Major League Baseball - Week In Review

The St. Louis Cardinals have been rolling since the All-Star break and have taken over first place in the National League Central division by a slim margin (half game) after taking two of three games against the visiting Chicago Cubs this week. The Milwaukee Brewers are right there in third place, just 2 1/2 games off the pace. The Cubs beat the Brewers, 6-2 at Wrigley Field on Friday afternoon.
In a strange and wild 15 inning game on Friday night, the Chicago White Sox beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3. Leury Garcia beat the tag at home plate in the top if the 15th to make the difference in the final score. Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez was playing left field and made two great throws (one a put out at the plate and the other razor thin close as Garcia scored) and also had a diving catch to end the inning and prevent more runs from scoring.
The New York Mets, who acquired pitcher Marcus Stroman from Toronto last weekend, had their seven game win streak snapped last night in Pittsburgh as the Pirates won 8-4. The Mets had swept three games from the White Sox in Chicago earlier in the week. The Mets are within five games of a wild card berth following their recent hot streak.
The Houston Astros served notice they will be the team to beat in the American League after dealing with Arizona to get starting pitcher Zack Greinke. The Astros slugged six home runs in a 10-2 rout against visiting Seattle Friday night. They lead the Oakland A's by 8 1/2 games in the A.L. West division race.
The New York Yankees, after dropping three of four games in Boston last weekend, got a measure of revenge on Friday night at Yankee Stadium by topping the Bosox, 4-2. The Bronx Bombers have a 7 1/2 game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the A.L. East. The Rays swept the Red Sox on the road this week and have won four straight to get back into the fold in the wild card chase.
In the A.L. Central, the Minnesota Twins beat Kansas City, 11-9 on Friday while the Cleveland Indians topped the visiting L.A. Angels, 7-3. The Tribe acquired Yasiel Puig from Cincinnati and Franmil Reyes from San Diego at the trade deadline as they continue to chase down the Twins.
The division races still in doubt are the A.L. Central and N.L. Central races as the both the East and West divisions in both leagues aren't close with just 50 games to go for most teams.





AL STANDINGS (through August 2)                                  NL STANDINGS (through August 2)
East                                                                                     East
New York 69-39                                                                 Atlanta 65-46            
Tampa Bay 63-48                                                               Washington 58-51
Boston 59-52                                                                      Philadelphia 57-52
Toronto 45-67                                                                     New York 53-56
Baltimore 36-73                                                                  Miami 42-65

Central                                                                                Central
Minnesota 67-42                                                                  St. Louis 58-50
Cleveland 64-45                                                                   Chicago 58-51
Chicago 47-60                                                                      Milwaukee 57-54
Kansas City 40-71                                                                Cincinnati 51-57
Detroit 32-73                                                                        Pittsburgh 48-61
                                                                                                                                 
West                                                                                     West
Houston 71-40                                                                      LA Dodgers 72-40
Oakland 62-48                                                                      San Francisco 55-55
LA Angels 56-55                                                                  Arizona 54-56
Texas 55-54                                                                          San Diego 51-58
Seattle 47-65                                                                         Colorado 51-59