Baseball

Just a few short weeks ago, Atlanta Braves' starting pitcher, Derek Lowe, was struggling. On Monday night, Lowe pitched eight shutout innings, struck out a career high 12 batters, reached a career milestone of 1,500 strikeouts, and earned his 13th victory of the season. What's changed?

Fourth devastating outcome in a row for the New York Yankees, third walk-off loss, and no longer do they hold the best record in baseball.

That honor now belongs to the Tampa Bay Rays, who take a half-game lead in the AL East standings.

The Yankees just can’t seem to catch a break, as things just keep getting worse.

Monday's pitching match-up of CC Sabathia vs. David Price lived-up to all the hype. Both leading Cy Young Award candidates, who equally proved why on the mound.

When the Mariners signed Chone Figgins they expected that he’d be an offensive upgrade over Adrian Beltre. Little did the fans know that he’d play second base instead of third base, where he’d made a home in the past two seasons with the Angels.

With a 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay, the Yankees dropped out of first place for the first time since August 3.  They've lost seven of their past eight games, three via the walk-off.  No one player has been entirely blameless during the stretch and many players have played poorly, or not at all.

Baseball’s best hitters have hit this season, and thousands of runs have been scored, but this has undeniably been the Year of the Pitcher.

He's baaaacccckkkkkkk!!!!

Looking at Tim Lincecum's three starts in September, one would think he is back to Cy Young form. After a horrible 0-5 August record, Lincecum has responded by winning each of his three starts in September. His ERA in August was an abysmal 7.82, compared to 2.09 in September. 

So he's back on track right?

Well, hold it right there. Sure his stats are back to ace-like form, but how do we know he has really changed?

The National League may have just lost a Cy Young candidate, but may also have gained an ERA title winner.

The Florida Marlins announced this afternoon that staff ace Josh Johnson would be shut down for the season after complaining of problems with his back and shoulder for much of the second half of the season.

The 2010 MLB season is drawing to a close, and while many teams and their fans are looking to the postseason, others are already looking to next year. In the case of some players, next year could bring major changes.

Recently, there have been reports of players being unhappy with their situations and requesting trades, most notably Colby Rasmus of the Cardinals and Prince Fielder of the Brewers. Other players look like they have been wanting out for a while, and as a result they may do just that.

The Boston Red Sox continue to use the rest of this season as a tryout for future bullpen roles as they have purchased the contract of former Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles starter, Rich Hill, from the Pawtucket Red Sox, who did not make the International League playoffs.

Hill, a left-handed starter/long-reliever, was a fourth round pick for the Cubs in 2002 out of the University of Michigan, where he quickly propelled up the Cubs minor league system and debuted with the team in 2005.

At the All-Star break there were questions surrounding the Minnesota Twins line-up.  They didn't have an every day third basemen who could contribute offensively.  Justin Morneau had just suffered a concussion one week prior and it was unknown when he might return, if at all.