Preview/Prediction

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Mets will try to even their series with the Washington Nationals tonight, in a game pitched by two first-timers.

Originally, Johan Santana was supposed to start tonight's game for the Mets, but he strained a pectoral muscle in his last start on Thursday and was scratched.

Therefore, taking his spot in the rotation will be 24-year-old minor leaguer Dillon Gee. This is Gee's fourth season in the Mets organization since they drafted him in the 21st round of the 2007 amateur draft.

Perhaps you remember several years ago when rock band Green Day released their hit album American Idiot (I happen to because it was the first one I ever bought). Anyway, one of the songs was titled “Wake Me Up When September Ends.” As the title suggests, the song yearns for the supposedly dreadful month to end and for October to begin.

Well, Billie Joe Armstrong must not be a huge baseball fan, because September on the diamond is epic.

The dog days of summer are waning, and the cooler drier air of fall is not far away.

With fewer than 26 games remaining for the playoff contending teams of the American League, there are still a couple of questions that need to be answered.

Who will win the American League East?

Can the Chicago White Sox catch the Minnesota Twins?

With MVP candidate Josh Hamilton out of the line up and Cliff Lee missing a start, are the Texas Rangers in a free fall?

There is something to be said about great rivalries in sports. They change, they go cold at times, and then there are times the rivalry will heat back up like never before.

This year, the Atlanta Braves have put their bid in to be the king of the NL East again as they seek to knock off the new beast in the east, the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Toronto Blue Jays shut Brandon Morrow down after Friday’s start due to the number of innings he had thrown.  While his season didn’t end on the brightest note (3.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 4 K), he leaves behind a stat line that shows off all the promise we’ve heard so much about:

10 Wins
146.1 Innings
4.49 ERA
1.38 WHIP
178 Strikeouts (10.95 K/9)
66 Walks (4.06 BB/9)
.348 BABIP

At the end of Sunday’s play, the New York Yankees have a 2.5 game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yanks and the Rays are most definitely going to the playoffs; the only question is which team wins the American League East. The two teams play each other for seven epic games in the next two weeks. However, the Yankees have a chance to pad their lead before they arrive in St. Petersburg for three games.

Yesterday, Josh Hamilton ran into a wall chasing down a fly ball.  Today, it was confirmed that he would be out indefinitely. So what does that mean for the other MVP hopefuls like Robinson Cano, Miguel Cabrera, and possibly even CC Sabathia?

The Padres have been leading the NL West for virtually the whole season. Recently, a week or so ago they extended their lead to 6.5 games over the Giants. 

At this point, the team showed no signs of slowing down. Their pitching was still magnificent and their hitting was getting it done. 

The Padres also seemed to show no signs of having a major weakness, even though they didn't have a major strong point besides their pitching staff. 

The former No. 4 prospect in baseball Jeremy Hermida signed a Minor League deal with the Oakland Athletics on Friday.

Hermida, 26, has been inconsistent in his major league career so far, as his best season was back in 2007 with the Florida Marlins, where he hit 18 home runs and drove in 63 runs while hitting .296 for the year.

After that season, he hit .259 in 2008 and .249 in 2007: clearly becoming worse as each new season started.

With at least four jobs available for Managers following the 2010 Campaign, the following are the top candidates for those vacancies, as well as others which may open up after the season is over. These are not in any particular order, but possible teams will be included for each candidate.

The teams who will most likely have vacancies following the season includes: Marlins, Cubs, Mariners, Blue Jays, Braves and Diamondbacks.

Begin Slideshow