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Getaway Day: Welcome back to the world, AL Central
Minnesota Twins' Chris Gimenez runs the bases after hitting a solo home run off Cleveland Indians relief pitcher Zach McAllister during the ninth inning of a game on Saturday, June 24, 2017, in Cleveland. The Twins won 4-2.  AP Photo/Tony Dejak

Getaway Day: Welcome back to the world, AL Central

Maybe the best word to describe the state of affairs around the American League Central this year would be "mundane." Without the flair of a dominant team or even a well-developed battle between a handful of clubs, the AL Central has been woefully boring. But finally (and rather suddenly), that all has changed.

With the Indians playing at closer to full strength than they have all year and the Royals rebounding after a disastrous start to the season, the Twins, who have been the long-standing leaders in heartland of the AL, have some serious competition. In the last week alone, control of the division has shifted twice in head-to-head series between Cleveland and Minnesota, and in the week ahead the Royals will get their crack at taking over the division this weekend, as they hook up for a four game series at The K.

The marathon that is the Major League Baseball campaign has given us an unforeseen midseason gem, and how it is all coming together more as your Getaway Day debrief is ready to rock.

American League

Baltimore Orioles:The O’s (literally) caught a bad break early in the week, as shortstop J.J. Hardy’s year hit an unfortunate detour with a broken wrist on Monday. He joins Chris Davis as the second vital part of the club to go down to a significant injury at the worst time possible, as B-More is looking to pump the brakes on a year that is getting away from them. In a backhanded good news type of way, Dylan Bundy’s start on Saturday kept the club from set a bit of tragic history – had the Orioles surrendered five runs yet again, it would have been the 20th consecutive outing they did so, setting a new MLB record.

Boston Red Sox: As the Sox paid tribute to the past by retiring David Ortiz’s #34, they continued on their quest to take over the present day AL East in the process. As the Yankees have continued to flail of late, Boston has quietly been consistent enough to climb into a tie with their foremost rivals atop the division. And if they can somehow maneuver a bit more consistency from their staff – Rick Porcello and David Price have yet to win consecutive starts – the Sox could give themselves considerable breathing room in the upcoming weeks. 

Chicago White Sox: As I am working on this week’s column, I am currently located in Chicago, Illinois in the home of a lifelong White Sox fan. And due to the current condition of the club, who spent the last week serving as minimally difficult hurdles for the two other last place clubs in the American League, I have been asked to skip going too far into the surrounding issues at hand. So as a favor to my weekend host and longtime friend, I will keep things moving here, as there truly is not much worth seeing at Guaranteed Rate Field. Moving right along…


Cleveland Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) steals second as Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier (2) is late with the tag during the third inning on June 25, 2017. Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Cleveland Indians: Things started off great for the Tribe, who opened the week playing their most inspired baseball of the year. Jose Ramirez ran his multi-hit game streak up to nine, while Corey Kluber continued his dominant return to action with a three-hit shutout on Monday. However, their run atop the division turned to be a short-lived one. Just a week after going into Minnesota and making a statement in the form of a four-game sweep over the then-division leading Twins, they found themselves on the receiving end of a sweep from the same Minnesota team over the weekend as they ceded the division back in return. With the Royals heating up behind them, business looks to finally be picking up in a what had been a previously bland AL Central campaign.

Detroit Tigers: Never have the days of the Tigers being perennial AL Central favorites felt further away than they do now. Despite still vaguely resembling those teams in personnel, the only thing familiar is the uniforms at this point. The bottom of the barrel was hit this week for the Tigers, who fell in eight straight games, a tailspin that should signal the beginning of selling season for the club. The first domino that fell in that endeavor was the release of reliever Francisco Rodriguez, who had been at odds with the club over his role in recent weeks. But that could be just the start of affairs, as J.D. Martinez, Ian Kinsler and even Miguel Cabrera could be on the block in upcoming weeks.

Houston Astros: The accolades for the Astros' hot start continue to roll in, as they became the 19th team in history to reach 50 wins in 74 or fewer games. It was also a ‘get right’ week for the ‘Stros if you will, as they were dominant over a four-game sweep of the Athletics en route to a week where they increased their remarkable start to the year to 27 games over .500.  Their win on Saturday saw them both end Seattle’s six-game winning streak, as well as welcome back Lance McCullers Jr to the mound. He will sit in as the club’s de facto ace for the time being.


Kansas City Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain makes a leaping attempt against the wall, of a triple hit by Boston Red Sox left fielder Andrew Benintendi (not pictured) during the ninth inning at Kauffman Stadium on June 19, 2017. Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Kansas City Royals: “Look who’s back,” outfielder Lorenzo Cain commented when he noticed the increasing media attention around the Royals began to increase last week, and for good reason. The Royals simply refuse to go quietly into the night. The revitalized club – who were losers of nine straight games earlier in the year – now enter the new week only two games out of the AL postseason picture. It is a run that has put pause on any idea of a Royals summer sell off. Along with the Indians' rise and the unexpected staying power of the Twins, the Royals could be preparing to make the AL Central a late-developing home of pennant chase drama after all. 

Los Angeles Angels: The worst thing about the Mike Trout injury is that it robs us of the chance to see him participate in the annual Freeway Series between LA’s NL & AL outposts, because it means that when the Angels face the generation’s best pitcher in Clayton Kershaw on Thursday, they will not be able to counter with the game’s top player. And that’s just no fun at all. But perhaps another Angel who has held that mantle in his time, Albert Pujols, can make up the difference. He is a .379 career hitter against Kershaw, so there’s that at least. 

Minnesota Twins: After a brutal four-game sweep at the hands of the Indians, who usurped their place atop the division, the past week for the Twins was about getting up and dusting themselves off. And they did just that, making a statement by answering back last weekend’s sweep with one of their own this weekend, reclaiming the top spot in the AL Central in the process. On the heels of that rallying effort, the upcoming week could be the most important of the year for the Twins. They have eight games in the next seven days, including a four-game weekend set against the Kansas City Royals, who are rapidly gaining ground on Minnesota in the standings.


New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka pitches against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Yankee Stadium on June 23, 2017. Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

New York Yankees: While the Yanks were finally able to put an end to their losing skid after seven games, the haze of their current funk has yet to lift completely. New York enters the new week looking up at the Red Sox after failing to string together consecutive victories in over a week. But perhaps there could be some signs of hope in the form of Masahiro Tanaka, who put on his best performance of the year on Friday. Although he did not get the decision, he fired eight shutout innings on Friday against the Rangers, striking out 10 while allow only three hits. Efforts such as that will be needed, as – surprise, surprise – the Red Sox are staring them eye-to-eye atop the AL East standings yet again. 

Oakland Athletics: It’s that time again to try to find something good to say about the A’s. After serving as a punching bag for the Astros early in the week, they got a much-needed reprieve over the weekend in Chicago, where the club got to get a few punches in against the hapless White Sox. Perhaps it is truly just about keeping an eye to the future, a frequent activity in Oakland. And in this week’s entry in that effort is the promotion of top prospect Franklin Barreto, who made his MLB debut on Saturday. The 21-year-old did not wait long to make an impact, as he launched a two-run homer in his second career at-bat. 

Seattle Mariners: Don’t look now, but the Mariners have quietly crept firmly into the Wild Card race, and are getting healthier along the way. On the back of a six-game winning streak, the Mariners had a turning point week, and could be in line to make more noise soon. The King made his return to action on Friday, as Felix Hernandez made his way to the mound for the first time in nearly two months. And the results were encouraging, as he struck out eight Astros over six innings, picking up the victory in the Mariners' 13-3 win over the AL’s top club. 

Tampa Bay Rays: The scheduling gods have shown great favor to the Rays of late, as they have not faced a team with a record north of .500 since way back on May 28. And to their credit, they have continued to cash in their blessings over the last week, breaking even over six games against the struggling Reds and Orioles. And with a return engagement against the Orioles and a trip to face the Pirates ahead, there is a chance Tampa will only play one team over .500 before the All-Star Break, when the Red Sox come to town in two weeks.


Texas Rangers starting pitcher Cole Hamels will return to the lineup for the first time in two months this week.  Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Texas Rangers: As Texas has continued to float between promise and inconsistency, the Rangers enter the new week back up an ace. Cole Hamels will take to the mound for the first time in two months, as he returns from an oblique injury that has limited Texas’ ability to really make a push in the wide-open AL Wild Card picture. It will mark the first time all season that the Rangers have Hamels, Yu Darvish and Adrian Beltre active together, and will be the first opportunity to see the club in its complete form all year. 

Toronto Blue Jays: The Jays are never too bad for long, but they aren’t great for that long either. The past week furthered that trend, as after taking two of the first three against the Rangers, an 11-4 loss on Thursday highlighted a brief tailspin towards the end of the week that sabotaged any hopes of making substantial gains in the standing. With the Orioles struggling to get into gear, the Jays have a chance to climb in the standings this week, as they start a three-game series with their closet divisional foe to open the week. Time will tell if they can overcome their biggest foe on the year: consistency.

National League

Arizona Diamondbacks: Although their season-best seven-game win streak came to close at the hands of Colorado to open the week, the D-backs stayed hot and continued to command attention in the NL West race. They avenged that series opening loss at the hands of the then-division leaders by putting together a pair of dominant victories, scoring 26 runs over two games in a trip where the tables were turned at Coors. The new week opens with a pair of Arizona bats  – Paul Goldschmidt and David Peralta – both checking in among the NL’s top-five in batting average, with Goldschmidt also leading the league in RBIs with 65.


Jun 22, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Adams (18) celebrates with teammates after scoring a run against the San Francisco Giants in the fifth inning at SunTrust Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta Braves: Nobody would likely peg the Braves as being one of the best clutch teams in baseball, but that is exactly what they have become this year. With their 5-3 victory last Wednesday, the Braves now have six walk-off wins on the year, tying for tops in the MLB. And a major reason for the recent run in Atlanta has been the development of Matt Adams. The temporary fix at first base has continued to surprisingly major effect, as the former Cardinal cast off has now connected for 12 home runs since coming over to Atlanta, and is carrying a slugging % of .641, which would place second in the National League if only his ATL returns were being factored in. His impact has been so substantial that the club has considered moving Freddie Freeman to third base to keep Adams’ bat in the lineup once the team’s top player returns from the DL after the All-Star Break. 

Chicago Cubs: It was quite an interesting week for Anthony Rizzo, who saw the highs of a 14-game hitting streak, the lows of a 1-10 run after it and the complications of the ethics over a collision at the plate with Padres catcher Austin Hedges factor into a busy week for the Cubs first baseman. The Cubs continue to tinker with their lineup around Rizzo, in an effort to jump start the team and did so to dramatic effect with the decision to demote outfielder Kyle Schwarber to Triple A. Schwarber was hitting just .174 on the year, and became the second Cub outfielder to depart from team on the week. Jason Heyward was placed on the 10-day DL, with a left hand injury. 

Cincinnati Reds: The good news! The Reds finally stopped their losing skid last week at nine games, one short of setting the longest losing streak on the year. The bad news: that victory was simply a hiatus from their losing ways, as the club promptly started up a new run of losses, losing another four straight, and have dropped 13 of their 16 since June 9.

Colorado Rockies: For the first time all season, the Rockies woke up not inhabiting one of the top two spots in the NL West on Sunday. Colorado was unable to answer the call in a week where they were pitted against their chief rivals in their division, dropping five straight and five of six against the Diamondbacks and Dodgers in the last week. This was bound to occur eventually, but it’s a badly timed slump, especially against a pair of teams that have rarely provided much opportunity to make up lost ground.


Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Cody Bellinger (35) celebrates his third inning two run homer against the Colorado Rockies with third baseman Justin Turner (10) at Dodger Stadium on June 25, 2017. Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Dodgers: The hottest team in the game today resides in LA, as the Dodgers open the new week as winners of 10, leaving them one win short of setting the longest winning streak on the year. As a result, they have risen to the top of the National League West standings, a distinction they directly took from the Rockies over the weekend, highlighted by Clayton Kershaw’s MLB-best 11th win on Saturday night. But the real star of the week was Cody Bellinger, whose breakout rookie campaign is being expected to hit rarified first-year air. He joined Albert Pujols as the only rookies ever to hit 21 or more homers in the first half of their debut season. Bellinger also decided to reserve a bit of history for himself alone however, as he become the only rookie to ever hit 10 homers in the span of 10 games. The good times could stand to be extended over the next week as well, as the Dodgers face the Angels and Padres over the next week. 

Miami Marlins: To sell or not to sell: That is the question that is orbiting around the Marlins as the new week dawns. It is complicated by the continuing efforts to sell the team, an effort that has continued to be difficult to hammer out. Yet while the business efforts have been confusing, the on-field product has been decisively more unpredictable. The Fish spent much of the week alternating wins and losses of all varieties, taking an 11-1 loss at the hands of the Cubs, before shutting them out the next day. They even managed to hash out a come-from-behind rally against Max Scherzer and the Nationals, despite being no-hit for seven innings beforehand. Things are truly as up in the air as ever in South Beach. 

Milwaukee Brewers: An underestimated part of the Brewers rise atop the NL Central standings has been the breakout effort of Corey Knebel in anchoring the Milwaukee pen. The Brewer closer set a record for most consecutive relief appearances registering a strikeout last week, when he rung up his 38th straight outing with a K. Let’s see if he can continue that run as an All-Star next month, a development that he has all but sewn up at this point.

New York Mets: Maybe last week summed up perfectly what the Mets are this year: not good enough to play with the likes of NL’s best, as shown by the four-game sweep they took at the hands of the Dodgers. But they're not bad enough to be considered among the league’s worst either, as they easily handled the Giants over the weekend. It is this limbo that has the team reportedly willing to move towards being sellers, with Asdrubal Cabrera, Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce leading the way. 

Philadelphia Phillies: The Phils finally strung together a pair of victories for the first time in over two weeks, as they overcame the Cardinals and Diamondbacks on consecutive days. Granted, it came on the heels of dropping five straight, but hey, at least the sun broke through the clouds finally in Philly.


Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole pitches in the first inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on June 19, 2017 Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Pittsburgh Pirates: Could the Pirates be getting in position to spring a coup within the NL Central? With Andrew McCutchen playing his best baseball in over a year and Gerrit Cole a winner in his last three outings, the Bucs are making some noise after a frustrating start to the year. Coming out of a week with a pair of wins over the Brewers and Cardinals, and series with the lowly Giants and Phillies coming up soon, Pittsburgh could be preparing to make some noise headed into the All-Star break.

San Diego Padres: The Padres have been pesky of late, rarely allowing (or scoring) many runs, but never falling far out. On five different occasions last week, their games were decided by four or fewer runs. A leader of this style has been pitcher Luis Perdomo, who has allowed 10 hits over his last 12 innings, allowing only two runs, both of which came on solo homers.

San Francisco Giants: Winners of only two games since June 11, the Giants have gone nearly a month since winning back-to-back games. They are on pace to fly past 100 losses and have safely secured the dubious honor of being the most disappointing team in the game. As we highlighted earlier in the week, the time to sell off has long since arrived in the Bay

St. Louis Cardinals: The Cardinals sure seem to be a lot worse than even their disappointing record accurately indicates. The team has only eight wins in June, with five of those wins coming over the Phillies, who have been closer to resembling a Triple A team as opposed to a full-blown MLB squad. It is the worst June the team has had since 1971, when they went 8-21. And with a week ahead that offers a pair of series against the Nationals and Diamondbacks, it is likely to get much uglier before any better.


Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on June 21, 2017. Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Washington Nationals: Fun fact: Max Scherzer has carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning in 11 percentage of his starts a National. Not so fun fact: he lost that most recent bid at reaching immortality (for the third time) on an infield ‘hit’ by backup catcher A.J. Ellis in the eighth inning in last Wednesday. And to round out the frustrating circumstances, it even glanced off Scherzer’s glove and the Nationals went on to lose the game still! When it rains, sometimes it pours. Luckily enough, the weather surround the Nationals' season has been mostly good, and the week also saw them lay one of the most thorough beatings of the year on the Reds as well, whom they ran up 18 runs on 19 hits against on Saturday.

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