A few weeks ago, the Editors at the Bleacher Report asked me to write a piece on why getting Cliff Lee was going to make the Texas Rangers World Series participants.

The reinforcements have finally arrived for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Although September 1 was the official day that all Major League teams were permitted to expand their rosters up to 40 players, the Dodgers finally made a series of call-ups on September 5.

Initially it was thought that Los Angeles would pass on giving the fans a sneak peek at the stars of the farm system; however, after the Albuquerque Isotopes, the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate, were eliminated from playoff contention, a handful of moves were indeed made.

The New York Yankees finished third in 1959.

It's one of the most amazing stories of the 2010 baseball season. Omar Infante, a career utility player, has stepped in a starting role with the Atlanta Braves and is threatening to become one of the most unlikely batting title winners in baseball history.

On July 30th, the Braves All-Star second baseman, Martin Prado, broke his finger sliding into home plate.   Prado landed on the 15-day DL and Infante was inserted into the starting lineup at second base.

What makes a premier closer in Major League Baseball?

Let's start with a simple, but elusive attribute. Control. As entertaining as Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn was in the movie Major League, a guy that fails to pin point his pitches is murder on the nerves of fans. A Mr. Francisco Rodriguez comes to mind here.

Most closers only have two pitches. Having the ability to control where those pitches wind up is paramount to success.

The San Diego Padres are finally playing like we expected them to play this season. Going into Monday, The Friars have dropped ten straight games are holding a very slim one game lead. This might be the end of their magical run, but Cinderella has four more weeks to dance if they can regain their winning ways.

Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds are pulling away in their respective division races. Watch these clubs to rest starters from time to time to keep them fresh for October.

The Toronto Blue Jays shut Brandon Morrow down after Friday’s start due to the number of innings he had thrown.  While his season didn’t end on the brightest note (3.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 4 K), he leaves behind a stat line that shows off all the promise we’ve heard so much about:

10 Wins
146.1 Innings
4.49 ERA
1.38 WHIP
178 Strikeouts (10.95 K/9)
66 Walks (4.06 BB/9)
.348 BABIP

The Marlins have had quite the string of injuries these season but all have come because of some event that lead to the injury whether baseball related or plays outside the baseball diamonds. These injuries coupled with the shaky bullpen of the Marlins have hurt their playoff chances for this season. 

The Yankees got Alex Rodriguez back today, but his 2-for-5 day wasn’t enough to overcome Phil Hughes' poor start as the Yankees lost to the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-3, ending their winning streak at eight games.

"I can't say for sure, but all signs point to not soon. It's not good."

That was Josh Hamilton's response to the question of when he will return.

Flash back to 2008. It's late August, and Carlos Quentin of the Chicago White Sox breaks his wrist.

Usually, we would say that injuries are a normal part of the game.

This was unusual though, because Quentin was the leading AL MVP candidate at the time, having already belted 36 home runs and driven in 100 RBI.