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After three one-run games of relatively minimal scoring, we were finally graced with a slugfest in the series finale between the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates. The two ball clubs split their day-night doubleheader on Tuesday, and the Cubs took Wednesday’s contest behind another absolute gem from Cy Young hopeful, Jake Arrieta. This afternoon’s game was a back and forth affair that eventually went the way of the Cubbies by a final score of 9-6 as their offense went off for on 17 total hits. Anthony Rizzo connected for this 30th home run of the year in the fifth inning to help Chicago retake the lead and start the scoring for the team’s six-run inning. Pirates starter Charlie Morton failed to retire a single batter in the Cubs’ big fifth inning, and was taken out of the game after giving up three straight hits including the Rizzo homer. Long balls from Travis Snider, Gregory Polanco, and Pedro Alvarez kept the Pirates in the game for most of the afternoon, but the ball club simply could not keep up with the rate at which Chicago was scoring. The National League Central has provided us with some of the best, most exciting baseball all year long, and this series was no different. Pittsburgh currently has a two-game advantage over the Cubs with one three-game series remaining in Chicago, and also sit five games back of the first place St. Louis Cardinals in the loss column with one more home-series against them as well.

IF YOU ONLY READ ONE THING…

The top two teams on the outside looking in at the American League playoff picture met tonight in Minnesota. The Twins sat just a game and a half back of the struggling Houston Astros entering play tonight, and the Los Angeles Angels were just three and a half back as well. Minnesota jumped out to an early lead by scoring five runs in the bottom half of the first off LA starter Hector Santiago, knocking him out of the game after just ⅔ of an inning. Despite getting into the Angels bullpen early on, the Twins own pitching did not fare any better. Tommy Milone departed after retiring just one batter in the second inning, and left the bases the bases for Mike Trout. Trout took the 2-0 offering from reliever A.J. Achter and deposited it into the right-center field stands for a go-ahead grand slam. Trout homered again in his next plate appearance on a screaming liner to left, raising his new career high in long balls to 38. If the Angels hope to sneak into the playoffs this year, the club will have to rely heavily on Mike Trout to perform like the true MVP he is. He has 83 RBI on the year thus far, which a little ways off from his AL leading 111 he had last season; but those numbers can be attributed to a lack of support from the rest of the Angel’s offense. LA will be able to make up some ground if they can catch fire as they have three games left with the Astros and four left with the Rangers.

JUST AS WE EXPECTED…

It is no secret that the Toronto Blue Jays offense is the best in all of baseball, so putting them up against a rebuilding Atlanta Braves squad just seems cruel and unjust on the part of the MLB schedulers. The Jays victimised the poor Braves in their 5-0 shutout win tonight, adding strong pitching to their winning equation. Marco Estrada was superb on the bump tonight, giving up three hits over the course of eight innings with four strikeouts. If fact, the Braves didn’t even get a runner into scoring position, as they totaled just five baserunners on the night, and grounded into two double plays. All five of Toronto’s runs tonight came on just three swings as the team got home runs from Edwin Encarnacion, Cliff Pennington, and Josh Donaldson. Encarnacion continues to be the quiet assassin in the middle Blue Jay lineup being slightly overshadowed by Donaldson’s seemingly imminent AL MVP award. The solo home runs for Donaldson and Encarnacion gave the pair of sluggers 120 and 100 RBI, respectively, giving the offense a three-headed monster of right handed hitters who have recorded over 30 home runs and over 100 RBI with Jose Bautista rounding out the trio (only six total MLB players have reached this mark this year). The Blue Jays open up a weekend series at home with the Red Sox tomorrow before the second place Yankees come into town on Monday.

WHAT WE DIDN’T EXPECT…

The Texas Rangers completed their home sweet of the Houston Astros tonight, effectively leapfrogging the Stros in the standing and moving into first place in the American League West. It was a crisply played game to conclude a well-played series, though this one did begin to really get away from Houston in the latter innings tonight. Mitch Moreland’s opposite field home run in the third inning proved to all the Rangers would need for the 8-2 win, and the long ball gives Moreland a team-leading 21 home runs and 77 RBI on the year. Colby Lewis also improved to 16-8 on the year with a quality start of two earned runs in six innings of work. The 37 year-old has continued to up his career high in wins by keeping the Rangers in games and eating innings. The Astros have been getting cold at the worst possible time of the year. It is a young and inexperienced team that has to find another streak in them if they hope to catch the surging Rangers and fend off the three or four Wild Card contenders.

SAVE CHANCES

– Travis Wood (2)

– Greg Holland (32)

– Darren O’Day (3)

INJURIES

Super-utility man Jung Ho Kang had to be helped off the field at PNC Park in the first inning of today’s game against the Cubs after colliding with incoming baserunner, Chris Coghlan. Kang, serving as the Pirates shortstop this afternoon, was able to successfully turn the double play, but was taken out at the second base bag by Coghlan’s slide and remained on the dirt in serious pain for several minutes. An MRI revealed a torn MCL and fractured tibia in Kang’s left knee, and will require Pittsburgh’s breakout rookie to go under the knife tonight, causing him to miss the the rest of the season. The 28 year-old has made a seamless transition from Korean Baseball into the MLB, and has been an invaluable player for the Pirates thanks to his solid production and versatility. Kang has played both shortstop and third base for the club, and has shown the ability to produce all throughout the lineup (he was batting cleanup today in Andrew McCutchen’s absence). Kang has posted a .816 OPS in 125 games this season, and has belted 15 home runs and 58 RBI while hitting a solid .286. Jordy Mercer, who missed a month back in July due to a similar incident against the Brewers, came into the game to replace the injured Kang at short and went 2-4 in his stead. To add insult to injury, the Pirates lost this afternoon’s game 9-6, and has seen their Wild Card lead shrink to two games after losing three of four at home to their division rivals.

RUMORS & TRANSACTIONS

With a disappointing 2015 season on all fronts, owner Jeffrey Loria has stated that the Miami Marlins may be open to trading 24 year-old outfielder Marcell Ozuna. Ozuna hit 23 home runs in his sophomore season in the big leagues, and provided solid center field defense for Miami as well, en route to a second place finish in their division last year. This season, however, has been a completely different story for both Ozuna and the Marlins as the team has spiraled towards the bottom of the National League due to numerous injuries and lack of production. Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, and Jose Fernandez have all missed significant chunks of time on the disabled list this season, and Ozuna was never quite able to pick up the slack as the Marlins had hoped. Ozuna’s slashline is just .249/.297/.368 this year compared to the .269/.317/.455 he posted in 2014, and he has seen his WAR drop from 3.7 to 0.3 as a result. Ozuna still has a tremendous upside, but it still remains seen if he can meet that potential. He has been prone to prolonged slumps this season, including his current 1-15 mark, and a 1-35 stretch that caused him to spend a month rehashing things out in Triple-A. It is also tough to say exactly what is wrong with Ozuna’s approach as his walk rate and strikeout numbers are eerily similar this year as they were when he was actually producing in 2014. He seems like a pretty big risk to take moving forward, but the young outfielder is still under control until the 2019 season which could peak several teams’ interest. The Marlins will want young pitching in return for Ozuna’s services, and based on the team’s track record, it seems very plausible that he will be on the move from Miami come winter.

Fantasy Baseball Final: September 17, 2015