In Minnesota, the possible back-to-back AL Batting champ, Joe Mauer went 3-5 in a dramatic win over the Chicago White Sox, as the Twins beat the Sox in extras. Alexi Casilla delivered the blow in the bottom of the 10th-inning on a single to center that plated Nick Punto for a victory, and a series sweep over the now struggling White Sox. Bobby Jenks blew his fourth save of the season, allowing the Twinkies to pull even in the bottom of the 8th-inning. That was a huge victory for Minnesota as they took over first place with only three games to play for the Twins, and four on the White Sox end. These last three wins could be the driving force behind Justin Morneau winning another MVP.

The should-be Rookie of the Year of 2006, Francisco Liriano gets the ball in his hands tonight as they Twins face the Royals from Kansas City. Liriano has been sharp lately, looking like he's back to the 2006 form we all grew to know and love. Ron Gardenhire should be very confident giving the ball to Liriano as he's the ace of the staff and would be the game one starter of the ALDS most likely. Only a half of a game separates the Twins from the Sox, but that is a large half game after the sweep of the White Sox. The AL Central should be a great collection of clutch performances from the big-time players on both teams. Will Mauer win another batting title, and Morneau another MVP? Watch and see.

Arizona was visiting St. Louis trying to keep their hopes alive to make the playoffs and catch the NL West leading Los Angeles Dodgers. Unfortunately for the Diamondbacks, their dream for the postseason was decimated as the Cardinals took three out of four from the snakes. The Cardinals had no chance of making the playoffs when they slipped out of contention and the Mets and Brewers are fighting for the remaining spot in the NL Wild Card.

With having Adam Kennedy asking for a trade if he won't be playing every day for the Cardinals, it looks like the Cardinals are showcasing him somewhat, giving him every day playing time for the last week or so to give teams the chance to catch some interest. Manager Tony LaRussa was not happy with the comments Kennedy made, especially at the timing in which he expressed his feelings. With Felipe Lopez, the Cardinals might look to keep him around as a starter, which looks to be a pretty good idea considering the way he's played of late.

It's nice to see that the St. Louis boys are still fighting with every game, not rolling over and giving up on the season now that a playoff berth is out of the question. Albert Pujols still has soemthing to play for: Three more runs for a 100 run season. The mindset of the players is, "If we can't get in, why pave an easy way for another team?" That's exactly the attitude to have in September if you're out of contention! Watching the Birds still play hard daily is just a testimate to the never say die mentality Tony LaRussa embeds in all of his players.

Thursday night a milestone was reached that many thought could be inconceivable; the Major League saves record in a season. 57 saves were mounted by Chicago White Sox closer Bobby Thigpen in 1990 was a Major League record that stood for17 years before being tied by Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's closer, Francisco Rodriguez. Rodriguez has 57 saves and looks to take over the single-season record with 16 games left on the schedule for the Angels.

Rodriguez has blown six saves this season, so could very easily be the leader as of now, if he could have just converted one of those blown saves, but looks to have the record locked up with the amount of games the Angels still have remaining. Los Angeles' offense is frail, not scoring many runs, giving Rodriguez more chances.

K-Rod will be a free-agent after the end of this season and is looking to get paid big time this offesason. Reportedly, Rodriguez is looking for a deal in the range of $12 million or so, and multiple years (3-5). Most genereal managers remain hesitant to dish out large money and years to closers after seeing what has happened to Billy Wagner and many other closers who received big contracts. One undeniable fact you can't forget is that Franky Rodriguez is only 26 years old.

Many teams will inevitably have interest in the young hard-throwing right-hander, but the only question is: Will anyone be willing to give him the money he desires?

Thursday night's game in St. Louis very well could be the point of no return for the St. Louis Cardinals as they fell to the Chicago Cubs in game three of three game series. With both Houston and Philadelphia winning while Milwaukee lost, a shaking up of the Wild Card standings was inevitable. St. Louis remained 4.5 games back of the Brewers, while the Astros passed them up in the standings, moving to 3 games back with the Phillies. Tony LaRussa's ball club would have it hard enough to be chasing two teams, now adding a third team to the mix makes it that much more difficult for the Cardinals to find a way into the playoffs.

A tight ballgame was being had in St. Louis, with pitching that was very solid for the first 4 innings of the matchup. Todd Wellemeyer and Rich Harden both performing well with the rain falling in St. Louis. Unofrtunately, Wellemeyer would be on the bad end of an error from sure-handed firstbasemen, Albert Pujols. Uncharacteristically of Pujols, everyone in the ballpark was in disbelief as the error allowed two Cub runners to cross home plate later in the inning. Two runs were only given up by Wellemeyer, both unearned. St. Louis got themselves on the board in the bottom of the 6th-inning when Albert (Pujols) dobuled to left that scored Aaron Miles. Pujols' RBI double gave him 100 RBI's on the season and puts him in company with Al Simmons and Ted Williams as the only players in history to begin his career with eight straight 100-RBI season. Felipe Lopez followed Ryan Ludwicks groundout with a sharp single to center, scoring Pujols easily. The 6th-inning would be the only inning the Cardinals would manage to score in, as they were shut down the rest of the way, but not without threatening, though.

In the bottom of the 8th-inning, Aaron Miles lead off the inning with a single, bring up the always dangerous Alert Pujols, yet again. Carlos Marmol, who was pitching for the Cubs made an attempted pickoff move to first, but didn't step off the rubber before faking a throw. Thus is a balk in baseball, which would allow each runner to move up one base. Homeplate umpire, Mike Reilly did not call the balk, which very well could have cost the Cardinals the game. Sadly, I was able to catch the balk instantaneously, while these Major League umpires couldn't pick it up. Any of the three other umpires could have stepped forward, but no call was made by any of them. As an umpire I know the stress that is put on you, as I umpire youth league baseball from ages 12-18. I hate to blame an umpire for a loss because I'm simply not the person that tries to find excuses for a bad outcome, but this call could have been a huge swing for the Cardinals at that point in the game.

With the Cardinals 4.5 games back in the Wild Card now, the door seems to be closing more rapidly as the Astros continue to make yet another late-season run for a playoff bid. Philadelphia doesn't look to be going anywhere either with MVP candidate Ryan Howard leading the way for the Phils. Although, the Brewers seem to be fading for the second straight season, that will not be enough, as the Cardinals look to chase Houston and Philadelphia as well. LaRussa has done a great job with keeping this team afloat all season long, let's just hope the recent injuries won't be the demise of the St. Louis Cardinals for the 2008 season.

Left-handed veteran starter, Ted Lilly was outstanding in tonight's start against the St. Louis Cardinals. Lilly improved to 14-9 on the season, but made every bit of this outing count, both on the mound and on the base paths. The first inning was the only hiccup Lilly had on the night, when he allowed a run on an Albert Pujols RBI ground out, bringing his season total to 99. With the first inning behind him, Lilly put the Cardinals on lock for the next seven innings, shutting them out while only allowing four hits in his last seven innings of work without walking a single batter. After a two inning outing against the Reds, Ted Lilly made sure to right the ship for the struggling Cubs, only needing to throw 90 pitches (63 for strikes) to get through eight innings of work.

The mound wasn't the only place Lilly managed to do damage against St. Louis. After a bunt that lead to an error on Felipe Lopez at third, when he tried to make a force play into a tag play, Lilly reached first on a fielder's choice. The very next play, Lopez made another error after making a spectacular diving play to his left, got up to make a throw to second, making a low throw in the dirt. Lilly, running to second on the play, didn't slide and ran over Cardinal second basemen, Adam Kennedy. With Derek Lee at the plate, Lilly tried to score on a soft chopper to Ceaser Iztruis, who threw Lilly out at home. With the close play at home, Lilly went in hard at home, trying to jar the ball loose from Yadier Molina, where Lilly's knee went into the thigh of Molina. Molina suffered a bruised thigh which would later be the reason for him leaving the game after his at-bat in the bottom of the 4th-inning.

Lou Pineilla would take the ball from Ted Lilly after the 8th-inning and hand it to tenured Cub, Kerry Wood. After a strikeout of Felipe Lopez, Albert Pujols came to the dish, looking to spark some sort of rally for his Cardinals. Pujols doubled to deep right, giving exactly what the Cardinals were looking for; baserunners. Ryan Ludwick took a pitch out to deep right-center for a two run bomb, bringing the Cardinals within a run, while notching his 101st RBI and 33rd homer on the season. Kerry Wood would go on to retire the next two Cardinal batters, one by means of the strikeout, and another on a flyout to center. Wood obtained his 29th save on the year, but has made a number of those saves very interesting, keeping manager Lou Piniella on his toes.

The late-inning surge by the Cardinals was not enough to mount a complete comeback, but shows the type of heart St. Louis has shown all year. Tony LaRussa has his club using the "never-give-up" attitude which has kept them within contention for a playoff berth. Hopefully, the Cardinals can keep that attitude up, and overcome the newest dose of injuries to Troy Glaus and Yadier Molina. It's up in the air now, but it's only a matter of time before the playoffs will be set, and the postseason to begin. Intriguing is the most fitting word to use to describe the playoff races down the stretch.

Albert Pujols has taken the St. Louis Cardinal team and put them on his back, carrying the team the last week. Pujols, who has an elbow injury has taken it upon himself to come up clutch in key situations that could change the ballgame. Making a bid for yet another 30+ homer 100 RBI year, Pujols homered last night off of Ryan Dempster to tie the game at three a piece, brining Pujols' season RBI total to 98. He's already reached the 30 homer plateau, but remains two RBI's away from 100.

The Cardinals have won three straight, but Pujols hasn't been the only person helping the Cardinals win in this recent streak. The starting pitching has also been giving the Cardinals a big lift in the last four or five games. After coming back from injury, Adam Wainwright has been outstanding in his four starts. In those four starts, he's 3-0 with a 1.78 ERA fanning 19, and a stat that's even better, the Cardinals have won all of the games Wainwright has started since his injury. Todd Wellemeyer also put forth a good effort in his last start to earn a victory against one of his former teams, the Florida Marlins.

With the Brewers wining this afternoon against the Cincinnati Reds, the Cardinals are now 4 games out, and need a win tonight against the NL Central leading Cubs to keep pace with the Brewers. If the Cardinals can win tonight, they'll remain 3.5 games back of Milwaukee in the NL Wild Card. Philadelphia, who is currently losing to the Florida Marlins, 2-1, are also ahead of the Cardinals in the Wild Card race, but could fall behind the Cardinals tonight with a Phillies loss, and a Cardinal victory. St. Louis has 18 games left, and is still very much alive in the National League Wild Card. It should be a fun race as September continues.