ASSHOLE MARINERS WIN 13TH STRAIGHT

MINNESOTA -- John Olerud slammed 2 homeruns as the seemingly unstoppable Seattle Mariners outscored the Minnesota Twins 4 to 3.  The win was the M's 13th in a row and protected their Wild Card lead at 4 games ahead of New York.

Seattle jumped on top to stay in the top of the 6th inning scoring a single run utilizing 3 base hits.  Minnesota made it exciting in the 9th, but they were unable to push the needed runs across. 

The win was credited to Ismael Valdes (10-9) who went 6 and 1/3 innings allowing 2 runs. Kazuhiro Sasaki recorded the save, his 42nd.  Joe Mays (2-4) took the loss.

---

BOXSCORE: 2002 Seattle Mariners At 2002 Minnesota Twins             8/27/2002

  Mariners           AB  R  H RBI AVG     Twins              AB  R  H RBI AVG
  I.Suzuki RF         4  1  1  0 .346     J.Jones LF          5  1  1  0 .304 
  M.McLemore LF       3  0  0  0 .279     C.Guzman SS         5  0  1  1 .269 
  J.Olerud 1B         4  2  2  2 .308     C.Koskie 3B         2  0  0  0 .262 
  E.Martinez DH       4  1  2  1 .230     D.Ortiz DH          3  0  1  0 .328 
  B.Boone 2B          4  0  1  1 .240     T.Hunter CF         4  0  0  0 .302 
  M.Cameron CF        4  0  0  0 .264     D.Mientkiewicz 1B   4  1  1  0 .260 
  B.Davis C           3  0  1  0 .268     D.Mohr RF           4  0  0  0 .286 
  C.Guillen SS        4  0  0  0 .267     T.Prince C          4  1  2  0 .246 
  J.Cirillo 3B        4  0  0  0 .215     L.Rivas 2B          2  0  1  1 .284 
                                        A-B.Kielty PH         1  0  1  0 .325 
                                        B-D.Hocking 2B        0  0  0  0 .328 
                                        C-M.Lecroy PH         1  0  1  1 .284 
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---     
         Totals      34  4  7  4                 Totals      35  3  9  3

A-Pinch Hit For Rivas In 7th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Kielty In 8th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Hocking In 9th Inning

Mariners........ 2 0 0  0 0 1  0 1 0  -  4  7  1
Twins........... 1 1 0  0 0 0  0 0 1  -  3  9  1

Mariners (78-54)         IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA  SCORESHEET
I.Valdes WIN(10-9)        6 1/3   5   2   2   2   2   0  84   4.37  A1 C8
A.Rhodes HOLD(21st)       0 2/3   2   0   0   1   2   0  21   3.09  C9 D4
S.Hasegawa HOLD(16th)     1       0   0   0   0   0   0   8   3.17  D5 D6
K.Sasaki SAVE(42nd)       1       2   1   1   0   1   0  18   3.14  D7
Totals                    9       9   3   3   3   5   0

Twins (75-58)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA  SCORESHEET
J.Mays LOSS(2-4)          5       5   3   3   1   3   1  69   6.67  A1 C4
B.Wells                   2 2/3   2   1   1   1   3   1  40   4.22  C5 D7
J.Romero                  1 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0  14   2.27  D8
Totals                    9       7   4   4   2   6   2

ATTENDANCE- 47,751 DATE- Tuesday, August 27th 2002 TIME- Night
UMPIRES- Bill Miller, Jerry Meals, Larry Young, Rob Drake
T- 3:18
LEFT ON BASE- Mariners: 7  Twins: 8
DOUBLE PLAYS- Mariners: 2  Twins: 0
ERRORS- C.Guillen, D.Hocking
DOUBLES- E.Martinez(11th), J.Jones(37th), T.Prince(21st), L.Rivas(18th)
HOME RUNS- J.Olerud-2(27th)
SACRIFICE HITS- M.McLemore
WALKS- M.McLemore, B.Davis, C.Koskie-2, D.Ortiz
HIT BY PITCH- I.Suzuki
STRIKE OUTS- I.Suzuki, M.McLemore, M.Cameron, B.Davis, C.Guillen-2, J.Jones-2,
             C.Guzman, D.Mohr-2
GIDP- T.Hunter-2
WILD PITCHES- J.Mays
WEB GEMS- Top 3rd: Torii Hunter robbed Edgar Martinez of a Homerun!

UNSTOPPABLE M'S WIN 12TH STRAIGHT

The Seattle Mariners have won 12 consecutive games and lead the wild card by 3.5 games over New York.  The winning streak matches Boston's season streak from earlier this season as the longest of the season.  The Mariners now trail the division-leading Angels by a mere 2 games.  It has been an incredible stretch.

The M's swept Boston and New York back-to-back earlier this month.  Tonight they won off a 12th-inning solo shot from Bret Boone in Cleveland.

The Mariners are hitting .398 as a team with bases-loaded and .357 in the clutch. 

NIGHTMARE IN CLEVELAND, THE SEQUEL

CLEVELAND -- In a disastrous turn of events, the A's led 8-0 going into the 7th inning today only to lose to the Indians, 9-8.  It was an absolutely stunning defeat that comes at a pivotal moment in their schedule.  With the loss, the A's drop another game in the Wild Card race and their 8-game deficit in the division is near a season-high.  Meanwhile, the red-hot Mariners swept a four-game series in Detroit and Anaheim swept a three-gamer against the Yankees.

The Indians scored 6 in the 6th as eight straight batters reached -- all on singles and walks.  That made the score 8-6.  But in the seventh, Karim Garcia, who hit homers in every game this series, hit a monster 3-run jack off Ricardo Rincon to make it 9-8.  The A's made a small push in the 9th but could not score.

Manager McNeil refused to let his team leave the dugout after the game.  He absolutely lambasted the team in a 5-minute diatribe.  He was seen grabbing the jersey of Tim Hudson and screaming at Ray Durham in particular.  Durham finished the game a pathetic 0-for-5 at the top of the lead-off spot and is hitting .188 over the past week.  McNeil said Durham is "a major reason we can't win games," but pushed all media members out of his office afterwards.

Both Tim Hudson and Barry Zito have given away games this week.  The A's will now jet-set to Detroit to look to beat up on the lowly tigers and reduce the Wild Card deficit.  Meanwhile Seattle's in Cleveland and New York is at Texas.

Around the League: • The Seattle Mariners have won 9 games straight (a season best).  Over those 9 games, they've scored 63 runs (7.0 runs per game).  Seattle catcher Ben Davis is 11-for-23 (.478) over the past 7 games. • Colorado's Todd Helton has 125 RBI's already on the season.  He's hitting .338 in the cluitch this year.  • Florida's A.J. Burnett leads ML pitchers with 5.71 hits per 9 innings.  The Marlin's ace has held right-handers to a paltry .135 average with 7 home runs in 188 innings pitched.  Curt Schilling leads the Majors' in fewest walks per 9 innings.  Schilling has walked just 20 batters in 210 innings.  His 21-3 record is also a Major League Best. • The Los Angeles Dodgers have made an amazing Wild-Card bid of late.  Before tonight's loss they'd won 9 straight, reducing their deficit to just 2.5 games behind Philadelphia.  The Dodgers as a team have hit .322 with the bases loaded this season. • Juan Pierre of the Rockies stole 4 bases against the Expos tonight.

BOXSCORE: 2002 Oakland Athletics At 2002 Cleveland Indians          8/22/2002

  Athletics          AB  R  H RBI AVG     Indians            AB  R  H RBI AVG
  R.Durham DH         5  0  0  0 .263     M.Lawton LF         4  0  1  1 .231 
  M.Ellis 2B          5  3  1  0 .288     O.Vizquel SS        5  1  1  0 .285 
  M.Tejada SS         5  2  3  1 .274     E.Burks DH          3  2  2  0 .298 
  E.Chavez 3B         4  0  0  0 .253     J.Thome 1B          2  2  2  1 .321 
  J.Dye RF            4  2  4  2 .276     K.Garcia RF         4  2  2  3 .295 
  D.Justice LF        3  1  1  4 .235     T.Fryman 3B         2  1  0  1 .208 
  S.Hatteberg 1B      5  0  1  0 .285     C.Crisp CF          4  1  2  1 .167 
  T.Long CF           3  0  2  1 .252     J.McDonald 2B       4  0  2  1 .285 
C-J.Mabry PH          1  0  0  0 .227     E.Diaz C            2  0  0  0 .212 
  G.Myers C           5  0  1  0 .194   A-B.Selby PH          1  0  0  1 .185 
D-E.Byrnes PR         0  0  0  0 .244   B-E.Perez C           1  0  0  0 .067 
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---     
         Totals      40  8 13  8                 Totals      32  9 12  9

A-Pinch Hit For Diaz In 6th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Selby In 7th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Long In 9th Inning
D-Pinch Ran For Myers In 9th Inning

Athletics....... 1 0 2  4 0 1  0 0 0  -  8 13  1
Indians......... 0 0 0  0 0 6  3 0    -  9 12  0

Athletics (71-57)        IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA  SCORESHEET
T.Hudson                  5 2/3  11   6   5   3   3   0 101   3.78  A1 D1
R.Rincon L(5-1) BS(5th)   0 1/3   1   3   3   2   0   1  17   3.50  D2 D5
C.Bradford                2       0   0   0   0   1   0  18   3.25  D6
Totals                    8      12   9   8   5   4   1

Indians (63-63)          IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA  SCORESHEET
J.Phillips                3 2/3   8   7   7   5   2   1  88   5.12  A1 C6
D.Burba WIN(5-9)          4       4   1   1   2   4   1  73   6.71  C7 E6
M.Wohlers HOLD(9th)       0 2/3   1   0   0   0   0   0   6   3.19  E7 E9
T.Mulholland SAVE(1st)    0 2/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   7   7.92  F1
Totals                    9      13   8   8   7   7   2

ATTENDANCE- 42,042 DATE- Thursday, August 22nd 2002 TIME- Night WEATHER- Good
UMPIRES- Jerry Meals, Larry Young, Rob Drake, Bill Miller
T- 3:50
LEFT ON BASE- Athletics:12  Indians: 5
DOUBLE PLAYS- Athletics: 3  Indians: 0
ERRORS- E.Chavez
DOUBLES- J.Thome(15th)
HOME RUNS- M.Tejada(25th), D.Justice(14th), K.Garcia(5th)
SACRIFICE FLIES- M.Lawton
WALKS- R.Durham, M.Ellis, E.Chavez, J.Dye, D.Justice-2, T.Long, E.Burks,
       J.Thome-2, T.Fryman-2
STRIKE OUTS- M.Ellis-3, E.Chavez, D.Justice, S.Hatteberg, G.Myers, M.Lawton,
             T.Fryman-2, J.McDonald
GIDP- O.Vizquel, K.Garcia, C.Crisp

THE NIGHTMARE IN CLEVELAND

CLEVELAND -- The Oakland A's extended their losing streak to 4 games in a lop-sided 8-2 loss to the Indians tonight.  The loss comes at a crucial moment in the A's schedule; if they lose even a few of their next 10 games their season could well be in the books. 

For the 4th straight game, Oakland stranded runners in scoring position left and right and could not pickup the needed hit.  John Mabry, who manager Maty McNeil trusted off the bench in a crucial situation in the 6th, grounded into a double play with the bases loaded, typifying Oakland's recent failures.  The team simply cannot execute.  Only Baltimore, Detroit, and Tampa Bay have lower team batting averages than Oakland's .252.  Worse yet, Oakland's on-base percentage as a team is a meager .323, translating to fewer and fewer runs.

"This is a watershed moment for our club," Manager Maty said after the game.  "We got three teams fighting for the wildcard and the team that executes best will win it.  It would be nothing short of tragic to approach September 4 or 5 games back in the wildcard with the season essentially over.  All our hopes hang on these next couple weeks.  I have faith in this team, but Barry Zito's performance tonight was embarrasing and certainly not ace-worthy.  We had a little discussion.  I need to see more fire."

---

Primary Player Statistics For 2002 Oakland Athletics Totals After 125 Games


NAME              BAVG  GM  AB   R   H 2B 3B HR RBI  BB  SO HB SH DP  SB CS  E
M.Ellis           .286  79 294  38  84 16  3  3  31  47  51  4  2  5   0  2 10
S.Hatteberg       .282 117 457  73 129 16  2 21  66  59  51  6  1  3   0  0  7
O.Saenz           .279  56 140  22  39  7  2  7  32   8  29 10  0  5   0  0  3
M.Tejada          .274 125 496  74 136 24  0 24  67  35  70 13  0 20   4  3 11
R.Hernandez       .263 101 315  53  83 25  0  9  40  43  47  6  2  8   0  0  6
M.Colangelo       .261   9  23   6   6  3  0  0   4   2   1  0  0  0   0  0  2
J.Dye             .259 101 367  58  95 17  4 20  64  45  81  6  0 16   0  0  4
E.Chavez          .255 123 459  65 117 17  3 25  66  50  92  0  0  9   2  0 13
L.Sutton          .250   1   4   0   1  1  0  0   1   0   3  0  0  0   0  0  0
T.Long            .245 104 331  43  81 14  5 11  31  27  52  1  0 11   2 12  4
E.Byrnes          .244  54  90  11  22  4  4  2  14   2  16  3  0  3   4  4  0
R.Durham          .238  21  84  12  20  5  0  0   9  10  17  1  2  1   7  1  0
J.Giambi          .235  39 136  20  32  4  0  8  20  27  33  2  0  5   0  0  1
D.Justice         .235  97 353  47  83 11  0 13  51  52  66  0  0 15   1  2  5
J.Mabry           .229  53 140  20  32  5  0 12  28  12  32  1  0  5   0  0  0
A.Piatt           .227  25  66   9  15  6  0  2   7   9  20  1  0  1   1  0  0
R.Velarde         .225  44 102  19  23  4  0  4  14   9  18  3  2  2   0  0  4
F.Menechino       .214  19  56  10  12  3  0  3   5   7  12  0  1  1   0  0  0
G.Myers           .192  54 130  16  25  2  0  9  20  21  40  0  0  1   0  0  3
C.Pena            .181  35 105   9  19  2  0  4  14  10  31  4  0  4   0  1  0
E.German          .077  10  26   3   2  0  0  0   1   1   8  1  1  0   0  0  0
C.McKay           ----   0   0   0   0  0  0  0   0   0   0  0  0  0   0  0  0
J.Flores          ----   0   0   0   0  0  0  0   0   0   0  0  0  0   0  0  0
J.Grabowski       ----   0   0   0   0  0  0  0   0   0   0  0  0  0   0  0  0
ALL PITCHERS      .160 125  25   1   4  0  0  0   3   0   9  0  4  0   0  0  6
----------------- ---- --- --- --- --- -- -- -- --- --- --- -- -- -- --- -- --
TEAM TOTALS       .252    4199    1060    23    588     779    15     21    79
                       125     609    186   177     476     62   115     25


NAME               ERA  W  L   PCT   G GS CG SH SV    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO
M.Bowie           0.00  0  0  ----   7  0  0  0  0   7.1   4   0   0  0   2   4
T.Lilly           0.64  2  0 1.000   2  2  0  0  0  14.0   8   1   1  1   0  10
J.Mecir           3.27  2  2  .500  40  0  0  0  2  52.1  42  23  19  6  25  40
R.Rincon          3.38  1  0 1.000   8  0  0  0  0   8.0   5   3   3  2   3   9
C.Bradford        3.39  3  5  .375  44  0  0  0  4  69.0  63  28  26  2  16  49
B.Zito            3.48 14  8  .636  26 26  1  1  0 178.2 157  76  69 23  70 146
M.Mulder          3.53 13  6  .684  21 21  5  4  0 153.0 137  62  60 17  40 134
T.Hudson          3.66 12  9  .571  28 27  4  1  0 194.1 206  83  79 19  52 128
C.Lidle           3.81  8  6  .571  22 22  1  0  0 139.1 126  64  59 18  36  77
M.Venafro         3.90  6  4  .600  30  0  0  0  0  32.1  28  16  14  4   7  14
M.Magnante        3.95  0  1  .000  29  0  0  0  3  27.1  33  13  12  0   7  11
A.Harang          4.07  3  4  .429  16 14  0  0  1  77.1  78  42  35  5  43  63
M.Holtz           4.22  0  0  ----  11  0  0  0  0  10.2  13   5   5  2   4   6
B.Koch            4.31  2  4  .333  51  0  0  0 22  62.2  65  33  30  7  33  62
M.Fyhrie          6.46  0  3  .000   7  4  0  0  0  23.2  26  19  17  2  21  12
J.Tam             6.66  0  0  ----  24  0  0  0  0  25.2  45  19  19  3   9   8
E.Hiljus          7.34  3  4  .429   9  9  0  0  0  38.0  43  31  31 10  27  32
ALL NON-PITCHERS  ----  0  0  ----   0  0  0  0  0   0.0   0   0   0  0   0   0
Team                                          4                   +0
----------------- ---- -- -- ----- --- -- -- -- -- ----- --- --- --- -- --- ---
TEAM TOTALS       3.87    56       125    11    32      1079     479    395
                       69     .552    125    10   1113.2     518    121     805

PLAYOFF PICTURE BEGINS TO TAKE FOCUS

With just 6 weeks (38 games) remaining in the regular season schedule, the 2002 playoff scenerio is becoming clearer by the day.  It seems all but certain that the Red Sox will win the A.L. East title.  Boston (83-39) owns the Majors' best record and leads 2nd place New York by 14 games.  In the Central, the Twins own a tiny 2.5 game lead over Chicago, and in the West, Anaheim leads Seattle by 5.5.

In all likelihood, Anaheim will win the A.L. West, but its not a foregone conclusion.  Oakland and Anaheim still have 7 games to play before the season's end.  But if Oakland cannot overcome their 6.5 game deficit, they'll have to shoot for a Wild Card.

The Wild Card race is a virtual deadlock tie.  New York and Seattle are tied for 1st and Oakland is a mere 1 game back.  Oakland and Seattle have similar schedules to finish out the season but New York has by far the easiest road.  Their final 12 games will come against the Devil Rays, Tigers, and Orioles.  They could skate to a Wild Card title if Oakland and Seattle can't pad a solid lead going into those last two weeks.

But Oakland has an easy schedule of their own beginning NOW.  Their next 10 games will come against sub-.500 teams: Indians, Tigers, Royals.  They need to easily dispose of these teams before the big series against Anaheim and Seattle begin.

Odds of Making Playoffs:

A.L.:
Boston:  97%
Anaheim: 88%
Minnesota: 71%
Chicago: 39%
New York: 36%
Seattle: 33%
Oakland: 31%
Devil Rays: Mathematically Eliminated

N.L.:
Atlanta: 94%
Arizona: 93%
St. Louis: 85%
Philadelphia: 55%
Los Angeles: 24%
San Fran.: 10%

                                                                       


STANDINGS:
AL East                     WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC# WON LOS  PCT  WON LOS  PCT
2002 Boston BOA              83  39  .680 ----    27    70  52 .574   93  69 .574
2002 New York (AL) NYA       69  53  .566 14.0          77  45 .631  103  58 .640
2002 Toronto TOA             54  68  .443 29.0          52  70 .426   78  84 .481
2002 Baltimore BAA           51  70  .421 31.5          59  62 .488   67  95 .414
2002 Tampa Bay TBA           34  89  .276 49.5          41  82 .333   55 106 .342

                                                      ACTUAL-TODATE  ACTUAL-TOTAL
AL Central                  WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC# WON LOS  PCT  WON LOS  PCT
2002 Minnesota MNA           70  55  .560 ----    36    73  52 .584   94  67 .584
2002 Chicago (AL) CHA        67  57  .540  2.5          58  66 .468   81  81 .500
2002 Cleveland CLA           61  61  .500  7.5          54  68 .443   74  88 .457
2002 Kansas City KCA         49  75  .395 20.5          50  74 .403   62 100 .383
2002 Detroit DEA             44  79  .358 25.0          47  76 .382   55 106 .342

                                                      ACTUAL-TODATE  ACTUAL-TOTAL
AL West                     WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC# WON LOS  PCT  WON LOS  PCT
2002 Anaheim ANA             75  48  .610 ----    34    74  49 .602   99  63 .611
2002 Seattle SEA             70  54  .565  5.5          75  49 .605   93  69 .574
2002 Oakland OAA             69  55  .556  6.5          73  51 .589  103  59 .636
2002 Texas TEA               56  66  .459 18.5          54  68 .443   72  90 .444

                                                      ACTUAL-TODATE  ACTUAL-TOTAL
NL East                     WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC# WON LOS  PCT  WON LOS  PCT
2002 Atlanta ATN             82  40  .672 ----    30    79  43 .648  101  59 .631
2002 Philadelphia PHN        72  51  .585 10.5          59  64 .480   80  81 .497
2002 Florida FLN             62  61  .504 20.5          60  63 .488   79  83 .488
2002 New York (NL) NYN       58  65  .472 24.5          58  65 .472   75  86 .466
2002 Montreal MON            46  77  .374 36.5          61  62 .496   83  79 .512

                                                      ACTUAL-TODATE  ACTUAL-TOTAL
NL Central                  WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC# WON LOS  PCT  WON LOS  PCT
2002 St. Louis SLN           66  55  .545 ----    36    68  53 .562   97  65 .599
2002 Houston HON             62  61  .504  5.0          64  59 .520   84  78 .519
2002 Cincinnati CIN          57  65  .467  9.5          63  59 .516   78  84 .481
2002 Chicago (NL) CHN        56  66  .459 10.5          52  70 .426   67  95 .414
2002 Milwaukee MLN           54  69  .439 13.0          43  80 .350   56 106 .346
2002 Pittsburgh PIN          52  72  .419 15.5          54  70 .435   72  89 .447

                                                      ACTUAL-TODATE  ACTUAL-TOTAL
NL West                     WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC# WON LOS  PCT  WON LOS  PCT
2002 Arizona ARN             80  44  .645 ----    29    78  46 .629   98  64 .605
2002 Los Angeles LAN         70  54  .565 10.0          71  53 .573   92  70 .568
2002 San Francisco SFN       68  54  .557 11.0          66  56 .541   95  66 .590
2002 Colorado CON            59  64  .480 20.5          58  65 .472   73  89 .451
2002 San Diego SDN           47  76  .382 32.5          52  71 .423   66  96 .407


AL Wild Card Standings      WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC#
2002 New York (AL) NYA       69  53  .566 ----    40 
2002 Seattle SEA             70  54  .565 ----       
2002 Oakland OAA             69  55  .556  1.0       
2002 Chicago (AL) CHA        67  57  .540  3.0       
2002 Cleveland CLA           61  61  .500  8.0       
2002 Texas TEA               56  66  .459 13.0       

NL Wild Card Standings      WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC#
2002 Philadelphia PHN        72  51  .585 ----    37 
2002 Los Angeles LAN         70  54  .565  2.5       
2002 San Francisco SFN       68  54  .557  3.5       
2002 Houston HON             62  61  .504 10.0       
2002 Florida FLN             62  61  .504 10.0       
2002 Colorado CON            59  64  .480 13.0       

TERRY LONG SHINES IN 5TH STRAIGHT WIN

Not wearing his gay glasses

OAKLAND -- Terrence Long, who looks a little bit like a giraffe with glasses, delivered big in Oakland's 8-4 victory over Toronto today.  Long, who's been nothing but a total liability jack-off all season, finished 3-for-3 with a home run and 3 ribs.  Barry Zito (14-7) got the win for Oakland despite allowing 5 walks and two jacks.

Oakland found themselves down 4-0 early on because Zito was being stupid.  But Oakland's offense responded with four runs in the 7th to take a commanding lead.  Hatteberg and Chavez also hit jacks for Oakland.

"I want a 10 game winning streak," said Manager McNeil.  "We got a big series against Minnesota coming up soon which will be tough, but I'd like to see us continue the trend against the White Sox and Indians.  I'm not looking forward to the trip to Cleveland.  It's such a shitty town and the fish have AIDS."

Around the League: • The Devil Rays have been mathematically eliminated from winning the A.L. East.  They are now a jaw-dropping 49.5 games back with 44 games to go.  They are on pace to finish 42-120, which would tie the 1962 Mets as the shittiest team in baseball history.  Even if they won all their remaining games, they would still finish under .500 and continue to look like total clowns.  The Devil Rays owned a 13 game losing streak earlier in the year.  The team as-a-whole has hit .197 against left-handed pitching.  Only the Detroit Lions are a shittier sports team. • Jim Thome has been absolutely murdering the ball.  The Indians' first sacker has slugged 45 home runs and it's not even mid-August.  He hit 14 home runs in the month of July and has had a ton of multiple home-run games (I don't feel like counting them all).  He had a 4-game home runs streak from 7/18 to 7/20. • Miguel Tejada has become Major League Baseball's finest defensive shortstop.  He has successfully handled 92.5% of his chance plays, edging Omar Vizquel of the Indians at 92.4. • Dave Roberts of the Dodgers' stole 5 bases on 7/27.  He's stolen 51 this season, short of only Luis Castillo (56) for the ML lead.  • If the season were to end today, these would be the playoff matchups:  AL: Boston (80-37) vs. Minnesota (69-51) & Anaheim (73-46) vs. New York (68-49); NL: Arizona (79-40) vs. Philadelphia (70-48) & Atlanta (78-40) vs. St. Louis (63-53).

BOXSCORE: 2002 Toronto Blue Jays At 2002 Oakland Athletics          8/13/2002

  Blue Jays          AB  R  H RBI AVG     Athletics          AB  R  H RBI AVG
  S.Stewart LF        5  0  1  1 .248     R.Durham DH         5  1  1  0 .270 
  D.Berg SS           2  0  1  0 .249     S.Hatteberg 1B      5  2  3  1 .281 
  J.Cruz Jr. RF       4  0  0  1 .251     D.Justice LF        4  1  1  1 .237 
  T.Wilson C          4  0  0  0 .247     E.Chavez 3B         5  1  2  1 .252 
  E.Hinske 3B         3  0  1  0 .251     M.Tejada SS         4  2  2  1 .269 
  V.Wells CF          4  1  1  1 .274     J.Mabry RF          4  0  1  1 .234 
  J.Phelps DH         4  1  1  1 .358     M.Ellis 2B          3  0  0  0 .288 
  O.Hudson 2B         3  1  1  0 .351     T.Long CF           3  1  3  3 .243 
A-K.Huckaby PH        1  0  0  0 .259     G.Myers C           3  0  0  0 .198 
  B.Lesher 1B         2  1  0  0 .063                                         
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---     
         Totals      32  4  6  4                 Totals      36  8 13  8

A-Pinch Hit For Hudson In 9th Inning

Blue Jays....... 0 0 2  2 0 0  0 0 0  -  4  6  0
Athletics....... 0 0 0  1 2 1  4 0    -  8 13  1

Blue Jays (52-66)        IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA  SCORESHEET
C.Carpenter LOSS(3-6)     6       9   7   7   2   2   3 125   4.43  A1 D3
J.Miller                  0 1/3   2   1   1   0   0   0  10   4.08  D4 D6
M.Hendrickso              1 2/3   2   0   0   0   0   0  30   2.63  D7
Totals                    8      13   8   8   2   2   3

Athletics (68-52)        IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA  SCORESHEET
B.Zito WIN(14-7)          7       5   4   4   5   7   2 117   3.21  A1 D4
M.Bowie                   2       1   0   0   0   2   0  23   0.00  D5
Totals                    9       6   4   4   5   9   2

ATTENDANCE- 41,039 DATE- Tuesday, August 13th 2002 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
UMPIRES- Rob Drake, Bill Miller, Jerry Meals, Larry Young
T- 2:49
LEFT ON BASE- Blue Jays: 6  Athletics: 8
DOUBLE PLAYS- Blue Jays: 0  Athletics: 2
ERRORS- E.Chavez
DOUBLES- T.Long(14th)
HOME RUNS- V.Wells(18th), J.Phelps(9th), S.Hatteberg(20th), E.Chavez(25th),
           T.Long(11th)
SACRIFICE FLIES- T.Long
WALKS- D.Berg-2, E.Hinske, B.Lesher-2, D.Justice, G.Myers
HIT BY PITCH- M.Ellis
STRIKE OUTS- S.Stewart, T.Wilson-2, E.Hinske, J.Phelps-3, O.Hudson, B.Lesher,
             R.Durham, M.Ellis
GIDP- T.Wilson, V.Wells
WILD PITCHES- C.Carpenter

A'S SWEEP THE BRONX

AROUND THE LEAGUE: Curt Schilling picked up his 20th victory tonight.   He is now 20-2.  Alex Rodriguez hit 2 home runs tonight.  He now has 42.

BRONX -- After losing three straight in Boston, the Athletics swept the wild-card leading Yankees in 3 games, narrowing the wild-card deficit to 2 games.  Mulder, Lidle, and Hudson contained the Yankee offense, outscoring New York 19-10.

The sweep was a huge lift for an Oakland team that has failed to find its groove since May.  Ray Durham finished the game 3-for-4 with 2 runs and an RBI.  Hudson picked up the victory.  He went 8 innings, allowing just 3 earned runs.

The A's now head home for a big homestand against Toronto and Chicago.  August is the "must-win month" according to Manager Maty.

---

BOXSCORE: 2002 Oakland Athletics At 2002 New York (AL) Yankees      8/11/2002

  Athletics          AB  R  H RBI AVG     Yankees            AB  R  H RBI AVG
  R.Durham DH         4  2  3  1 .273     A.Soriano 2B        5  1  3  2 .277 
  S.Hatteberg 1B      5  0  1  2 .277     D.Jeter SS          5  0  2  1 .294 
  M.Tejada SS         6  0  2  1 .268     J.Giambi DH         4  0  0  0 .310 
  E.Chavez 3B         5  0  1  0 .252     B.Williams CF       4  0  2  0 .330 
  J.Dye RF            4  2  1  1 .256     J.Posada C          3  0  0  0 .223 
  D.Justice LF        4  1  2  0 .233     R.Ventura 1B        4  0  1  0 .197 
  M.Ellis 2B          3  1  0  0 .287     R.White LF          4  0  0  0 .277 
  T.Long CF           5  1  0  0 .238     J.Vander Wal RF     4  0  1  0 .236 
  R.Hernandez C       4  3  3  4 .271     E.Wilson 3B         3  2  1  0 .136 
                                        A-C.Widger PH         1  0  1  0 .500 
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---     
         Totals      40 10 13  9                 Totals      37  3 11  3

A-Pinch Hit For Wilson In 9th Inning

Athletics....... 1 4 0  0 3 0  1 1 0  - 10 13  0
Yankees......... 0 1 0  2 0 0  0 0 0  -  3 11  2

Athletics (66-52)        IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA  SCORESHEET
T.Hudson WIN(12-8)        8      10   3   3   2   6   0 128   3.67  A1 D8
J.Tam                     1       1   0   0   0   0   0  17   7.71  D9
Totals                    9      11   3   3   2   6   0

Yankees (67-49)          IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA  SCORESHEET
M.Mussina LOSS(11-9)      4 2/3   8   8   6   4   5   0 108   3.92  A1 C9
M.Thurman                 0       1   0   0   0   0   0   4   2.49  D1 D1
S.Hitchcock               1 1/3   2   1   1   3   0   0  31   3.12  D2 E1
J.Weaver                  3       2   1   1   2   1   0  49   3.02  E2
Totals                    9      13  10   8   9   6   0

ATTENDANCE- 54,631 DATE- Sunday, August 11th 2002 TIME- Day WEATHER- Good
UMPIRES- Rob Drake, Bill Miller, Jerry Meals, Larry Young
T- 3:51
LEFT ON BASE- Athletics:13  Yankees: 9
DOUBLE PLAYS- Athletics: 1  Yankees: 1
ERRORS- J.Posada, E.Wilson
DOUBLES- S.Hatteberg(16th), M.Tejada(23rd), D.Justice(10th), A.Soriano-3(27th),
         C.Widger(1st)
STOLEN BASES- R.Durham(26th)
WALKS- R.Durham-2, S.Hatteberg, E.Chavez, J.Dye, D.Justice, M.Ellis-2,
       R.Hernandez, J.Giambi, J.Posada
HIT BY PITCH- J.Dye
STRIKE OUTS- S.Hatteberg, M.Tejada-2, E.Chavez, D.Justice, T.Long, D.Jeter-2,
             J.Giambi, J.Vander Wal-2, E.Wilson
GIDP- E.Chavez, R.White
WILD PITCHES- M.Mussina