Getaway Day: Players Weekend adds needed lightness to toughest part of the season

Cleveland Indians: The spotlight player of the week that was for the Tribe was Andrew Miller, although for reasons that they would have liked to have avoided. Even though his #44 jersey read ‘Miller Time,’ it was far from that over the last week as the uber-talented lefty was sidelined with a bout of patellofemoral syndrome, which is a fancy way of saying his right knee is in bad shape for the time being. And while the Tribe should have their ace reliever back within a week, the Indians remain in phenomenal shape, emerging from a week of taking the fight to not only Chris Sale and the Red Sox, but running off a string of shutouts over their divisional rivals in Kansas City as well. It's off to the races in Ohio.

Detroit Tigers: Maybe it was all the frustrations from an undeniably exasperating season boiling over, but the midweek Tigers-Yankees brawl certainly gave ample opportunity to let some steam off. After three separate fights, eight suspensions – which included both ‘Miggy’ (Miguel Cabrera) and manager Brad Ausmus – and a beef that splintered off into the Tiger dugout and saw ‘JV’ Justin Verlander and ‘Papicho’ Victor Martinez mix it up with each other as well, the Tigers are now limping more noticeably than ever to the finish line.

Houston Astros: Very few teams mastered the art of Players Weekend better than the Astros, who boasted the likes of both ‘Snap Dragon 1’ (Lance McCullers Jr.) and ‘Snap Dragon 2’ (Collin McHugh) from their ranks, along with ‘Tuve’ (Jose Altuve), ‘El Yuli’ (Yuri Gurriel), ‘Devo the Dragon’ (Chris Devenski) and ‘Big Fudge’ (Jake Marisnick). The lighthearted jerseys were a brief reprieve considering the issues at hand with Hurricane Harvey and the growing disaster in the Houston area. Baseball, regardless of its quality, is a secondary issue at the moment for the Astros and their hometown. 

Kansas City Royals: It seemed as if KC had gotten its swagger back, with ‘El Nino’ (Salvador Perez) returning from the disabled list and ‘Hos’ (Eric Hosmer) playing the hero with a walk off home run on Wednesday against the Rockies and former Royal Greg Holland. But just as fast as it all seemed to come together, the defeatist side of the Royals reemerged in a severe fashion, as they failed to score a run over the course of a weekend sweep at the hands of the Indians. They now carry a four-game losing streak – as well as an eight game AL Central deficit – into the new week. 

Los Angeles Angels: One of the more impressive moments of the week came when ‘Simon’ (Andrelton Simmons), who is more renowned for his defensive exploits than his offensive high points, went deep off one knee on Saturday night. It was a highlight in an evening where the Halos beat the Astros 7-6, and put a much needed stop to a run where they had lost four out of five games. When Anaheim’s series with the Rangers kicked off on Monday, it marked the first in a run of what will be 25 straight games against AL West foes for the Angels. It will be a very direct opportunity to seal a chance at a Wild Card spot for Anaheim, but it will require them picking up the pace as the Halos dropped three of four to the Rangers, before falling in a weekend series against Houston.  

Minnesota Twins: The breakout of ‘Buck’ (Byron Buxton) has truly been something to behold. Not only did he add another 'catch of the year' candidate play to his resume over the weekend, he drove the stake through the heart of the Blue Jays with a tremendous 4-for-5 outing, with three home runs, five RBI and a stolen base for good measure. It capped a week where the Twins were pitted against the White Sox five times in four days – dropping three against Chicago, before facing off with the Blue Jays over the weekend and taking home two out three. The good times continue for the Twins as the new week begins, and it could be a fruitful one, as a return engagement awaits with the White Sox, followed by the struggling-of-late Royals. In fact, their destiny is very much within their own control, as Minnesota does not face another team currently over .500 until September 17.

New York Yankees: While the title of ‘Mr. August’ may not have the ring of the monthly monikers that are associated with the likes of Reggie Jackson and Derek Jeter, the aptly-named ‘Kraken’ (Gary Sanchez) has again made the month his own. The Yankee catcher is now up to 11 home runs for the month, which when combined with his historic August outbreak of a year ago, gives him 22 long balls to go with a .344 average in his career during the month. Sanchez is locked in at the right time, because the Yanks will finish out August with engagements against both the Indians and Red Sox, two series that could potentially reshape American League postseason alignment as the season heads into September.  

Oakland Athletics: In last week’s Getaway Day, we heralded the opportunity at hand for the A’s to play the spoiler down the stretch. And for the most part, they answered the call, putting to an end Zach Britton’s historic saves streak, while also seizing a series from the Rangers over the weekend. At this point, if you must play out the schedule, might as well cause some mayhem in the process. 

Seattle Mariners: No team that has realistic postseason hopes has been more snake-bitten than the Mariners. Not only have they been able o stay alive within the wide-open wild-card picture with their pitching staff in shambles, they also now have to trudge forward with a hobbled ‘Don’t You Know’ (Robinson Cano) as well. The star second baseman narrowly avoided a trip to the DL with a hamstring injury, but it is almost certain he will put his best face forward because of the vantage point the M’s find themselves fighting from.

Tampa Bay Rays: The Rays are on the ropes, but at least they aren’t going down without a fight. After losing their last five series headed into the week, the Rays took down the Blue Jays to open the week, then pulling out a weekend series win behind the arm of ‘Flaco Fuerte’ (Chris Archer) in St. Louis. As they turn their attention to a trio of series against the AL Central over the next week and half, Tampa cannot take their foot off the gas at any point if they are to keep their narrow hopes alive.

Texas Rangers: Carlos Gomez is bringing an 11-game hitting streak into the new week as the Rangers will open the week hoping the regain some of the momentum they lost over the weekend in an underwhelming series in Oakland. It marked the end of a season-salvaging run of earning at least a split in six straight series. And with a week upcoming against the two teams ahead of them in the AL West standings, the Rangers season could come down to not wasting the opportunities in the week ahead. 

Toronto Blue Jays: While ‘Bringer of Rain’ (Josh Donaldson) lived up to his chosen moniker, popping three home runs over the course of the week, the tough times continued in Toronto. The Jays have spent the better part of the last two weeks obediently providing timely wins for a handful of postseason contenders in the Cubs, Rays and Twins. As they prepare to enter an early September stretch that features a pair of series with the Red Sox, their generous nature should continue to be on display.

National League

Arizona Diamondbacks: A week ago, times were tough for the Diamondbacks, who had just emerged from a brutal run of scheduling misfortunate with the Dodgers, Cubs, Astros and Twins in that order. But fueled by the return of ‘Bob’ (Robbie Ray) from one of the most unfortunate incidents of the year by taking a line drive to the back of the head, Arizona got back on track while being granted a kind turn of fortune in the schedule in the form of the Giants and Mets. On the other side of it all, they open the week in the driver’s seat of the NL wild-card race again. 

Atlanta Braves: It has been over two weeks since the Braves last won consecutive games, which has permanently sunk them into the abyss of wreckage that is the NL East. At least on Friday, ‘JT’ (Julio Teheran) picked up a win at home for the first time in four months.

Chicago Cubs: It shouldn't be a surprise that the notoriously free-spirited Cubs fully embraced as many aspects of Players Weekend as possible. From the customized Cuban-American bat of ‘Tico’ (Albert Almora Jr), to the dazzling spikes of Kris Bryant and the hilariously created name play of ‘Carl’s Jr’ (Carl Edwards Jr), the Cubs may take the cake for team pride this weekend. It was a timely reprieve on a weekend that would otherwise be best forgotten as soon as possible on the field. Chicago’s five-game winning streak ended with a thud in the form of dropping three of four to the Reds and Phillies, a dry spell that even Saturday’s 17-2 pounding of the Phil’s can’t erase.

Cincinnati Reds: It has been quite the summer for young Tyler Mahle, who carried 1.59 ERA and put together an 88-pitch perfect game back in April. To cap things off, he made his MLB debut on Sunday for the Reds, in a game that went typical to Reds fashion: 11 runners left on base (including three in the final inning) and a loss. At least Cincy scored a paired of runs on Sunday, which count as the only two they have scratched out in the last 19 innings. 

Colorado Rockies: While the MVP-caliber efforts of ‘Nado’ (Nolan Arenado) and ‘Chuck Nazty’ (Charlie Blackmon) have led the charge for the Rockies, it has been Greg Holland and the Colorado bullpen that has held down the fort for much of the year. But after a string of up and down outings from Holland – which led to ‘Jake’ (Jake McGee) closing out Sunday’s win – there is sudden uncertainty in what had been the most dependable part of Rockies' attack. 

Los Angeles Dodgers: Give credit to LA for finding ways to continue making their march to the finish line an interesting one. Even their losses carry intrigue, as ‘Brice’ (Rich Hill) became the first pitcher since 1995 to take a no-hitter into the extra inning, only to lose it in the 10th inning. Otherwise, it was business as usual, with LA only losing twice and when they failed to make it on the scoreboard. And that is an issue that should be lessened when ‘CodyLove’ (Cody Bellinger) makes his expected return from the DL this week, with ‘Kersh’ (Clayton Kershaw) and ‘Yu San’ (Yu Darvish) following suit as well. Baseball’s best is booting up to become even better.

Miami Marlins: ‘Cruz’ (Giancarlo Stanton) keeps on keeping on, as he has run up his August home run total to 16 and became the first player since Barry Bonds in 2001 to reach 50 home runs before September. He is now on pace to hit 63 long balls on the season – a number he could be in position to fly past into the stratosphere. And Cruz is not alone in making his mark in the power department, as a teammate that is 16 years his senior, ‘Ichi’ (Ichiro Suzuki),  joined in the power party. On Tuesday, the ageless wonder connected for a monstrous 432-foot homer that even Stanton had to marvel at. Suddenly, the Marlins have sprung to life and up the standings. 

Milwaukee Brewers: ‘Big Sweat’ (Jimmy Nelson) has done an admirable job in stepping up and giving the Brewers something akin to a frontline arm. He ranks among the NL leaders in innings pitched and strikeouts on the year, and took the fight to the Dodgers on Sunday afternoon as the Brewers wrapped up what should be a motivating weekend series win over the Dodgers with Nelson leading the way. 

New York Mets: It has been over two weeks since the Mets managed to string together a pair of wins, and between shipping out parts of their roster and taking on sets of unremarkable mundane losses, they have struggled to keep together their patchwork of a roster. In the last week, the seasons of both ‘Reno’ (Steven Matz) and ‘Wheels’ (Zack Wheeler) came to an end, as Matz is set for elbow surgery while Wheeler had a rehab stint called off with the year out of hand. Adding to those complications, ‘La Potencia’ (Yoenis Cespedes) fell to yet another hamstring issue and ‘Scooter’ (Michael Conforto) suffered an ugly dislocated shoulder while taking a swing. Don't worry Mets fans, the end of the season and your misery will come soon enough.

Philadelphia Phillies: At a point that will likely come early in the next week, the Phillies will mathematically ensure a losing record for the year when they lose their 82nd game with more than a month left to go, so any news that isn’t attached to another step towards the 100 loss mark is good news. The rare dose of good news showed itself in a resounding fashion last week, as rookie Rhys Hoskins made a bit of history in the onslaught that has been his MLB debut. The Philly outfielder reached ten home runs faster than any player in history, doing so in just 17 games, and has a total of 11 homers in 18 games on the year. Add in the triple play he started on Sunday with a shoestring catch, and it has been quite the start to his young career. 

Pittsburgh Pirates: ‘J Hay’ (Josh Harrison) drove a piece of Dragonglass into the heart of Rich Hill early last week, when he broke up over nine innings of no-hit baseball with a home run that barely made it over the left field wall, but did so all the same. The next few weeks will yield several opportunities for the Pirates to create a bit of hysteria in the NL Central standings, as they continue down a stretch of NL Central-exclusive foes until the final two series of the season. 

San Diego Padres:A week that opened with a bang, in the form of a six-RBI night from ‘Pituki’ (Yangervis Solarte) on Tuesday and a series win in St. Louis, ended with a thud, or at least a few bangs that were not as favorable for the Padres. The one-man gang that is Giancarlo Stanton launched three home runs and hit .800 on the weekend, as he played as inhospitable of a host as could be imagined.

San Francisco Giants: It is late August, and the Giants are already eliminated from the postseason picture. Part of their 40.5 game deficit in the standings (yes, you read that right) is due to chasing the Dodgers as they are lapped by them around the track. But an equal part is due to outings like the 11-0 bludgeoning they took on Sunday at the hands of the Diamondbacks. A week such as the one ahead, which will be spent among the likes of the Padres and Cardinals, could be a kinder proposition. 

St. Louis Cardinals: Here is the bad news: the Cardinals will not be able to regain the services of their unanticipated mascot, Rally Cat, as he has been acquired by a non-profit feline rescue group who have ‘broken off’ negotiations for him to be adopted by the team. And the Cardinals could use him more than ever, as they have now fallen 4.5 games back in the NL Central after drawing even with the division-leading Cubs amid Rally Cat mania earlier in the month. And the team will be forced to go forward without closer ‘Big T’ (Trevor Rosenthal), who is now headed towards Tommy John surgery. The rally cries may be getting louder, yet further away from reality in St. Louis. 

Washington Nationals: What is more incredible at this point, the sheer number of injured Nats or the fact they are still nearly 30 games over .500? Currently, there are 12 inhabitants of the D.C. disabled list, a startlingly high figure for a team so successfully far down the road towards the postseason. But they have a knack for continuing to move forward, regardless of the odds, as the undermanned Nats still took a series from the AL-best Astros early in the week and now stand to regain the services of ‘Blue Eye’ (Max Scherzer) in the upcoming week.