| Ang manager Mike Scioscia ... will he make 3 Up or 3 Down? (Getty Images) |
Plenty of action on Saturday and plenty to come on Sunday ...
Full Saturday scoreboard with box scores and recaps for all games
3 UP
Matt Thornton, White Sox: As our own Scott Miller has already written, Sox starter Francisco Liriano was in vintage form against his old team. So in this space, we'll focus instead on the work of reliever Matt Thornton. Closer Addison Reed loaded the bases to start the ninth, and then Thornton came on with no outs and a suddenly tenuous 5-2 lead. He then teased a routine 6-4-3 out of Justin Morneau and retired Trevor Plouffe on another easy grounder. Now that's a save.
Andrew McCutchen, Pirates: The Buccos came into Saturday's game in Wrigley on a season-worst seven-game losing streak. But then their star bailed them out. 'Cutch went 2-for-3 with a home run and two walks in what was a sorely needed victory. He's now hitting .306/.404/.592 for the month of September.
Houston bullpen: Rare is the occasion that an Astro makes 3 Up, but tonight the relief collective makes it for their work against the Phillies. Four Houston pen men combined for 3 2/3 shutout innings. In the process, they struck out three, walked one and gave up two hits in the course of a 5-0 win.
3 DOWN
Mike Scioscia, Angels: We could just as easily pin this on reliever Ernesto Frieri, but we'll go with the skipper. Zack Greinke was two outs from a complete-game shutout, and he hadn't labored all night. Still, Scioscia called on Frieri despite the fact that Frieri had logged 30 pitches the night before. He gave up two homers, the second of which was a walk-off by Salvador Perez. Scioscia's big mistake was not trusting Greinke to finish the job.
Scott Feldman, Rangers: Against one of the worst offenses in baseball (Seattle), Feldman gave up six runs on seven hits in just 2.2 innings of work. He walked as many as he struck out and lifted his 2012 ERA to 5.32. And the A's draw closer …
Daniel Descalso, Cardinals: Descalso, in a crushing 4-3 loss to the Dodgers, went 0-for-2 with a walk at the plate and made two key errors in the field. The first of those errors led to a critical run. And although Descalso can't be blamed for it (it was an all-out effort on the play), Luis Cruz's game-winning hit just nicked his glove.
Future ace vs. surprise ace: It's a crucial AL-East showdown when the Rays and Yanks conclude their series in the Bronx. For the finale, the Rays will start their future ace Matt Moore, who's turned in a strong second half. Opposing him will be Hiroki Kuroda, who's quietly been the Yankees' top starting pitcher this season. 1:05 pm ET
Battle of the "it" teams: So is Baltimore or Oakland having the most unlikely season? Choosing one over the other is nigh impossible, but choosing a winner of this three-game, playoff-implicating set will be easy after Sunday's game. Dan Straily goes for the A's, while O's gulp deeply and send out Randy Wolf. Repeat after me: possible ALCS preview. 4:05 pm ET
Card gone wild: Does anyone even want the second NL wild card? The limp toward the finish continues on Sunday as the Cardinals and Dodgers wrap up their four-game set in Chavez Ravine. Stephen Fife goes for the hosts in place of the injured Clayton Kershaw, while Adam Wainwright, who's been struggling of late, starts for St. Louis. 4:10 pm ET
Sunday probables for all games
• Revisionist history: The second wild card in each league is, of course, a new thing this season. But what would it have been like if it had been this way since the wild card itself existed? The Sporting News takes a look.
• Cribs: Wanna buy J.D. Drew's condo? It's actually ... kind of affordable. [Big League Stew]
• Those amazing A's: With the current A's model surging, Bruce Markuson takes the occasion to look back at another surprising Oakland team -- Billy Martin's 1981 squad.
• The Captain's future: How many hits will Derek Jeter wind up with by the end of his legendary career? That remains to be seen, of course, but High Heat Stats is betting he'll wind up anywhere from third to fifth place on the all-time list.
• Charlie Wrestle: Pete Rose has become something of a fixture on the WWE lately. Or so I'm told. So here's an interview -- conducted by one Joey Styles -- with the all-time hit king on the subject of his feud with something called "Kane." [WWE.com]
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