Getaway Day: As season rounds third, a shift in both the NL and AL races

Cleveland Indians: When a team embarks on a run such as the one the Indians enjoyed over the past few weeks, it is impossible to give credit to a single actor. Such was the case for the Indians, as they relentlessly ripped through all comers yet again. Whether it be Corey Kluber (who ripped off 20 strikeouts against only 11 hits in his last two outings), or Edwin Encarnacion and Francisco Lindor (both of whom connected for game-winning homers in the last week), or Jose Ramirez (who ripped of five home runs in a span of 13 at-bats); no matter how it is credited, the fact that the Tribe became the first team since the Mantle & Maris-led Yankees of 1960-61 to have streaks of 13 wins in back-to-back seasons is a credit to their collective might. 

Detroit Tigers: While the Tigers have spent much of the second half of the season attempting to disassociate themselves with many of their more expensive individual properties, there were three men in exactly the right place on Friday evening that brought a bit of magic to an otherwise dull end of Detroit's 2017 campaign. Jeimer Candelario, Ian Kinsler and Efren Navarro – a trio that screams the white flag has been waved – completed a lightning fast 5-4-3 triple play to bring a brief bit of excitement to the dull end of affairs around the season.

Houston Astros: After a rough spot of late, things are turning up well for the Astros once again. Dallas Keuchel is back on track after an injury plagued, rough return to the mound, while his new rotation mate and fellow Cy Young alumni Justin Verlander made a strong impression in his Astro debut. Partner the revamped rotation along with a rehabbed Lance McCullers Jr, and the 6-4 game winning streak the full-strength Astros rode throughout the last week should come as no surprise. 

Kansas City Royals: While Alex Gordon’s incredible Labor Day catch at the left field wall in Detroit was a reminder of days past for the Royals, the outcome in the week’s box score further drove home the point of where things have fallen this season. The Royals have struggled to make it back to .500, alternating promising win with crippling defeat at the hands of the Tigers and Twins, making any shot at getting back into the wild card race more of a false start than a fight to the finish. (But hey, the Chiefs beat the Patriots, so there’s that, right?) 

Los Angeles Angels: Sometimes, it is about getting things done by pulling out all stops… or is putting all hands on deck? Either way you slice it, the Angels did it on Monday when they set an AL record by using 12 different pitchers in a single game to pull out a victory. It was the first of back-to-back extra inning victories for the Angels, who continue to hang within firing range of the final wild card spot. 

Minnesota Twins: With the Indians making any notion of a recapturing control of the AL Central a fool’s errand, the Twins apparently set their sights on single-handedly making the remaining days of the Royals season miserable. After drubbing their closest competition in the AL Central standings 17-0 on Tuesday, they headed down to KC and continued to rub it in, and keeping their edge over the pack for the second AL wild card spot safe – for now.

New York Yankees: September is made for chasing history of all sorts, and Aaron Judge’s prodigious debut season continues lifting him towards some lofty rookie records. With three weeks remaining in the season, he has pulled himself within 10 of tying Mark McGwire’s rookie record of 49 homers. It is a race he skilled to put on quite a show to reach, and the Yankees would welcome a hot hand down the stretch; a week with seven games against the Orioles and Rays stands to put them in prime position to still spring a heist of the AL East from Boston. (Although ‘heist’ may not be a good word to associate them with right now, considering.) 

Oakland Athletics: In between the carnage of late in Oakland – which consisted of an eight game losing skid last week – has been the type of revelation that can only be hoped for in a lost season of the type the A’s are experiencing: Matt Chapman can really pick it. The rookie third baseman’s defensive runs saved are surpassed only by Nolan Arenado, and his 2.0 dWAR is an eye-popping figure considering he has only played in just over 62 games at the position, 80 less than the next closest defender to him in the AL.

Seattle Mariners: For teams like the Mariners, it is that critical part of the year where opportunity must be seized, because inches have become miles – shortly before they become canyons. By following up last weekend’s sweep of the A’s by being swept in return by the Astros, the Mariners assured they would spend a week mostly in neutral. Salvation should be on its way, as both James Paxton and Felix Hernandez are scheduled to rejoin the ensemble cast that is the Mariners rotation this upcoming week. They will be needed as the Mariners season will either live or die this week in a tour of Texas. 

Tampa Bay Rays: There is no name in Tampa that currently carries more weight than that of Irma, the hurricane that is ravishing the state of Florida and forced the Rays from their home for the weekend. One can only hope there is a place for the games to return to once its unfortunate wrath has passed.

Texas Rangers: The Rangers refuse to die. It doesn’t matter if they trade away one of their co-aces (Yu Darvish) or lose their aging inspirational vet (Adrian Beltre), they are keeping up the good fight as best as possible. Take last Friday for example, when they twice rallied from four-run deficits to take down Masahiro Tanaka and the Yankees. It was built around the timely production of Elvis Andrus, who became the third player in franchise history to post a 20-homer/20-steal/40-double campaign last week.   

Toronto Blue Jays: 2017 is a wash for the Jays, who are headed towards their worst season in the last five years. But while the immediate picture is not pretty, there is a sign of promise for the future in rookie shortstop Richard Urena. The 21-year-old has been getting plenty of action with Troy Tulowitzki’s season done due to injury, and cracked his first career homer on Friday night, after driving in 60 runs at the Triple-A level this summer.

National League

Arizona Diamondbacks: Although their franchise record win streak stopped on Friday night at 13 games, the damage they imparted along the way makes it one of the most impressive runs in the history of the game. It was a streak built around not one, but two sweeps of a Dodgers team that not only carries the best record in the league this year, but was on course to chase all-time in-season history before tangling with the D-backs. Speaking of history, J.D. Martinez made his mark on it as well, cracking four home runs on Monday night against those Dodgers in a 13-0 win, a win that came at the heart of a stretch where the Diamondbacks went an astonishing 98 innings without trailing once. Arizona seized the tide of momentum in an undeniable way, and is coming out of a week that could stand as a mile marker for when the National League’s balance of power tilted towards the desert. 

Atlanta Braves: The unintentional lowlight of the week, and perhaps the season, came on Friday during what would otherwise be a mundane matchup between the Marlins and Braves. However, when the decision to blare The Scorpions 1984 classic ‘Rock You Like A Hurricane’ during a game against a Florida-based team that is afflicted by the onset of Hurricane Irma, it understandably made for a cringe-worthy moment. And although the Braves apologized for the mishap, the Marlins got the last laugh in taking home victory on the night. 

Chicago Cubs: The low moment came early, with Monday’s 12-0 loss to the Bucs, in which August’s NL Pitcher of the Month Jake Arrieta was forced out of action just as the Cubs needed him most. Although Arrieta is expected back in short order, it would have been good to have him over the weekend, as the Brewers took the fight to the NL Central leaders, raising the stakes in a new week that will conclude with a potentially pivotal matchup in St. Louis.

Cincinnati Reds:  Well if the games are not going to mean anything, at least they should be fun. And few players can produce the type of excitement that Reds’ speedster Billy Hamilton can. However, his slash-and-dash will be absent from the Reds lineup for the rest of the season after breaking his thumb on Wednesday. His NL-best 58 steals mark the fourth straight year he has topped 50 swipes on the year, the most such consecutive seasons in the last 10 years. 

Colorado Rockies:  If everybody else is beating up on the Dodgers, why can’t the Rockies jump in too? Just a week ago, it would seem criminally insane to say it’s a great time to see the Dodgers on your schedule, but a four-game date with the sliding NL West leaders couldn’t have come at a better time for a Rockies team that was rapidly losing grip on its positioning before beating the duo of Clayton Kershaw and Yu Darvish to the tone of 15-5 over two days' time.

Los Angeles Dodgers: Is it time to worry yet? Maybe so, as headed into last weekend, the Dodgers had lost eight straight games and were 1-13 over the last two weeks. That one win was dealt from the hand of Clayton Kershaw, but even he could not stop the bleeding a second time around, as the Rockies thoroughly handled him to the tone of a 9-1 win last Friday. Granted, a handful of those Ls came at the hands of a unconsciously hot Diamondbacks team, but with October drawing closer and closer, the once irreproachable Dodgers are running short on time to recapture their way before the stakes reach their peek. 

Miami Marlins: While the eyes of the game have excitedly followed Giancarlo Stanton over the last month as he has embarked on his potentially historic home run chase, over the last week it has been something that has been worth looking away from at times. Coming into last weekend, Stanton had only three hits in the past week. And although two of those three had cleared the wall, there is another more ominous wall in play too – the one his epic pace could be hitting. 

Milwaukee Brewers: The path to the postseason became significantly more complicated for the Crew, as it was announced on Saturday that their top option of the mound would be out of action for the foreseeable future. Jimmy Nelson had been dominant at times for a Milwaukee team that has become incredibly reliant on its pitching, as their once strong offense has plummeted to the bottom of the NL in the second half. The stakes have become considerably higher for a team that is battling to hang in the race. 

New York Mets: Somehow the crown prince of injured inactivity, David Wright, found a way to need season-ending surgery – in a year in which he never managed to make it back from injury in the first place. This is the type of outcome that can only come from the full moon that flies over Flushing this season.

Philadelphia Phillies:While the day-to-day outcomes have stopped carrying any immediate relevancy, the eyes in Philly are firmly fixed on the future. The Phillies are firmly locked into previewing coming attractions, as their everyday roster now is comprised of four of the system’s top 10 prospects: J.P. Crawford, Jorge Alfaro, Nick Williams and Rhys Hoskins. And speaking of Hoskins, the torrid pace has brought him into some impressive company, as he last week joined Albert Pujols as the only players in history to reach 30 RBI before playing in 30 games. Not too shabby. 

Pittsburgh Pirates: The Bucs are at that point in the year where they are simply in place to be world burners; too far out of the race to matter, but still too talented to get washed away as the season winds down. They played their role of keeping things interesting over the last week, winning the front end of a four-game series with the Cubs, before ultimately breaking even with two losses on the back end. With a weekend that followed mixing things up in St. Louis, and an early week engagement with the Brewers on deck, it could truly be the Pirates that make the most difference in how the NL Central shakes out. 

San Diego Padres: A blind squirrel finds a nut occasionally, and in the spirit of that adage, of course it is the Padres that ended the Diamondbacks 13-game winning streak this week. It is the latest in their surprisingly consistent ability to rise to the most unlikely of occasions.

San Francisco Giants: Most teams make in-season additions to better themselves along the way, but that idea seems to have eluded the Giants. Take for example the case of Pablo Sandoval, whose recent brush with discontent saw him pile up an epic 0-for-39 streak at the plate before hitting a home run (of course) on Friday night to break the ice. It is an appropriately fitting type of scenario for a team that has incomprehensibly bad more of often than not in 2017.

St. Louis Cardinals: Despite trudging through a week where their everyday lineup looked more the part of the opening day card for their Triple-A affiliate in Memphis (five Cardinals that appeared in last Tuesday’s game began the season as opening day minor leaguers), the Cardinals continue hang on in the NL postseason picture. Credit falls at the feet of their starting pitching. Over the last week, Carlos Martinez issued his second shutout of the year, while Lance Lynn stretched his streak of allowing two or fewer earned runs out to 13 games. Add in the fast start of yet another early season farmhand, Luke Weaver, who has picked up the victory in all five of his six starts since being promoted in late July, and the annoyingly persistent Cardinals run makes a lot more sense.

Washington Nationals:As the Nats prepare to solidify their postseason position early this week, it is a welcome sign to have one of the most dangerous options (finally) firing on all cylinders late in the year. Stephen Strasburg has spent far too many Septembers being a non-factor for his tastes. So it stands to reason why he has been locked in as the game’s stingiest pitcher of late, building out a scoreless innings streak that reached 34 innings, setting a new Nationals record in the process.