What's at Stake: The Cardinals hold a one game lead over the Pirates, who remain on the outside looking in as of August 26th. The Pirates will throw their best at the Cardinals in hopes of utilizing their home field advantage to leap frog the Cardinals in the Wild Card race.
Sep. 3-5- New York @ Tampa Bay
What's at Stake: The Yankees lead in the AL East is substantial, but the Rays are closing in. The AL East is not out of the question and two or three wins in this series for the Rays will not only help them fend off the four teams chasing them in the Wild Card race, they will put some added pressure on the Yankees.
Sep. 7-9- Detroit @ Los Angeles
What's at Stake: The Angels need a big month of September just to get even with the teams chasing the two wild card spots. One of those teams is the Detroit Tigers, who are in two races, one for the wild card and one for the AL Central. Hopefully we'll see a Justin Verlander/Jared Weaver duel in this series.
Sep. 7-9- Los Angeles @ San Francisco
What's at Stake: Everything. This is the first big series new additions Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett will play in as members of the Dodgers and it comes against the team they are chasing in the NL West, the rival Giants. The pitching match ups should be tremendous as well as the pitcher v.s. hitter match ups including Matt Cain having to fight through a 3-4-5 combo of Matt Kemp, Adrian Gonzalez and Hanley Ramirez. Baseball at it's best will be on display in this series.
Sep. 10-13- Detroit @ Chicago
What's at Stake: Both clubs are surging as we head into September, so the winner of the AL Central will come down to whether Justin Verlander will be enough to stabilize a sometimes shaky Tigers rotation and will that be enough to out pitch the tremendous duo of Chris Sale and Jake Peavy that has gotten the White Sox this far.
Sep. 14-16- St. Louis @ Los Angeles
What's at Stake: The Dodgers continue to muscle their way into the playoffs while the Cardinals hope to rekindle some more September magic to get back into the playoffs.
Sep. 18-20- Los Angeles @ Washington
What's at Stake: Stephen Strasburg will be shut down by around this time of year, so while the Nationals try to avoid a major collapse in September, the Dodgers look to capitalize on not facing Strasburg in their quest to make the playoffs.
Sep. 21-23- Chicago @ Los Angeles
What's at Stake: There will come a time when the Angels need to put up or shut up. Talent wise, they are the best team in baseball and if they get hot at the right time, it may be very difficult for an anomaly like the White Sox to keep up with the Angels if they get hot at the right time, severely impacting the AL Central race.
Sep. 28-30- Tampa Bay @ Chicago
What's at Stake: The Rays young pitching staff will be tested in the coming weeks when the Rays need to stave off many teams including the White Sox as they attempt to make the playoffs for the fourth time in five years.
Oct. 1-3- Baltimore @ Tampa Bay
What's at Stake: The AL Wild Card, assuming both teams are still around, will come down to this matchup right here. Both teams are tied as of August 26th and it will be very intriguing to see whether Baltimore's no name pitching staff can continue to keep pace up to this point and sneak into the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
Oct. 1-3- Atlanta @ Pittsburgh
What's at Stake: The Braves could be fighting to win the NL East because stranger things have happened in baseball. The Pirates also look to be in a position where taking two out of three could be enough to get them into that fifth and final wild card slot.
Oct. 1-3- San Francisco @ Los Angles
What's at Stake: Baseball's best race comes to a climax in the last week of the season. Odds are these two teams are within a game of each other and they will only be fighting for the NL West title because the final wild card should come down St. Louis and Pittsburgh. With everything on the line, get ready for what should be one of the most thrilling ends to a baseball season.
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