gets it from within. the scoreboard going to do some validation for the tigers as they win it, 41-30 hey, there, welcome to the broadcast. "baseball tonight" with you for the full hour. steve berthiaume along the way joined by the "baseball tonight" souvenir city cavalcade of stars, buck showalter, eric young and tim kurkjian. big trouble for the detroit tigers, the minnesota twins are closing in. justin verlander on the mound for detroit in the dome. after the twins won on friday, here's mauer, bottom one, his 28th. 1-1. >> last time he faced verlander, he hit a home run off of him in that game too. >> and gerald laird throwing out base runners. this time, bernard span.

carl pavano facing everett. brian buscher and e.y. that one went off his foot. >> i can tell that's the breaks are you going your way. when it goes to your particular play, he's able to make the play out. >> that's why you see the pitchers stick their legs up all the time, looking for the deflection. >> why is gerald laird so great at throwing them out? >> he moves his feet well, he's athletic. he's one of the top three or four throwers in baseball. >> cabrera left field, don kelly put out there. got that white ceiling at the dome in a day game. kelly said once it got above the lights i lost it, i had no clue where it was. >> i know how you feel out there, kelly, because that's happened to me and a lot of outfielders out there that's been playing the game in the metrodome a lot of times. >> it winds up second and third and they walk mauer for jason kubel who has been very clutch for the twins this year.

especially with the bases full. verlander still in there and sure enough it finds kelly again. >> great read and base running by cabrera knowing the first thing you do you know where the players are playing. you know he can or cannot get to that particular ball. >> have you ever seen two guys fly across the plate like that? >> no, but i it. >> brandon lyon he has been terrific lately. but michael cuddyer got him here for a three-run shot, his 28th. after this wild eighth inning the twins lead with a 6-2 win. it cost verlander his 17th victory after he threw a season high 128 pitches and the twins have won six in a row. they're a season best four games over .500. detroit has lost four of five and they are now just 9-9 in september. what a story it has been in the a.l. central. minnesota was seven games back. the tigers have been in first

place since early may. now the twins are within two games with five more to may against the tigers including sunday series finale at the dome in which scott baker will start for the twins as minnesota goes for the three-game sweep. buck, the tigers are sitting pretty here. everything lined up. verlander was pitching well. he had a lead and then the eighth inning it is gone. what happened in the eighth inning? >> you go back in the locker room and you go what just happened out there? it was a fascinating eighth inning and in close games the little things matter so much. with the help of my friends here we'll break down the eighth inning and look at the little things that made such a huge difference in that game. first of all, a good outfielder. >> he is. he's a defensive replacement and did play one game in the outfield, july 5 and he's used to it. he makes a really nice play here. keeping denard span to the single. it doesn't matter how long you've been out there, you can lose the ball very easily and don kelly loses it here. >> that's helpless -- >> it's heapless feeling.

i remember back in 2004, when we went into the metrodome, we needed to get out there and get as many fly balls as you can and hope you get used to it in that short period of time. it's tough for a young player when you think of how bright it is, especially on a day game, and yes, indeed and the ball gets up in the lights. he just lost it. that happens to a lot of players. >> you know the ball going to find you after that. every ball is coming your way. >> but cabrera scored from second on that little bloop to left. >> so many guys don't break like this. >> but when he got in the windup so that gave cabrera at second base a chance to get a bigger league knowing he wasn't go -- bigger lead knowing he won't turn around and he made a great read on that particular fly ball and he was age to score easily, which was a big run. >> and the umpire only had to dust off the plate once. >> e.y., the tigers, don kelly, jim leyland will be glad to see

target field in 2010. only 1-7 in the dome this year. "baseball tonight" comes back in only 60 seconds. when we return, we'll go to the n.l. wild card. the colorado rockies, could he homer in four straight games? highlights from the rockies and diamondbacks are on the way. what about brad penny on the mound against the dodgers? san fran getting close in the n.l. wild card. pedro on the mound for the fightin' phils. saturday night, so much. "baseball tonight" back in only 60 seconds.

we're back on "baseball tonight." the n.l. wild card lead for carlos gonzalez and the rockies, down to 2 1/2 games as they head into arizona on saturday.

and how about gonzalez off matt scherzer? >> many things that jim tracy has done well is he's moved the outfielders around an put them in good positions and gonzalez has been great. speaking of great, how great is tulowitzki? >> his 29th fourth straight game with a home run. bottom three. his 25th, a three-run jack off of jason hammel and arizona has come back to take a 3-2 lead. >> red hot in arizona. >> top four, loaded. huge spot here. to left, tulowitzki scores. and it's -- well, out of play. they're going to get brad hoff home on this. >> where's the pitcher? the pitcher has to be back there. >> bottom six, mark reynolds. ian stewart the throw. todd helton at first. >> i think he realized the runner fell down. he could have ran it over there.

>> you will see, buck, you mentioned, reynolds stumbles over and makes it to first base. >> wow. >> he stopped completely. >> i was just thinking, is that a hit or an error? >> an error on the bat. later in the inning, ryan roberts gets struck out. hammel with the curveball. allowed three runs on four hits in the seven. and 10-4 colorado. >> got some bat speed. >> jason giambi, only his fourth career pinch hit home run. rockies needed this one, just their second win in seven games. as we mentioned the giants are getting too close for comfort. john garland on the mound for the dodgers, facing san fran in l.a. the first batter, guess who's out in left? mannywood. and there's no roof or no -- there's daylight, but -- yeah. >> do they have -- is that a

roof? >> yeah. >> you know what? outdoor baseball might not help either. >> manny -- >> brad penny has been tremendous as a giant, 3-0. 1.64 since he left the red sox. bottom one, walks casey blake to load them up for former nationals great ronnie belliard. and don't throw him a grand slam ball. oh, they never listen. his ninth home run, 5-1 l.a., bottom one. >> penny has given up four runs in three starts and the giants gave up five runs in one inning in this one. >> bottom three, it's matt kemp. the solo shot his 25th. 6-1 dodgers. now penny is just getting pounded. next up, james loney, his first home run at home all year long. and penny tagged for seven earned on 2 2/3. bottom six, coming out of the bullpen, it's the big unit, randy johnson, he hasn't pitched

since july 5. he's not stretched out enough, buck, to start. >> unfortunately i have seen him pitch out of the pen in the playoffs in '95. he's pretty comfortable coming out of there. >> andre ethier. double. dodgers all over the giants, they win it here, 12-1 behind john garland who is now unbeaten in the last six starts. four have come with the dodgers, they got them from arizona, august 31. garland, 3-0, 2.33. pretty good. l.a., now 10-7 against the giants this season. braves still in the discussion. phillies out in front with pedro on the mound in atlanta. bottom two, garrett ander subpoena -- anderson on an 0-2 count. next up, escobar, on a 1-2 count, and pedro getting ahead of the hitters like he's supposed to, but then he hangs the breaking balls. that puts the brakes on anderson at third. he has an 0-2 count and name that laroche, tim. and three straight hits being

well ahead in the count, 1-0. and pedro comes too close for comfort here. got him in the elbow. >> a breaking ball. right in the elbow. doesn't make him happier. >> laroche. chipper scores, they're up 3-0. >> pedro had a stiff neck for this game, wasn't nearly as sharp as the last time out. hung a lot of balls and left a lot up in the strike zone. >> came out to warm up before the fourth and ends up leaving with the stiff neck. threw 56 pitches. in the ninth, brian howard. he'd like to go the other way on the guy. his 41st. 6-4, two on, two out. then francisco is to go-ahead run at the plate and then the braves win it 6-4. snap the philly's six-game winning streak.

ryan howard against this braves .344, eight homers, 16 rbi's. vasquez wins the third straight start. braves have won nine of the last 11 games. now, pedro leaves the game early because of a stiff neck but a he may not have lasted much longer anyway. the phillies lose pedro as they were 7-0 entering saturday. he strikes out only one batter in three innings allowing seven hits and three earned runs. so florida marlins are certainly still in this n.l. wild card discussion. facing arroyo. and 1-1. bottom five, drew stubbs. is hanley ramirez the shortstop three years from now? >> no, he'll be moved to the outfie outfield.

>> if he gets any bigger he has to move. >> ricky delast coe dealing in y bruce.isco. after he gets bruce here, he's one pitch away from striking out the side. all he needs to do is get ryan hanigan, but hold on. hanigan's third, now 2-1 reds. ouch. got to get it back somehow. top eight, big spot. >> you can't say that on tv. >> down 2-1. it's 3-2, florida, they come back to take the lead. >> anybody have the marlins in it this late? they're still in this thing on the periphery. but amazing story. >> especially with the bullpen. here is lip strom. they get it done. >> they have some good starters keeping them alive. >> florida has won 4-5. their season best 11 games over

.500 and nolasco gets the win. he goes seven innings since august when he pitched a complete game in houston. this is something that the mar li lyns haven't -- marlins haven't seen a whole lot of. the cubs have fallen off the face of the earth. 3 1/2 for the giants, four for the marlins, and 4 1/2 for the braves. is 4 1/2 too much for atlanta? >> i think at this point they're still in it a little bit. >> all still in it. but that's still a long way to go with a very short amount of time. >> running out of time. when we come back here on "baseball tonight" we'll take a look at a team that's well out in front in the n.l. central. the st. louis cardinals, you can count on one hand at this point, but what about chris carpenter? he got some cy young votes and we'll look at the remarkable eighth inning in minnesota. "baseball tonight" returns right after this. çlçlçlçlçlçlçlçlçlçll

this week on espn sunday night baseball, it's matt holliday, albert pujols the whole thing, sunday night baseball, presented by taco bell, as part of the hunt for october on espn and espn 360, 8:00 eastern time. here are the cubs and the cardinals, chris carpenter on the mound. a big start for him. he was roughed up in the previous outing in the n. -- and

the n.l. cy young may be hanging in the balance as we head into the final week of the season. geovany soto, car penter in a jam there. 5-4-3. bases loaded for derrek lee in the fifth. chasing the first pitch from carpenter. out of trouble again is carpenter there. bottom five. facing ryan dempster, it's brendon ryan and stales is out there for the cubs and dempster has stales behind him. hasn't played a whole lot out there. >> not a good day for left fielders, are you noticing this? >> and oh, he doesn't! >> a bit of a microcosm of the cubs season here. he makes a nice athletic play to get to it and then tips it in. >> he knew, but he didn't know. ryan's third, up 1-0. and then ramirez, runners in scoring position. 1-1, bottom nine, ryan again.

the pseudohome run off of scales' glove again. this guy is pesky. >> what's their everyday shortstop. terrific defensively, gets a big hit here. the 13th walkoff loss for the cubs, the most in the major leagues. >> their magic number for clinching is number four. concern over the closer may be growing though. this is the third blown save for ryan franklin, blown five saves but he winds up with a win here. eight hits, eight scoreless for carpenter. but gets stuck with the no decision. chris car penter, still among the contenders for the cy young. carpenter's teammate in st. louis, adam wainwright has two more wins than any other. i'll give you a cy young candidate and make the case. tim, let's start with tim lincecum. >> well, it's really close, but i'm taking lincecum for what you

said, bert. he leads the league in e.r.a. and in strikeouts. he's tied for the league lead with four complete games. with the giants they're 26 in runs scored this year. he hasn't got a lot of run support to work with. only 16 runs will work with him, but brandon webb won the cy young with 16 wins. the fewest wins for a cy young winner, starting pitcher in a full season. i vote for tim lincecum, but it is really, really close. it will be decided in the next two weeks. >> e.y., what's the case for chris carpenter? >> that's a great case for lincecum. but chris car penter, he hasn't really pitched in two years he'll be the player of the year. when you think of him statistically, how important he is to the carnals -- cardinals team. when you think of chris carpenter, they have a chance to win, and possibly get to the world series. any big game, i want carpenter. from a statistical standpoint, since the all-star break he was 11-1. the best out of all three

candidates, and he's second in e.r.a. behind lincecum. but this guy has battled a lot of issues. he's come back and given them the number one starter they really need, that they know they can count on in the postseason. >> but when you're talking cy young, buck, it comes down to the w's and he's a big if. >> he's leading the national league right now. in w's. innings pitched. if i was a manager and i said, be's the one stat outyour guys to lead -- what's the one stat you want your guys to lead in it might be innings pitched. he's not taking a back seat to anybody. fifth in strikeouts, pounds the strike zone, holds runners, athletic. you're talking about three good candidates this year and i'm glad it's you, tim, that's voting and not me. >> that's not too easy. >> based on the track record, if you have one game to go with in the postseason, game seven, who

would you use? i rest my case. back to you. >> thank you, eric young. how about that? >> okay. you made a believe, i'm voting for carpenter. >> if the tigers need to win, you'd want justin verlander on the mound. they need to win on sunday. he's got a 1-0 lead, but joe mauer, here in the first, his 28th. >> it only lasted half a second. >> exactly. tigers back up 2-1 in the third. bernard span -- >> these are speedsters. >> blowing up the second base. >> that one from adam everett is off the foot of pavano. >> you wonder why the guys stick their legs up it's to look for the deflection. >> they don't come a whole lot faster than car rose gomez. even he can't steal on laird. >> you know, gosh, the catcher is making up the time. >> the game completely changed

in the eighth inning. we'll look at the inning in a second. orlando cabrera and don kelly is out there. he said once it got above the lights i had no clue where it was, it was a day game. >> in the ninth, span had trouble with two balls in the roof and he plays there every game. >> doesn't matter if you're a rookie, a veteran or away. it doesn't matter. >> after the ball dropped they had second and third, so first base open, they'll walk mauer. now the bases are loaded for maybe the twins' best clutch hitter in kubel. sure enough, it finds don kelly once again. this drops in front. it scores two. >> the twins are in the tops in runs scored and they're scoring without justin morneau. typical of the twins. just when you think they have some trouble. >> nice read there. that ball not crushed. >> first thing he did at second base is he knew exactly where

the position players were placing, and then he was in the windup. that allowed him to get a bigger lead to get home. >> tim, with no morneau, cuddyer really picked it up. >> 28 home runs for him. absolutely one of the team leaders of this club also. >> twins have won six in a row. they're a season best four games over .500. they can sweep the tigers on sunday with scott baker on the mound. oh, those poor tigers, 1-7 at the dome this year. look at the remaining schedules for the two teams. minnesota has cut it to two. interesting to note that the twins have winning records this season against every team they will play the rest of the way. the twins have cut five games off the tigers lead since labor day. as we mentioned we saw a whole lot in this game and no one ever sees more than our very own buck showalter. he meets with tim kurkjian. >> my favorite part of "baseball tonight" is the segment, the buck stops here because every week we learn something new about the game. buck, tonight, we were talking about split times. and now explain what that means.

>> well, you see how the bench coach has a stop watch. you're trying to get a time from the pitcher, when he's in a stretch with the base runner at first base, when he's first moving until it hits the catcher's mitt. that's 1-3 or less. catcher's split times need to be two seconds or less, to have any chance of throwing out an average or above average runner. and from the time it hits the mitt to the time it hits the second base. keep in mind, 1-3 or less. 2 or less for the catcher. why do you think verlander doesn't have to worry about the shortening up to the plate? here he is 157. that's very slow, but gerald laird, one of the best throwing catchers in baseball, well below the norm. do the math you'll understand. look at the footwork. verlander can throw all his pitches because gerald laird is going to make up the time he needs to throw. he can throw the curveball, change-up, anything. watch this one in the seventh inning. two above average base runners.

146, still slow. gerald laird as good a time as you'll get all year in baseball. 17 flat and pretty accurate. on the third base side, but 170 brought me out of my chair. >> that's throwing out carlos gomez who of course can still run here. >> denard in the first one. base running tonight in this game too, here's the difference. aubrey huff no reason not to be a good base runner even if you don't run. this cost them a run. you have to read that ball, know your right fielder's depth. that's a great base run play. if you read that and go from the get go. see how huff reacted to it. secondary lead, move, yes, no, yes, no. he didn't do either one. gerald laird, bases loaded. double play, out of the inning. they should have had a run there. let's look at the right way to handle it. cabrera, a big part of this ball game, on second base. you have a player hit in the left field. he's got to make a decision at

second base. is that ball going to fall or not fall? aubrey huff did not. let's see where cabrera. he made the read from the get go like good base uners do. no hesitation. have you ever seen two guy fly to home plate, tim? they're not going to tag them. that was a lot of fun watching the two plays. >> that is beautiful. one other topic we're talking about, buck, the 40-man roster. it issed to me, they play a certain -- it's odd to me, they play a certain set of rules and then they play with a different set of rules. >> it aggravates every manager, especially guys in contention. a good manager would rather have 25 against 25. he doesn't want to defend against 36 or 35 players with scouting reports. these are four games played tonight. rockies and diamondbacks, cubs, five teams difference.

indians, 36, there's no rhyme or reason. what purpose does it really serve? thing is something to look at and see if it's in the best interest of baseball. could you imagine a football team in the last week that said, hey, you get to have 75 players or a basketball team, you get 15 players, it doesn't make any sense. calling all the guys up gets the arbitration clock started which is never good for guys looking out for their payroll. >> i agree. but what makes sense, the buck stops here. back to you, bert. >> thank you very much. when we come back on "baseball tonight" we'll take a look at jake peavy, his white sox debut in chicago. where do they fit in in the a.l. central? meanwhile, c.c. sabathia on the mound against the mariners mound against♪ energetic music

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announcer: kids who drink before age 15 are 5 times more likely to have alcohol problems when they're adults. so start talking before they start drinking. i know it'll start with alcohol. i'm just not sure how it's gonna end. "baseball tonight" back with you. c.c. sabathia on the mound, looking for his tenth win since the all-star break. and marching apparently toward an a.l. cy young. lopez in first, that brings up bill hall. two batters later, jack wilson. they strand beltre. franklin gutierrez, watch beltre here. yeah. beltre 0-10 lifetime against sabathia coming into this gape. >> chuck meriwether -- top five. mark sends a text message.

it's 6-0, yankees. >> i knew you were going to say that. >> they're paying another guy to say it. >> oh, did it pain me? >> well -- >> that pains sabathia off of gutierrez. look at this in the fifth. two out, nobody on. you don't think they came running out of that dugout? oh. just below the collarbone it looked like. >> eight inches higher it would hit him in the face. thank goodness. >> looks like he was okay. he's tough. >> that's the right -- >> here's mark teixeira. double shy of the cycle, off 8-1 in the ninth. gets another home run. mark teixeira. talk about a text message. he is on the mark. >> he needed a w. >> he wanted to stop that second. >> and one c.c. wins his 18th. is he the a.l. cy young guy? >> i don't think -- i think he and joe mauer are going to go right down to the end for the

mvp. the fact that joe mauer is going to play meaningful games the entire season, i think he's the best player in the league this year. >> last yankee with a triple and five rbi's in the game, howard in '65. your thoughts? >> what i love about teixeira and mauer, they not only help their team offensively, but both double plus defenders. mauer played one of the toughest places to play behind the dish obviously. teixeira turns hits into outs, with his arm, his glove. infielder's best friend. >> and cabrera has been doing an outstanding job on first base and carrying that tiger team the whole season. i like mauer and the power he's shown this year compared to any other year. he's got about close to 30 home runs. >> mauer and teixeira, an interesting barometer. mauer, probably had the best season and teixeira the guy who's impacted his team and the division the most.

>> right. but then you look at mauer and take him off of the twins, where are they? a great race. i think it's between those two guys and jeter, right, in the top five certainly. >> and 2-2, bottom two. and lester, three earned, gave up ten hits in six and i think at this point he's the one guy that the -- in the red sox rotation where you know -- that you know what you'll get. >> i got worried when it was 2-2 early in the game. >> we all worry. >> dustin pedroia, steals in the seventh. kevin youkilis goes to left center. and he scores from third, after a martinez grounder. >> that curveball going to the alpha part of the plate. >> and david ortiz, doubled. j.d. drew. goes down and gets it. youkilis scores, 5-3. the red sox are a completely different team when drew and bay are producing offensively. it has a dramatic impact on the whole lineup. lowell, ortiz scores, up 6-3.

>> these guys tend to ground it out. look at those counts, one and two. 0-2. >> what has gonzalez meant -- >> you can win a championship with gonzalez as your shortstop. >> top eight, j.d. drew. j.d. drew, would like to visit -- >> what's my name? >> i wondered if you'd go -- his 21st. red sox win 11-5. lester gets to 14-7. jon lester, 6-0 in 11 starts since july 19. he's also 10-0 career against the orioles. and think about this for the postseason. red sox starters have allowed three runs or fewer in 12 straight games. rotations coming around. >> at the perfect time. >> zack greinke will be on track

to make the next scheduled start tuesday against boston after he took a line drive off the pitching arm. got some swelling in his forearm, but will throw a short session on sunday and he remains on the regular day on tuesday. royals taking on the white sox, and jake peavy's first start since june 8. a whole bunch of minor league starts in the chicago system. this is the first start for the white sox at this level. how about the betancourt squeeze? >> they all stuck it in and squeezed. >> well, the royals -- nicely played. >> perfect. runners on the corners. >> do what you've got to do. a guy like peavy trying to push the run across as much as you can. >> peavy facing mike jacobs. gets him in the third. >> mike jacobs has seen jake peavy in the national league when jacobs played for the marlins. seen that movement before. >> alex rios, goes 2-5.

he began the game in the 7-74 skid. >> yeah. >> that's tied up 3-3, top five. peavy facing bloomquist. >> great movement on that bat, sinker ball. running in -- >> they tell him in the fifth you're done. >> he's real happy about it. what have i done in the minor leagues if you're going to take me out after 70? >> 3-3 in fifth. loaded for carlos quentin. ouch. his 17th is a grand slam. >> they're going to have to, especially rios who's hitting eighth. as ozzie mentioned earlier this week. less than dramatic way but nonetheless, entertaining. jake peavy, three runs, three hits in five. he walked two, struck out five. 73 pitches and barring any set backs following this start, his

next turn in the rotation would have him pitching friday at home against the detroit tigers. it will be a big game for detroit and chicago as well. it's 5 1/2. 5 1/2. two for the twins. that is the a.l. central. two back of detroit. 5 1/2 for the white sox. buck, they're probably done in chicago, 5 1/2 games at this point. probably. but certainly not a definite. they have got jake peavy. didn't get a whole lot out of him for this year. what about down the road? >> i would be excited if i was a white sox fan. they're six back in the loss column now, pretty much over for them. but jake peavy showed what you wanted to see. i remember back in 2000 we traded for curt schilling, tried to get him, even though he wasn't 100%. this guy's arm is sound. he'll be around physically. i would rather see him get the adjustments in the american league over with and get a feel for pitching in the ballpark and pitching to the seventh, eight, nine hitters and he'll make the

adjustment. but their rotation next with buehrle and danks, that's going to separate the division next year. he certainly wants to stay in the game and ozzie, i think he's going to lose that battle right now. i wouldn't want that argument next year when everything is operating. >> so the rotation could be a bright spot for the white sox next season. how about the infield, did we learn anything? >> it's been a disappointing month for the white sox, but they have made progress, including gordon beckham, and he's a shortstop in the minor leagues. i talked to the white sox yesterday and beckham is the best player on the team right now. they can play him every day at third or move him to shortstop and move alexi ramirez to the outfield. a possibility. but either way they'll have him for a full season. chris guest has had a nice year. he's the second baseman, he runs better than people thought. a solid player. and that gives them a first baseman, second and third baseman into next year.

when the year began they didn't have a third baseman and they weren't sure who the second baseman was. >> e.y. they have to get the outfield figured out and that means alex rios. >> definitely. you need a good outfield to run it down. you have carlos quentin in the left field but you need him to start hitting better than he did this year. but this is the situation. alex rios is one of your best outfielders defensively that can throw, so i want to put my strongest arm out in the right field. now, center field here's the situation. you have dewayne wise and podsednik and i'm thinking of mike cameron to come over there with one of the guys, now you have speed and guys who can take the pressure off carlos. once you get alex and carlos hitting in the middle of the lineup i think you have a strong offensive team. that's only if jermaine dye doesn't come back. >> now, we saw ozzie play every

card in the deck this year. he never could quite hit 21. what about next season, what about ozzie's future long term? >> i was listening to him go off on rios a little bit. don't you think somebody in the locker room said, i know you're new here, but it happens. don't take it personally he's trying to get you to be a better player. i think everybody understands what's going of within ozzie. he grew up with the white sox loving them. he's still a guy that he's shown can lead them to the promised land. sometimes the shelf life gets sour on the managers but right now i think he's got plenty of good things ahead of him. >> but he's trying to push the buttons and seeing which guy responds. >> which guys -- >> criticism. >> they're going to take all the sand and pull it around or fight out a little bit. >> took a lot of money in alex rios, 7-74. you can read more on the website. log on all things chicago with

the espn perspective, as only we can. all at espnchicago.com. due up here on "baseball tonight," no, we haven't forgotten about the a.l. west and wild card contenders. we have shown you the red sox, what about the rangers? maybe a better shot to catch the angels than they do boston. we'll have the highlights. and then the "web gems" as we

jimmie johnson racing for a

fourth straight championship. gordon and the regular season points leader tony stewart look to make some history of their own. the chase for the nascar sprint cup, new hampshire, coverage begins sunday 1:00 eastern. a.l. west, angels and rangers. must win. for texas, scott feldman on the bond and mike napoli, 2-1, l.a. of anaheim. >> napoli a solid baseball player. reminds me of mike sosa. >> 2-2 in the sixth. weaver. hammering blalock, and 3-2. >> somebody said he hit a home run tonight. i wonder who that was? >> a prediction. >> somebody on the set that was not tim, me or e.y. kendrick up the middle. and ian kinsler playing some defense. >> wow. >> look at that. >> oh, got to have guys --

>> elvis andrews. and andrus gets the foot on the bag. >> number one. >> "web gems" coming up in the next segment so stay tuned. the points race tightening u. -- up. frank francisco in for the save. right field. deep to right field. nellie cruz is right there. that was crushed. after a torii hunter single, kendry morales, this is the downside of putting hank blalock in a big spot in the game. >> he's played a lot of third base. got in between. >> first and second, how about this. the angels with first and second. one out, double steal. >> well, frankie slowed the plate there. got no chance. >> after the double, he intentionally walked juanry veres. now the angels down 3-2.

maddux is out there. >> do you think the defensive position is important? watch where this ball is hit. >> bases loaded. 3-2, ninth inning. >> right up the middle. there's the shortstop. plus, he has good range. >> all day to make that double play. 23rd save for francisco. rangers win it. >> they need to stay alive in this thing, that's special. >> buck, i like the red. red looks good. >> good look. >> 17 wins now for fed -- feldman. they finally scored a run. three shy of the team record set in 1972. >> feldman without a doubt the mvp of the rangers this year. >> now this is what no hamilton, i mean they're holding it together. >> 6 1/2. they have five games left against each other. and it will be holland on

sunday. with a 6 1/2 lead in the a.l. west. bottom one, joe maddon and johnny cash look is still in there. >> that's the johnny cash look? >> yeah, he dyed his hair for the johnny cash look. ben zobrist, 2-0. two batters later, willie aybar. how much johnny cash you got on the old ipod? >> a little. >> all right. aybar, longoria scores. this is all keeping in mind in the bottom of the first. gape kapler. 4-0, tampa bay. bottom one. plenty for matt garza. garza has had some tough luck out there lately. got a nine-game winless streak. but he's dealing. overbay.

top five. aaron hill. >> matt garza. >> blue jays down 4-0 in the sixth. jose but a taste. they win 4-0. >> that ball is -- the runner goes by in front. you lose sight of it for a second. >> garza's eighth win. it was his first win since july 24. remarkable, you know, the rays obviously world series last year. this year, the rotation never materialized. the bullpen wasn't quite there. they sort of tread water all season and never really happened in tampa bay. >> for garza n the last nine starts against toronto, e.r.a. of .92. very impressive. >> garza 3-5 in the last 15 starts, all three of the wins coming against the blue jays. this was a game that featured ten singles and no extra base hits. that sounds, hmm, like a gem for

next week. and here is tim kurkjian. >> first, there were plenty of gems this week, including one today where james loney hit the 13th homer of the season, but the first one at home. so jose cruz in 1984 remains the last player to hit at least ten home runs in a season, all of them on the road. cruz hit 12 that year. that one didn't make gems, but there were plenty to go around this week. we had to cut it to five. there were that many. but we'll start with jayson werth of the phillies who hit a grand slam, but this was no order grand slam. he became the first player ever, 30 home run guy who hit a grand slam and scored three guys on base, all of whom had 30 home runs this year. first time ever. dodgers andre ethier hit his fourth walkoff home run of the year, the most since roy seavers in 1957. keep in mind, seven members of

the 500 home run club have five or fewer walkoff homers. ethier has four of them this year. that's amazing. phillies closer brad lidge recorded his 30th save, but he raised the e.r.a. to 7.21. the only pitcher ever to save 30 games and have an e.r.a. over six ischy cone. and and he became the first pitcher to throw a shutout and strike out ten in the first major league win, and fortunea won two more games after that. and then mark reynolds reached the 200th strikeout mark for the second straight season. the only two times it has been done in major league history. in the two seasons, last two years, mark reynolds has more strikeouts than joe dimaggio had in his entire 13-year career. dimaggio finished the career

with 369 strikeouts in 13 years. >> tim, mark reynolds may end up winning the "web gem" trophy for the year. he's in the top of the standings. the new gems when we come back and buck is keeping a close eye on dan mullen and the mississippi state bullpens. so he's not screened the gems, so stand by.

as the nfl season kicks off, "baseball tonight" is there every step of the way. follow your team's highs and lows, the "web gems," the inside pitch to keep you up to date on the key decisions that may decide a team's playoff fate. the biggest names and games in baseball's most important month on "baseball tonight" every sunday at 6:00 p.m. eastern on espn.

"web gems." points race, tightening up. we'll have the points for you. "baseball tonight" clubhouse page, espn.com we'll show them to you every day here. here's delmon young. five points for number one, that's one point for a five. and he's on the board. >> pretty glad that thing stayed low. >> buck, as you mentioned earlier, ramirez has improved. >> there's talk of moving him to third base or the outfield. but i'll tell you what, he's gotten so much better and he and the infield coach has worked hard. >> this is number three. >> wow. we've got two better than that this? >> this is an amazing play. ian kinsler here. there. >> can't wait. >> and those two guys are the biggest reasons why the rangers are where they are. they're upgrading the defense up the middle. >> turn hits into outs. >> number two, cabrera. >> oh. pretty good. >> gets the guy at second. >> the throw is pretty good.

the only place he could go. outstanding. >> accurate throw. number one "web gem," saturday, martine prado at second base. >> i love second base. but i can't give you love for number one on that one. >> here's the deal, ryan zimmerman is your points leader as we head into the final two weeks of the year. got a seven-point lead over mark reynolds. one point for number five and all the math in between. we'll have the pointings standings up and now time for final thoughts. buck said during the commercial, you have a final thought. >> look at teixeira, he hits a home run to mess it up for the cycle. this is third and this is home plate and intentionally in a blowout, what does he get credit for