Well, the Detroit Tigers are still trying to claw their way back into the race in the American league Central. And they’ll wake-up on Thursday morning 5.5 games out in the AL Central and only 5 games back in the AL Wildcard race. The Tigers are also a season high 3 games over .500. That’s a long climb up after hitting rock bottom at 12 games under .500 a couple months ago.

Last night the Tigers played a crazy game in Cleveland. Though the Indians have really struggled this year, their lone bright spot has been pitcher Cliff Lee. Coming into the game Lee was probably the favorite to win the AL Cy Young Award. He might not be the favorite any more.

After being handed an early 8-1 lead, Lee collapsed and allow the Tigers to get back within 8-6. Then the Indians pushed their lead to to 11-7 after the Tigers drew within a run. But Detroit came back with four more runs to tie the game and then the Tigers took the lead in the ninth, 12-11. But in the bottom of the ninth, Kelly Shopach homered to tie it up. Then in the 13th inning, the Tigers finally took the lead for good and won the game 14-12.

This was a crazy game and what makes it crazier is that the Tigers and Indians will take the field again at 12:05 on Thursday afternoon. The Tigers will go for their third straight win in that game.

Meanwhile, the Anaheim Angels keep rolling along and proving they are the team to beat in the American league and in all of baseball. The Angels swept the Red Sox in Fewway. This comes just a couple days after the Red Sox nearly got swept from the Yankees. Could we be seeing the beginning of the end for the Sox? Certainly Manny being Manny hasn’t helped anything. Manny might be traded and probably should be just to get him out of the locker room.

So the Angels are looking dominant, the Red Sox are stumbling, and the Tigers are still trying to play their way back into contention. We’ll see how all this plays out as August looms just around the corner.

As if the Anaheim Angels weren’t already in good enough shape. As if they didn’t already have enough hitting. (Okay, they needed a little more pop.) Now they go out and grab Mark Texiera from the Braves, a Golden Glove first baseman and a great hitter.

And as if they weren’t already pitching well enough, now they go out and John Lackey nearly throws a no hitter. He lost the no-no in the ninth and also lost the shutout, but the rest of the AL took notice - the Angels have beeter bats and they still have dominant pitching.

Meanwhile, the big match-up between the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers has completely tilited toward the Cubbies. Chicago won again Tuesday, this time 7-1, and now Chicago is 3 games up on the Brewers.

So in a series that could’ve resulted in great things, a series that certainly could’ve made things even more interesting in the NL Central, the Brewers have fallen down.

Meanwhile, in the AL Central, thr Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox for the second straight game. So the White Sox are now clinging to a half game lead over the Twins. These two teams will play two more games before parting ways this weekend.

The Chaicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers began a huge series on Monday night. Going into Monday’s game the Cubs were just a game ahead of the Brewers thanks to a win by the Cubs and a loss by the Brewers on Sunday.

Well, Round One went to the Cubs.

The Cubs scored two runs in the top of the ninth to take a 6-4 lead. That two run lead held-up through the bottom of the ninth and gave the Cubbies a win, along with a two game lead.

Of course there’s still plenty of time for the Brewers to pick-up those two games. They will host the Cubs on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. So they Brewers have time to catch the Cubs and even pass them. However, the Cubs also have time to extend their lead even further.

Over in the American league Central there’s a battle taking place for first place too. The Chicago White Sox entered this series with a two and half game lead. But the Twins pummelled the White Sox 7-0 so the lead is now down to a game and a half.

This is a four games series too. So things should be very interesting over the next three days. And we really could see the Minnesota Twins take over the lead. But the White Sox have proven time and agan this season that they can take a couple blows and just come right back. And that’s exactly what they’ll need to do on Tuesday night or else their lead will become razor thin at just a half game going into Wednesday’s game.

These two series should promise to be very interesting and they should go a long way to helping decide which team wins each of the Central division.

For while it looked like the Boston Red Sox might be the best team in baseball. Then it looked like it was the Arizona Diamondbacks - belive it or not. The Chicago Cubs and the Tampa Bay Rays took turns too. But one team has always been there - right at or near the top. That one team is, of course, the Anaheim Angels.

Quietly, and effectively, the Angels have gone about their business. They get great pitching almost every single game. They get timely hitting. And they have probaby the greatest manager in the game today in Mike Soccia. They’ve put all of this together to open up a whopping ten and a half game lead.

The only question with the Angels is possibly their offense. But their pitching more than makes up for that. Now, I’m not ready to give the World Series trophy to the Angels, especially with teams like the Rays, the Red Sox, the White Sox, and the Yankees in the AL, but you can mark the Angels down for a playoff spot.

Meanwhile, in the NL West, the Arizona Diamondbacks have used a have used a three games winning streak to rise to two games over .500. The Los Angeles Dodgers have also won three straight and they are now right at the .500 mark. So, at least for a couple days, baseball’s worse division has a team over .500.

What a difference between the AL West and the NL West.

Haven’t we been here? Haven’t we already done this? I mean, haven’t we already gone through more than one season where the New York Yankees started out poorly only to put everything together by about mid-season a nd then clinch the AL East or the Wild Card.

And this is happening all over again. After a sliggish start, when the Yankees found themselves in the basement of the AL East and then in distant thrid, suddenly the Yankees have made up a ton of ground on both the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays.

As Sunday dawns the Yankees are still in third place in the AL East but they’re only a game behind the Red Sox and only 3 games behind the Rays. In fact, the Yankees haven’t lost since the All-Star Break.

The Yankees really are clicking on all cylinders. They have 3 dominant pitchers right now - Pettite, Mussina, and Chamberlain - and they are getting timely hitting up and down the order. The really hot hitting is coming from Robinson Cano and A-Rod.

At this point the AL East looks like it’s going to be absolutely crazy. And the race for the Wild Card will be even crazier.

This is why the Wild Card was a great idea and the races are why the popularity of Major league baseball is absolutely taking off. How can it not with such great stuff happening? The next two months are going to be a roller coaster ride.

This weekend there are 2 huge divisional match-ups taking place. And while it’s still only July and there is still a ton of baseball left to play, these two series could go a long way in determining whether just how close the races are as we head into August.

Now, I’ve been one of the biggest critics when it comes to all the pub that a Yankees - Red Sox series gets. When they play in April or early May the media makes out like the whole world is on the edge of their seat. In reality, no fans other than the Yankees and Red Sox fans care. Well, this weekend is a little different.

The Yankees have been red hot lately and the Red Sox have been very good all season. When the tow teams collide in Fenway on Friday there will be just three games separating them. Of course, they both trail first place Tampa Bay in the AL East but this series will go a long way in deciding the Wild Card if not the winner of the AL East.

Meanwhile, in the AL Central, the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox are set to do battle. The Tigers have been charging hard since being 12 games under .500 about a month and a half ago. Now the Tigers are 3 games over .500 and just five and a half games behind the White Sox. If the Tigers can win this series then they’ll be just 4.5 games back (or 2.5 if they sweep) and they’ll be coming hard.

Both of these series will be a lot of fun to follow and how much fun is had afterward will be largely decided by these two series too.