First to Home: MLB Rundown August 30th

Chris Sale Proves Cy Young Worthy: The debate between Chris Sale and Corey Kluber for this year’s AL Cy Young is fierce, but yesterday Sale showed why he may be deserving of the award. Sale went 7 strong while striking out 11 as he became the fastest pitcher in MLB history to reach 1,500 strikeouts.

Nats Win Again: The Nationals are proving why they are ranked second in the MLB power rankings. Without Bryce Harper in recent weeks the combination of Daniely Murphy, Anthony Rendon, and Ryan Zimmerman have combined to fill the void. They continue to bash divisional opponents as they did last night in a 8-3 wallop of the Marlins. HOWEVER, Mr. Stanton did hit his 51st home run for Miami…a bit of a silver lining.

Cubs Finally Ready to Claim Division?: Last night Jake Arrieta dazzled on the mound a 4-1 Cubs Win. Their starting pitching era is now all the way down from being middle of the pack to 8th best in the MLB. I expect the combination of Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks to find their form in September, as the Cubs seem certain to claim another division title.

Royals Break Historic Offensive Slump: The Royals came within 3 innings of tying the major league record for most innings in a row without scoring a run. After 45 innings of scoreless baseball, a Whit Merrifield solo homer in the third ended the streak and the Royals went on to win 6-3. The losing streak however, has put them in a difficult spot chasing several teams ahead of them in the wild card.

Dodgers Lose Three In A Row: The Dodgers have now lost three games in a row for the first time since early June. There shouldn’t be any reason to worry out in LA, but last night’s tight defeat against a potential playoff draw D-Backs team is definitely worth noting.

Written by Paul McGovern