AL East

From River Ave Blues:

There was an incident the day before, though, one I think that many people forget.

Yup. I forgot. And in case you forgot, too, I’ll explain the situation. The day was July 5 and the Yankees were at home against the Blue Jays. In the bottom of the first, a Derek Jeter single, a Mark Teixeira walk, and a Jorge Posada single had the bases loaded with just one out.

Since the Yankees swept that early-August series against the Red Sox, they have had a very comfortable lead in the AL East that has allowed manager Joe Girardi to run the team with comfort most managers wish they had.

Maybe their lead is comfortable in the east, but the race for the best record in the American League is on. Even with a five-game lead over the Angels, there's a lot at stake here because the Angels own the Yankees, 6-19 since 2005, in their home ball park.

It was a rain shortened week for the Boston Red Sox who will make up Friday's rainout Sunday afternoon for a day/night doubleheader against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays.

Joe Girardi and the Yankees are praying that A.J. Burnett will be able to return to his summer form come playoff time.

After a dominant stretch from June 14 until August 7, in which he went 6-2 and posted a 2.32 ERA, the Yankees' hard-throwing righty has been dreadful on a regular basis. Entering today's game, Burnett had allowed 25 earned runs in 36.1 innings in his six starts following the gem he tossed against Boston on August 7. He was 1-3 in those starts.

The 2009 Toronto Blue Jays have lacked consistency in the cleanup spot.

For the first 55 games of the season, they rolled with Vernon Wells in the number four slot. Then for the next 34 games, Scott Rolen settled in very nicely before he was shipped off to the Cincinnati Reds. Since then, the team has struggled to find success in one of the most crucial parts of the lineup card.

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To say that Derek Jeter passing Lou Gehrig as the NY Yankees all-time hit leader is much ado about nothing would be completely disrespectful…yet, I am left feeling that all of the fuss that has been attributed to the accomplishment is significantly overblown.

Eight years ago, New York City and the world stopped to watch the events that had taken place on the morning of 9/11. Humanity as a whole had been changed as thousands of lives and hundreds of towns had been turned upside forever.

On Friday night, the baseball world too stopped and watched as one of it's most prolific players snapped a 70-year-old team record and re-stamped  his ballot for the hall of fame. 

The end is near, which is good or bad, depending on which side of the fence you sit on.

The Los Angeles Angels are currently in 1st place in the AL West and could represent the American League in the World Series.

The Angels are not out of the woods yet in the West as the Texas Rangers are playing well and still making a charge. The Angels are in good position to make the playoffs as a division winner or wild card with the regular season getting shorter everyday.