AL Central (Vito Valentinetti Division):

Cleveland's winning streak was snapped at eight by the White Sox and Jose Contreras. The White Sox won 8-0 and picked up 18 hits. It was the first time this season that the White Sox got 18 hits in a game AND won. They got 18 hits in a 20-14 loss to the Twins on July 6.

The Tigers looked to have a chance to pick up ground on Cleveland as well as in the wild card after getting a 7-0 lead after 4 1/2 innings in Oakland, but the A's rallied and tied it up in the ninth on a 2-run homer by Kurt Suzuki and then in the 10th Jack Hannahan singled in the winning run off of Yorman Bazardo to lose 8-7. Can I type that name again? Yorman Bazardo.

Kansas City and Minnesota played. Somebody won. Let's see.... Royals 8, Twins 1. The Twins are hosting Cleveland tomorrow. Detroit has the day off and rests up for a series at home against the White Sox starting Tuesday. The Tigers and White Sox are the only two teams not playing on Labor Day.

AL East (Pee-Wee Wanninger Division):

Boston's lead is back up to six games after beating the Orioles, 3-2. The O's have lost 11 of 12 and the only game they won in that stretch was 9-8 over Boston Friday and the Red Sox had the tying and winning runs on base when the game ended. In the meantime, they have had a game where they have given up 30 runs and also been no-hit by a rookie. Other than that, things are going well in Charm City.

Tampa Bay beat the Yankees, 8-2, but still were eliminated from winning the division. But if the Rays can win 25 straight, they would both tie the major league record for consecutive wins and finish .500.

The Rays host Baltimore Monday. I'll be watching.

AL West (John Montague Division):

The Rangers tried to give away their 8-5 lead in the 9th to the Angels, but couldn't do it and won 8-7. Texas felt at home in Anaheim as the gametime temperature was 97 degrees. But it's a wet heat. (It's 93 in South Pasadena as I type this close to 10 pm).

Seattle lost its 9th straight game. The team record is 14 and that was back in 1992. The losing pitchers in that streak: Tim Leary, Dave Fleming, Russ Swan, Mike Schooler, Leary again, Calvin Jones, Fleming again, Randy Johnson, Jeff Nelson, Leary for the third time, Erik Hanson, Fleming for the third time, Jones for the second time, and Brian Fisher.

Oakland won. See above. YORMAN BAZARDO!

AL Wild Card (Dave Collins Division):

The status quo held as the Yankees remained two games ahead of Seattle and three up on Detroit. Seattle will be in the Bronx for three games and tomorrow afternoon's game matches Felix Hernandez and Roger Clemens.

NL East (Rico Brogna Division):

The Mets made the Braves irrelevant for the rest of the year as they finished a 3-game sweep in Atlanta with a 3-2 win.

The Phillies fell to four games back when they blew a 5-0 lead and the Marlins won at home 7-6. The Fish hit five home runs in the game, tying a franchise high from last year on September 11 against the Mets.

The Phillies will play three at Atlanta starting Monday. The Mets go to Cincinnati for three. Some pitcher with a 0-0 record named Martinez is supposed to start for New York.

But the eyes of America will be on DC where the Fish and Nats will play three games that may go a long way to deciding who will get a higher draft pick that they will have trouble signing next year because they don't have a lot of money. Both teams still are tied for the worst record in the NL.

NL Central (Ted Savage Division):

The NL Central is on fire! The top three teams all won and now there are three teams ABOVE .500 in the division for the first time since April 20.

Milwaukee and St. Louis stay in the division, hosting Houston and Pittsburgh, respectively. The first place Cubs start a four-game series against Los Angeles at Wrigley.
Pittsburgh has slipped behind Washington and Florida for worst record in the NL.

NL West (Steve Finley Division):

The top two teams, San Diego and Arizona lost, to the number three and four teams, Los Angeles and Colorado. The Padres lead the division by .001 and surrendered the top spot in the NL to the Mets.

Someone will lead the division by one game after tomorrow as San Diego starts a three-game series in Arizona, the last meeting of the season for these two teams. The pitching matchups will be Greg Maddux versus Mashing Micah Owings, Tall Chris Young versus Anti-Mashing Doug Davis, and then Jack Cassel against Livan Hernandez.

The Dodgers will be in Chicago for four games. The Rockies will host the Giants for three games.

NL Wild Card (No Name Division):

There has never been a player who has played for the Dodgers, Rockies, Phillies, and Diamondbacks. Players who have played three of the four include: Bobby Estalella, Scott Service, Craig Counsell, Elmer Dessens, Steve Finley, Lenny Harris, Matt Herges, Darren Holmes, Dennys Reyes, Brent Mayne, Omar Daal, Felix Rodriguez, Terry Mulholland, Andy Ashby, Milt Thompson, Jose Hernandez, and Todd Zeile.