Last night saw the return of the rest of the teams to what's typically called (but not numerically) the second half of the baseball season. The races get in full swing now, as they say. The MLB schedulers purposely stack the latter half of the season with division games, making those division races play out in August and September. That's why a team like blow an 8-game lead in September - most of their games are in-division and most of the games a team chasing them is playing are in-division.
In all sports, division games are the crux of your season. Truth be told, if you're the Tigers or Twins, who cares if you lose to the Yankees during the season (as long as you can beat them in the playoffs) provided you can beat each other. A loss to the Yankees doesn't help you, but a loss to a division rival costs you and gives them ground. It's like those standardized tests that don't penalize you for blank answers - that's an out-of-division game. You don't answer, it's blank, you don't get it right, but you don't lose anything either other than the right answer. Those in-division games, losing those, that's a wrong answer. Not only do you miss the right answer (win), you end up with a mark against you, too.
This strategy helps make baseball vastly more entertaining in the second half than the first - not only do you get these high-tension in-division series that may decide your team's fate, or spark an unlikely comeback surge, or trigger a collapse, but it helps solidify those rivalries. You remember losing a final, division-clinching series to the other team. You remember a game like the extra playoff the Twins and Tigers played in 2009 (that was a great game, though, I bear the Twins no ill will for that one). Not only that, but the trade deadline is set for the end of July, giving teams time after the All-Star break to re-evaluate their teams and make moves - leading to a frenzy of trades near the end of July that helps set the stage.
The Brewers already made the first move of the trade season, before the All-Star Break, picking up relief pitcher Francisco Rodriguez from the Mets, thereby making it likely that the Mets will be sellers and trading off other pieces as the end of July nears. There'll be more to come.
Around the MLB -
Chi. Cubs 2, Florida 1 - Ryan Dempster's eight shutout innings gave the Cubs all the opportunity they needed.
Chi. White Sox 8, Detroit 2 - Verlander gets pelted by the White Sox, suffering his first major defeat (in terms of runs scored) since a no-decision in May.
Cleveland 6, Baltimore 5 - Tied at 5 in the sixth, Lonnie Chisenhall put the Indians up on an RBI single and let the bullpen handle the rest.
Toronto 7, NY Yankees 1 - Brandon Morrow and the Jays bullpen held the Yankees bats in check as the Jays hang another rout on their AL East rivals.
Tampa Bay 9, Boston 6 - Ben Zobrist's grand slam in the second was the highlight of an offense-first game for the Rays.
Philadelphia 7, NY Mets 2 - Vance Worley continues to be dominant for the Phillies, throwing almost six innings of one-run ball. The lesser-known Phillies' pitcher has an ERA of 2.15.
Cincinnati 6, St. Louis 5 - After coming back to score five in the seventh and eighth, the Cards get dropped by Brandon Phillips' walk-off HR.
Atlanta 11, Washington 1 - The Atlanta Braves earn their 10,000th franchise win behind another stellar start by Tim Hudson.
Pittsburgh 4, Houston 0 - Jeff Karstens picked up his fifth straight win on a complete-game shutout that only took 83 pitches.
Kansas City 2, Minnesota 1 - After a stellar start by Nick Blackburn, who put up seven shutout innings, it was Eric Hosmer's ninth-inning HR off Matt Capps that decided the game.
Colorado 4, Milwaukee 0 - Juan Nicasio went for seven shutout innings as the Rockies' bats pelted the Brewers for runs every-other inning from the onset.
LA Dodgers 6, Arizona 4 - Clayton Kershaw notches his tenth win after six scoreless innings, with four unearned runs in his seventh.
Oakland 5, LA Angels 3 - Dan Haren took the loss for the Angels as the A's bats came alive for 3 runs in the third.
San Francisco 6, San Diego 1 - Tim Lincecum pitched a one-run game as Andre Torres took center stage with three hits and some outfield theatrics.
Texas 4, Seattle 0 - Colby Lewis went 26 outs in this game, almost picking up his first career complete game shutout. Nonetheless, I'm sure he's happy with his 8.2-inning shutout. Seattle hasn't scored in 26 innings.
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