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| Chase Head of the Padres had another big day. (Getty Images) |
Sunday brought plenty of drama and some playoff-race clarity, so let's dig in ...
Full Sunday scoreboard with box scores and recaps for all games
3 UP
B.J. Upton and James Shields, Rays: It would hardly be fair to include one and not the other, right? As noted on these EOB pages, Upton tallied three bombs on Sunday, and Shields, despite facing perhaps the toughest lineup in baseball, held the Rangers to a pair of singles in the course of throwing a shutout. The series ends on a high note as the Rays now face two critical road sets against the Orioles and Yankees.
Ricky Nolasco, Marlins: The Miami right-hander was certainly on against the Nationals on Sunday: 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 6 K, 1 BB. That's his second shutout of Washington within the last two weeks. On this day, Nolasco took a no-no into the fifth and then a one-hitter into the eighth.
Chase Headley, Padres: Headley's remarkable season continues. Against the D-backs, his lone hit was a grand slam, which gave him the NL lead in RBI. Headley is now hitting .284/.368/.489 on the season, and that, of course, is despite calling home the toughest hitter's park in all of baseball.
3 DOWN
Johnny Cueto, Reds: After getting cuffed around by the lowly Astros (4.0 IP, 4 R, 9 H), Cueto ceded the NL ERA lead to R.A. Dickey. There's still a compelling case he deserves the NL Cy Young Award over the Mets' knuckle-baller, but Sunday's outing was a setback.
Pirates: Sunday's 4-2 loss to the Cubs means the Astros have now gone 2-7 in recent days against the likes of the Cubs, Astros and Brewers. Needless to say, a team with designs on a wild-card berth can't squander such opportunities. It's starting to feel a lot like 2011 in Pittsburgh.
Orioles bullpen: While starter Zach Britton hardly did his job, it was the Baltimore bullpen that truly blew the critical contest against the Yankees on Sunday. Jake Arrieta, Zach Phillips and Kevin Gregg combined to bleed eight runs in 4.0 innings of work. The O's had little chance after that, and the Yankees prevailed 13-3. 
Buccos on the brink: Can the struggling Pirates (see above!) rescue their 2012 fortunes? As the wild-card slips from reach, can they secure their first winning season since 1992? They'll be tasked with taking on the first-place Reds starting Monday. Wandy Rodriguez opposes Mat Latos in GABP. 7:10 pm ET
Central concerns: It's looking increasingly likely that the AL Central runner-up will not claim one of the two AL wild-card spots (although there is of course plenty of time for that to change), so that raises the stakes for the Tigers-White Sox series that starts Monday. In the opener, the Tigers will start Rick Porcello, who's had some success against the Sox despite disappointing overall numbers this season. Chicago, meanwhile, counters with Jose Quintana, who was brutalized by the Twins last time out and has turned in back-to-back disappointing starts. For much of the season, though, he's been outstanding. This one's big. 8:10 pm ET
Wild (card) West: The wild-card-contending A's and Angels will cross swords once again, this time in Anaheim. The Angels come in on a roll: they've won six in a row and 11 of 12 overall, and baked into that streak is a recent three-game sweep in Oakland. It's not certain whom the Angels will start, but Jarrod Parker will go for the A's. Those A's, by the way, have won nine straight road games. 10:05 pm ET
Probable starting pitchers for Monday
• About what you'd expect: What happens when T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times, who's famous for trolling athletes, talks to Adrian Gonzalez of the Dodgers, who's famous for not enjoying the media-relations aspects of his job? Yes: about what you'd expect.
• Marlins Park, enemy of the homer?: To what extent does Marlins Park suppress home run rates? Wendy Thurm of SB Nation sorts through the numbers to find out.
• Social media saves the day: B.J. Upton lost his wallet. A fan found it. A fan returned it. A fan received autographed swag. Thank you, Twitter. [Hardball Talk]
• Tweet of the day: Veteran baseball writer Gordon Wittenmeyer of the Chicago Sun-Times observes the media variant of the "Strasburg Shutdown" in action …
Veteran beat writer reaches Cub innings limit, goes home twitter.com/GDubCub/status…
— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) September 9, 2012
• In the bag: Since time immemorial, there has been no greater signifier of a team's nadir than the fan with a paper bag over his or her head. Boston Red Sox, you have officially entered your "Baghead Period" …
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