2010 MLB Playoffs

Before our very eyes, the Giants are only one game back of the Padres.

This comes only two weeks after trailing San Diego by six games in the division.

The biggest change in the Giants' fortunes was not Tim Lincecum finding his composure once more. It was not Juan Uribe's bat coming alive in September.

As the calendar turned to September, the Padres forgot how to win.

The Padres had lost 10 straight games before beating the Dodgers 4-2 on Monday night.

With news that Cardinals outfielder Colby Rasmus has requested a trade, a team with an already cloudy future did not get any clearer. 

Here are five reasons why Cardinal fans’ motto for the rest of the season should be “playoffs or bust.”

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Fact is, the New York Yankees love returning to the Bronx.

Why wouldn’t they love coming home, with a packed stadium full of fans?

The Yanks are tied for the first place, and they also share the best record in baseball and Yankee fans will cheer the team till the end.

The other team leading the pack is the Tampa Bay Rays, a 12-year-old franchise with loads of potential and hands-down has the best young talent in all of MLB.

In an effort to protect the arm of Phil Hughes, who has never gone beyond 146 innings in any one season in his career, the Yankees are limiting him to about 175 innings this year. Many believed this meant that the Yankees would move him to the bullpen in October, as a way of keeping that innings total down. It turns out that isn’t the case.

With the the final game of the weekend's Giants-Padres series now played, and Giants find themselves 3.5 games out of first place in the NL West with 43 games left to play.

All season long, people have doubted whether the Padres would be able to hold onto their lead in the division, and with the Padres taking two-of-three from in the most recent match-up, the Giants now have some work to do if they hope to be playing in October.

After shellacking the Chicago White Sox 12-6 on Tuesday night, the Minnesota Twins have moved into first place in the AL Central by one game.

Both teams are hot, with the Twins winning 12 and the White Sox winning 10 of the teams' last 15 games. White Sox have gone 39-16 since June 8th, overcoming a horrendous start to get to this point, while the Twins have gone 19-10 since the All-Star break without one of, if not their best, hitters.