The Tampa Bay Rays have won their second American League East title in their brief history. This season's division championship came down to the final day of the regular season. The Rays had the division in hand once the Yankees lost to the Red Sox but would've won regardless by defeating Kansas City.

In the 'Year of the Pitcher,' the batters never stood a chance.

There were five no-hitters thrown (but really six), including two perfect games. There were also nine one-hitters, and a major-league debut that featured 14 strikeouts by a certain Stephen Strasburg.

Several pitchers, among them Felix Hernandez, Roy Halladay, and Ubaldo Jiminez, have had so many jaw-dropping performances this year that they could populate this top 10 list all by themselves.

But 2010 was no ordinary year. It was the pitcher's year.

National pundits are piling on the Tampa Bay Rays after two of its star players, Evan Longoria and David Price, expressed displeasure at the team attracting only 12,446 fans to their Monday night game against the Baltimore Orioles, a possible playoff-clincher.

That's pretty much the typical Baltimore Orioles game on a school-year Monday night at home. If the Rays were still a bad team, they'd be lucky to draw 9,000 on that day against that team.

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.

Top Five Stories From Yesterday

1. The Phillies sweep the Braves out of Philadelphia, increasing their lead in the NL East to six games and reducing their magic number to four.

2. The Padres retake the lead in the NL West after they defeat the Dodgers, and the Giants lose to the Cubs.

3. The Rays get back to within 1.5 games of the Yankees after winning the third game of their big four-game series.

There is a saying that bad news doesn't get better with time. However, announcing plans to cut payroll while your team is in the middle of a division race can't be a good idea.

That's exactly what Tampa Bay Rays owner Stu Sternberg did when he announced that even if the Rays win the World Series payroll will be cut in 2011. The current estimate is that the Rays will cut this year's $72 million payroll by $15-20 million.

The Yankees jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning on their way to an 8-3 lead over the Tampa Bay Rays as they increased their AL East lead to 2.5 games.

Here are some highlights:

Let me begin by saying that I am a fan of Ben Zobrist. He is a switch-hitter who can play a multitude of positions and he has a great attitude. Overall, Zobrist is a solid baseball player and a great person. However, that does not mean the Rays should have given him a three-year contract extension worth up to $30 million.