The Juice is going strong in its fifth season of fun! Stop by each weekday for an ample serving of news from the action, plus great photos, stats and video highlights.
Sox soak Seattle: Tyler Flowers beat August showers in the best way possible on Sunday night, belting a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh inning off Seattle starter Kevin Millwood. Not only did the Chicago White Sox backup catcher instantly give his team the lead in the 4-3 victory, but it also stood as the game-winner as the skies opened up just a few minutes later. The game was called after a two-hour rain delay and it was Flowers' homer that ensured neither team will have to come back to the South Side to finish it at a later date.
Flowers' homer was his second go-ahead homer in as many days as the White Sox swept the Mariners to complete a perfect 6-0 homestand. It was also the second time that the timing of rain has benefitted the Pale Hose during their chase for the AL Central. The Tigers, who remain 2 1/2 games behind the White Sox after taking two of three from Los Angeles, had a rain-shortened loss to Boston credited to them at the end of July despite the fact that Detroit had the go-ahead run at the plate when the rains came.
Hudson halves it: After losing the first two games, the Braves squeezed out a split of its four-game series in San Francisco with a 7-1 victory on Sunday night. Tim Hudson pitched seven innings of one-run ball while Jason Heyward continued owning the confines of AT&T Park with his 24th homer of the season. Heyward is hitting .395 with six homers and 12 RBI in 10 career games at the ballpark.
''(Heyward) has to move out here, work on that home run swing during the offseason and then come hit in Turner Park,'' Hudson said to reporters.
Atlanta still maintains the top spot in the NL wild cards race and actually picked up ground on Washington despite the split as the Nats were swept in Philadelphia over the weekend to extend their losing streak to four. The deficit in that race is 4 1/2 games.
Holliday hoists Cardinals: There's a case to be made that Matt Holliday is baseball's least-hyped superstar, though he'll get plenty of press if he keeps hitting the way he's hitting. The St. Louis left fielder had four hits and four RBI in Sunday's series-clinching 8-2 win over Cincinnati and he's hitting .444 with eight RBI over his last six games as the Cards have moved into a postseason spot. There's still a chance the Cardinals could run down the Reds from six games back, though only three games remain between the two teams.
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Quote of the day
''Had we not won the game, there would've been the people to say 'Hey, how can you not at least DH him in the pennant race?' I didn't sleep last night. (But) when I talked to Cabrera, I knew the best thing was to rest him no matter what the outcome.''
— Detroit manager Jim Leyland, who sat Miguel Cabrera for the first time all year in Sunday's 5-2 win over the Angels. Cabrera is nursing a sore right ankle.
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Photo of the day: John Glenn honors a friend
Cleveland's plan to honor 91-year-old John Glenn had been in place for many weeks, but its timing was appropriate as the former astronaut used the forum to honor colleague Neil Armstrong, who died on Saturday. "We lost a close friend and a great patriot," Glenn said in a speech before the game.
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Three facts for the water cooler
• Curtis Granderson hit his 200th career homer in a 4-2 win over the Indians, giving the Yankees a record eight players with 200 or more homers on their roster. The other seven are A-Rod, Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher, Mark Teixeira, Eric Chavez, Andruw Jones and Raul Ibanez.
• The Pirates fell 7-0 to Milwaukee and have lost 12 of 17 games to fall two games behind the Cardinals in the wild card race. The two teams start a series in Pittsburgh on Monday night.
• A 5-4 win over Arizona gave the San Diego Padres their second six-game winning streak of the month.
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