Verlander is doing quite well with a 10-4 record and a 3.13 ERA. Kenny Rogers is also doing good as well. It also helps that the Tigers can hit very well. They really have nothing to worry about right now.

Wild Card is coming from the Central, that's almost for damn sure.

Hopefully it's the Yankees that gets left out.

Agree. I can't stand the (damn) Yankees.

Yes, Angels are now only 2 games behind the Oakland A's. There is still hope for the halo team.

All-Star Lineups

AMERICAN LEAGUE

1. Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners,
2. Derek Jeter, Yankees, SS
3. David Ortiz, Red Sox, 1B
4. Alex Rodriguez, Yankees, 3B
5. Vladimir Guerrero, Angels, LF
6. Ivan Rodriguez, Tigers, C
7. Vernon Wells, Blue Jays, CF
8. Mark Loretta, Red Sox, 2B
9. Kenny Rogers, Tigers, P

NATIONAL LEAGUE

1. Alfonso Soriano, Nationals, LF
2. Carlos Beltran, Mets, CF
3. Albert Pujols, Cardinals, 1B
4. Jason Bay, Pirates, RF
5. Edgar Renteria, Braves, SS
6. David Wright, Mets, 3B
7. Chase Utley, Phillies, 2B
8. Paul Lo Duca, Mets, C
9. Brad Penny, Dodgers, P

STARTERS

Kenny Rogers - 11-3 3.85 ERA
Brad Penny - 10-2 2.91 ERA

I don't see how the National League wins this game. The only way I see them winning is if Rogers has a really bad day.

Good trade for the Yanks........on paper, today as they traded four minor league prospects to the Philadelphia Phillies for RF Bobby Abreu and SP Cory Lidle. On paper it's a great trade because Lidle gives them a somewhat steady number three guy, and Abreu should stop the "bleeding" in right. He should also add some pop from the fifth slot. That saying though, his power numbers are down this year even though he played in a very hitter's friendly park in Philly. There's the short porch in right in Yankee Stadium, but you didn't exactly need to crank one out to right in Philly.

As for Cory Lidle, will he be a decent number three man, or will he be the next Carl Pavano/Jaret Wright? If it ends up being somewhere in the middle, that definetly won't be good enough to put the Yanks over the top. Even with the trade, the Yankees haven't improved to the same level as the White Sox or the Tigers.

Well the Jays aren't gonna make it this year, unfortunatley. Hopefully we can build on this good season though, maybe add some pitching, and then contend again in the next.

Lidle is gonna be our #5 starter. Moose, Johnson, Wang, Wright, Lidle is most likely gonna be the rotation now. Abreu might bat 3 or 5 in the lineup. The way Giambi's been going lately Torre might want to put Abreu in the 3 spot since he gets on more often.

sox have manny and especially big papi, which as evidenced monday night, is all you need.

Lidle looked pretty good in his first start as a Yankee. Six innings, one run. The offense has been playing some inspired baseball since the acquisition of Abreu. If Johnson can get his shit together the Yanks will be set for the 5 games in Boston.

Tigers are awesome.

Red Sox will win their division.

Yankees won't make the playoffs.

well, Cleveland strikes again. And people wonder why we're so cynical.

Grats to the Tigers though, who saw that coming?

This season has been aggrivating.

The White Sox supposed great starting 5 have all, except for one, been as good as a 5th starter. Since Contreras' injury, he hasn't been nearly as good and is in danger of going over 4.0 ERA, which would mean that none of our starters would be under 4 .0, and that's sad for a contender.

Squee the White Sox fucking scared me tonight. Those guys never give up.

This thread was much better last year...when Cleveland played decent baseball.

To be honest, I haven't watched a game since... a couple weeks ago.

We've been kind of hot lately, but it is still aggrivating as fuck watching them. We get a run, we give up 2. Watching bad pitching is so incredibly painful.

And yes, I have heard that a lot. "This just shows that we just don't give up!" and we lose anyway.

Perfect example... Iguchi getting 7 runs BY HIM SELF in the last 2 innings to tie the game up at 9 in the bottom of the 9th. That is a game we need to fucking win and we didn't. The worst loss of the season.

HOLY SHIT!!! The Royals are nice as hell. They're playing like a team with something to care about. Down 3-4 they come back to win 5-4 with a triple, sac fly, double, and single against Papelbon. Yankees three games up!

You know, I've never rooted against Boston before in the regular season. So this is how it feels to be in a Wild Card race! The only way the White Sox got into the Post Season since 1993 is by bashing their own division's brains in.

Bump

The Twins are playing amazing right now, I think they're gonna catch the Tigers, they're only 5 games back and that team is only playing good. Whoever loses that division will get the wildcard though, and they're almost guaranteed to play each other first right(I'm a bit hazy on baseball playoffs... so forgive me if I'm wrong) so it's not *that* important, mostly bragging rights and fun.

Jays can probably catch the bosox, but they can't catch the Yankees or Twins. They're finished.

No, the wild card team never plays the team in their own division first.

The Twins are so annoying! I'll be ticked if they beat the White Sox, yet AGAIN when all they do is lose talent. I wish the White Sox could play above their heads like that. Radke and Liriano go down and still going strong, that aint right.

The Tigers will stay on top

NL is so sad this year, with only one 70-win team at this point, while AL has 6.

Too bad NY and Boston are in the same division. I'd love to see Tigers, White Sox, Twins, and A's duke it out in the post season.

Yeah, it's kind of sad that if Toronto was in the NL, they'd have like the 2nd or 3rd best record in the league, while at this point in the AL they're 3rd in their division.

Haha, is anyone watching the BoSox vs Toronto game right now? Boston just hit the gayest home run I've ever seen, man.

Basically it was a flyball into right field, Rios went up for an easy catch, it bounced off his glove then as he went to grasp with his bare hand, he bobbled it up and into the crowd. Halladay is gonna lose his second straight because of that. Oh well, the game is meaningless anyways I guess.

3 games between the Twins and Tigers now...

Bonds has 6 home runs in his last 9 games, looks like he's back on the juice, hardy har har.

24 between him and the Aaron's record, he's almost guaranteed to beat it now. However unfair to the sport it may be, it'll still be an interesting event when he finally does it. Should be able to get it down to 17-18 by the end of the year, then beat it sometime next season.

so looks like the central will once again have a 90+ win team that doesn't make the playoffs ( ). Minnesota has made a similiar run to the one we made last year, but I think Chicago's gonna be left out.

Wonder if anyone can beat the Mets in the NL. I think only the Dodgers have a real shot.