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Yeah, these games coming up against Tampa and Baltimore are massive. All they have to do is win most of those games (easier said than done, of course) and they can: a) keep Baltimore out of the Wild Card; and b) maybe leapfrog Tampa in the WC standings. There is also a series left against NYY, and they've been slumping badly, so maybe the division is still in play even for Toronto if they can get really hot here. It seems doubtful, but you never know. Mixed in there, Toronto also has games left against Pittsburgh and Texas, which in theory should be easier wins... but this team just got swept by LAA and then struggled to eke out a series win against the Cubs, so nothing is easy right now These guys better fucking take care of business in Pittsburgh this weekend!!!

re: the Dodgers: I suppose I would bet on the under. They will likely be resting guys later in September, so there could be some random losses mixed in the final games. But 110+ wins is totally on the table. I wouldn’t be shocked at all. The Jays picked a great time to get swept by the Angels this weekend…

Those annoying Yankees even beat the Mets twice earlier this week after getting beat up all weekend by the Jays. Maybe they're finding their way out of their slump now... If I had to put money down on a World Series prediction right now, I'd bet on an NL team to take it. The Braves have come on strong again of late, the Mets have been quality all season (that feels so weird to say ), and of course the Dodgers are still the Dodgers. Anything can happen in a seven game series, but I would be tempted to take any of those squads over the Yankees or Astros. edit: But I'm also hoping for a different AL team to come out of it this year, maybe a bit of a surprise team sort of like the Braves last season. Obviously I'm cheering for the Jays, but it would be cool to see the M's or Guardians take a run at the WS too. That Cleveland team is very pesky and has very good pitching. Just don't let it be the Rays, please.

Big win last night in New York! Berrios had a great start. One or two spots it looked like it could go off the rails, but he self-corrected and got back on track. Seems like he had some extra zip and movement on his fastballs last night. Kikuchi even pitched a clean(ish) inning out of the bullpen. You don't like to see him walk the first guy on four straight balls, but the positives were that he was hitting 97 mph and throwing more pitches in the zone (aside from against the first batter). If he's only throwing one or two innings out of the 'pen, he can pump that fastball, and who cares if he's a bit wild in the zone. 96-97 mph from the left side, with some nice natural movement, is not easy for hitters to handle, even if he misses his spot in the zone. He can shelve a couple of his secondary pitches and just use the fastball and one off-speed pitch. It's just one inning, but it's a good sign, and I hope he can show us more of that.

That would be great, but I doubt it. Four-gamer coming up against the Jays and they're probably going to come back to life all of a sudden and crush the Jays It's killing me watch the Yankees slump like this and the Jays haven't been able to gain any ground. Imagine if they were going into this weekend series only 4 or 5 games back instead of 10! That would have been exciting, especially since it looked like NYY's division lead was going to be untouchable. The Jays have been borderline unwatchable the last few weeks. August has been an effing nightmare for the most part. Thankfully, Stripling came back from the IL yesterday and gave them an incredible start, and then they strung together some hits and scored some runs, and FINALLY beat the O's. Getting swept by Baltimore at home before travelling to NY would have been soul crushing. If the Jays turn it around and get back on track, back to winning and looking like a good team, then that game yesterday, and Stripling's performance, will have been the turning point. It might have been a very important game for them. The M's are looking like they could run away with the 1st WC spot. They have a fairly soft schedule to finish the season. Their record in July was very good, and they're keeping up the winning ways in August so far.

Yeah that was huge news last night. He’s saying it was in a medication he took for ringworm… I want to give him the benefit of the doubt and believe, but so many players before Tatis Jr. have come out with ridiculous excuses after positive tests, it’s hard to believe any of it. He’s been working all year to come back from injury. Honestly, I could understand if any player considered taking something to help speed up rehab from injury. Just be honest about it and admit the mistake.

Not just Dodger fans loved Vin!

And for the final acquisition of the day, the Jays got Whit Merrifield. As recently as a few weeks ago, he missed a series in Toronto due to his vax status Either the Jays’ front office knows something has changed there, or they’re taking a bit of a gamble here They didn’t get those starters from LAA…

I don’t think staying quiet was the plan. They were probably in on guys but didn’t want to meet the asking prices. There was a lot of competition between buying teams, I think. Toronto got a couple relievers from Miami, which will help, and it seems like they’re trying for Iglesias (and maybe Syndergaard too?) from LAA. That would also help. That Soto deal is nuts. Looks like they also got rid of Hosmer to Boston after they couldn’t include him in the Washington deal. edit: An added complication for Toronto is that, due to public health rules in both Canada and the U.S., they basically cannot sign or acquire any non-vaccinated players. They would only be part-time players. So depending who teams want to send in Toronto in trade negotiations, sometimes it just won’t work well for Toronto if they happen to not be vaxxed.

This is when you're supposed to be feeling hopeful about the playoffs, not assuming they'll still miss out!

I find the Mariners’ winning ways to be far more disappointing

Nothing makes that terrible road trip feel better

Right now, I don't think the Jays are good enough to do anything. They are killing me The O's have a legitimately pretty decent offense so I definitely won't be shocked if they find a way to finish the season around, or even slightly above, .500. Their pitching needs a lot of help to become an actually good team, but they're not the pushover they were last summer. What do I need to do to get the M's to lose tonight and tomorrow!? Please find a way to get a couple wins, Toronto

They've hit a rough patch for sure The games they're playing in Oakland this week should be winnable, in spite of Toronto's pitching woes. Going to Seattle won't be any easier. The Jays really need a strong second half here.

The O's have a decent lineup, and some surprisingly OK arms in the bullpen. Not much starting pitching though. The Jays have been stinking it up lately. Can't seem to win a series anymore. The division is most likely out of reach now. But if they keep going they way they have in the last 1-2 weeks, they'll be dropping out of the Wild Card picture before long too. Ugh.

Yeah the AL East is silly again this year. No teams from the ALC / ALW are all that close to the WC picture right now, though I'm sure that can change if Boston, Toronto, and Tampa beat up on each other all summer. The AL West especially is a bit of a joke right now. You'd think one of those teams could pull ahead a bit and get into the WC, any of Texas, LAA, or Seattle ought to be better. Check this out: The Astros don't even have to do anything to win that division

Angels lost anyways, and Mike Trout left the game with groin tightness. Fire the manager again!!! 13 L’s in a row

Mike Trout HR’d in his first at-bat tonight. Clearly firing the manager was the right thing to do

He gone

Yeah, looks like 4 wins in their last 20 games, and they're on a 12-game losing streak. That's rough. It was nice to see the Angels off to a good start this year. It sucks that despite having Trout and Ohtani, they've never really been able to put the right players around them to be more successful. I don't think it's for lack of trying either. They pretty consistently run a top-10 payroll, so they're spending money on players... I guess it's a combination of making bad decisions in signings / trades, and bad luck. In other news: The Jays won 8-0 last night in KC Great to see them go out and score some runs to start this little road trip after dropping 2 of 3 to the Twins at home over the weekend. Back to the Angels -- these new jerseys are fantastic Wear them everyday. They're so much better than the current jerseys.

Yes, they are! They're on a nice little wining streak, and it's a great time because they're coming up on a softer spot in their schedule. The first two months were stacked with good opponents. More of the bats are coming to life, the win differential is in the positives now. It's great! All of a sudden they have two of the best hitting catchers in the league now that Jansen and Kirk have both kinda caught fire--and a top catching prospect in AAA, Moreno, that's doing quite well for himself down in Buffalo. I'm excited!