Weekend Update: Tigers Maul Indians (And More)

Tigers make statement against Indians.
Friday afternoon, the Indians trailed the first-place Tigers by 1-1/2 games. No biggie. Cleveland even had a (very slightly) better run differential.

No more. This weekend the Indians went to Detroit and got their asses swept hard. Friday, Max Scherzer and two relievers held the Indians to one run. Saturday, Doug Fister and two relievers held the Indians to one run, which was mostly irrelevant because the Tigers scored 10. Sunday, the Tigers scorched Ubaldo Jiménez for eight runs in the first four innings and held on to win 8-7. In less than 72 hours, Detroit gained three games on Cleveland without Justin Verlander throwing a single pitch.

Beginning on the 5th of September, the Indians host the Tigers in another three-game set. Between now and then, they've got 14 games against the Royals, the Mariners, and the Athletics. This thing's not over yet. But the Tribe's probably gotta make some hay before the 5th.

Angels sweep Orioles and just won't go away.
Yes, the run differentials say the Angels can't hang with the Rangers. No, the Angels don't really seem to give a tinker's damn.

This weekend the Angels took three from the Orioles, with the highlight a three-run 13th inning Saturday night that gave them a 9-8 decision. Meanwhile, the Rangers were losing two of three against the White Sox, leaving the gap between the first-place Rangers and the second-place Angels at only four games. And there's more good news in Angel Land, as Jered Weaver's been signed long-term and -- more to the situation at hand -- Mike Scioscia seems to have finally lost patience with both Jeff Mathis and Vernon Wells, his lineup's only two weak links.

Diamondbacks swept by Braves.
But wait, it gets worse; the D'backs have lost five straight: two to the Phillies last week, then three against the Braves over the weekend.

The good news is that Arizona's still 1-1/2 games ahead of the second-place Giants. The bad news is that Arizona, for all their talents, still figures to find their (supposed) natural level at some point in the next six weeks. The Diamondbacks best hope might be that various Giants continue to pull, strain, and occasionally fracture various body parts you need if you're going to play baseball well.

Padres suddenly looking respectable.
Okay, so it was only the Marlins. And with one exception, the Padres didn't exactly roll over the Marlins in their four-game sweep; aside from Saturday's 14-1 laugher, the Pads outscored the Mars by only four runs: 3-1, 4-3, 4-3. But after all that, there's this bizarre little tidbit: the 59-70 Padres now have a better run differential than the 68-60 Giants.

A.J. Burnett got hammered on Saturday ...
and Ivan Nova pitched seven shutout innings on Sunday, running his record to 13-4.

The short-term fate of Phil Hughes remains unknown, but it's seeming more and more likely that Burnett and his $16.5 million contract will be left on the sidelines in November.