Yardwork: The Lifeless Meltdown of the Atlanta Braves

Red Sox 8, O’s 7 — There are two stories here. First, catcher Ryan Lavarnway going 2-for-4 with two homers as well as a nice play to nail Matt Weiters at first base in the ninth inning after some confusion with Papelbon. Second, the pesky Orioles in general, who simply refuse to go away quietly. All kidding aside, despite another deflating season, Oriole fans must be somewhat proud to see that these guys haven’t just laid down. Adam Jones and Nick Markakis working Papelbon for a combined 21 pitches in their ninth inning atbats — he threw 28 pitches in total — illustrates that point quite well.

Cards 13, Astros 6 — The Cards were inexplicably down 5-0 going into the fourth inning but after presumably checking Twitter to see just how badly they were being trashed, found some life and poured it on to ensure a tie for the NL wildcard. Tonight it’s Chris Carpenter against Brett Myers. The Braves have it much easier though as Tim Hudson will be throwing opposite Joe freaking Blanton. Having said that, I have zero confidence the Braves will win this game.

Rays 5, Yanks 3 — A triple play to keep the Yankee damage minimal and the score at 3-2 in the sixth inning? But of course. Unbelievably huge momentum swing that naturally led to a Matt Joyce three-run bomb. The Yankees won’t have any postseason pitchers going tonight, so you can already chalk up a win for the Rays with David Price on the mound and every quality arm available. In Baltimore, Alfredo Simon will look to do the impossible and outpitch Jon Lester. Simon did go eight innings and allow three runs in his last outing against a hot Tigers team, so there’s that. But keep in mind, he is Alfredo Simon.

Additionally, Prince Fielder went deep three times last night against those adorable Pirates.

[Photo via Getty]