Jesse Litsch pitched a complete game 4-hit shutout against the Minnesota Twins, helping the Blue Jays to a 9-0 victory. After sweeping the Twins, the Jays have now won 5 straight, and are only 1.5 games behind the Yankees for 3rd place in the AL East. Everyone is making a big deal about the Yankees missing the playoffs... what if they finish 4th in their division?

The offense came up big in Toronto, as every single Blue Jays hitter had at least one hit. Adam Lind and Travis Snider each had 3 hits, and Snider, Alex Rios, Vernon Wells and Joe Inglett each had 2 RBI.


----- Other MLB Games -----
AL:
Angels 7, Tigers 1 - The highlight of this game was definitely Mark Teixeira almost pulling a Vince Coleman. One more victim of the tarp would NOT have made Angels fans very happy.
Royals 5, Athletics 4 (game 1 of a doubleheader) - Congratulations to Billy Beane and the A's, who are now 1 loss away from playoff elimination. How's that whole Moneyball thing working out for you? I'm a big fan of his methods... up until where he trades his elite young pitchers for nothing. Therein the problem lies.
Royals 9, Athletics 6 (Game 2) - Someday, Billy Butler will be one of the best hitters in baseball. By that, I mean once he's a free agent, he'll be replacing an aging Jason Giambi as the Yankees' first baseman.
Rays 7, Yankees 5 - Just another exclamation point on a very dismal Yankees season, and a very exciting Rays season. Maybe when the playoffs roll around, people will actually start going to the games.

NL:
Reds 8, Pirates 6 - Joey Votto is ridiculous. If it weren't for Geovany Soto being MORE ridiculous, Votto would be a great ROY candidate.
Braves 2, Nationals 0 - Are the Nationals the worst team ever? If not for their recent 7-game winning streak, they would be strong contenders. Now, they're just another mediocre team with no future.
Padres 5, Brewers 2 - The Brewers have lost 4 straight. That's the bad news, along with the fact that they are 5 games behind the Cubs. The good news: They still have a 4 game lead in the wild card race, and CC Sabathia is still super-human... and is starting today. There goes the losing streak.


----- MLB News/Notes -----

Manny Ramirez reminds us why we fell in love with him in Boston. Well... he's also decent at the plate, I suppose.

The MLB screwed CC Sabathia. And now they're trying to cover it up.

Remember the Spiderman 2 ads on the bases? The MLB is at it again... sort of.

Gooden and Strawberry contemplating a relapse comeback?



Streakers - In case any team tries to make history, I'm going to list the teams with the longest active winning and losing streaks. Today's streakers:
Astros: 8 wins
Orioles: 6 losses