Baseball

With just over three quarters of the MLB season complete, it is a good time to take a look at some records that are on the verge of being broken during the rest of the 2014 campaign.

True, the marks we are going to discuss don’t necessarily carry legendary weight. No one is on the precipice of breaking Barry Bonds’ single-season home run record, for example, or of topping the 233 strikeouts Mark Reynolds amassed in 2009.

These will be a bit more obscure.

The 2013 playoff races were defined by strong rookie performances.

There was Michael Wacha, who went from first-round draft pick in 2012 to No. 2 starter for the St. Louis Cardinals down the stretch and well into the postseason. Gerrit Cole and Sonny Gray had similar impacts on their respective teams, as both right-handers reached the major leagues in the middle of the season and ultimately shined in their first tastes of playoff baseball.

If misery loves company, the Los Angeles Angels just got company.

The Baltimore Orioles are running away with the American League East, but their chances at reaching the World Series once the postseason begins took a major hit Friday. Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports and Eduardo A. Encina of The Baltimore Sun provided an update regarding Manny Machado’s health:

The Boston Red Sox's hopes for a return to October baseball may be long dashed by now, but they can still throw their weight around when it comes to affecting the eventual outcome of the American League playoff picture.