AL East

The Yankees magic number was down to one, but they never really had a chance to clinch last night thanks to an absolutely terrible performance from starter A.J. Burnett, who couldn’t even last three innings as he gave up seven runs over 2.1 innings in a 7-5 loss in Toronto.

Here are some highlights:

The Philadelphia Phillies are the hottest playoff team in baseball right now, sporting the MLB's best record at 94-63. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games and recently had an 11-game winning streak. They are playing outstanding baseball and look to be in postseason form, and have also clinched their fourth consecutive NL East title.

With the Phillies playing this well, can they be stopped? They have been to the past two World Series, and won it all in 2008. It will take a lot for a team to stop the Phillies once the postseason starts.

Last night, David Price tweeted about the lack of fan support in Tampa Bay, noting that the fact that he was pitching a potentially division-clinching game in front of 10,000 fans was "embarrassing".

The backlash from Rays fans was inevitable.  Less than two hours later, Price apologized on Twitter if he offended anyone.

The Boston Red Sox are for all intents and purposes finished with their 2010 season. It has been a long and tough campaign which saw them virtually eliminated by their own inability to stay on the field.

Too many key injuries will derail any team let alone a team faced with a game of musical chairs with Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees.

The Red Sox still retain a solid core of players and with the chance that Tampa Bay may not be able to afford some its talent with expiring contracts, those Red Sox fans already moving onto the 2011 season have a few reasons to smile.

So many marvelous players have been on the Yankees.

This season is different.

Yes, New York has the lovable Core Four. However, there have been some absolute monstrosities this season, and I am convinced that these following five players will not return.

Keep in mind this is not a bashing of the Yankees. I am one of the biggest Yankee fans ever. Yet, there are some players who have been robbing the team, and they have to be clarified.

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“There are three kinds of lies,” the age-old adage goes, “lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

While Sabathia’s poor outing (5.1, 10-7) against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night probably put an end to his AL Cy Young Award aspirations, the Hernandez vs. Sabathia debate was certainly a fascinating one while it lasted. What it all seemed to boil down to which statistic is more important: Felix Hernandez’ 2.31 ERA or C.C. Sabathia’s 20 wins?

Mariano Rivera has been as consistent a player as any in professional sports. His prowess in the playoffs is simply unmatched by all challengers. While every year there seems to be a hot new closer that everyone is in love with, the New York Yankees' not-so-secret weapon has been terrorizing opposing hitters for years.

This is not a panic post about Mariano Rivera struggling, because as always, I have full faith in him. At the same time, it’s hard to ignore what’s been going on.

If you can understand correlations, you can begin to understand something essential to success in baseball. Why? Because correlations show how one variable affects another variable.

For example, we can see how strikeouts influence runs scored, and we would find that there is no notable correlation (actually true). 

The dictionary describes a correlation as a "mutual relationship." This relationship can prove that two things affect or do not affect each other. 

It was a good run...right?

The Yankees defeated the Red Sox 4-3 in extra innings last night, a game that featured late inning dramatics from both sides.

The Yankees had a 3-2 lead going into the top of the ninth inning with Mariano Rivera on the hill.

Yet the resilient Sox would not go away. Ryan Kalish singled with one out, stole second, stole third, and scored on a Bill Hall single.