The Fifth Liners

In the Seattle Mariners 4-3 win over the Oakland A's yesterday, there was a collectors moment for all Mariners fans as 29 year old star Felix Hernandez became the 4th youngest player to reach 2000 career strikeouts when he struck out Sam Fuld in the 5th inning! The Seattle skipper is always capable of producing magic on the mound, 3000 seems only a stone throw away now!

After Oakland A's third baseman, Brett Lawrie previously injured their shortshop- the Kansas City Royals were out for blood during their 5-0 loss at Kauffman Stadium yesterday! Pitcher Yordano Venture made their anger clear when in the 4th inning he drilled a fastball into Lawrie's shoulder ! A bench clearing brawl on broke out between the two sides and Ventura was swiftly ejected to wild cheers from Royals fans! Some will perhaps view this behaviour as childish and shake their heads at the petty score settling, but it is great to see a team standing up for one of their own! It would prove to be their only positive result of the night.

Soon both the American and National League Division series will be upon us in the MLB, currently the Baltimore Orioles, Oakland A's and Kansas City Royals are currently tearing up the American League and are almost assured to feature in the playoffs. Meanwhile in the National League the LA Dodgers led by the dynamite pitching of Clayton Kershaw are dominating the West Division and are set be joined by a resurgent Milwaukee Brewers and the Washington Nationals (Expo fans go wild!). But who will make up the other four teams contending for a final playoff slot? Fans we have ourselves a wild card race! American League Wild Card Standings LA Angels Detroit Tigers Seattle Mariners Toronto Blue Jays New York Yankees  Prediction: This league is one the more closely contested one with five teams who are only 3.5 games away from causing an upset to each other. The LA Angels are always a consistent team and they would have to be my first pick for a wild card slot, particularly a...

Hockey season has been and gone, so making the most of Alex Watson: Toronto Correspondent, here's a question about the Blue Jays, Canada's only representatives in the MLB: "The Blue Jays haven't seen World Series success since the heady days of the early 90s, does the team have the potential to challenge again? Or is it destined to wallow in mediocrity, surviving on being the only MLB franchise in the county?" Alex's Answer The city of Toronto still casts its mind back to the night of October 23, 1993 when Joe Carter 's three run homer at the bottom of the ninth inning sealed back to back world series titles for the Blue Jays! As the fireworks exploded over the Toronto SkyDome, the city could finally consider itself among the elite of baseball. But since then the Jays have suffered a 20 year playoff drought and have not placed higher than second in the American League East Division since then. Despite some fine individual players such as multiple ...