Indians 5, @Royals 3 — Or, the night the lights went out on K.C.’s playoff hopes. Cleveland pulled even in the 7th with 2 runs, keyed on Michael Bourn’s triple after a hit batsman by Kelvin Herrera, and pulled ahead in the 8th when Asdrubal Cabrera doubled after Carlos Santana drew a leadoff walk from Wade Davis. Bourn tacked on a HR on the 9th, the first run off Luke Hochevar in 11 games, and the Tribe held on to stay a half-game off the wild-card pace, knocking the Royals 3.5 games back. Kansas City left 10 men on base.

• Cleveland plays one more with the Royals, then their last 10 against the Astros (4), White Sox (2) and Twins (4).
• Yordano Ventura walked the leadoff man in his first 2 big-league innings, but got a quick DP each time, and settled in to hold Cleveland scoreless to the 6th.

Ned Yost knows way more about his bullpen than I do, yet I still wonder at the chain of events that led to Wade Davis pitching in a tie game that the Royals had to win. The rookie went 5.2 innings and left the tying runs on base. Yost needed 2 relievers to get that last out of the 6th; OK, crucial spot, no problem using some personnel there. But after Louis Coleman got that big strikeout, Yost brought in Kelvin Herrera to start the 7th. Coleman has been outstanding this year, in MLB and AAA, while Herrera has been so-so. Both are righties, and their platoon splits are about the same. Why pull Coleman after one batter? Why use Davis — who, despite recent relief success, brought a 5.46 ERA to the mound — before Hochevar? And how can you let this game be lost with Herrera and Davis pitching, but not Greg Holland?

• By the way, Coleman’s 0.35 RA/9 (1 run in 26 IP) would be the best ever for 20+ innings.
• Game Notes is projecting Texas and Cleveland as the AL Wild Cards, with the Indians advancing.

__________

@Nationals 6, Braves 5 (day game) — “It seems that destiny has taken a hand.” How else to explain this double-boiler meltdown in the 9th by two of the game’s steadiest? After Atlanta took a 5-3 on late mistakes by Washington’s best reliever and their shortstop, their Braves counterparts returned the favors. Craig Kimbrel issued two walks to load the bases with no outs. After a groundout moved all the runners up, Andrelton Simmons simply missed Denard Span’s bouncer, and the tying and winning runs raced home to welcoming arms. Split the tab between those run-prevention maestros, as the tying run was going to score even if Simmons made the play.

__________

@Nationals 4, Braves 0 (nightcap) — Tanner Roark mastered the Braves on 2 hits over 7 innings, the longest of his three straight strong performances, as the Nats swept and reached 13-3 this month — but still 4.5 games behind the Reds. Freddy Garcia got 3 DPs to keep it close, completing 7 stanzas on just one run and 84 pitches. But Washington tacked on three against Jordan Walden in the 8th, starting with Ryan Zimmerman’s 25th HR (his 10th in 16 games this month).

• After Atlanta got their first 2 men on base in the 9th, Justin Upton was doubled off 2nd base on a liner to 3rd. I haven’t seen the play, but you have to wonder where Upton was headed. A good break is a very low priority in that sitution.
• The wackiest play of the night (the week, the month…) started with Roark on 1st base, no outs in the 3rd, Nats ahead 1-0. ESPN’s play-by-play scribe must have had a seizure, judging from this sentence:
  — “D Span grounded into fielder’s choice double play, second to first to catcher to first to shortstop, D Span out at first, T Roark out at”
  Yes, that’s where it ends — so it’s wrong not just in facts, but in grammar, too. Retrosheet has the basics right:
  — “Groundout: 1B-SS/Forceout at 2B (2B-1B); Span out at Hm/2B-1B-C/Adv on E6 (throw)”
  … but if you hadn’t seen the play, would you ever guess that Span truly was thrown out at the plate on a play that started with his grounder being turned into a forceout?
• Destiny, schmestiny — the Nats are just too far back.

__________

Cardinals 11, @Rockies 4 — A bunch of Cardinals got a bunch of hits, and Joe Kelly went 5 scoreless innings as St. Louis pulled clear of Pittsburgh once again. Matt Holliday hit his 20th HR and 30th double (8th season reaching both levels), Yadier Molina had his 40th double, and Matt Carpenter continued running away with the NL lead in runs, hits and doubles.

• Kevin Siegrist has a streak of 21 scoreless innings, the longest by a Cardinal since 2001. Siegrist’s 0.50 ERA would be the lowest for 30+ innings in the live-ball era — and with no unearned runs, his 0.50 RA/9 is by far the lowest ever for 30+ innings.
• Holliday is one of 34 players with 8 or more years of 20 HRs & 30 doubles. Although his raw numbers have dipped predictably since leaving Colorado, he’s logged a 145 OPS+ since joining the Cards midway through 2009, averaging 104 runs and 107 RBI per 162 games. Since his 2004 debut, Holliday ranks 6th in extra-base hits, 5th in total bases, and 10th in OPS+ among the 108 players with 4,000 PAs.

__________

Padres 5, @Pirates 2 — Jedd Gyorko hit a 3-run HR in the 3rd, and three Padres relievers retired 12 of 14 batters, as the Bucs fell a game behind St. Louis.

• Jeff Locke has skated through a 1.34 WHIP in posting a 3.14 ERA, with his best results when ducks are on the pond. Gyorko’s homer was just the second 3-run job and 3rd with anyone on base.
• Gyorko’s debut season has been a mixed bag, with sub-par defensive value in his first full year at second base. But his 19 HRs are the most by a Padres first-year player, and in range of their 2nd-year mark (21 by third baseman Dave Roberts in 1973).

__________

Reds 10, @Astros 0 — Houston’s 100th loss was suitably one-sided. The Reds raked Jordan Lyles for 9 runs in 3.1 innings, capped by Jay Bruce’s slam that gave him 100 RBI for the first time, along with 30 HRs. Mike Leake’s 8 shutout innings earned his 14th win, and he’s righted the ship after an August slump.

__________

Rangers 7, @Rays 1 — Ian Kinsler homered on the game’s first pitch, the first lead for Texas since before their 7-game losing streak, and had a 2-run single in their 4-run 3rd, as Jeremy Hellickson remained the weak link in Tampa’s rotation. Elvis Andrus drove in 3, and Leonys Martin scored 3. Alexi Ogando and four relievers held the Rays to 4 hits and one walk. The teams are tied again, one-half game ahead of Cleveland (Orioles 2.0 behind, Royals & Yanks 3.5 back and desperate).

• Kinsler’s HR was his 12th this year and 8th on the road. His power has waxed and waned from year to year, but he’s on pace for his lowest HR total of his 7 healthy seasons due to decline in home performance. From 2006-12, no Rangers regular enjoyed a bigger at-home boost in his BA (.306 vs. .238) and OPS (.915/.707). This season, Kinsler’s road line is up slightly, but his home stats have plunged, especially his slugging average, down from .526 to .393.

__________

Orioles 3, @Red Sox 2 — Danny Valencia led off the 9th by tripling off Koji Uehara, snapping the closer’s 37-out string, and Matt Wieters delivered the go-ahead run with a sac fly. Jim Johnson held the lead, whiffing Xander Bogaerts with the tying run on 2nd, handing Uehara his first loss since 2011. Scott Feldman walked 6 in 5 innings, but allowed just 1 earned run, and the BoSox rapped 3 GDPs. Chris Davis tied it with a leadoff drive in the 6th, setting the franchise record with his 51st HR.

• Manny Machado’s 51st double put men on 3rd and 2nd with no outs in the 8th (and seemed to offset his 2 errors) — but Craig Breslow came on to strand them, getting Davis and Adam Jones on groundouts with the infield in.
• Valencia reached in 3 of his 4 trips, leading to 2 runs.
• Jonah Keri has a nice look at the greatest closer streaks.

__________

@Blue Jays 2, Yankees 0 — The linchpin of New York’s fading hopes was their year-long owning of Toronto, but R.A. Dickey held the papers on them tonight. Dickey fanned 8 in 7 shutout innings for his 13th win, pushing the Bombers 3.5 games off the wild-card pace. Andy Pettitte has the only two quality starts in New York’s last 8 games, but this one went for nought. Colby Rasmus homered in the 4th, his first hit off Pettitte in 8 tries, and Rajai Davis cranked one with 2 outs in the 7th on the 2nd pitch thrown by Shawn Kelley. Dickey stranded 5 in two early 2-out threats, and no more Yankees got past first base. Casey Janssen whiffed 3 more for the save.

• Rasmus has held his own off southpaws this year, with a career-best 6 HRs off their slants.

__________

@Tigers 6, Mariners 2 — Tied in the 7th, Alex Avila led off with his first triple of the year. And though he was cut down on a grounder to short, he stayed alive long enough for Jose Iglesias to go from 1st to 3rd, and Torii Hunter’s soft lineout somehow brought the run. Jose Alvarez nursed the slim lead through the 8th with a bases-loaded DP in relief of the still ineffective Phil Coke, and then Detroit pulled away with 4 singles in the 8th.

Jim Leyland extended Anibal Sanchez to 125 pitches for just the 2nd time in the last 3 years, but Kendrys Morales knocked him out with a tying pinch-hit double in the 7th, leaving 2 on with 1 out. Sanchez fanned 10, one after a leadoff triple in that frame, but he couldn’t put away Morales with 2 strikes. Al Alburquerque stranded the Sanchez leftovers, fanning Franklin Gutierrez to end that threat. Seattle’s top three went 0-13 with a walk and 7 Ks.

• Miguel Cabrera’s long-awaited 44th home run restored the lead that Raul Ibanez had just snatched away with a 2-out HR in the 6th. Miggy generally looked more mobile than in recent weeks.
• Sanchez needs 12 strikeouts for his second 200-K season, with either one or two more starts remaining. Scherzer’s already there, and Verlander has 189. Only the 1969 Astros and 1967 Twins had three 200-K pitchers; no other AL team had three with 190+.
• 28 HRs for Ibanez, one short of Ted Williams‘s record for age 41 or older.
• Prince Fielder stranded 7 with his 4 outs, 3 coming after Cabrera was put aboard.
• Cabrera’s 1.104 OPS would be the highest in the majors since 2008 (Pujols), and his .446 OBP the highest since … his .448 in 2011.

__________

@Athletics 2, Angels 1 — Josh Donaldson walked off one more day from Oakland’s countdown calendar. Given their remaining schedule, it would take a team-wide epidemic to prevent their second straight division crown (and even then, Texas would have to win 8 of 12 to overtake them).

• Sonny Gray‘s “mulligan ERA” would be 1.60, though tossing out one of just 8 starts seems rather generous.
• Donaldson’s the 7th player with 3+ game-winning events this year; Russell Martin and Paul Goldschmidt lead with 4 each. The last with 5 in a season was Nelson Cruz, 2010.
• Two more wins would assure the A’s of a winning record in all six months. Only Atlanta could match that, and they’re 6-10 so far this month. Boston, Detroit, St. Louis and Pittsburgh each had one .500 month.
• Players with a qualified 160 OPS+ or better in two of their first three seasons: Ted Williams (3), Johnny Mize (3), Mike Trout, Frank Thomas, Eddie Mathews. (And one Federal Leaguer, if you believe in such things.)
• Players with a qualified 180 OPS+ or better at any seasonal age up through 22: Ty Cobb (age 22), Williams (22), Trout (21).

__________

Dodgers 9, @D-backs 3 — Hanley Ramirez and Scott Van Slyke are the 5th pair of teammates to draw 3 or more unintentional walks in the same game this year. (Plus some trivial thing about L.A. on the verge of flinching, or so I heard it….)

__________

@Brewers 4, Cubs 3 — So what if the outcome only mattered to the immediate families. Who doesn’t love a pinch-hit, game-winning squeeze?

• The last “bunt-off” wins (not involving an error) were June 8, 2012 (Reds over Tigers), and May 28, 2011 (Brewers over Giants, also a pinch job).

__________

@Phillies 6, Marlins 4 — Do you think Chase Utley‘s drop in HBP is intentional, on either his part or that of the pitchers? He’s been plunked 5 times this year in almost 500 PAs, or about one-third his prior career rate.

• My rule of thumb for a rehabbing pitcher: He’s relevant when he starts whiffing twice as many as he walks. Roy Halladay hasn’t come close to that yet, despite some solid results on the scoreboard. In 5 starts since coming off the DL, Halladay has 16 Ks while putting 23 aboard by walk or HBP.

____________________

Monday moreovers

Angels 12, @Athletics 1 —

My favorite part of Mike Trout’s colossal clout: Pedro Figueroa’s helpful “it’s up there!” gesture, in case folks were disoriented by the ball’s sudden adoption of a Plutonian orbit. (Better yet, Figueroa seems to halt that very same motion after Mark Trumbo went very deep later in the inning. Don’t worry, Pedro; the more you serve up, the easier it is to know when they’re not playable.)

• If you feel the shadow of a Kong while watching Trumbo, it’s no coincidence. With 34 HRs and a .300 OBP, Trumbo stands on the border of Dave Kingman country. There have been just six seasons of 35+ HRs and sub-.300 OBP, four of those by the Sky King.

__________

@White Sox 12, Twins 1 — In which the Sox hit 4 HRs, matching their total for the prior 12 games, and tallied nearly half their total runs for that prior span.

• And in which Erik Johnson earned his first win, showing some of the stuff that got him promoted after just 2 full years in the minors.
• Minnesota has a 5.94 ERA in September. Only one team has a worse mark this month — the not-dead-yet Yankees.