A schedule-shortened nine items to get you going this a.m. Ladies and gentleman of the Stew, take a sip of morning Juice.
1. Extra trouble: The Los Angeles Angels should have known they were doomed from the moment their game at the Rogers Centre went into extra innings Thursday night. The Toronto Blue Jays have a wonderful but unlikely streak going in extras, and they continued it with a 4-3 victory in 12.
Edwin Encarnacion lined a home run just inside the left-field foul poll against Garrett Richards to make the Jays 11-0 in extra-inning games at home. EE willed the ball to stay fair by doing a mini-impression of Carlton Fisk at the 1975 World Series.
"I had to," Encarnacion said of his gesturing. "I didn't want the ball to go foul."
So cute.
Not so cute: the Angels playoff situation. With six games to go in the regular season, they find themselves on the ropes for a berth. They're three games back of the Red Sox for a wild card, and five back of the Texas Rangers. No looka too goo.
2. Mr. Brightside: The Angels' only saving grace is that the Rangers lost to the A's 4-3. But it's really more about catching the Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays for the wild card at this point.
3. Cardinals sinner: Rafael Furcal had a bad moment in the ninth inning; his fifth error in six games preceded a six-run outburst by the Mets that fueled an 8-6 victory that greatly harmed the St. Louis Cardinals playoff chances. They're down two games to the Braves for the wild card, but they're not out ? says manager Tony La Russa
"Don't make a mistake and say we're heartbroken," La Russa barked. "Our heart's beating. We won the series, get ready for tomorrow."
And if he detects one ounce of insincerity, he will bust out the maracas.
4. Welcome, Matt: Rays couldn't afford to lose to the Yankees again, so rookie left-hander Matt Moore went to work (as did the offense) in a 15-8 victory. Though he didn't have to face Robinson Cano, A-Rod or Curtis Granderson, Moore tossed five shutout innings and struck out 11 in an enticing look into the future.
5. Irritant: The Washington Nationals no doubt took joy in sweeping the Philadelphia Phillies, even if the games have no significant impact on the standings. At least they'll get some Phillies fans perturbed. This time a pretty bird named Brad Peacock pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings in a 6-1 victory.
6. West Coast thing: The Los Angeles Dodgers also like rubbing it in the face of a certain team, the San Francisco Giants. Even though the Dodgers have long been out of it, beating their buddies 8-2 at least made their Thursday. Matt Kemp, you so crazy: 4 for 5, home run and three doubles. The Giants are four back in the wild-card race, and the Arizona Diamondbacks can clinch the NL West on Friday.
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