I've decided to cover the remaining series in AL Central cities first, since they'll have a direct impact on the race for second in the West. Let's begin in Kansas City, where the Royals are hosting the Mariners from September 19-21. Here's September 19:
Mariners 4, Royals 2
Ken Griffey Jr. went one for three plus a walk, the hit being a first-inning single. As for the rest of the action, no one on either team had more than two hits or one RBI. Reggie Jefferson's sixth-inning single drove in Jay Buhner with the go-ahead run.
The Mariners are now tied with the Angels for second in the West.
W- Cummings (6-5)
S- Ayala (27)
L- Gubicza (8-14)
Now, September 20:
Royals 16, Mariners 3
The Royals thrashed the Ms thanks to a twenty-hit attack. Seattle starter Roger Salkeld gave up four runs on four hits in the first and was removed before he can record an out, and things really went down the drain for Seattle in the third, when the Royals sent twelve men to the plate and scored nine times. The biggest stick of all belonged to designated hitter Bob Hamelin, who went four for six with five RBIs, including a massive three-run homer in the third that's estimated at 408 feet to deep right, which is only 330 at Kauffman Stadium. Mike Macfarlane drove home four runs, and Terry Shumpert, who got the start at second due to Chico Lind's pulled hamstring, went three for five and drove in three runs. On the mound, David Cone went all the way, striking out eight. About the only bright spot for the Mariners came in the top of the first, when Griffey belted Number 55 , a two-run shot to left that landed neatly in the glove of Goose Gossage in the Seattle bullpen.
The Mariners are back in third place by themselves; they trail the Angels for second by half a game. They finish here at Kauffman Stadium tomorrow.
W- Cone (19-9)
L- Salkeld (5-8)
HR- SEA: Griffey (55)
KC: Hamelin (32)
Finally, here's September 21:
Royals 20, Mariners 3 (ESPN: Look-ins for Griffey at-bats with Royals announcers Denny Matthews, Paul Splittorff)
For the second time in their three-game series, the Royals humiliated the Mariners, this time scoring twenty runs on twenty-four hits. Only second baseman Terry Shumpert didn't drive in a run, and he went one for four and scored twice. Gary Gaetti led the offense, going four for five with a home run and five RBIs. Bob Hamelin could only manage two for three, but he too had a home run and four RBIs and scored four times. Greg Gagne goes four for six with an RBI and a run scored, and so on, and so on, and so on. Mariners starter Dave Fleming couldn't get out of the first inning, and reliever Jeff Nelson, one of the most reliable arms in the Seattle pen, was rocked for ten runs on eight hits in two and two-thirds innings. To make it worse, the Mariners walked an embarrassing twelve men. Their only bright spot was Dan Wilson's eighth inning inside-the-park home run that cut their deficit to seventeen. Counting their win on Monday, they were outscored 38-10 in the three-game series.
The Mariners now trail the Angels by a game for second place; the best they can hope for is that the White Sox win their last two games against the Angels, which would leave the two teams tied for second. They could also finish tied for third if the A's sweep the Royals in the season's final series at the Oakland Coliseum. If both of the above things happen, there will be a three-way tie for second.
W- Gordon (15-9)
L- Fleming (7-15)
HR- KC: Hamelin (33), Gaetti (20)
SEA: Wilson (5)
Now let's go to Comiskey Park for the two remaining games between the White Sox and the Angels. First, here's September 19:
Angels 7, White Sox 3
The Angels clinched second place in the West by soundly defeating the Pale Hose. Tim Salmon led the offense with two home runs and five RBIs. The big blow was his third-inning grand slam that erased a 2-0 Chicago lead. Damion Easley and Chris Turner had the other RBIs for California, while Robin Ventura had two hits and drove in a pair for the Sox. As for Frank Thomas, he not only went 0 for 4, but struck out three times.
W- Finley (14-11)
L- McDowell (11-13)
HR- CAL: Salmon 2 (34)
Now, here's September 21:
White Sox 8, Angels 7 (ESPN: Look-ins for Thomas at-bats with White Sox announcers Hawk Harrelson, Tom Paciorek)
The Pale Hose came back from deficits of 4-0, 5-2, and 7-4 to stun the Halos in the bottom of the ninth. It was Robin Ventura's two-run double that won it for the Sox, but his earlier two-run homer prevented a Halos runaway, and Number 60 from The Big Hurt got the Sox back to within one in the eighth. Harold Reynolds goes deep for California, while Jim Edmonds went two for four with three RBIs and Tim Salmon also went two for four and scored twice. For posterity, here's how Hawk Harrelson called Number
"0-1 from Leiter.........FLY BALL, LEFT CENTER FIELD, BACK GOES CURTIS, ON THE TRACK, AT THE WALL, AND YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOOOOOOOOOOARD............YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!! IT'S NUMBER 60 FOR FRANK!..........Not only that, but now it's a ballgame again, as the Angels' lead is 7-6. No time for curtain calls this time, but maybe if he comes up again later, he can do it again. Of course, that means we're probably in extra innings."
W- McCaskill (3-6)
L- B. Patterson (1-1)
HR- CAL: Reynolds (3)
CWS: Thomas (60), Ventura (30)
Here are your American League Central standings to the moment:
Indians: 104-58 (clinched)
White Sox: 94-68- 10 GB
Royals: 83-76- 19.5 GB
Brewers: 76-86- 28 GB
Twins: 64-97- 39.5 GB
In the West:
Rangers: 77-85 (clinched)
Angels: 74-88- 3 GB
Mariners: 73-89- 4 GB
Athletics: 70-89- 5.5 GB
Next: The final three American League games of the year, as the A's host the Royals. Plus, the game that should have been played on September 8, as the Angels host the Twins.
Thoughts?