Inside The Standings – Aug 17

Biggest movers: Florida Marlins (63-55) ↑ 3 San Francisco Giants (63-54) ↓ 3

1. New York Yankees (74-44) NC : Derek Jeter got his 2,674^th hit this week, making him the all time hits leader among shortstops in Major League history. The Yankees are also 12-2 in their last 14 games and have taken a comfortable 7.5 game lead over the Red Sox.
2. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (70-45) ↑ 1 : Torii Hunter is back for the Angels, as if they needed anymore offensive help.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers (70-48) ↓ 1 : How’s this for an individual performance? Randy Wolf struck out 10 batters and was a triple shy of the cycle Sunday.
4. Philadelphia Phillies (65-49) ↑ 1 : If the Phillies are going to repeat as World Series champions, they need to do something about Brad Lidge. While he was a perfect 41 for 41 in save opportunities last year, this year he is only 23 for 31 with a 7.21 ERA.
5. Boston Red Sox (66-51) ↓ 1 : The Red Sox are 12-17 since the All-Star break and only 5-13 on the road. They are only a half game behind in the Wild Card race but will need to turn things around soon.
6. Texas Rangers (66-50) NC : Unfortunately the Rangers hot streak has coincided with and Angels run. However, they have taken over the wild card lead from a struggling Red Sox team.
7. St Louis Cardinals (66-52) NC : The Cardinals are 15-6 since acquiring Matt Holliday.
8. Colorado Rockies (65-53) ↑ 1 : It has really been the improved pitching that has lead to the Rockies success this year. Case in point Ubaldo Jimenez, who has a 2.53 ERA in his last 6 starts and a 3.47 ERA for the season.
9. Tampa Bay Rays (63-54) ↑ 1 : Gregg Zaun stung his old team Sunday when he hit an eight inning, go-ahead grand slam against the Blue Jays. It was a much needed victory for a team fighting for a wild card birth.
10. Florida Marlins (63-55) ↑ 3 : The Marlins offence has been seeing the ball extremely well over the past two weeks. They have had at least 10 hits in their last 13 games.
11. San Francisco Giants (63-54) ↓ 3 : Ryan Garko’s 0 home runs and .204 average isn’t exactly what the Giants were hoping for.
12. Detroit Tigers (62-55) ↓ 1 : The Tigers padded their offence by acquiring Aubrey Huff for minor league pitching prospect Brett Jacobson.
13. Chicago Cubs (60-55) ↓ 1 : Carlos Zombrano is feeling good and is hoping to rejoin the Cubs when their next homestand begins August 25^th. He is sorely needed for a playoff push.
14. Atlanta Braves (61-56) NC : Bad news for the Braves, Nate McLouth is headed to the DL with a hamstring injury and closer Rafael Soriano is experiencing some discomfort in his shoulder.
15. Seattle Mariners (61-57) NC : It’s hard to believe Felix Hernandez is only 23 years old.
16. Chicago White Sox (60-58) NC : The White Sox are only 2.5 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central, but have been that way for a while. The clock is ticking for them to make a push.
17. Milwaukee Brewers (58-59) ↑ 1 : The Brewers start to the season had people excited in Milwaukee, but now it looks all but lost. David Bush and Jeff Suppan (who struggled in his first rehab start) are both on the DL.
18. Houston Astros (57-61) ↓ 1 : Miguel Tejada has said he would be willing to move to third next year to stay with the Astros. Since he will be a free agent, he will probably be taking a pay cut from the $14 million he made this year.
19. Minnesota Twins (56-61) NC : The Twins young rotation looked promising to start the year, but has fallen off. Their starter’s ERA is 12^th in the AL.
20. Toronto Blue Jays (55-61) NC : Maybe the only good news for the Blue Jays is that top prospect Travis Snider has been destroying the ball in AAA since being sent down. In 175 at bats he has hit 14 homers with a .337 AVG and .663 SLG.
21. New York Mets (55-62) NC : Believe it or not, the Mets sent David Wright to the DL Sunday. It’s fair to say this season was lost because of injuries.
22. Arizona Diamondbacks (54-64) NC : Since July 4^th, the Diamondbacks have gone 23-15. If they could have played that well all season, the NL West might have looked like the new AL East.
23. Oakland Athletics (52-65) NC : In three rehab appearances, Justin Duchscherer has throw 11 scoreless innings. He will be a nice addition to the current four man, four rookie rotation.
24. Cleveland Indians (51-66) ↑ 1 : The fact that the Indians are in the top 10 in the league in runs scored tells me something about their pitching.
25. Cincinnati Reds (50-67) ↓ 1 : What happened to Johnny Cueto? In his last 8 starts he’s 0-6 with a 10.64 ERA.
26. Baltimore Orioles (48-69) NC : Good job by the Orioles to get a decent young arm in return for Aubrey Huff, whose production is diminishing and is a free agent at the end of the year.
27. San Diego Padres (49-69) NC : The Padres could be falling in the rankings very soon. Their next four series are against the Cubs, Cardinals, Braves and Marlins.
28. Pittsburgh Pirates (46-70) NC : The Pirates have only won twice this month.
29. Kansas City Royals (46-71) NC : The Royals are tied for the lowest scoring team in the AL. Their pitching is 4^th worst in the AL in terms of ERA. What happened to the team that started off so hot along with Zack Greinke?
30. Washington Nationals (43-75) NC : The Strasburg deadline looms and there is excitement surrounding the Nationals again.