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| Britton breezed past his previous career high for strikeouts. (Getty Images) |
It's that time again. No need for a fancy narrative, let's get to it.
Full Thursday scoreboard with recaps and box scores for every game
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Zach Britton, Orioles: The young lefty put together one of the best outings of his career Thursday, working eight strong innings against a powerful White Sox lineup. He only allowed one run on seven hits and struck out a career-high 10 batters. He had previously never struck out more than seven in a game, and he only did that one time (Sept. 17, 2011). Don't look now, but the Orioles only trail the Yankees by three games in the AL East. They face the Yankees in a three-game series starting Friday (we'll get to that in a second).
Ian Kennedy, Diamondbacks: The D-Backs had lost six straight heading into Thursday night's game against the Dodgers, and ace pitcher Ian Kennedy hadn't enjoyed near the success he did in his breakout 2011 campaign. While he surely would have liked to work longer, Kennedy looked like 2011 Ian Kennedy. He put together 6 1/3 shutout innings, only allowing two hits and two walks while striking out seven.
Zack Greinke, Angels: Through his first five starts with the Angels, Greinke had a 6.22 ERA and the Angels were 1-4 in those starts. He's now put together two consecutive solid starts, though, so it's possible the proverbial corner has been turned. Thursday evening, Greinke went seven innings, allowing five hits and two earned runs while striking out seven. Most importantly, the Angels won, so he's now won two straight starts.
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Cardinals offense: It is statistically the best offense in the National League, but the Cardinals' bats have been nearly silenced for three straight games. They were shutout by the Pirates Tuesday and Wednesday and didn't score against the Nationals Thursday until the eighth inning. In those three games, they scored just one run.
Brewers pitching staff: If a team scores 11 runs against the Cubs, it should pretty easily cruise to a victory. Instead, the Brewers' six pitchers coughed up 14 hits -- including seven doubles and a triple -- and 12 runs to the Cubs. The Brewers managed to enter the ninth with an 11-9 lead, but Francisco Rodriguez could only get one out before Alfonso Soriano's walkoff single.
Rays offense: No matter how good their pitching staff is, they can't expect to make the playoffs if they're getting shut out by the likes of Carlos Villanueva. To be fair, Villanueva only worked six innings before three good relievers took over, but still, this shouldn't happen to a team with playoff aspirations. The Rays have now lost five of six. 
Ugly weekend ahead: The Indians have lost 14 of their last 15 games and are 5-23 in August. They are coming off a four-game sweep at the hands of the A's, and it doesn't get any easier this weekend. In fact, it gets harder, because the Indians are now tasked with breaking out of their funk against the Rangers. It's Ubaldo Jimenez (9-13, 5.46) against Ryan Dempster (3-1, 5.46). 7:05 p.m. ET
Central showdown: The White Sox hold a three-game lead over the Tigers, and the two face off this weekend, starting Friday. The Tigers hold a 7-4 advantage over the White Sox in the season series to this point. A three-game sweep for Detroit would lock the two clubs in a tie. On the other hand, a three-game sweep by the White Sox and it's a six-game lead for the Southsiders. It'll be Jake Peavy (9-9, 3.09) against Doug Fister (7-8, 3.67) in Comerica Park. 7:05 p.m. ET
Eastern showdown: As mentioned above, the Orioles are only three games behind the Yankees. They were 10 games out on July 18. And now Baltimore heads to the Bronx for a three-game series. If the Orioles manage a sweep -- and they'll avoid Yankees ace CC Sabathia -- they will be tied for first place come Labor Day. Think about that one. Everything starts Friday, though, and it's a tough matchup for the Orioles with Hiroki Kuroda (12-9, 2.98) on the hill for New York. Miguel Gonzalez will pitch for the O's. 7:05 p.m. ET
Friday's probable pitchers
• Biggio preaches 'Astro Way:' As the Houston Astros continue to be the worst team in baseball, special assistant (and soon-to-be Hall of Famer) Craig Biggio had a meeting with the young team Wednesday. “It’s the same way that Nolan (Ryan) played it and Billy Doran played it and guys like Buddy Bell and Enos (Cabell) and Jimmy Wynn,” Biggio said (Ultimate Astros). “You want to make sure that legacy is continued -- continue to play the game the right way, because it’s the only way to play the game.”
• Best September callups: Fangraphs.com has a look at the greatest September callups in history. J.D. Drew was the name that immediately came to my mind, and he's on there, along with several forgotten players.
• A half-million errors: Baseball-Reference.com's front page now has a countdown to 500,000 MLB errors since stats started being tracked in 1876. It's not guaranteed to be historically accurate, but fun nonetheless.
• Pickoff move to swing Cy Young voting? Johnny Cueto is probably the frontrunner for the NL Cy Young at this point -- as I noted earlier this week -- but it's definitely close. Fangraphs.com's Dave Cameron makes an argument that what truly separates Cueto is his pickoff move to first base. It's an interesting point and worth the read to hear Cameron out.
• Must-see picture: Speaking of the Reds, a Reds fan has cut paths in a 12-acre corn field so that the aerial shot shows "Go Reds," Mr. Redlegs and a few Reds logos. It's pretty amazing, so hop on over to cincinnati.com and check it out.
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