Triple Crown, Cy Young and Wild Card Watch

Jose Reyes (.33079)
Reds at Mets, 4:10 p.m.

Cliff Lee (2.38 ERA, 232 strikeouts)
Braves lead Cardinals by one game.
Phillies at Braves, 4:10 p.m.

Albert Pujols (37 homers)
Cardinals at Astros, 5:05 p.m.

Ryan Braun (.33273)
Pirates at Brewers, 5:10 p.m.

Matt Kemp: .32427, 37 homers
Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m.

Red Sox lead Rays by one game.
Red Sox lead Angels by three games.

Red Sox at Orioles, 4:05 p.m.
Yankees at Rays, 4:10 p.m.
Rangers at Angels, 7:05 p.m.

Hope you know what the headline above refers to.

  • Every National League batting race scenario you can imagine is provided by Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. My personal nightmare: Matt Kemp gets 10 hits over the next three games, but Albert Pujols homers in his last at-bat.
  • Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports has two good pieces today, on McCourt v. Selig and on Kemp very much not v. Newcombe.
  • Jay Jaffe of Baseball Prospectus has a good piece on Kemp, Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers. Among other things, he notes that when “you factor in opponent quality and ballpark, (Kershaw) has done better against a slightly tougher slate of hitters than Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee” — a reminder that just because Kershaw has gotten to pitch against the San Francisco and San Diego offenses this year doesn’t mean he’s had it easy.
  • Orel Hershiser and Eddie Murray make Chris Jaffe’s “Ten worst career-ending performances of all time” list at the Hardball Times.