Tigers beat Twins 9-4 in rain-shortened game but
are eliminated from playoff race (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 26 September 2007 11:52:06 PM. © MLB News Blog

A dreary, drizzle-filled sky provided a fitting backdrop for the Detroit Tigers on the night they were eliminated from the playoff race. Mike Hessman hit a home run and an RBI single to lead Detroit to a rain-shortened 9-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night, a five-plus-inning win that came just too late.Read [...]

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t-are-eliminated-from-playoff-race-ap/

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White Sox 3, Royals 0

post from MLB News Blog on 26 September 2007 11:51:08 PM. © MLB News Blog

It’s been awhile since Jon Garland pitch his last shutout, so with a long rest coming, he took advantage of a chance to finish off a game.Jim Thome hit his 505th home run and Garland pitched his first shutout of the season as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Kansas City Royals 3-0 on Wednesday [...]

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Beckett, Peavy easy aces for Cy Young (Yahoo!
Sports)

post from MLB News Blog on 26 September 2007 11:51:00 PM. © MLB News Blog

Pitching equals playoffs. Josh Beckett and Jake Peavy lead the pack for Cy Young honors.Read the full story.

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AL Teams Set

post from Baseball Musings on 26 September 2007 11:48:00 PM. © Baseball Musings

The Yankees win 12-4, capturing a berth in the AL Playoffs for the 13th consecutive season. Damon, Jeter and Posada each picked up three hits, and Cano collected two hits, one a homer, and five RBI. It caps quite a...

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Adam LaRoche, Matt Morris lead Pirates past
skidding Arizona, 5-1 (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 26 September 2007 11:45:59 PM. © MLB News Blog

The Arizona Diamondbacks are running into major difficulty in the most unlikely of places. Adam LaRoche drove in three runs with a pair of doubles and Matt Morris pitched effectively over seven innings as the Pirates beat Arizona for the second night in a row, a 5-1 decision Wednesday that further tightened the NL West [...]

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G159: 2007 at home comes to an end with big 16-2
win!

post from Rangerfans.com on 26 September 2007 11:45:00 PM. © Rangerfans.com

Most Rangers fans will remember the memorable end to the 2004 season, where the players came out and took a lap around the stadium shaking hands, that kind of thing. You remember, this?

Well, the 2007 edition of "Your Texas Rangers" didn't quite do that, but they provided a memorable end to the 2007 season here in Arlington. Of course that would be a World Series win, but I think most Rangers fans head would explode. We'd probably also get about 50 in game flashes from Jamey Newberg if we got to that point, but I digress. The Rangers of this year's vintage turned in a memorable finish in what is likely the final home game for several players (Wilkerson, Sosa, Laird perhaps?). The Rangers bombed out the ~~Los Angeles~~ Angels ~~of Anaheim~~, clubbing them into submission 16-2. What made that cool was that they were the 2007 AL West Division winners. A sweep at home to finish the season is sweet. It's even sweeter with the knowledge that it's against the team in first in your division. But what pushes the sweetness into the level of say Bianca Beauchamp covered in honey is that it ties us with the A's for third place. We're not alone in the basement anymore! :)

Where do you go with this one? When there is this much offense, it's hard to condense it down into a paragraph, so I'll go with the "list of highlights" route in talking about it:

First off, Michael Young got three hits, getting his 200 for the season, and in front of the home crowd. I missed it by a day. :) What showed some more class was that Ron Washington pulled him from the game when the Rangers took the field, allowing him an extra ovation. I always like to see things like that.
Jason Botts was 3-4
Wilkerson, Metcalf, & Laird all had two hits
One double (Laird)
One triple (Byrd)
FIVE home runs. Sammy Sosa (2 run shot), Nelson Cruz (2 run shot), Laird (solo), Metcalf (2 run shot), & Hank Blalock (a three run jimmy jack).
Blalock's home run was a pinch hit (for Sosa) home run.
Seventeen hits in all
Six walks from the Angels staff

It's the kind of stuff you love to see. While 3-2 or 2-1, or even 1-0 games are awesome to watch, these 16-2 games are quite a lot of fun, assuming you're not "the two".

Our pitching was quite good. We threw five pitchers out there today (Mendoza, Rheinecker, Francisco, Feldman, White), and they all combined to go nine innings, seven hits, two runs, four walks, and five strikeouts. A pretty good line. Luis Mendoza looked quite good again for a kid. Quite good. We've been down the path of guys looking great in September (meaningless) action, and then not being able to dial it up again the following year. So I will reserve complete excitement, but I've really enjoyed watching Mendoza pitch, and hope he can worm his way into the 2008 rotation.

I can't leave without saying something about Michael Young. I did post the congrats graphic during the game when he actually got the 200th hit. Given the horrendous start to the season he had, I think most Rangers fans doubted he'd get there, and he did. Some might question the backloaded contract he was given earlier this year - the usual stuff about "at the end of the contract....". Well, that kind of contract is also to pay a very VERY fan friendly player to be the "face of the franchise". Michael Young is the kind of player who you look at and feel good about being a Texas Rangers fan. That's what they're paying him for, outside of his baseball skills.

While there are three more games to play in Seattle, this had the vibe of the end of the season, didn't it?

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Cy Carmona

post from Baseball Musings on 26 September 2007 11:41:00 PM. © Baseball Musings

Fausto Carmona did nothing to hurt his Cy Young chances tonight, pitching seven strong inning as Cleveland defeated the Mariners 12-4. He gave up seven hits without issuing a walk. He ends the season with a 3.06 ERA and a...

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Lucky Seven

After Daniel Barone pitched poorly for 3 2/3 innings, he leaves with the score tied at four. The Marlins, however, use seven relievers to shut down the Cubs the rest of the way and take the game 7-4. The bullpen...

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Game 158 - Howelling mad

September 26, 2007 Teams 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E New York (A) 0 0 ...

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Brewers RHP McClung, manager Yost ejected (PA
SportsTicker)

Milwaukee Brewers righthander Seth McClung and manager Ned Yost were ejected from Wednesday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals by plate umpire Tom Hallion.Read the full story.

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