Cleveland 7 – Seattle 5 (Game 1)

W: Chris Perez (3-6) L: Brandon League (1-5)
HR: Shin-Soo Choo (7)
SB: Ezequiel Carrera (6)

- Shin-Soo Choo capped off a wild ninth inning where the Mariners took the lead in the top of the inning on a double by Trayvon Robinson only to see Brandon League lose the game in the bottom of the inning by giving up a three-run shot to Choo. Some might say Chris Perez should have started the ninth (Justin Masterson gave up consecutive singles before being pulled at 117 pitches) and sans the error on Ackley in the bottom of the inning might have given the Mariners the win.

- Shin-Soo Choo has now reached base safely in all 10 games since returning off the DL, going 16-for-43 (.372) with three home runs.

Philadelphia 9 – New York 4

W: Vance Worley (9-1) L: Jonathon Niese (11-11)
HR: Lucas Duda (7), Shane Victorino (14), John Mayberry (12)

- For the second day John  Mayberry hit a home run while Shane Victorino missed the cycle by a single and a double. Vance Worley improved to 9-1 while lowering his ERA to 2.65. He struck out nine and walked one. I'm starting to think he'll be a tough guy to rank next season.

- It's worth noting Bobby Parnell worked a meaningless, scoreless, eighth inning. I don't think I could handicap who'll be the closer for the Mets next season. Ok, I'll try and I'll go with who ends up with the most saves at season's end. Jason Isringhausen – 10:1, Bobby Parnell 3:1, Mike Pelfrey 3:1, Pedro Beato 10:1, Francisco Rodriguez 10:1 and the Field at 1:2.

Oakland 6 – New York 5

W: Brandon McCarty (7-6) L: Bartolo Colon (8-8) S: Andrew Bailey (17)
HR: Brandon Allen 2 (5), Eric Sogard (1), Nick Swisher (16), Jorge Posada (11)

- An interesting game as the A's went into the bottom of the eighth with a 6-0 lead. After the Swisher homer and some further occurrences in the ninth inning, the Yankees had bases loaded with one out. After a Mark Teixeira pop-out, Nick Swisher crushed a 2-0 pitch to the warning track in center field to end the game.

- Umm, are there so many teams secure at first base that they didn't jump to grab Brandon Allen? Yes, small sample size police arrest me but he's gone 13-for-33 (.394) with two triples, two doubles, two home runs with a 4:3 K:BB ratio since joining Oakland. While he's not hitting in a great home park, there's a lot of upside here.

Seattle 12 – Cleveland 7 (Game 2)

W: Anthony Vasquez (1-0) L: Zach McAllister (0-1) S: Jeff Gray (1)
HR: Mike Carp (7), Kyle Seager (2), Shin-Soo Choo (8) Kosuke Fukudome (4)
SB: Ichiro Suzuki (31),
CS: Ezequiel Carrera (3)

- Asdrubal Cabrera went 0-for-9 in the double header which I'm guessing let down the Tribe while Carlos Santana only went 1-for-7.

- Chance Ruffin was bailed out by Jeff Gray, since Ruffin allowed three walks and a hit while allowing only one run. Does anyone else remember when Bruce Ruffin had an interesting rookie card?

Arizona 2 – Washington 0

W: Ian Kennedy (16-4) L: Jordan Zimmermann (8-11) S: J.J. Putz (31)
HR: Sean Burroughs (1)

- I find it strange that the Diamondbacks loved Kelly Johnson yet they dealed him for Aaron Hill who has a questionable option(s) on his contract. Who won here and why?

- I'd guess Jordan Zimmermann has one more start in him. Then it's probably Stephen Strasburg time. Here's a note for Strasburg owners who anticipate the return of the almighty one in a week or two. Zimmermann was along the identical path as Strasburg last season and returned to have a 4.94 ERA over seven starts. In other words, don't set the bar too high for Strasburg when he returns.

Kansas City 6 – Toronto 4

W: Bruce Chen (9-5) L: Brandon Morrow (9-8) S: Joakim Soria (23)
HR: Billy Butler (16), Eric Hosmer (11), Yunel Escobar (11)
SB: Eric Hosmer (7), Mike McCoy (5)

- Brandow Morrow goes six innings striking out 12 and giving up one run in his previous start to a home start where allows six runs over 4.2 innings. Jose Bautista went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

- Bruce Chen was rolling until the sixth inning when he gave up a three-run shot to Yunel Escobar. Chen struck out an impressive nine while walking only one over 7.2 innings.

Cincinnati 8 – Florida 6

W: Aroldis Chapman (3-1) L: Leo Nunez (1-4) S: Francisco Cordero (27)
HR: Jay Bruce (27), Yonder Alonso (2), Emilio Bonifacio (3)
SB: Brandon Phillips (9), Drew Stubbs 2 (32)

- Johnny Cueto was clearly off his game, giving up six walks and four hits over five innings.

- I'd love to see the Reds give Yonder Alonso more at-bats going forward, especially since he's hitting .438 (in a small sample size).

- After a shaky start to July, Francisco Cordero has allowed only one earned run over his last 14 outings (15 innings, 0.60 ERA). Leo Nunez on the other hand has a 9.00 ERA over nine August outings, with two blown saves in five tries.

Baltimore 8 – Minnesota 1

W: Alfredo Simon (4-6) l: Brian Duensing (8-13)
HR: Nolan Reimold (8), Danny Valencia (14)
CS: Trevor Plouffe (2)

- Other than a Danny Valencia home run, Alfredo Simon had his best start of the season by allowing the one run over eight innings. He struck out eight and walked only one.

- Matt Wieters was unstoppable, going 1-for-1 at the plate with four walks which means he reached base on every plate appearance. He now has a .418 OBP (75 plate appearances) in the month of August.

- If I had to guess, I'd say Brian Duensing has one or two more starts left before the Twins shut him down. It appears fatigue is setting in as evidenced by the 8.65 ERA over five August starts. He's up to 148 innings after throwing 130.3 last season.

Los Angeles 13 – St. Louis 2

W: Clayton Kershaw (16-5) L: Kyle Lohse (11-8)
HR: Matt Kemp (29), Aaron Miles (3), Rod Barajas 2 (14)

- You can't stop Rod Barajas. He's gone 9-for-16 with four home runs and 10 RBI over his last four starts.

- Kyle Lohse was terrible allowing eight runs over three innings. Meanwhile Clayton Kershaw allowed only one extra base hit (and five singles) over six innings en route to his 16th win.

Colorado 8 – Houston 6

W: Matt Belisle (8-4) L: Fernando Rodriguez (2-2) S: Rex Brothers (1)
HR: Carlos Lee (12), Seth Smith (15), Jonathan Herrera (3)
SB: Jordan Schafer (16), Carlos Gonzalez (17), Seth Smith (7), Chris Iannetta (5)

- Todd Helton had a rare off game going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Alex White gave up five runs over six innings but struck out four while walking one.

- Rex Brothers got his first save, allowing two base runners and striking out two.

- Carlos Gonzalez continues to be a fantasy monster in August and has seven home runs and 24 RBI over 17 games.

Boston 11 – Texas 5

W: John Lackey (12-9) L: Colby Lewis (11-9)
HR: Adrian Gonzalez 2 (20), Ian Kinsler (21), Josh Hamilton (17)
SB: Endy Chavez (8), Jacoby Ellsbury (34)

- Every starter for the Red Sox recorded at least one hit with Adrian Gonzalez and Marco Scutaro driving in three runs each. Outside of the home run to Josh Hamilton, John Lackey only allowed six singles over 6.2 innings to the Rangers.

- Jacoby Ellsbury made a successful return to the lineup, going 1-for-4 with a stolen base.

Detroit 2 – Tampa Bay 1

W: Brad Penny (9-9) L: David Price (11-11) S: Phil Coke (1)
CS: Desmond Jennings (5)

- Phil Coke worked the eighth and ninth innings for the rare save given the usage of Jose Valverde lately. Coke has not been scored on in August (10 innings) and has a 16:2 K:BB ratio. He also has a 16:6 GB:FB ratio during that span.

- Desmond Jennings went 3-for-5 to raising his batting average to .330.

Atlanta 5 – Chicago 4

W: Mike Minor (4-2) L: Casey Coleman (2-6) S: Craig Kimbrel (first to 40 - remember when he was going to share saves with Venters?)
HR: Jason Heyward (13), Alfonso Soriano (21) SB: Michael Bourn 2 (47)

- Collectively the pitching for the Braves was excellent (although their scoreless innings streak was broken) as they struck out 12 without walking a batter. Mike Minor had a decent outing and I'd think he sticks in the rotation and Derek Lowe is out once Tommy Hanson returns. I'd guess Lowe gets shelled today (Wednesday).

- It was odd to see Jason Heyward hitting out of the eighth hole, especially considering he was probably only in the starting lineup because Jose Constanza hurt his ankle. Heyward has to be one of the bigger fantasy disappointments this year.

Los Angeles 5 – Chicago 4

W: Jordan Walden (4-3) L: Jason Frasor (3-3)
HR: Howie Kendrick (11)
SB: Alejandro De Aza (4)
CS: Bobby Wilson (2)

- Ervin Santana had his worst start since June 10, giving up four runs over eight innings. That means he's been pitching pretty well.

- Despite two blown saves in August, Jordan Walden has a 1.42 ERA for the month after a 2.35 ERA in July.

San Diego 7 – San Francisco 5

W: Erik Hamren (1-0) L: Ramon Ramirez(2-2) S: Heath Bell (35)
HR: Kyle Blanks (6)
SB: Will Venable (24), Orlando Hudson (17)
CS: Cameron Maybin (5)

- The Padres continued their run-scoring ways, chalking up another seven in a park that plays more to pitchers.

- Mat Latos now has given up three runs or less in 11 straight starts and has given up more than four runs (five runs) once this whole season. He came into the game with a 3.16 ERA since the All-Star Break with a 45:15 K:BB ratio over 50.1 innings.