AL East (Pee-Wee Wanninger Division):
The Orioles actually won a game. And it wasn't even close. Scott Moore hit a grand slam in the third and Baltimore beat up Daisuke Matsuzaka and the Red Sox 11-5. Matsuzaka is now 14-12. The Red Sox magic number stayed at 15.

New York pulled is now 5 1/2 games back after an 11-5 win in Kansas City. Alex Rodriguez became the first Yankee to top 50 home runs in a season since some guys named Maris and Mantle did it in 1961.

And the Yankees mathematically eliminated the Devil Rays with that win. The Rays went down fighting, scoring four times in the bottom of the ninth inning off of Jeremy Accardo of Toronto on two run homers by B.J. Upton and Delmon Young, to win 5-4.

AL Central (Vito Valentinetti Division):

Cleveland halted a brief two-game losing streak as C.C. Sabathia went the distance in a 6-1 win over the Angels in Anaheim. Sabathia is now 17-7 on the season. He needed just 103 pitches to go the route. Ervin Santana lost his 13th game. Cleveland is two games back of the Angels for the #2 slot. If they can win the final game of the series Sunday, they will tie the Angels in the season series at 5-5. Aaron Laffey will pitch for Cleveland against Jered Weaver of the Angels in the ESPN Sunday night game. Expect Joe Morgan to get excited over the Angels going from first to third on singles.

Detroit stayed 5 games back of Cleveland with a 12-6 win over Seattle. Timo Perez is 18 for 42 since being called up from Toledo. Curtis Granderson hit his 22nd triple. No player in the AL had hit 22 triples since Snuffy Stirnweiss did in 1945. The AL record for triples in a season is 26 done twice, Joe Jackson for Cleveland in 1912 and Sam Crawford for Detroit in 1914. No player in the majors has hit 23 triples in a season since Dale Mitchell of Cleveland did in 1949.

The White Sox won a slightly less wild game over the Twins. However, if the White Sox lose Sunday and the Yankees win again, they will be the second team eliminated from postseason play.

The #1 pick in the 2006 draft, Luke Hochevar, made his major league debut in the Royals game against the Yankees. He threw three scoreless innings.

Cleveland's magic number is 16.

AL West (John Montague Division):

The Angels and Mariners lost as you know. The Angels magic number is 13 and they lead Seattle by nine games.

The Rangers beat the A's in Arlington and the two teams are now even in the AILC. Except it's really not important now. Unless you are the kind of person who bet on who would finish third in the AL West. If so, please develop a more interesting compulsive behavior.

AL Wild Card (Dave Collins Division):

The Yankees magic number for clinching a playoff spot is 18. They lead the Tigers by three games and the Mariners are way off course now, five games out.

Pitching matchups for games with playoff implications (not mentioned above):
Felix Hernandez (Seattle) vs Jeremy Bonderman (Detroit), Josh Beckett (Boston) vs. Jeremy Guthrie (Baltimore), Chien-Ming Wang (New York) vs Zack Greinke (Kansas City).

NL East (Rico Brogna Division):

The Mets beat the Astros 3-1 and lowered their magic number to 16. They lead the Phillies by six games.

Philadelphia's John Ennis gave up a leadoff homer to Hanley Ramirez of the Marlins and then Florida did not score again and the Phillies won 9-1. Clay Condrey got the win in relief.

Washington played at Atlanta. Washington lowered its error total from five to three. Ryan Zimmerman dropped from three errors to just one. The Braves still won 9-2.

NL Central (Ted Savage Division):

Carlos Zambrano returned to form as the Cubs won in Pittsburgh, 5-1. Zambrano gave up just two hits in six innings, although he did walk five, giving him the NL lead in that category.

Milwaukee stayed tied for first, rallying for a 4-3 win in Cincinnati with single runs in the eighth and ninth innings. All of the Reds runs came on a second inning homer by rookie Joey Votto.

The Cardinals fell behind Arizona 3-0, then scored seven runs in the third to go ahead, and then blew the lead allowing the DBacks to score five times in the fourth, and lost 9-8. Dana Eveland got one out for the win. The DBacks used eight pitchers. The Cardinals are two games back of the Cubs and Brewers, but just one in the AILC.

NL West (Steve Finley Division):

The Padres are still two games back after eking out a 3-1 win over the Rockies in Denver. Greg Maddux didn't walk anyone in six innings of work, stretching his streak to 54 1/3 innings without a walk.

The Dodgers are 4 1/2 back as they beat the Giants 6-2.

Arizona's magic number is 19, but they will play the rest of the season without Orlando Hudson who has to have hand surgery.

NL Wild Card (Andy Ashby Division):

Even if the Braves get back in the wild card race in place of the Rockies, the division name stays the same. I plan ahead!

The Padres are 2 1/2 games ahead of the Dodgers, 3 games ahead of the Phillies, and 4 games ahead of the Rockies. The Padres magic number to clinch the wild card is 19.

Tomorrow's important pitching matchups in the NL:
Roy Oswalt (Houston) vs. Pedro Martinez (New York), Ben Sheets (Milwaukee) vs. Phil Dumatrait (Cincinnati), Steve Trachsel (Chicago) vs. Matt Morris (Pittsburgh), Dontrelle Willis (Florida) vs. Jamie Moyer (Philadelphia), Tall Chris Young (San Diego) vs Josh Fogg (Colorado), Brad Penny (Los Angeles) vs Matt Cain (San Francisco), Brad Thompson (St. Louis) vs Doug Davis (Arizona).