AL East

David Ortiz started off the 2010 campaign very slowly, but that seems to become a trademark start to the year for him. He got off to the same type of start in 2009, but picked it all up and the same pattern carried on in 2010. Big Papi just hit his 31st home-run of the season, but nobody seemed to notice. 

During his time in Boston, infielder Jed Lowrie has been the butt of many jokes by Red Sox fans. He has been criticized constantly for his apparent lack of any visible baseball skill set and has been labeled "injury prone" by the hometown fans.

The playoff picture in the American League is all but set, with the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers simply dotting the eyes and crossing the tees on their way to October. 

There is a little drama left in the National League, as the Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants, and San Diego Padres battle it out with the Atlanta Braves for the NL wild card and the NL West division title.

One upon a time the 50 home run mark was a milestone for only the very best power hitters in baseball.

The feat has only been accomplished 42 times in baseball history by 26 different men.

Recent history has sadly diminished this feat.  Between 1995 and 2007, the feat was accomplished 23 times (four times each by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa).

Despite the intervention of the steroid era, baseball fans should still remember the significance of the 50 home run club. 

On September 23rd, Jose Bautista hit his 50th home run of the 2010 season. 

Last night in a 7-2 loss to Tampa Bay, Yankees manager Joe Girardi brought in relief pitcher Royce Ring, who was making his debut this season after pitching in Triple-A for most of 2010.

Ring was very effective and efficient, so should Girardi include Ring on the postseason roster?

Via Jack Curry's Twitter:

Yanks expect 11 pitchers for DS. CC, AJ, Andy, Phil, Mo, Wood, Joba, Logan, Rbrtsn r locks. Nova, Vazquez, Gaudin, Mitre fight 4 2 spots.

This is going to kill me because I am a die-hard New York Yankees fan, but in the pessimistic would that I live in, I can see the Yankees blowing it with ten games remaining and two big series coming up with their arch rival Boston Red Sox.

At age 34, Lance Berkman has started to feel his age this season as he has dealt with a few nagging injuries that have dragged his numbers down. His season in Houston was up and down and the first two weeks in the Bronx were just ugly.

Berkman went on the DL in the middle of August, and before he came off the DL he started working with Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long in order to hit the ground running as soon as he was activated.

The New York Yankees lost the third game to the Tampa Bay Rays Wednesday night, with a final score of 7-2.

The Yankees lead this four-game set, 2-1, with a goal to win the final and take the series.

The Rays' best, and only shot is to spilt the series, creeping up on the AL East leading Yankees to just a half-game.

Clearly with nine games remaining after this series wraps up, nothing is set in stone in the AL East.

The rain knocked A.J. Burnett out of the game and the Yankees B-squad bullpen let them down as they lost at home 7-2 to the Tampa Bay Rays to drop to just 1.5 games up in first place.

Here are some highlights: