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MLB playoff race

Orioles-Yanks Improbable Highlight Of Holiday MLB Schedule

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I’m going to guess that when baseball fans in Baltimore made their Labor Day weekend plans the notion they were going to have a big series in the Bronx probably didn’t want to cross everyone’s minds. But that’s exactly what’s ahead starting tonight as the Orioles meet the Yankees in a three-game set that marks the biggest games the teams have played since Jeffrey Maier became a household name in the 1996 American League Championship Series.

Tampa Bay-Texas Tonight Keynotes Early Week MLB Schedule

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The Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers have met in the playoffs each of the last two years, with the Rangers winning both times en route to consecutive American League pennants. The October foes square off again to start the week, and while Texas is secure, 5.5 games up in the AL West, Tampa Bay is battling tooth and nail for a wild-card spot as well as keeping their eyes on the New York Yankees ahead of them in the AL East. The Rangers-Rays series in Arlington keynotes the opening half of the week in the race for the MLB playoffs.

Dodgers-Giants NL West Showdown Starts Off Week In MLB

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The top of the National League’s East & West divisions go head-to-head to start off the week in baseball and we’re six weeks out from the finish line. Washington meets Atlanta, and in an even bigger series the Los Angeles Dodgers match up with San Francisco. TheSportsNotebook previews these, and the rest of the early week in the MLB playoff race…

Three Big Early Week Matchups Key Race For National League Playoffs

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The road proved to be what the Los Angeles Dodgers needed. After a disappointing homestand, the Dodgers went to Miami this past weekend and stabilized the ship by winning two of three and set themselves up for a huge four-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates on the banks of the Allegheny River starting tonight. Is it too much to say this is the biggest series for these teams since they met in the 1974 NLCS? Probably not. The Pirates are holding a 2.5 game over the Dodgers for the last wild-card berth and the hosts are coming off a tough weekend, losing a home series to lowly San Diego. Pittsburgh has slipped 4.5 games of Cincinnati and needs to plant its feet in the best series of a great early week schedule for the National League.

Texas-Detroit ALCS Rematch Keys Weekend MLB Schedule

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The Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers are each on a stretch of playing decent baseball, as last year’s ALCS teams look to again make it to October and go deep. The Tigers split four with the Yankees earlier in the week. I suppose that can be considered modestly disappointing, as they won the first two at home and hit C.C. Sabathia hard in the third game before losing 12-8. But a split with one of the league’s best teams is never a bad thing and it fits into an overall stretch of consistency for Jim Leyland’s team. Texas, after losing the first two games of their series with the Angels early last week, responded by winning the next two and salvaging a split and then taking two of three from Kansas City and Boston.

Oakland A’s Host LAA To Highlight Early Week MLB Matchups

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The Oakland A’s and Los Angeles Angels are barely hanging on in the AL West race, trailing Texas by 5.5 and 6 games respectively. But the A’s lead the wild-card race and the Angels are just a game out of the playoffs as they begin a crucial three-game series in NoCal tonight. The series’ loser […]

MLB Weekly Report: Yankees & Reds Heat Up

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Two teams got some separation in major league baseball this week. One came from a small market, did it with hitting and from predictable spots. The other came from the big markets, did it with pitching and it came from surprise players. Thus was the story of the strong weeks for the Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees.