Getaway Day: Streaking to the finish

Cleveland Indians: There is no better team in baseball currently than the Tribe, who worked up a 11-game winning streak over the last week, which was capped by a huge Sunday from Jose Ramirez, when he became the 10th player ever to go five for five with a pair of home runs and three doubles. The Tribe stretched their lead in the AL Central out to the brink of double digits in the process. The streak bettered their previous high of nine straight wins from July, and was done in impressive fashion, including a doubleheader win amid a sweep over the Yankees. Again, baseball’s most dangerous team continues to operate in broad daylight, but still slightly underneath the radar.

Detroit Tigers: First it was on, then it was off and it was on again. That is how the final hour of Justin Verlander’s tenure as Tiger went. But the team completed the most elusive trade of the year in getting Verlander to Houston, a move that sees closes the door on arguably the greatest tenure for any pitcher in franchise history. It was the second half of a wildly successful personnel week for the rebuilding-on-the-run Tigers, as they also shipped Justin Upton off the books as well to Anaheim. It was a pair of needed bright spots for a team that has rarely found much to be excited for this summer.

Houston Astros: The early week saw a shift to Tampa for a ‘home game’ for the dispatched Astros to face the Rangers. After taking a pair of losses, Houston got back into the swing of things as the week went on, working up their longest winning streak in two months. And to top it off, Carlos Correa made his long-awaited return on Sunday afternoon as well, the second biggest comeback of the week, after the team’s return home to Houston, as the rebuilding efforts get underway there. And as mentioned earlier, they even landed the services of Justin Verlander as well, which is not a bad consolation prize after swinging and missing a month ago at the trade deadline.

Kansas City Royals: Tough times are upon the Royals, as they are watching their all-in effort to make a final push to recapture their postseason glory come an inglorious end. The week started by seeing the three-game shutout streak to closed out last week bleed into the new one, as they racked up 45 consecutive innings without crossing home plate. Yet it can still be disputed if the scoreless streak is the true low point of the week, or if the two and half touchdown, 17-0 shutout loss on Saturday at the hands of the Twins eclipsed it. Either way, the Royals seem to be decidedly drifting down waters that dead end before postseason play.

Los Angeles Angels: Riding the high of Albert Pujols moving into seventh place all-time on the home run list, Mike Trout going four for 4four and adding nearly a half game’s WAR in one night on Wednesday, the same night that Cliff Pennington connected for a go-ahead grand slam, the Angels decided it was time to double down. After years of being a quiet in making waves around their roster, the Halos added Justin Upton and Brandon Phillips to their lineup as the waiver-wire trade deadline ticked down. Let it be remembered that this was the week that the Angels decided to bet the house on themselves and go all in.

Minnesota Twins: After spending the summer jousting with the Royals in the AL Central standings, the Twins struck what could be the knockout blow between the two clubs on Saturday. After jumping out to a 10-0 lead after just two innings, the Twins continued to pile on in route to a statement-making 17-0 win. What is most fascinating about their most recent surge is who the driving force behind it. Joe Mauer has returned from the pasture, hitting .448 since August 10, and has moved his average north of .300 for the first time in over a year.

New York Yankees: When confronted about the weekend’s series with the Red Sox, CC Sabathia was rather pointed in his outlook: “I don’t give a (expletive) about their reaction. If they have something to say, we can meet in center field.” The gasoline was officially poured on the always ever-burning fire between the two clubs. Sabathia's comments came in response to backlash against him calling Eduardo Nunez and the Sox ‘weak’ for bunting in the first inning of game one of their weekend tilt, focusing on Sabathia’s bad right knee. By the time Sabathia had continued on to say, "It is what it is. It just shows what they got over there,” the Sox were fired up and ready to take him up on his challenge. Too bad it came too late, as Sabathia had picked up yet another win over the Sox, who he is now 4-0 with a 1.04 ERA against on the year.

Oakland Athletics: What do you really want to say here at this point, as the A’s emerge from week spent winless. If the young A’s are in position to become a walking stimulus package over the next week, as they face the likes of the Angels, Astros and Red Sox to get September underway. Have fun with that.

Seattle Mariners: When the dust settles on the year, the one thing that cannot be said about Seattle GM Jerry DiPoto is that he didn’t try. And if any of the Mariner faithful needed an indication of his thirst to end the team’s 16-year postseason drought, it was this week’s trade to acquire Mike Leake from the Cardinals to aid the woeful Seattle rotation. Despite the fact he has worked to a 6.31 ERA since the All-Star break and is still due another $48 million over the next three years, he fit a need for the Seattle staff, whom he became the 17th different starting pitcher for when he made his debut on Friday, which was a 3-2 win for Mariners.

Tampa Bay Rays: After spending much of the time since All-Star break squandering their place in line in the AL wild-card picture, things had begun sputtering back to life of late for the Rays. Coming into Saturday, they had leveled off their record at .500 and had not lost consecutive games in nearly two weeks. But Saturday’s loss to the White Sox might have signaled a badly timed fork in the road. On the verge of a week that will be spent paired against the Twins and Red Sox, ace Chris Archer lasted only eight pitches before leaving the game with tightness in his forearm, and while it is believed he will be fine, an absence from Archer is a scary proposition at any point in time for Tampa.

Texas Rangers: Life on the postseason bubble has been a fragile one for the Rangers, but it is an existence they had navigated pretty well. And under normal circumstances, a week that saw a series win over the Astros followed by landing two of three from the Angels should be celebrated. But along the way, the club lost an irreplaceable brick in their foundation as Adrian Beltre could be the rest of the season with a hamstring strain. It is a badly timed subtraction from a team that could be preparing to mount their final push at getting over the hump this year.

Toronto Blue Jays: Sometimes you must take the lemons and just make lemonade, and amid a year like the one the Jays are enduring, there is no shortage of lemons to be found. While the Jays spent their early part of the week being bounced around by the Red Sox, Kevin Pillar decided to make the most out of an unpleasant situation. The reigning Gold Glover in center field used the series as a chance to update his highlight portfolio for this year season’s award, as he put together a pair of phenomenal catches that took the edge off the sting of the early week swept at the hands of the Red Sox.

National League

Arizona Diamondbacks: While winning the NL West is just outside the realm of possibility, the week that was for the D-backs proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt that if they make it to National League Division Series play, they will not be a walk in the park for the formidable Dodgers – a team they spent the last week building up 10 game winning streak around. The D-backs became the first team to sweep the Dodgers on the year, and now have lost only once in the past two weeks. A spot in the NL Wild Card game is virtually assured, however it may be time to considering Torey Luvollo’s club as being capable of much more.

Atlanta Braves: The one thing that has been a constant for the 2017 Braves has been reinvention. Their year-long facelift continued over the past week, in between taking down the Phillies and playing the role of spring board for the Cubs, the Braves shuffled their infield picture yet again, sending Brandon Phillips to Anaheim. It is a move that officially shifts the future of the Braves infield into focus, as Dansby Swanson, Ozzie Albies and Johan Camargo will join Freddie Freeman around the diamond.

Chicago Cubs: When they play the Brewers next Friday, it will be first time since August 13 that the Cubs have played a team north of .500. And in that time span, they have worked up a (14-5) record, which has pulled them 15 games north of .500 and provided a 3.5 game cushion in the NL Central. If anything, it has been a run that has allowed them to finally calibrate themselves and look the part to add yet another legitimate powerhouse property to the NL playoff picture. Their 17-3 drubbing of the Pirates – their third win of 10 or more runs in the last month – proved that much.

Cincinnati Reds: In a second half where they have begun to gradually not be as regularly terrible as they were a month or so ago, the Reds announced the entire coaching staff will be back next season. Not quite sure that’s the recipe for taking the edge off a second-straight year headed towards the bottom of the game’s worst division.

Colorado Rockies: After a week that produced only a single win, it is officially becoming 'look over your shoulder' territory for the Rockies. Their once mighty foothold on a wild-card spot has dwindled down to only a one game, as the Brewers are narrowing in on them. An early week date with the slump-busting Giants could prove to be a temporary fix, as could potentially catching a dazed Dodgers club at the right time next weekend.

Los Angeles Dodgers: Whether it be the law of averages coming due, the demands of keeping up such a relentless pace of play or catching the right punch at the wrong time, the Dodgers finally spent a week in mortality. Their sweep at the hands of Zack Greinke and the Diamondbacks was their first since the final series of last season, and was the meat of a run that has seen them drop seven of eight to the Brewers, D-backs and Padres. However, the exception to their recent downturn came on Friday night, when Clayton Kershaw returned from the disabled list and picked up right where he left off, tossing an easy six scoreless innings and allowing two hits. Alex Wood also returned from the DL on Sunday, so all things considered, these occasional losing skids are likely a temporary event.

Miami Marlins: On Sunday, a major formality was gotten out of the way, as Giancarlo Stanton was given NL Player of the Month honors for August, a 30-day span when he put up the type of numbers that look just as good when spread out of over another month as well. And Stanton wasted little time in making his mark in September, connecting for his 52nd homer on Saturday night to kick off what will be the most watched month of singular play in recent memory.

Milwaukee Brewers: Keon Broxton tossed his cape on Wednesday afternoon, as he flew above the center field wall in Miller Park to make a game-winning snag of a would-be go ahead homer off the bat of Randal Grichuk and successfully keep the Cardinals off their back. It was a turning point in a week that was followed by a pair of victories over the Nationals as well. And while tracking down the Cubs is becoming a tougher path to postseason to pull off, next weekend’s series at Wrigley could open multiple possibilities for a Brewers team with a clear shot not only within the NL Central, but the wild card as well.

New York Mets: Has anybody really had a worse year than Matt Harvey? Aside from the $4 million dollars he will take home, it really has been about as tragic of a professional year as could be imagined. From the fiasco of no-showing on the team earlier in the year, and then (unsuccessfully) lying to cover it up, then the public loss of love interest Adriana Lima (which is enough to wound the strongest of men) and then washing that down by spending nearly two months on the disabled list as well. His return to the field on Saturday provided a disappointing, yet appropriate cap to his nightmare of a summer. Harvey let up seven runs in just two innings work, skyrocketing his ERA on the year to just south of 6.00. Just let it all end, please.

Philadelphia Phillies: The Phillies lost pole position for the top pick in next year’s draft late last week, as they somehow found the remedy for Giancarlo Stanton. The Phils ‘held’ Stanton to one homer over a four-game series, in which they somehow picked up three wins along the way as well. Strange things happen sometimes.

Pittsburgh Pirates:The Pirates did their part in propelling the Cubs up the standings early in the week, before playing the patsy in one of the oddest personnel moves of the year, which led to Juan Nicasio becoming a Phillie. It has been a weird second half for the Pirates, who not so long ago seemed to have things figured out. Turns out, they don't.

San Diego Padres: If Ripley’s ‘Believe It or Not’ has not taken notice of this year’s Padres team yet, it is truly a tragedy, because they have a remarkable knack for creating double-take worthy events. In their latest feat, they swept a doubleheader against the Dodgers, a team so far ahead of them in the standings that they could go undefeated for a month and still be a half game back of at the end of the year.

San Francisco Giants: Any shot that Madison Bumgarner took a look at the standings on Thursday and just decided to call in sick with the "flu?" Whether the Giants ace was pulling a Ferris Bueller or not, he saw his weekend’s work pushed back three days, over which the Giants took a few frustrating loses at the hands of the Cardinals.

St. Louis Cardinals: Inches felt like miles for the Cardinals last week, as a pair of wins escaped them in walk-off fashion: one by the leather (Keon Broxton bringing back a home run with two outs in the ninth inning) and one by the lumber (Nick Hundley’s walk-off homer following a blown save on Saturday). At least there was the excitement escaping Mike Leake’s contact, and the debut of top prospect Jack Flaherty that immediately followed. What should be a soft spot in the schedule continues with a the Padres, Pirates and Reds on what could be the decisive week for the Redbirds.

Washington Nationals: As ‘magic number’ season approaches for the Nationals, the week that was served as a reward for the perseverance they have shown in reaching this phase of the year. Max Scherzer, Jayson Werth and Trea Turner all made their marks in returning from the disabled list, while Stephen Strasburg had the highlight effort of the week, twirling a complete game victory while tossing in a home run for good measure himself. The best could still be yet ahead for this Nationals team, unlike in recent seasons.