MLB Notebook: Here come the Yankees

The calendar’s almost set to turn to September, which means Major League Baseball playoff pushes are in full swing (pun absolutely intended). With that in mind, here’s a collection of news and notes from around the baseball world.

Dodgers Win An Epic Game In San Diego

It’s always fun to see a game go 16 innings (well, for everyone except managers and pitching coaches, perhaps). Wednesday night/Thursday morning featured an instant classic between the LA Dodgers and San Diego Padres.

AJ Pollock hit a game-winning home run in the 16th that propelled the reigning World Series champs to a 5-3 victory. The two teams combined to use 19 pitchers, and the win pushed LA to within 2.5 games of the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants.

Here Come The Yankees

A few months after some Yankee fans had written off the 2021 season (seriously, baseball fans, stop doing this halfway through the year), the Bronx Bombers have used a torrid stretch to make a race of it in the AL East.

The Yankees have won 11 games in a row as of this writing, and sit 4.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays, who boast an AL-best record of 79-48 with a few weeks left in the season.

Baltimore Tops Los Angeles, Ends Losing Streak

It’s been a long year for fans of the Baltimore Orioles, who have had to suffer through several extended streaks of futility. The O’s had lost 19 straight games heading into Wednesday’s contest with the LA Angels, but Baltimore rallied from a 6-2 deficit to prevail by a final score of 10-6.

Baltimore was in danger of tying its own American League record, and the 19-game skid came up two short of that dubious distinction.

Cabrera Bashes 500th Homer

Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera joined an elite club this past week, one that usually ensures a spot in baseball’s Hall of Fame.

In addition to crossing the 500-homer threshold, it’s possible the 38-year-old veteran eclipses 3,000 hits by the end of the season as well. He needs to get hot and record 42 hits between now and the end of the year, but Cabrera has gotten better as the season’s rolled along, so he’s not without a shot.