and are only 3 back of Arizona for the last wildcard spot…Tampa Bay righted the ship and ran the table for a perfect week, staying comfortably ahead of Johnny Mac’s Jays, even though they went 4-1…while the actual Yankees collapse, Mark Yee posted a winning week…the Twins have the biggest lead in the AL but the Royals and Guardians each had 4 wins…Leo does not have to fire either his club President or his GM since he’s 7 games ahead of the actual Chisox…Houston picked up 2 games in the AL West to move under 3 games behind the Rangers…Jim Casey can thank Chris Zewiske, since the Brewers swept the Rangers on the road to open the space…both the NL East and AL West have real, live divisional races where the Braves and Rangers lead the Phillies and Astros by 2.5 each…Oakland went 5-1 and the most entertaining race may be the Wins Over Reality standings, where the Athletics are tied with the Royals at +18 a piece…in the midwest show downs, the Chisox and Cleveland each took 2 from the Cubs…FIVE weeks left with the season ending on Oct 1…October 5 lineup will play the last 4 games of the season out…Good luck to everyone down the stretch! Remember that the spoiler lineups are as important as the contenders in determining how the season ends!
FEATS AND FAILURES
- Ji Hwan Bae (Pittsburgh) stole 3 bases (on 8/15/2023 against New York (NYM))
- Mickey Moniak (Anaheim) struck out 4 times (on 8/15/2023 against Texas)
- Jeremy Pena (Kansas City) hit 6 RBI (on 8/16/2023 against Seattle)
- Spencer Strider (Tampa Bay) struck out 11 batters (on 8/16/2023 against San Francisco)
- Elehuris Montero (St. Louis) struck out 4 times (on 8/17/2023 against New York (NYM))
- Clayton Kershaw (New York (NYM)) struck out 11 batters (on 8/17/2023 against St. Louis)
- Hunter Renfroe (Anaheim) struck out 4 times (on 8/18/2023 against Tampa Bay)
- Logan Webb (Toronto) struck out 11 batters (on 8/19/2023 against Cincinnati)
- Matt McLain (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 8/19/2023 against Toronto)
- Pete Alonso (Oakland) hit 3 homers (on 8/19/2023 against Baltimore)
- Christian Yelich (Milwaukee) had 5 hits (on 8/19/2023 against Texas)
- Drew Waters (Kansas City) struck out 4 times (on 8/20/2023 against Chicago (CC))
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