Playoff teams top all divisions as baseball season nears end

It's never happened like this before in eight years of following promotion and relegation across professional baseball. The top two clubs in each division at the end of the regular season are going to the playoffs. Which doesn't mean the titles are decided.

Boston Red Sox left-hander Chris Sale was 7-3 with a 3.04 ERA in 13 starts this season against First Division clubs (Keith Allison/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license).

It isn't all settled, yet, but this much we know: for the first time since we began following promotion and relegation in baseball – and this is the eighth year of it – the top two clubs in each division at the end of the regular season also are going to the playoffs.

And in the First Division, which should expect to have the best clubs, the top four clubs will last into October.

So, it isn't all settled. The championship in each division remains open. There remain some decisions in the bottom of the Third Division as to which clubs will survive and which clubs will be banished to the Fourth Division next year. 

But it's mostly settled.

The championships in each division remain open because, in baseball, we count the postseason. The other sports with promotion and relegation – pro basketball and pro hockey – play reasonably balanced schedules throughout the season, so there's little reason to upset that balance by including the playoffs, while the baseball schedule is so imbalanced that including the playoffs doesn't hurt anything.

So, we look at the First Division and find the Boston Red Sox comfortably on top, as they have been for most of the season. However, these decisions are made by winning percentages, and it remains that the Dodgers, the Cleveland Indians or the Washington Nationals could still pass them. 

The Indians and Red Sox will meet in the American League Championship Series (ALCS) if the Red Sox win their divisional series with the Houston Astros and the Indians win their game against the AL wild card survivor.

The Dodgers and the Nationals will meet in the National League championship Series (NLCS) if the Dodgers survive against the NL wild card and the Nationals can get past the Chicago Cubs.

And any World Series combination involving the Dodgers, Nationals, Red Sox and Indians will count in the First Division.

So, who's the winner? We won't know for a while. And it could be fun to find out. Last year, the First Division came through quite a tangled web in the postseason, with the Dodgers prevailing for the very first time. The top five First Division club all were in the playoffs.

And who are the losers? That, we do know. They are the bottom two clubs – the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants – both of which will be relegated to the Second Division in 2018.

The results from the last week weighed heavily on that decision. The Giants lost two of three at home to the Dodgers Sept. 22-24, enough losses to drive them into the basement. With one more win against the Dodgers, the Giants would be 12-16 instead of 11-17. The difference is huge – the difference between .429 and .393 in winning percentage.

At .429, the Giants would have had a prayer earlier this week, when the Toronto Blue Jays went to Boston. However, the Jays won two of three in that series to finish 22-29, a .431 winning percentage. One more Toronto loss would have sent the Blue Jays down instead of the Rangers. One more Giants win to go with it would have sent the Rangers and the Blue Jays down, saving the Giants.

The Tampa Bay Rays, (22-29, .431) have been sweating all of this out ever since losing two of three at home against the Red Sox Sept. 15-17 to end their First Division schedule. But they survived, which would not be the case if the Giants had swept the Dodgers and the Jays had swept the Sox. The Rays remain the longest continuous member of the First Division actively and they will become the longest continuing member all-time.

The Rays won promotion to the First Division for the 2011 season and have stayed there ever since. So, the 2018 season will be Tampa Bay's eighth straight in the top tier. However, they barely hung on this time.

The St. Louis Cardinals had been the record holder, playing for seven straight years in the First Division, starting as a charter member of the top tier in 2010 and continuing until they were relegated to the Second Division for the 2017 season, giving them seven straight seasons at the highest level. 

The championship in the Second Division this year remains up for grabs. The New York Yankees (17-9, .653) and the Arizona Diamondbacks (20-12, .625) are right at each other on top, even in the games column and with the Yankees in the percentage points lead. Conceivably, though it isn't likely, the Yankees and Diamondbacks could meet in the World Series.

First, though, the Diamondbacks have work in the Second Division this weekend against the Kansas City Royals. They play three games this weekend in Kansas City. Just down the standings, the Cardinals play three at home this weekend against the Milwaukee Brewers. If the Cardinals or Brewers can sweep, then there remains a ray of hope for that club to back into a promotion, depending on what happens with the Diamondbacks against Kansas City and, possibly, the Yankees.

At the bottom of the Second Division, the Royals settled the matter by winning two of three at home this week against the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers needed to win two against Kansas City and they needed the Royals to lose three against Arizona in order to escape relegation.  The best Detroit can hope for now is that an Arizona sweep of Kansas City brings the Tigers and Royals both in at 13-20, but the Royals hold the tiebreaker by winning 11 of 18 between them this season. So, the Tigers are going down to the Third Division, as are the New York Mets.

Coming up to the Second Division from the Third Division, we already know, are the Houston Astros and the Chicago Cubs. Again, those clubs could meet in the World Series to change the order between them, though it isn't likely. The Astros are the first-place club by percentage points.

The lower half of the Third Division is where it gets interesting. The Chicago White Sox ensured they won't be relegated with a 5-4 win against the Angels Thursday night. So, it's between the Seattle Mariners, the Miami Marlins and the Atlanta Braves. Two of those club are going down to the Fourth Division. The decision will come during the weekend.

The Braves and Marlins are playing a four-game series in Miami. The Marlins won the opener, 7-1, Thursday night. The Mariners are playing three at home against the Angels. The Mariners, Marlins and Braves all remain so close at the bottom that anything could still happen between them.

In the Fourth Division, we have two more playoff teams on top – the Colorado Rockies and the Minnesota Twins. Each club is the last in its league to enter the playoffs as the second wild card.

Fourth Division: Mets might make it, Sox are sunk

The New York Mets are off to a good start in their bid to finally escape from the Fourth Division after two straight years of limited opportunity. The Chicago White Sox are all but certain to remain stuck in the bottom tier for another year, but they've blown three straight seasons of opportunity to escape.

Chris Sale pitched the Chicago White Sox to a 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles Thursday, but the White Sox have almost no chance of escaping from the Fourth Division this year (Keith Allison/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license).

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The Fourth Division has been pretty slow going until this week, when it has picked up with a torrent of games involving five of the six clubs in this lowest echelon of ordinal competition.

The New York Mets, long overdue for a good shot at advancement to the Third Division, now hold first place in the fourth tier with a 7-2 record, and they play three at home this weekend against the floundering Miami Marlins. The Chicago White Sox, who have blown legitimate opportunities to escape from this cellar for three straight years, already appear to be trapped in the Fourth Division for another year.

The Major League schedule obviously isn't built to make sure all the teams in each division play each other, so the rules for promotion and relegation have to be rigged a little.

The top three divisions, which each include eight clubs, require that any club win 10 games to be promoted or lose 10 to be relegated and, in either case, a team must play at least three others within the division to be promoted or relegated.

The Fourth Division, with only six clubs, relaxes those restrictions, a little. A team can be promoted with fewer than 10 wins, but only if that team wins at least 75 percent of its games and plays at least two Fourth Division opponents, and that team can't stand in the way of promoting another team that wins at least 10 and finishes at least .500 in the Fourth Division.

A light schedule in the Fourth Division will work against some club's chance of advancement, and that has been the plight of the Mets for the last two years. Last season, the Mets finished 9-7 in the Fourth Division, the exact same .563 winning percentage as the Minnesota Twins, who won the division at 18-14. The Mets certainly would have advanced, and won the division, with one more victory. As it was, they had to move over for the Colorado Rockies, who finished 16-16.

But the Mets have a robust opportunity to advance this year with a thick Fourth Division schedule. The lowest division includes the Marlins from within the National League East, the San Diego Padres from within the National League, and the Baltimore Orioles, who the Mets face in interleague play.

The White Sox are on the short end of the stick this year, with only a dozen games in the Fourth Division, six each against American League counterparts Baltimore and the Houston Astros. The Sox split a doubleheader Thursday in Baltimore and now are 1-2 in the Fourth Division with three coming up this weekend in Houston.

The White Sox would just about have to win out in the Fourth Division for any chance of advancement, and they probably don't have that kind of club. But they have nothing about which to complain. The White Sox are in their fourth season at this lowest tier. In two of the previous three, they finished in last place. Last year, their best showing, turned up a 14-17 record against the Fourth Division. Combined in the last three full seasons, the White Sox are 42-61 in the Fourth Division.

Torrid Trout could succeed (finally) in MVP bid

No one has questioned Mike Trout's greatness in his first two years with the Angels, but that never got him an MVP award. This season, the way he's going right now, there might not be any stopping him. The Angels are winning, and Trout is a key reason.

Mike Trout robs J.J. Hardy of a home run in Baltimore in 2012 (Keith Allison/Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license).


By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

Arguments have raged for the last couple of years as to whether Mike Trout was or was not the best baseball player in the world. The arguments against him boiled down to this: Miguel Cabrera's Detroit Tigers were one of the best teams in the world, while Trout's Angels were not.

Sensible enough. There's only one true value in sports. Winning. Thus, good players on winning teams are more valuable than good players on losing teams.

In 2014, though, the Angels are a winning club, 36-28, contending closely in the American League West and holding the league's top wild card position. Trout is a great player building another great season. Might be too early to say so, but this could be Trout's year.

Cabrera's batting numbers merited the American League triple crown in 2012 and those numbers were, on the whole, even better in 2013, though not good enough for the triple crown in the later case. In each case, though, the Tigers won their division.

Trout's batting numbers weren't as good in either case, but he brought so much more to the table as a defender and base runner that he truly was at least as good overall. Unfortunately, for Trout, the fortunes of his club took him out of the running for serious MVP consideration. Cabrera won it both times.

Famously, Trout still was farming in Salt Lake when the Angels went off to their terrible start in 2012, coming up a month into the season and still making enough of a mark to win Rookie of the Year. In large part because of Trout, the Angels rallied to the fringe of the AL wild card race and Trout entered the MVP conversation. Last season, the Angels started even worse and never recovered, dooming Trout's MVP candidacy.

The last month has seen a re-birth of the Angels as a contender and made Trout, once more, a front runner for the league's MVP award. Through games of June 10, Trout batted .294, and he’s rising quickly. His power numbers of 12 homers and 45 RBIs put him on schedule to surpass his previous highs of 30 and 97. He's the everyday center fielder, where he is a plus performer.

What's more, Trout is becoming a game breaker, not merely a great player. On May 15, hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth against the Tampa Bay Rays, giving the Angels a 6-5 win. It was Trout's first walk-off RBI of any kind in the big leagues. On June 6, Trout hit a grand slam with the Angels down, 5-1, in the bottom of the eighth. It came against White Sox left-hander Chris Sale, who, up to that moment, had allowed only two runs in 31 innings against the Angels during his career. The Angels ended up beating the Chicago White Sox, 6-5.

And Trout is hot. Through June 10, Trout batted .386 (22-for-57) in his last 16 games, raising his average from .264 to .294. He hit in 17 of his last 18 games, reached base in 29 of his last 30 games and drove in 24 runs in his last 25 games.

All that production is coming with plate discipline. For the season, Trout has 68 strikeouts and 35 walks, so he stands to strike out 160 times, which would be a career high, and he's only walking about half as much. But he has 14 walks and 16 strikeouts in his last 20 games. He's finding it.

When we look in the numbers at why the Angels are 20-11 starting with May 9, it's clearly the pitching, especially the starters. The Angels' staff is putting up a 3.54 ERA during that run, compared with an ERA of 3.96 across the AL this season. The Angels this year are second in the AL in starter ERA (3.61) and their 27 wins by starting pitchers also is second. Opponents are batting .231 against the Angels, which is another second-best mark across the league.

Offensively, the Angels have been nothing special during their 20-11 surge. Their long slash during that period is .259/.328/.405/.733. The AL's long slash for the season is .253/.321/.395/.715.

Thus, the Angels are just a tinge better than the average AL offense during this hottest period of their last three seasons. And where would they be without Trout? During that period, Trout is .303/.393/.586/.979. Trout has scored or driven in 35 of the club's 134 runs during that period, accounting for 26 percent of the club's offense (16 runs and 25 RBI, minus six homers).

Unlike the last two seasons, the Angels are an interesting, exciting and successful club in 2014. They've rallied to within 2 1/2 games of the Oakland Athletics in the AL West.

This club has many success stories. Albert Pujols still isn't nearly the player he used to be, but he leads the club with 15 homers and he's running well. Erick Aybar is once more a dynamic player. Colin Cowgill is a pleasant surprise, as the Angels are 34-21 when he plays and 2-7 when he doesn't. Garrett Richards has become a force in the starting rotation, allowing only one earned run in his last two starts (15 innings) to feed his total output of 6-2 with a 3.09 ERA.

But Trout is in the middle of the whole operation. And the way he's going right now, he's going to finally win that MVP award, so long as the Angels keep winning with him.

AL Central: Who else? The Tigers

The Detroit Tigers really have no peer in the American League Central Division, which they have won in each of the last three seasons. The Tigers are so far ahead of this pack that everyone knew the Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals made upgrades last year just to bid for wild cards.

Looks like Joe Mauer is hanging up the catcher's gear for the Minnesota Twins (Keith Allison/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license).

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The Detroit Tigers remain the team to beat in the American League Central until someone else can beat them, and the reasons are obvious.

Even after dealing away pitcher Doug Fister to the Washington Nationals during the offseason, the Tigers still have outstanding front-line pitching. And no one in the game hits better than Miguel Cabrera.

But there are signs of life down the division. The Cleveland Indians made some additions last year, knowing they needed to in order to become relevant. It worked on the field, where the Indians advanced to the 2013 playoffs, but it didn't work in the stands, as the Indians continued to draw poorly. And the Kansas City Royals made a bid for the playoffs, which is saying something.

The Minnesota Twins are an interesting group, though the additions of pitchers Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes would have improved no other pitching staff across the game. The Chicago White Sox are a badly under-powered club with no serious chance of contending.

Following is a list of each team in the division, giving each club's "top half" position players by 2013 WAR, its "second-level" position players, its top-level pitchers and second-level pitchers. For the top-half position players, we give the player's position and where he ranked at the position across big league baseball in 2013 WAR, then the actual WAR value for the player. For every other category, we give the player's overall 2013 WAR ranking, understanding that pitchers and position players are ranked separately.

More about all of this, including some important clarifications, can be found here. Bear in mind, though, that the 2013 WAR totals for each club only include these top players, and every club will have players with little, no or negative WAR value that actually would drag down its totals.

Detroit Tigers (48.1 in 2013 WAR) 

Top-half position players — 1B: Miguel Cabrera, 1, 7.2; 2B: Ian Kinsler, 5, 5.0; CF; Austin Jackson, 12, 3.4. Totals: Three players, 15.6 WAR.

Second-level position players — Jose Iglesias, 145, 1.9; Rajai Davis, 152, 1.8; Victor Martinez, 188, 1.2; Andy Dirks, 199, 1.1; Alex Avila, 230, 0.7. Totals: Five players, 6.7 WAR.

Top-level pitchers — Max Scherzer, 5, 6.7; Anibal Sanchez, 6, 6.3; Justin Verlander, 15, 4.6; Joe Nathan, 41, 3.2; Drew Smyly, 60, 2.6; Rick Porcello, 70, 2.4. Totals: Six pitchers, 25.8 WAR.

With three starting pitchers in the top 15, no one matches the Tigers for a front three. Nathan should be a huge upgrade for a club that has struggled in recent years to close out leads. But we can see here that even with all that quality in the front of the staff, it includes only six pitchers in these rankings, against eight for the average club. A lack of depth on this staff could be a problem.

Simply moving Cabrera from first to third will improve the club's interior defense, but the additions of Kinsler at second base and Iglesias at shortstop will make it better, still. On the whole, there are better teams than the Tigers, but not in this division.

Kansas City Royals (38.6 by 2013 WAR)

Top-half position players — 1B: Eric Hosmer, 12, 3.6; 2B: Omar Infante, 11, 2.4; RF; Nori Aoki, 10, 3.0; CF; Lorenzo Cain, 14, 3.2; LF: Alex Gordon, 4, 4.2; Salvador Perez, 7, 4.1 (6, 20.5)

Second-level position players — Jarrod Dyson, 152, 1.8; Billy Butler, 165, 1.5; Danny Valencia, 235, 0.7; (3, 4.0)

Top-level pitchers — James Shields, 22, 4.1; Greg Holland, 47, 3.1; Luke Hochevar, 88, 2.0; Bruce Chen, 113, 1.7; (4, 10.9)

Second-level pitchers — Louis Coleman, 158, 1.2; Jeremy Guthrie, 177, 1.1; Danny Duffy, 193, 0.9; (3, 3.2)

By adding Infante, Ioki and Valencia, who combined for 6.1 WAR in 2013, the Royals may have nudged themselves past the Indians as a wild card from this division. Gordon is becoming what he was supposed to be, and the same might yet happen for Hosmer.

The price for adding Shields to the starting rotation truly was steep, but he gave this club what it needs. Hochevar and Chen, dispatched from the rotation to the bullpen last season, emerged as solid contributors. The Royals still could use more achievement in their starting rotation, but they've come from nowhere to somewhere, which is a begining.

Cleveland Indians (36.3 by 2013 WAR) 

Top-half position players — 1B: Nick Swisher, 11, 3.8; 2B: Jason Kipnis, 3, 5.9; LF: Michael Brantley, 9, 2.7; C: Carlos Santana, 4, 4.4; Yan Gomes, 9, 4.0; (5, 20.8)

Second-level position players — Ryan Raburn, 129, 2.1; Lonnie Chisenhall, 178, 1.4; Asdrubal Cabrera, 191, 1.2; Elliot Johnson, 203, 1.1; (4, 5.8)

Top-level pitchers — Justin Masterson, 32, 3.4; (1, 3.4)

Second-level pitchers — Corey Kluber, 141, 1.4; Cody Allen, 141, 1.4; Danny Salazar, 165, 1.2; Zach McAllister, 186, 1.0; Bryan Shaw, 221, 0.7; Matt Albers, 234, 0.6; (6, 6.3)

Lots to like here among the everyday players. Santana is moving to third base this year, giving the Indians a chance for a very strong infield. Center fielder Michael Bourn doesn't appear in these rankings and, for that, he has to rank as a disappointment. If he can become something this year, the Indians might be a potent offensive club.

Masterson, by 2013 WAR, would rank as a No. 2 starter, which isn't bad, but it isn't No. 1, and that's where he'll work in this starting rotation. This staff also has no clear closer, and not even much to fill out the rotation by these rankings. However, these pitchers are young with chances to improve. And if the Indians can just repeat as the fifth-best club in the AL, they're back in the playoffs.

Minnesota Twins (24.6 in 2013 WAR)

Top-half position players — 1B: Joe Mauer, 6, 5.4; 2B: Brian Dozier, 7, 3.8; (2, 9.2)

Second-level position players — Pedro Florimon, 131, 2.1; Trevor Plouffe, 145, 1.9; Aaron Hicks, 232, 0.7; Josmil Pinto, 235, 0.7; (4, 5.4)

Top-level pitchers — Glen Perkins, 81, 2.1; Ricky Nolasco, 106, 1.8; Anthony Swarzak, 110, 1.7; Kevin Correia, 120, 1.6 (4, 7.2)

Second-level pitchers — Sam Deduno, 130, 1.5; Caleb Thielbar, 153, 1.3; (2, 2.8)

With Mauer moving to first base, this interior defense is looking good with Dozier at second base and Florimon at short. The weak link in this infield is Plouffe at third base. Hicks in center field struggled in his rookie campaign, but he just looks like too much talent to not develop.

The pitching might not be terrible going down the staff, but going up the staff there really is nothing to be found. The Twins should be better than in 2013. Almost anything would be better than the Twins in 2013.

Chicago White Sox (20.0 in 2013 WAR)

Top-half position players — SS: Alexei Ramirez, 12, 2.6; (1, 2.6)

Second-level position players — Gordon Beckham, 219, 0.8; (1, 0.8)

Top-level pitchers — Chris Sale, 4, 6.9; Jose Quintana, 11, 5.4; (2, 12.3)

Second-level pitchers — Matt Lindstrom, 131, 1.4; Scott Downs, 161, 1.2; John Danks, 190, 0.9; David Purcey, 208, 0.8; (4, 4.3)

When your best pitcher is Sale, you're better off than a lot of clubs. When your best position players are Ramirez and Beckham, not so much. The White Sox are rebuilting this year as they say good bye to Paul Konerko and wait out Adam Dunn's contract. Maybe next year.

Five pitchers throw four-hitter: Angels 7, Kansas City 0

In 2007, the Kansas City Royals traded Billy Buckner to Arizona for Alberto Callaspo. Both of those players now are with the Angels, and it's safe to say the Angels and Royals are going in two different directions. The Angels ran their winning streak to seven Saturday with their third straight win in Kansas City.

Hank Conger homered for the Angels in their 7-0 win Saturday in Kansas City (Keith Allison/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license).

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The game: May 25, Angels at Kansas City. The Angels entered 21-27, third place AL West, 10 games behind Texas. Kansas City entered 21-24, fourth place AL Central, 5 1/2 games behind Detroit.

The pitchers: Angels, Billy Buckner, right hander (0-0, 0.00). Kansas City, Jeremy Guthrie, right hander (5-2, 3.49 ERA).

The result: Angels 7, Kansas City 0.

Summary: The Angels won their seventh straight and, for all their offense lately, they would have won this game without a hit. A week ago, the Angels didn't know who would start in this game, and they ended up with five pitchers combining for a four-hit shutout.

The pitching: Billy Buckner made his first start of the year for the Angels, becoming the tenth starting pitcher the club has used this year. Despite a fastball that never touched 90 MPH (according to MLB.com's GameDay feature), Buckner started with strike one on seven of the first ten hitters he faced. In the next two innings, Buckner started seven out of nine hitters with ball one. By the fourth, though, the Angels had a 1-0 lead that Mike Trout manufactured all by himself ...

There were two key at-bats for Buckner, and they both went his way. In the fourth, after Alcides Escobar led off with a single, Buckner immediately went 3-0 on Alex Gordon, Kansas City's best hitter (.337). Escobar had Buckner's attention and the pitcher's concentration was split between the pitcher and the hitter. Gordon swung at a pretty good candidate for ball four, a fastball down, and fouled it off. Then, Gordon fouled off a fastball right through the zone as Escobar ran. Next pitch, Escobar ran again and Gordon fouled off an offering a lot like the last one on 3-2. On the next pitch, a knee-high fastball over the plate, Gordon flied out to medium center field ... Turned out to be big. After Escobar stole on the first pitch to Billy Butler, Buckner pitched around Butler for a walk. Following that, Eric Hosmer hit a line drive right at second baseman Howie Kendrick, then Lorenzo Cain grounded into a force to end the inning.

The other big at bat was the last hitter Buckner faced, Kansas City second baseman Chris Getz with runners at first and third and one out after a double, a walk and a wild pitch in the fifth. Getz fouled off the first three pitches, then, on 1-2, fished at a changeup down and away and pulled it weakly on the ground to Kendrick, who started a double play. Getz argued the call with first base umpire Marty Foster, but he was out ...

Kansas City starter Jeremy Guthrie didn't allow a hit until Hank Conger, who led off the sixth right after the Getz double play, homered with the left field breeze at Kauffman Stadium. The Angels only scored three against Guthrie through seven innings, but they blew up for four runs in the eighth ...

The hitting: Hank Conger's homer in the sixth inning for the Angels came left-handed. All eight homers in the switch hitter's career have come left handed ... Josh Hamilton's batting average remains in the usual neighborhood, .222 now, but he homered in the seventh inning. It was Hamilton's 900th career hit ... Mike Trout set the tone on the bases again for the Angels. In the fourth inning, Trout walked, stole second and took third on a throwing error by Royals catcher George Kotteras, then came across on a ground ball by Albert Pujols, who never had an easier RBI ... Trout scored twice in the game, he now has scored at least twice in five straight games, the longest such streak for the Angels since Don Baylor scored at least twice in seven straight games during the 1979 season ... Trout now has scored 39 runs and is tied with Detroit's Miguel Cabrera for the American League lead ... Mark Trumbo was one-for-four, extending his hitting streak to 10 games ... The Angels were three-for-six batting with runners in scoring position. The Royals were zero-for-five ...

The fielding: Angels shortstop Erick Aybar is really making a lot of high throws, and he made another one in this game, enabling his Kansas City counterpart Alcides Escobar to lead off the fourth with a single ... Otherwise, the Angels were solid defensively ... Third baseman Albert Callaspo came in on a surprise bunt by Eric Hosmer, barehanded it and made the throw to first to beat Hosmer, who slid in head first ... Kansas City third baseman Mike Moustakas responded in the next half of the inning, taking extra bases on the line from Howie Kendrick and throwing him out to end the frame ...

The base running: Mike Trout seems to do this every day. He led off the second with a walk, stole second and took third on a throwing error by the catcher, then scored on a ground ball by Albert Pujols. The ball doesn't have to go very far from second base for Trout to take third without challenge ... In the fourth inning, Kansas City's Alcides Escobar stole third base with two outs against Angels catcher Hank Conger. But the next hitter, Lorenzo Cain, grounded out and the Royals didn't score. Conger later threw out Kansas City's Mike Moustakas trying to steal second base ...

Strategic moves: The Angels were crowing a bit to reporters Saturday about the pitching depth in their organization, and they have a right to it, considering, as manager Mike Scioscia pointed out, that four of the five pitchers in Saturday's shutout weren't on the opening day roster. Those four would be Billy Buckner, Dane De La Rosa, Robert Coello and Michael Kohn. The one pitcher who was around on opening day was Scott Downs ... The Angels starting rotation has an ERA of 1.76 in the last seven games ... The starters in that stretch have included Buckner , who made his first appearance for the Angels Saturday, and Jerome Williams, who didn't enter the rotation until May. That stretch also includes one poor start by Joe Blanton, and one good start by Joe Blanton ... With all that happening, help could be on the way. Jered Weaver is scheduled for a bullpen session Sunday and there have been reports that he might take his next start with the Angels. Also, the Angels are saying that pitchers Tommy Hanson and Kevin Jepsen could be activated this week ...

What now: The Angels now are 22-27, still third place in the AL West, and still 10 games behind Texas. But they have won seven games in a row.  Last year, right at about this time (May 22-29), the Angels won eight straight games, rallying from an 18-25 start to reach 26-25. The streak narrowed their deficit to Texas in the AL West from eight games to 5 1/2 games ... Which just shows how much more poorly the Angels started this year. The present streak began when they were 15-27, 12 games behind Texas ... Kansas City has lost seven straight home games and 15 of their last 19 games overall ... The present run of 19 games began with the Royals down only one-half game in the AL Central at 17-10 through May 5. Next day, the Royals ran into -- ready for this, Angels fans? -- Chicago White Sox left hander Chris Sale. The Royals scored a run in the first against Sale, then Kansas City starter James Shields shut down the White Sox, allowing two hits and striking out nine through eight innings. In the ninth, Kansas City manager Ned Yost, brought in closer Greg Holland to protect the 1-0 lead. Royals fans have since then blamed Yost for making the pitching change, but that's not what cost the Royals the game. They just didn't make a play with two out. Second baseman Chris Getz fielded a ground ball behind second base, but he couldn't feed the shortstop for a force play that would have ended the game as the White Sox scored the tying run. It's been downhill ever since then for the Royals ... Last time the Angels lost a game, Sale beat them, 3-0, in Anaheim on May 17. Five days before then, Sale almost rang them up for a perfect game on a Sunday night, but settled for a one-hitter in a 3-0 victory. The White Sox aren't anywhere this season, but Sale is in the nightmares of the Angels and the Royals ... The Angels will go for the sweep in Kansas City Sunday (11:10 a.m. PDT). The Angels will send right hander Jerome Williams (3-1, 2.53) against Kansas City right hander Wade Davis (3-3, 5.91) ... In addition to everything else going right for the Angels these days, they're about to finish a four-game series in Kansas City without ever seeing Shields (2-5, 2.47).

Sale sails: Chicago 3, Angels 0

Chicago left hander Chris Sale posted another gem against the Angels Friday night, and he now has shut them out in 16 2/3 innings over his last two starts. The result was a 3-0 win for the White Sox and a second straight hard-luck loss for Angels left hander C.J. Wilson.

Chicago White Sox left hander Chris Sale tossed another beauty at the Angels Friday night at the Big A (Keith Allison/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike Generic 2.0 license).


By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The game: May 17, Chicago White Sox at Angels. Chicago entered 18-21, fifth place AL Central, four games behind Detroit and Cleveland. The Angels entered 15-26, fourth place AL West, 12 games behind Texas.

The pitchers: Chicago, Chris Sale, left hander (4-2, 2.88). Angels, C.J. Wilson, left hander (3-2, 3.88)

The result: Chicago 3, Angels 0 (Baseball-reference.com box score).

Summary: Chicago left hander Chris Sale tossed his second scoreless start at the Angels this week, which made solo homers by Alex Rios and Adam Dunn sufficient for the White Sox to win. The Angels had absolutely no margin for error in this one, but they fell behind right away and they stayed behind.

The pitching: After throwing a one-hit shutout at the Angels this past Sunday night, when he flirted with a perfect game, Chicago left hander Chris Sale allowed only three hits in 7 2/3 innings Friday night to shut down the Angels. Sale flies all over the place, comes down almost side-armed, appears to put a lot of pressure on his left elbow and might not be long for this world mechanically. At this point in his life, though, his fastball comes in at a hard 95 MPH and his breaking pitches have devilish spin. Not even veteran right-handed hitters look comfortable against him, and left-handed hitters can't touch him. Left-handed batters are three-for-48 against him this year ... Sale now has 23 consecutive scoreless innings in his last three starts.

Angels starter C.J. Wilson has pitched well enough to win in his last two starts, but his opponent each time was Sale, who's just too much for Angels hitters. Wilson probably would like to have back the 0-2 cutter he threw to Alex Rios with two out in the first inning. Rios hit it over the fence for a 1-0 Chicago lead ... The White Sox scored their other run against Wilson on a preventable single, followed by a base advance by the White Sox with aggressive base running, then a clean single ... Angels reliever Garrett Richards gave up a solo homer to Adam Dunn, so he has allowed a run in each of his last two appearances after three straight scoreless outings. However, because his last two appearances were two innings each, he actually has brought his ERA down slightly in those games, from 4.81 to 4.78.

The hitting: The Angels put Mike Trout on third with two out in the first, and they put Mark Trumbo on second with one out in the fourth. Neither scored and the Angels mounted no other threats ... In the first instance, Trout walked, then, on a 1-0 pitch, took third on a stolen base and a throwing error with Trumbo batting. Trumbo didn't get the run in, but he can't be faulted for that because he walked on four pitches. After the stolen base and throwing error, Sale threw Trumbo two pitches high and outside the strike zone to complete the walk. With the runner on third, Sale just didn't want to pitch to Trumbo, who entered the game three-for-six against the left hander. Trumbo ended the night one-for-two with a walk against Sale. Next up came Josh Hamilton with an interesting at-bat. Sale started him with three sliders -- a called strike, a foul ball and a ball in the dirt for a 1-2 pitch. Everyone who watches the Angels knows that Hamilton is already out with two strikes on him because he'll wave at soft breaking pitches low and away in a futile bid to protect the strike zone. But Sale already tried that on 0-2 and threw it in the dirt. So, Sale came back at Hamilton with a 1-2 fastball on the hands, which Hamilton popped up to third base ... In the second instance, after Trumbo doubled with one out in the fourth, Hamilton went down waving at an 0-2 slider that went in the front door, then Howie Kendrick went down swinging at a 1-2 slider down and away ...

For the White Sox, Alex Rios extended his hitting streak to 12 games by homering for the second straight night against the Angels ... Adam Dunn homered for the fourth time in four games, and it could be five homers if he hadn't been robbed of one earlier this week at Minnesota ... The White Sox remain last in the American League in runs per game (3.60), batting average (.237), on-base percentage (.288), OPS (.674) and OPS-plus (78). However, thanks largely to Chris Sale's pitching, the White Sox have won their last three against the Angels.

The base running: For well and ill, the White Sox are aggressive on the bases. In the third inning, Angels starter C.J. Wilson picked Alejandro De Aza off first and he was caught stealing when he decided to try second base. But in the seventh, after singling in front of Angels center fielder Mike Trout, Chicago's Dayan Viciedo ran on a 1-1 pitch with Jeff Keppinger batting. Because Viciedo ran, Angels third baseman Luis Jimenez had no play on him at second on Keppinger's ground ball and Jimenez had to take the out at first while Viciedo ran to second. Viciedo then scored on a clean single by Connor Gillespie ... Dewayne Wise, who makes a lot of outs on the bases for the White Sox, got caught stealing on a pitchout in the ninth. For whatever reason, it was a dead giveaway to the Angels, who took the unusual step of pitching out on 1-0 to nail Wise ... In the first inning, Mike Trout stole second base for the Angels and took third on a throwing error by Chicago catcher Tyler Flowers. Trumbo ended up walking on four fastballs that missed from Chicago starter Chris Sale. But the next Angels hitter, Josh Hamilton, was helpless against the lefty Sale and he popped up to end the inning ... Mark Trumbo ran hard all the way for a double in the fourth inning for the Angels, testing the arm of White Sox center fielder De Aza, which proved to be exploitable last weekend when the Angels played in Chicago.

The fielding: Mike Trout played an awfully deep center field in the seventh against Chicago's Dayan Viciedo, enabling the batter's looper to fall in for a single. Viciedo later scored, though Trout made a strong throw from center field on Connor Gillespie's single to center that drove him in. The throw was a tiny bit up the third-base line and the Angels didn't cut it, which allowed Gillespie to take second base ... The Angels were unable to capitalize in the first inning, when White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers made a throwing error on Trout's attempt to steal second base. Trout ended up at third, but did not score.

Strategic moves: The Angels obviously can't hit White Sox starter Chris Sale, so it's hard to say what manager Mike Scioscia is supposed to do against the Chicago left hander. However, it probably would have been a good day to sit left-handed hitting Josh Hamilton, who entered the game one-for-eight against Sale and is otherwise struggling this season with a .210 batting average. Hamilton ended the night zero-for-four with two strikeouts. The problem, of course, is that with Mark Trumbo playing left field against Sale, the only other available Angels outfielder is J.B. Shuck, a left-handed hitter who has never faced Sale ... Scioscia gave the start behind the plate Friday night to switch-hitting Hank Conger over veteran Chris Iannetta. Because the obvious advantage of a switch-hitting catcher is that he can bat left-handed against right handed pitching, it shouldn't be too surprising that Conger plays a lot more against right handers. Even after playing Friday night against Sale, Conger only has 22 of his 274 career at-bats against left handers, 17 of those against lefty starters. In those 22 at-bats, Conger has a total of three singles.

What now: The Angels dropped to 15-27, still fourth place in the AL West, buffered from the basement by the Houston Astros. The Angels are 12 games behind Texas. The White Sox are on a four-game winning streak, improving to 19-21. They now share the AL Central cellar with Minnesota, each four games behind Detroit and Chicago. Saturday, the Angels will try again with right hander Joe Blanton (0-7, 6.46). Blanton has allowed 75 hits in 46 innings. The White Sox are going with left hander Hector Santiago (1-2, 2.33).