MLB Bullets gets real close

At least St. Louis fans can brag that they have a better NFL team than Chicago does.

• On Friday, the Indians lost to the Royals and their American League winning streak came to an end at 22.
• Mike Axisa has 22 facts about the 22-game win streak.
• Trevor Bauer was the losing pitcher for the Indians Friday night, and believe it or not, this is the second-time he’s lost a game to snap a 22-game winning streak. The other one happened when he was pitching for UCLA. His suggestion? Have someone else pitch game number 23.
• While the Indians winning streak fell four games short of the major league record (no matter what anyone says. Also, the major league single-season home run record isn’t 61, either), Neil Paine makes a strong case that the Indians winning streak was the most-impressive win streak in major league history.
• Tigers starter Matt Boyd came within one out of a no-hitter yesterday. The ghost of Chuck Rainey strikes again. You may argue “But Chuck Rainey’s not dead.” True! He’s not dead, but his ghost is still wrecking no-hitters. I don’t know how that works either. I’m not an expert on poltergeists. Just trust me. That’s what happened
• The Astros clinched their first-ever AL West title and their first division crown since 2001.
• Jon Tayler wants to remind you that despite all the hoopla about the Indians and Dodgers, the Astros might still be the best team in baseball, just like we thought back in May.
• I’m linking to this one because you might get a kick out of laughing at it. It was published Saturday morning. David Schoenfield argues that the Cardinals might just be “sneaking up on everyone” and making the playoffs just like they did in their title season of 2011. If that’s the case, getting swept by the Cubs is really sneaky. I never saw that one coming.
• Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg saw his scoreless streak come to an end at 35 innings.
• Nats outfielder Bryce Harper took batting practice and “hopes” to be ready to play in game 1 of the NLDS. It’s still a tight timetable.
• General manager Mike Rizzo says he’s “optimistic” that Harper returns.
• Noah Syndergaard was supposed to play this weekend, but now the Mets say that their ace may not pitch again this season. There’s goes GM Sandy Alderson’s hopes that Syndergaard would pitch game one of the NLDS.
• However, despite being just three games behind the Red Sox, the Yankees appear to be setting up their rotation so that Luis Severino can pitch the Wild Card game.
• Red Sox pitcher David Price pitched out of the bullpen this weekend and Scott Lauber believes that Price demonstrated that he could be a very effective multi-inning reliever in the postseason. The Red Sox don’t believe that Price can build up the necessary arm strength to start before October.
• Emma Span has a fan’s guide to the wild race for the second AL Wild Card spot.
• Among those teams, Kate Morrison asks which team has been more disappointing this season, the Rangers or the Mariners? Both still are longshots to make the Wild Card.
• On the other side, Will Leitch looks at six teams who definitely aren’t going anywhere and tries to find the bright side of those teams. This is serious stuff like “What can they build on for 2018?” and not the silly “Will have plenty of time to check out the new Fall TV shows” kind of stuff.
• The Padres had a rough year too, but R.J. Anderson thinks that manager Andy Green could be the kind of bold leader who could be successful in San Diego in the years to come.
• Craig Edwards takes a statistical analysis of the AL Cy Young Award contenders.
• Matt Snyder notices that MLB is not likely to have a 20-game winner this season for the first time since 2009 and only the third time ever in a non-strike season.
• John Perrotto talks to scouts about the possibilities of Shohei Otani being a full-time two-way player in MLB.
• Jerry Crasnick bemoans the problems with MLB September roster expansion and wonders why MLB hasn’t done anything about it yet.
• Marly Rivera speaks with Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez about coming back from Tommy John surgery and his fellowship with other Puerto Rican major leaguers.
• Speaking of TJ surgery, that’s what Reds pitcher Drew Storen is going to be doing.
• The Twins are taking some criticism for firing minor league manager Doug Mientkiewicz while he was dealing with the damage that Hurricane Irma did to his house in the Florida Keys.
• The Brewers decorated up Miller Park with Florida kitsch for their series with the Marlins that was relocated to Milwaukee.
• Pirates infielder Josh Harrison made a young fan’s first ballgame special after she was crying after missing out on a foul ball.
• Blue Jays pitcher Matt Dermody got the final out of a ballgame and didn’t even realize it. Better than the other way around, I guess.
• And finally, broadcaster Ray Fosse may be a long-time member of the Athletics, but it seems like he has a secret admirer in the Phillie Phanatic, who planted a big kiss on his face. And a cheesesteak.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.