Closing Time: A double-dip for Michael Brantley

The Indians and Rangers were rained out Monday, which means we'll get two chances to watch Michael Brantley(notes) do his thing at the top of the Cleveland order Tuesday. Brantley is off to a 9-for-23 start since joining the big club, and his one lone walk is balanced out by a mere two strikeouts. He hasn't run a lot yet in the bigs (one steal, one caught stealing) but the bags could start to fall at any time; he's been given the green light to run by manager Eric Wedge and he was 45-for-50 on the bases with Triple-A Columbus. In any medium and deep mixed league, Brantley is a speciality player of interest. • Tampa Bay's defense of the American League pennant essentially ended on Monday, as the Rays took three kicks to the gut – a doubleheader sweep to the Yanks and the loss of slugging Carlos Pena(notes) (two broken fingers on hand; he's done for the season). The significance of the Pena injury can't be understated; he was on a mad power run over ...