Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That in a little over 24 hours the Rangers went from in the hunt for the AL wild card to hanging on by a thread. Texas split a doubleheader with the Mariners Sunday and dropped two of three to Seattle over the weekend.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox -- the team the Rangers are chasing -- swept the reeling Rays, who have now lost 11 straight, including taking both games of a day-night doubleheader at Fenway Park.
Boston doubled its lead in the race -- from two games to four -- with 20 games remaining for each team.
It's been a season of ups and downs for Chicago Cubscloser relief pitcher Kevin Gregg. He started the year off in rough fashion with a 5.59 ERA in 10 appearances in April with only one save to show for his efforts. But, in each subsequent month, his ERA got better and better.
Sure, he was subject to a blow-up every now and again, but his May ERA was 3.86 to go with seven saves. His June ERA was even lower, at 2.77 with five saves, and July saw eight saves with a 1.93 ERA. Everything pointed to a pitcher moving in the right direction.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That it's possible to get ejected by the home plate umpire when you're standing in center field. That's exactly what happened to Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino, who questioned a call by Ed Rapuano in the seventh inning of Philadelphia's 12-3 loss to Florida by gesturing and jumping up and down in center and was then run from the game.
After Rapuano threw Victorino out, the speedy outfielder known as the Flyin' Hawaiian sprinted all the way to the infield to challenge his decision. It appeared he was going to make contact with the umpire, but he denied that was the case, explaining:
MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.
Big ups to Prez for taking the PR reigns over while I was off last week. But we're back in the saddle, fresh out of the All-Star break and ready to incite you with our rankings. Also, I should point out that this is, relatively speaking, the "home stretch." Where even the most minuscule of mini-streaks can change a team's fate. Or something like that. Anyway, let's go to the list, where we'll find out if an attack on Jack Nicholson by the Phanatic and the addition of Petey was enough to vault the Phillies into the top spot of the Week 16 MLB Power Rankings. Cue drumroll.
After making two trades Tuesday, the Pirates may not be finished.
Pittsburgh has publicly said that it would listen to offers on players who are not under team control for 2010 -- shortstop Jack Wilson, second baseman Freddy Sanchez, first baseman Adam LaRoche and lefty reliever John Grabow.
And according to an official of an AL team, Pittsburgh was particularly considering deals for Grabow and closer Matt Capps.
The Marlins, Twins and Dodgers are seeking bullpen help.
MLB Power Rankings:Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.
Sorry for the delay, kiddos, on the Power Rankings. I'm sure you spent the entirety of Wednesday wondering "WHERE IN GOD'S NAME ARE THEY??? WITHOUT THEM I'LL HAVE NOTHING TO BANTER SENSELESSLY ABOUT TO MY CO-WORKERS!!!1" Or something like that. Either way, it's time to debate the worthlessness of your favorite baseball team in numerical form once again. Do enjoy.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Oh what a difference a month makes. Josh Beckett's ERA in April stood at 7.22, including a two-game span where he was shellacked for 15 runs. Since then he's hurled five straight quality starts and posted a 2.38 ERA in May. His ERA is now 4.60 and his WHIP is 1.47, both of which fail to indicate his true current value. Often, like in Beckett's case, you can only get an accurate gauge by looking at what a player's done lately instead of viewing overall stats.
It's always nice to know how secure a closer's job is and who's next in line if somebody loses their 9th inning job. The Closer Report will give you that info. And if that wasn't good enough, we'll rank the closers from top to bottom.
As you'll see, Heath Bell has taken over the top spot on this edition of The Closer Report. A few big-name, top-of-the-charts closers from years past have fallen off quite a bit. How weird is it to see Brad Lidge near the bottom of the closer rankings and Joe Nathan stuck in the middle?
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the Reds can see the top of the NL Central. And they can smell it.
Cincinnati trails St. Louis by 1 1/2 games and Milwaukee by a 1/2 game, and on Friday the Reds begin a trip to .... Milwaukee (three games) and St. Louis (four).
"We go on the road with some momentum," [Jay Bruce] said. "We plan on coming back in first place."
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Dare we say it? He's back. The man who won the 2005 Cy Young and finished third the following season is officially back in the Cardinals rotation. He made the Brewers -- one of the best hitting teams in the league -- look stupid for eight innings Monday, which means he's now thrown 23 innings of shutout ball this season. His staggering numbers thus far: 23 innings, 0 earned runs, 23 strikeouts, 10 hits, 4 walks.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.
It's been a season of ups and downs for 
Starting Five
After making two trades Tuesday, the Pirates may not be finished.
MLB Power Rankings
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Starting Five
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
