Trailing 30 - September 30

Here is an explanation of this weekly post, which lists leaders and trailers for the past 30 days. This is possible through the magic of Fangraphs and its fabulous Leaders application.

This week's fun statistic: I'll write about this in the offseason, but baseball's new collective bargaining agreement creates more of an incentive than in the past for bad teams to tank at the end of the season in order to improve their draft position. It appears that the NL also-rans may not have gotten the memo that circulated among the worst AL clubs. That, and Billy Hamilton.

   American League             National League

   Team W-L                    Team W-L      

1. Cleveland       20-7     1. Washington      18-9        

2. Oakland         19-8        St. Louis       18-9       

3. Boston          17-8     3. San Diego      16-11         

4. Los Angeles    17-11     4. Cincinnati     15-11   

5. Kansas City    16-11     5. SF, Mil, Pit   15-12        

   Worst Team W-L              Worst Team W-L

1. Chicago         7-21     1. Colorado        9-16      

2. Houston         7-20     2. Chicago        10-17       

3. Minnesota       8-20     3. Miami          11-15      

4. Seattle        10-17     4. Ari, NY, Mia   12-16

5. Texas          12-15        

   Batting Average             Batting Average     

1. Altuve, Hou     .368     1. Cuddyer, Col    .390      

2. Brantley, Cle   .357     2. Freeman, Atl    .367             

3. Cano, NY        .345     3. Carpenter, SL   .361            

4. Fielder, Det    .343     4. Holliday, SL    .360          

5. Plouffe, Min    .340     5. Blackmon, Col   .346       

   Lowest Batting Average      Lowest Batting Average
1. Granderson, NY  .172     1. Barney, Chi     .175          

2. Moreland, Tex   .173     2. Lagares, NY     .196         

3. Smoak, Sea      .179     3. Duda, NY        .200
4. Escobar, TB     .182     4. Puig, LA        .209           

5. Seager, Sea     .182     5. Asche, Phi      .211            

   On-Base Percentage          On-Base Percentage
1. Trout, LA       .446     1. Choo, Cin       .500            

2. Donaldson, Oak  .441     2. Holliday, SL    .467            

3. Santana, Cle    .405     3. Carpenter, SL   .457         

4. Ortiz, Bos      .404     4. Votto, Cin      .446              

5. Nava, Bos       .400     5. Freeman, Atl    .444       

      

   Slugging Percentage         Slugging Percentage   

1. Ortiz, Bos      .604     1. Pence, SF       .684        

2. Crisp, Oak      .596     2. Freeman, Atl    .611     

3. Donaldson, Oak  .576     3. Adams, SL       .596

4. Cano, NY        .555     4. Headley, SD     .588       

5. Cespedes, Oak   .551     5. Zimmerman, Was  .575        

          

   Home Runs                   Home Runs

1. Crisp, Oak         8     1. Zimmerman, Was    11
2. Lind, Tor          7        Pence, SF         11        

3. 9 with             6     3. Adams, SL          8          

                            4. 3 with             7

   Runs                        Runs    

1. Crisp, Oak        24     1. Carpenter, SL     26        

2. Ortiz, Bos        21     2. Pence, SF         23       

3. Donaldson, Oak    20     3. Zimmerman, Was    22
4. Kinsler, Tex      19     4. Span, Was         20
5. 4 with            18     5. Choo, Cin         19

   RBI                         RBI      

1. Ortiz, Bos        22     1. Pence, SF         29       

2. Crisp, Oak        21     2. Ramos, Was        26      

3. Cano, NY          20     3. Holliday, SL      23       

   Lind, Tor         20     4. Bruce, Cin        22
5. 2 with            19     5. 2 with            21

   Stolen Bases                Stolen Bases             

1. Rios, Tex         10     1. Hamilton, Cin     13            

2. Gentry, Tex        8     2. Young, NY         12      

3. 4 with             7     3. Span, Was          9   

                            4. 5 with             7

   Wins                        Wins   

1. Shaw, Cle          5     1. Villanueva, Chi    5

2. 6 with             4     2. 5 with             4

   Saves                       Saves

1. Holland, KC       10     1. Soriano, Was       8

2. Janssen, Tor       9        Street, SD         8

   Frieri, LA         9     2. Melancon, Pit      7

4. Johnson, Bal       8        Kimbrel, Atl       7
5. Benoit, Det        7        Hawkins, NY        7

   ERA                         ERA

1. Iwakuma, Sea    0.76     1. Cashner, SD     0.88

2. Jiminez, Cle    1.04     2. Medlen, Atl     1.00

3. Colon, Oak      1.16     3. Cole, Pit       1.69

4. Oberholtzer, Hou1.95     4. Wacha, SL       1.72

5. Straily, Oak    2.10     5. Greinke, LA     1.75

   Worst ERA                   Worst ERA

1. Keuschel, Hou   6.59     1. Corbin, Ari     7.04

2. Vargas, LA      5.83     2. Vogelsong, SF   6.06

3. Holland, Tex    5.73     3. Chacin, Col     5.79

4. Kuroda, NY      5.70     4. Liriano, Pit    5.14

5. Chen, Bal       5.12     5. Haren, Was      4.70

   WHIP                        WHIP

1. Griffin, Oak    0.84     1. Cashner, SF     0.75

2. Gonzalez, Bal   0.86     2. Lee, Phi        0.89

3. Iwakuma, Sea    0.93     3. Greinke, LA     0.92

4. Straily, Oak    1.00     4. Medlen, Atl     0.92
5. Oberholtzer, Hou1.02     5. Arrieta, Chi    0.98

   Strikeouts                  Strikeouts

1. Kazmir, Cle       47     1. Lee, Phi          58     

2. Sanchez, Det      44     2. Burnett, Pit      43

   Shields, KC       44     3. Lynn, SL          40

4. Cobb, TB          42     4. Cole, Pit         39

5. Scherzer, Det     39     5. 2 with            36

Manny Machado, Today

Dammit. Just dammit.

Trailing 30 - September 22

Here is an explanation of this weekly post, which lists leaders and trailers for the past 30 days. This is possible through the magic of Fangraphs and its fabulous Leaders application.

This week's fun statistic: The Tigers' Victor Martinez through the end of June: .232 batting average, .290 on-base percentage, .337 slugging percentage. Since then: .376/.428/.524

   American League             National League

   Team W-L                    Team W-L      

1. Los Angeles     20-7     1. Washington      20-7        

2. Boston          19-7     2. St. Louis      16-11       

3. Oakland         20-8     3. San Diego      15-11         

4. Kansas City    17-10        Cincinnati     15-11   

5. Detroit        16-11     5. San Francisco  15-12        

   Worst Team W-L              Worst Team W-L

1. Seattle         8-20     1. Miami           8-20      

2. Chicago         8-19     2. Chicago        10-17       

3. Minnesota       9-18     3. New York       11-17      

4. Texas           9-17     4. Colorado       12-14

5. Houston        10-18     5. Arizona        12-15   

   Batting Average             Batting Average     

1. Martinez, Det   .392     1. Belt, SF        .370        

2. Fielder, Det    .374     2. Carpenter, SL   .366             

3. Perez, KC       .370     3. Span, Was       .355            

4. Donaldson, Oak  .359     4. Holliday, SL    .350          

5. Hosmer, KC      .343     5. Blackmon, Col   .349       

   Lowest Batting Average      Lowest Batting Average
1. Dunn, Chi       .120     1. Schierholtz, Chi.152          

2. Smoak, Sea      .154     2. Morrison, Mia   .156         

3. Franklin, Sea   .179     3. Barney, chi     .169
4. Beckham, Chi    .183     4. Hechavariia, Mia.192           

5. Martin, Tex     .202     5. Alvarez, Pit    .204            

   On-Base Percentage          On-Base Percentage
1. Napoli, Bos     .462     1. Goldschmidt, Ari.452            

2. Donaldson, Oak  .451     2. Choo, Cin       .451            

3. Trout, LA       .448     3. McCutchen, Pit  .442         

4. Martinez, Det   .442     4. Carpenter, SL   .438              

5. Fielder, Det    .433     5. Aoki, Mil       .436       

      

   Slugging Percentage         Slugging Percentage   

1. Napoli, Bos     .753     1. Pence, SF       .667        

2. Donaldson, Oak  .636     2. Zimmerman, SF   .604     

3. Perez, KC       .621     3. Goldschmidt, Ari.584

4. Crisp, Oak      .611     4. Freeman, Atl    .564       

5. Victorino, Bos  .598     5. Werth, Was      .557        

          

   Home Runs                   Home Runs

1. Crisp, Oak        10     1. Zimmerman, Was    10
2. Napoli, Bos        8        Pence, SF         10        

   Soriano, NY        8     3. Ramirez, LA        8          

4. 3 with             7     4. 4 with             7

   Runs                        Runs    

1. Crisp, Oak        29     1. Zimmerman, Was    28        

2. Donaldson, Oak    23     2. Carpenter, SL     27       

   Gordon, KC        23     3. Pence, SF         22
4. Victorino, Bos    21        Eaton, SD         22
5. Trout, LA         20     5. Choo, Cin         20

   RBI                         RBI      

1. Perez, KC         26     1. Pence, SF         29       

2. Cano, NY          24     2. Holliday, SL      28      

3. Calhoun, LA       23     3. Ramos, Was        25       

4. 3 with            22     4. Goldschmidt, Ari  22
                               Bruce, Cin        22

   Stolen Bases                Stolen Bases             

1. Dyson, KC         10     1. Young, NY         12            

2. Bonifacio, KC      9     2. Hamilton, Cin     10      

3. Rios, Tex          8     3. Schafer, Atl       8   

4. 7 with             6     4. 4 with             7

   Wins                        Wins   

1. 9 with             4     1. Villanueva, Chi    5

                               Zimmerman, Was     5
                            3. 9 with             4  

   Saves                       Saves

1. Janssen, Tor      11     1. Soriano, Was      10

2. Holland, KC       10     2. Street, SD         8

   Frieri, LA        10        Melancon, Pit      8

4. Johnson, Bal       8        Kimbrel, Atl       8
   Uehara, Bos        8     5. 2 with             7

   ERA                         ERA

1. Colon, Oak      0.90     1. Cashner, SD     0.88

2. Jiminez, Cle    1.52     2. Roark, Was      0.90

3. Feldman, Bal    1.60     3. Medlen, Atl     1.54

   Iwakuma, Sea    1.60     4. Wood, Chi       1.85

5. Lester, Bos     2.08     5. Cole, Pit       1.89

   Worst ERA                   Worst ERA

1. Saunders, Sea   6.89     1. Samardzija, Chi 5.94

2. Kuroda, NY      6.62     2. Stultz, SD      5.93

3. Lyles, Hou      5.52     3. Matsuzaka, NY   5.52

4. Chen, KC        5.40     4. Vogelsong, SF   5.19

5. Vargas, LA      5.35     5. Lohse, Mil      5.04

   WHIP                        WHIP

1. Griffin, Oak    0.90     1. Cashner, SF     0.72

2. Lackey, Bos     0.94     2. Estrada, Mil    0.83

3. Feldman, Bal    0.98     3. Roark, Was      0.83

4. Sale, Chi       0.98     4. Lee, Phi        0.92
5. Tillman, Bal    0.99     5. Delgado, Ari    0.95

   Strikeouts                  Strikeouts

1. Jiminez, Cle      51     1. Lee, Phi          44     

2. Darvish, Tex      46     2. Burnett, Pit      43

   Sale, Chi         46     3. Bumgarner, SF     42

4. Scherzer, Det     45        Hamels, Phi       42

5. Kazmir, Cle       44     5. Zimmerman, Was    38

Today's Fun Billy Hamilton Stat

He now has ten stolen bases in nine games. He would be the top basestealer this year on the Tigers and Cardinals and tied for the Cubs team lead.

Today's Fun Billy Hamilton Stat

He leads the majors in stolen bases in September with nine, two more then Denard Span, despite having played in only eight games. No player with three or more stolen bases this month has played in fewer games.

Today's Fun Billy Hamilton Stat

I could probably do these every day for the rest of the season.

Players with more stolen bases than games played in a season:

Player	G	SB	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG
Billy Hamilton	8	9	2013	22	CIN	NL	9	7	6	3	1	0	0	1	2	1	.429	.556	.571
Dutch Schirick	1	2	1914	24	SLB	AL	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0		1.000

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used

Generated 9/19/2013.

For Hamilton's sake, I hope he has a longer career than Dutch Schirick. That was Schirick's only game in the majors.

How the Bucs Did It

Great Pittsburgh Tribune article, by way of the Society for American Baseball Research Facebook page, on how the Pirates went from perennial loser to playoff contender. I don't know about you, but I figured it was beefing up the lineup so it was no longer Andrew McCutchen and the Seven Dwarfs*, getting creative with low-budget bullpen options, and getting lucky with some starting pitching reclamation projects. (I'm lookin' at you, A.J. Burnett and Francisco Liriano.) The article points to more 21st-century moves: employing infielder shifts on defense and changing pitchers' repertoires to induce more ground balls (hit to those shifted infielders). And, of course, selling it to players and management. Great example of the marriage between traditional baseball skills and modern analysis.

*I was wrong about that, anyway. They're 10th in the NL in scoring this year, the same as last year.

On the Wild Cards

In the AL, Tampa Bay and Texas are tied, with Cleveland 0.5 back, Baltimore 2.5, New York 3, and Kansas City 3.5. The Rangers open a four-game series at Tampa Bay tonight. It's hard to see both of those teams holding on to the lead once the series is over, isn't it? Cleveland's got three against Kansas City starting tonight, the Orioles have three in Boston and the Yankees three in Toronto starting tomorrow. 

In the NL, the Nationals are 4.5 behind the Reds for the last wild card. That would seem to be a tough gap, but over the past 30 days, the Nationals are 20-8, the best record in the NL, while the Reds are 15-13. And the Reds do silly things like blow a 5-1 lead against the Brewers without bringing in their best reliever, Aroldis Chapman. Yes, I know, he pitched an inning and a third the night before, throwing 28 pitches, but that was also his first appearance in six days. The Reds are on the road this week, with three at New York and then three at Pittsburgh, while the Nats host the Braves for three and the Marlins for four. It's hard to see the Reds blowing a 4.5 game lead, but I'll bet you the Nationals make it interesting.

The Replay We Won't Get

The Washington Nationals are making a frantic bid to qualify for the playoffs. After entering the season as a division favorite, they've been looking up at the Braves all year. Now, they're the hottest team in the NL over the past 30 days, and enter today's play 5.5 games behind the Reds for the last wild card spot.

But it could've been 4.5 back. As Hardball Talk shows here, with embedded video, Washington's Wilson Ramos was called out on strikes for the last out of the seventh inning, trailing 5-4 with the tying runner on base. Ramos was called out on what was clearly a ball. Here is the Brooks Baseball chart of the at bat:

The third strike is pitch number 7. It's not as bad a call as the video suggests, but still, the inning ended on a ball being called a strike with the tying run on third in a game the Nats would lose by a run. 

The point here isn't whether the Nationals would've won if the count on Ramos would've gone to 2-2 instead of strike three. The point is about replay. As you probably know, there will be expanded instant replay in the 2014 season. All manner of calls can be challenged and, if replay indicates an error, overturned. Balls and strikes, though, are specifically excluded.

The logic is that if managers could challenge every close ball/strike call, games would last forever. But my question is: Why challenge? Several years ago, major league baseball installed cameras at every stadium that record the speed and movement of every pitch, as well as where they cross the plate. That system, called Pitch F/X, is what feeds Brooks Baseball as well as those graphs you see during TV broadcasts or when watching a game on mlb.com, espn.com, or At Bat 13. The point is: Every pitch is being recorded as it crosses the plate. Why do we need an umpire to call it a ball or strike? We already have the information we need to make the call. Why allow somebody to potentially screw it up?

People call this "robot umpires." It'd be a pretty radical departure to not have the ump behind the plate calling strikes and balls. But if baseball is willing to accept the imperfect solution of challenging balls in play, which will necessitate time-consuming reviews that may not, given the limited number of camera angles, provide a clear answer, why won't baseball consider automating ball-and-strike calls, where we have the technology to do it now, better than any umpire?

And think of how baseball history might have changed if we had Pitch F/X and robot umpires 125 years ago (literally - it was chronicled in 1888) and one of those strikes called on Casey had, in fact, been a ball, as ten thousand eyes believed that fateful day in Mudville.

Trailing 30 - September 15

Here is an explanation of this weekly post, which lists leaders and trailers for the past 30 days. This is possible through the magic of Fangraphs and its fabulous Leaders application.

This week's fun statistic: For the first time since I started doing this in July, a team other than the Dodgers has the best record in the NL over the past 30 days. And while you may may that the Royals have the best team ERA in the AL, they finally have some hitters getting hot, as can be seen below, fueling their last-ditch playoff drive.

   American League             National League

   Team W-L                    Team W-L      

1. Boston          19-8     1. Washington      19-9        

2. Oakland         19-9     2. St. Louis      17-11       

3. Los Angeles    17-11     3. Los Angeles    16-12         

4. New York       17-12        Philadelphia   16-12   

5. Cleveland      15-12     5. Atlanta        15-12        

   Worst Team W-L              Worst Team W-L

1. Minnesota       9-19     1. Miami           9-20      

2. Seattle        11-17     2. New York       11-18       

3. Texas          11-15     3. Chicago        11-17      

4. Houston        12-16     4. Colorado       11-16

   Chicago        12-16     5. Arizona        12-16   

   Batting Average             Batting Average     

1. Cano, NY        .357     1. McCutchen, Pit  .384        

2. Martinez, Det   .355     2. Gennett, Mil    .382             

3. Hosmer, KC      .349     3. Ruiz, Phi       .372            

4. Perez, KC       .347     4. Span, Was       .369          

5. Andrus, Tex     .345     5. Cuddyer, Col    .360       

   Lowest Batting Average      Lowest Batting Average
1. Beckham, Chi    .159     1. Martin, Pit     .139          

2. Dunn, Chi       .154     2. Crawford, SF    .179         

3. Smoak, Sea      .156     3. Schafer, Atl    .184
4. Jennings, TB    .188     4. Hechavariia, Mia.189           

5. Willingham, Min .190     5. J Upton, Ari    .195            

   On-Base Percentage          On-Base Percentage
1. Trout, LA       .491     1. McCutchen, Pit  .479            

2. Santana, Cle    .443     2. Choo, Cin       .472            

3. Hosmer, KC      .441     3. Harper, Was     .451         

4. Moss, Oak       .435     4. Goldschmidt, Ari.438              

5. Victorino, Bos  .420     5. Sandoval, SF    .429       

      

   Slugging Percentage         Slugging Percentage   

1. Moss, Oak       .753     1. Pence, SF       .655        

2. Victornio, Bos  .636     2. Zimmerman, SF   .653     

3. Crisp, Oak      .621     3. Stanton, Mia    .639

4. Perez, KC       .611     4. Ramirez, LA     .621       

5. Cano, NY        .598     5. Ruiz, Phi       .593        

          

   Home Runs                   Home Runs

1. Moss, Oak          9     1. Zimmerman, Was    11
   Crisp, Oak         9     2. Pence, SF          9        

3. Soriano, NY        8        Stanton, Mia       9          

4. 4 with             7     5. 4 with             7

   Runs                        Runs    

1. Crisp, Oak        24     1. Zimmerman, Was    29        

   Victorino, Bos    24     2. Carpenter, SL     25       

3. Gordon, KC        23     3. Pence, SF         23
4. Jackson, Det      21     4. Choo, Cin         22
5. 4 with            18     5. 2 with            19

   RBI                         RBI      

1. Cano, NY          28     1. Pence, SF         33       

2. Perez, KC         25     2. Werth, Was        23      

   Soriano, NY       25     3. Ramos, Was        22       

4. Donaldson, Oak    23        Prado, Ari        22
   Moss, Oak         23     5. 2 with            21

   Stolen Bases                Stolen Bases             

1. Bonifacio, KC     12     1. Young, NY         15            

   Dyson, KC         12     2. Schafer, Atl      11      

3. Andrus, Tex       10     3. Segura, Mil        8   

4. Rios, Tex          9     4. 3 with             6

5. Ellsbury, Bos      8     

   Wins                        Wins   

1. 8 with             4     1. Kelly, SL          5

                            2. 9 with             4

   Saves                       Saves

1. Holland, KC       11     1. Soriano, Was      10

2. Farquhar, Sea      9     2. Kimbrel, Atl       8

   Reed, Chi          9     3. Melancon, Pit      8

4. 4 with             8        Henderson, Mil     8
                            5. 4 with             7

   ERA                         ERA

1. Jiminez, Cle    1.58     1. Fernandez, Mia  1.09

2. Feldman, Bal    1.78     2. Cashner, SD     1.26

3. Lester, Bos     1.81     3. Gallardo, Mil   1.35

4. Pettite, NY     2.13     4. Greinke, LA     1.47

5. Parker, Oak     2.25     5. Roark, Was      1.57

   Worst ERA                   Worst ERA

1. Kuroda, NY      6.69     1. Lynn, SL        6.11

2. Chen, Bal       6.48     2. Stultz, SD      5.90

3. Chen, KC        6.47     3. Kendrick, Phi   5.67

4. Sabathia, NY    5.92     4. Peralta, Mil    5.46

5. Albers, Min     5.85     5. Leake, Cin      5.40

   WHIP                        WHIP

1. Feldman, Bal    0.91     1. Fernandez, Mia  0.82

2. Rogers, Tor     0.92     2. Bailey, Cin     0.87

3. Tillman, Bal    0.94     3. Nolasco, LA     0.89

4. Archer, TB      0.95     4. Greinke, LA     0.91
5. Sale, Chi       0.96     5. Lee, Phi        0.93

   Strikeouts                  Strikeouts

1. Jiminez, Cle      50     1. Lee, Phi          42     

2. Darvish, Tex      49        Hamels, Phi       42

3. Sale, Chi         40     3. Greinke, LA       40

4. 3 with            38        Bailey, Cin       40

                               Kershaw, LA       40

Things I Can't Do

Fly under my own power.

Play major league baseball.

Or write anything as clever as this: The least to the most likable teams, ranked.

As Jose Fernandez Heads Off Into the Sunset

1. He finishes the season with a 2.19 ERA. In baseball history, there have been 13 seasons in which a pitcher 21 or younger has had an ERA below 2.25. Ten of those were in the deadball era. Since 1917, the only pitchers to accomplish this were Vida Blue (1971), Dwight Gooden (1985) and Fernandez.
2. The deadball era is a tough comparison because it was dominated by pitching. The only pitchers 21 or younger with a park-adjusted ERA 75% or more better than the league average (via Baseball-Reference's ERA+) are Blue, Gooden, and Fernandez.
3. He struck out 9.7 batters per 9 innings, making him the tenth pitcher 21 or younger to do so. The other nine are Sam McDowell, Dave Boswell, Tom Griffin, Frank Tanana, Dennis Eckersley, Gooden, Kerry Wood, Rick Ankiel, and Clayton Kershaw. Yow, that's a depressing group. Yes, Eck's in the Hall, but the only one on that list who qualified for the ERA title past age 31 was Tanana. Most were pretty much done before they were 30.
4. His strikeout-to-walk ratio was 3.22. He's the 12th pitcher 21 or younger to do that. The other 11 include several flameouts (Gary Nolan, Blue, Gooden) but also a couple Hall of Famers (Don Sutton, Bert Blyeven).
5. Here's the killer: Fernandez allowed 5.8 hits per nine innings. Nobody 21 or younger has ever done that. The closest anyone's come is Blue, 6.0 in 1971.

Conclusion: Fernandez had a historically great season. The track record of the peer group, though, should make us all cautious about projecting his (or, for that matter, Kershaw's) ability to keep it going.

How Ballparks Affect Offense

Great article over at ESPN today (full article only for ESPN insiders) on Park Effects - the way ballparks increase or depress offense. Most casual fans know that Coors Field in Denver enhances scoring, while Safeco Field in Seattle doesn't. The article examines whether changes to the dimensions at Safeco and Petco Park in San Diego this season have affected offense. (They have, though not as much as I would've guessed.) 

What's really interesting is how the increase in defensive shifts have affected offense. You know all those plays where there are three infielders liked up between first base and second when left-handed hitters like David Ortiz and Ryan Howard are at the plate? They appear to be working. From 2009-2012, major league hitters batted about .130 on fly balls that remain in play. This year, it's below .100. (Remember, a lot of those non-homer fly balls are hit to the infield or short outfield where all those infielders are.) The batting average on line drives is below .700, which hasn't happened before.

So next time you hear about cheap homers hit in bandboxes, it's also become tougher to get hits on balls that stay in play.

The Lost Weekend

Four playoff contenders had forgettable weekends. Actually, not forgettable. They'll remember them. How about terrible? Or disastrous?

Pirates - There was celebration when the Bucs won their 81st game of the season, meaning that for the first time since 1992. Unfortunately, that was Tuesday. Since then, they've:

• Lost four straight by a combined score of 35-13
• Seen their ace, Francisco Liriano, shelled (3 IP, 7 ER, 7 H, 2 BB)
• Seen last year's ace, AJ Burnett, also shelled (3 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 1 BB)
• Seen their best pitcher in the second half, Charlie Morton, not only shelled (1.2 IP, 5 ER, 6H, 2 BB) but also injured (he left the game with "left foot discomfort")
• Lost their lead to St. Louis, which swept them
• Fell to 1.5 games out of first, their biggest deficit since August 27
• Fell into a tie for second with the Reds, the first time since June 20 that they haven't had sole possession of first or second

The pitching blowup is worrisome, of course, especially if Morton's hurt. They're still virtually certain of making the postseason: they're 8 ahead of Washington and 9 ahead of Arizona for the wild card. But they're not looking like a team that's going to go far.

Rangers and Rays - Texas and Tampa Bay seem to be in a competition to blow the AL wild card. Each lost two of three over the weekend to weak teams (Angels and Mariners, respectively). It's probably not time to push the panic button yet, but one of the teams trailing them, Cleveland (2 back, along with Baltimore), has a comically weak schedule the rest of the way (home-and-road series against Kansas City and Chicago, plus four at home against Houston and four on the road against Minnesota) while Texas has only three more games against sub-.500 teams and Tampa Bay has just six. Tampa Bay's last in the league in runs over the past two weeks, while Texas is 10th in both runs scored and runs allowed in the AL over the same period.

Yankees - They're also not out of it yet, at 2.5 back, and nine of their last twelve games are against teams with losing records, but man, getting beat up at home against Boston--losing 3 of 4, allowing 34 runs in the losses--doesn't make you feel great about the prospects for a team that's 20th in on base percentage, 25th in slugging, and whose shortstop still hasn't recovered from an ankle injury 11 months ago.