AL East Standings
NYY 87-63 --
BAL 86-64 1
TB 81-70 6.5
AL Wild-Card Standings
BAL 86-64 --
OAK 85-65 --
LAA 82-69 3.5
TB 81-70 4.5
DET 79-70 5.5
Today’s game
Orioles at Red Sox, 1:10 p.m.
LHP Randy Wolf (5-10, 5.66 ERA) vs. RHP Aaron Cook (4-10, 4.93 ERA)
Key matchup
Endy Chavez is 5-for-16 (.313) against Cook, and that's really the only example of one of the players on either team having any sort of extended success against these veteran pitchers.
Other games that matter
Athletics (Blackley) at Yankees (Nova), 1:05 p.m.
Twins (Deduno) at Tigers (Fister), 4:05 p.m.
Blue Jays (Morrow) at Rays (Moore), 7:10 p.m.
White Sox (Quintana) at Angels (Haren), 9:05 p.m.
Rangers (Harrison) at Mariners (Beavan), 9:10 p.m.
Thought of the day
It's pretty clear the Orioles have a great deal of respect for closer Jim Johnson, who broke the club record for saves in a season with his 46th last night. He gets the job done, he doesn't say much, and he's also quite charitable off the field.
He's also an editor's dream, because he works fast and usually takes care of his business in the ninth quite quickly. (I know you folks don't care, but that's always a plus when we're pushing to make deadlines around here.)
Because he isn't the prototypical fiery, quirky, flame-throwing closer, Johnson will never become a major national star, but let's put his season in perspective with the all-time greats.
With four more saves in the final 12 games, which is certainly achievable, he'd move into a tie for 11th on the all-time list of single-season saves leaders with a guy named Mariano Rivera (50 saves in 2001).
Here's the list of the closers who have reached 50, just to give you a sense of the company Johnson would keep if he hits that milestone:
1. Francisco Rodriguez 62 2008
2. Bobby Thigpen 57 1990
3. Eric Gagne 55 2003
John Smoltz 55 2002
5. Trevor Hoffman 53 1998
Randy Myers 53 1993
Mariano Rivera 53 2004
8. Eric Gagne 52 2002
9. Rod Beck 51 1998
Dennis Eckersley 51 1992
11. Mariano Rivera 50 2001
