Josh Donaldson

Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson hit the 100th home run of his career in the first inning of Monday's 11-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox, going deep off Rick Porcello to give the Jays an early 1-0 lead, per Sportsnet Stats.

Yoenis Cespedes has been a game-changer for the New York Mets ever since landing in Queens.

As the MLB playoff chase hits the stretch drive, there isn't a single major leaguer who will have a bigger impact in determining how the race will shake out for his given team than the Cuban masher.

In the process of compiling the list of the 10 crucial MLB players who will decide the September pennant race outcomes, three types of big leaguers made the grade.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a...baseball?

Josh Donaldson crushed Matt Boyd's 93 mph fastball in the third inning Friday, sending it flying toward the fifth deck at Rogers Centre to give the Toronto Blue Jays a 3-1 lead over the Detroit Tigers.

The finish line is in sight for this Major League Baseball season. 

With less than six weeks to play in the regular season, very little is decided when it comes to the playoff races, sans the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals being locks to win their respective Central divisions. Everything else is still up for grabs. 

The main plot of the three-game series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Angels that concluded Sunday was the playoff chase.

The Halos are in the thick of the wild-card hunt, and the Jays hold a narrow half-game edge over the New York Yankees in the American League East.

But there was a solid subplot to this weekend's action: the burgeoning AL Most Valuable Player race between Josh Donaldson and Mike Trout.

In the movies and on TV, the cool kid who transfers into a new school mid-year is always a point of wonder—the girls swoon over him, and he immediately becomes popular simply because he has the mystery of being new.

Baseball award races can be that way sometimes. You don't necessarily have to be the best in order to win. You just have to show up at the right time—sort of the way R.A. Dickey swiped Clayton Kershaw's Cy Young Award in 2012.

The Toronto Blue Jays and Washington Nationals locked horns in a low-scoring matchup Tuesday afternoon.

Virtually no one got on base, partially due to Josh Donaldson doing his best Nightcrawler routine out there.

After missing the playoffs for the 21st straight season last year, the Toronto Blue Jays spent much of the offseason retooling their roster in an attempt to reverse their fortunes during the upcoming season.

Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos began his overhaul by first electing to part ways with several notable players from last season, such as Adam Lind, Melky Cabrera and Brett Lawrie.

The Toronto Blue Jays made big news late last week, executing a blockbuster trade with the Oakland A’s, receiving Josh Donaldson in exchange for Brett Lawrie and three prospects.

Who knew it would start raining bats in Seattle?

Robinson Cano last winter. Nelson Cruz this winter. Maybe the drought is finally over. The Seattle Mariners: Early AL West favorites entering 2015? You bet. Mark it down. Lattes all around.

And keep pouring: With a zesty mix of youth and experience, the Mariners now are built to win not just in 2015, but also for a handful of years beyond.