Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.You Oughta Know ...
The White Sox, Rays and Marlins aren't irrelevant yet.
All three teams faced near must-win games Wednesday, and all came through -- late.
Chicago, which would have fallen eight games out in the AL Central and 4 1/2 behind second-place Minnesota, rallied against Twins closer Joe Nathan with four runs in the ninth for a 4-2 victory.
"Hopefully we start playing better and have a little more fun, at least have a little more fun," [Sox manager Ozzie] Guillen said. "You think we're out [of post-season contention]. People think we're out, just go out there and enjoy it. Hopefully things turn around."
Tampa Bay entered the night six games behind Boston in the AL wild-card chase. A loss would have dropped the Rays seven out with 30 to play, and they let a four-run lead turn into a tie game in the eighth inning.
Then Carlos Pena doubled, Pat Burrell singled and Evan Longoria homered, keeping alive Tampa Bay's faint hopes of repeating as AL champs.
"Everything's big now, every pitch is huge," Burrell said. "We put ourselves in that situation, and you can't be surprised by anything at this point. We have to go for it every time we step on the field. We've got a lot of ground to make up – some of which I think we're capable of doing, and we might need a little help."Meanwhile, further south in Florida, the Marlins were letting a ninth-inning lead get away, as the Braves' Yunel Escobar homered to tie the game. But Wes Helms, who had entered in a double switch in the top of the ninth, homered with one out in the bottom of the inning.
That prevented Florida from dropping to six games out in the NL wild-card standings -- tied for fourth with the Cubs -- and three back of Atlanta.
"It felt like we won that game but we didn't," Braves manager Bobby Cox said.From the Trainer's Room ...
The same day the Rangers found out star third baseman Michael Young will be out at least two weeks with a strained hamstring, slugger Josh Hamilton had to come out of their game with a sore lower back.
Hamilton hopes to be in the lineup Friday in Cleveland. He's been receiving treatment on his back all week.Hamilton had been heating up, it seemed, batting .342 in August and homering Tuesday to snap an drought of 99 homerless at-bats.
"I'm doing everything I can to make it feel better," said Hamilton, who doubled and scored before leaving. "It seems like the more I run, the worse it feels. It's good we've got a day off tomorrow."
Numbers Game ...
Alex Rodriguez got his 2,500th career hit Wednesday, a fifth-inning single at Baltimore. And that means A-Rod is now tied with former teammate Gary Sheffield for the fewest triples by a player with 2,500 or more hits: 27.
In Their Own Words ...
"It's been a horrible season. It's been a horrible season for me and a horrible season pretty much for everybody." -- Royals outfielder Jose Guillen, who left a 10-4 loss to the Athletics with a sore hamstring four innings after starter Brian Bannister had to depart with "shoulder fatigue."
Advance Scouting ...
In his first two starts for the Cardinals, John Smoltz drew San Diego and Washington -- the worst offense and the worst team in the National League, respectively. Thursday night he gets more of a test when St. Louis hosts Milwaukee, third in the league in runs scored (2:15 p.m. ET). Then again, Smoltz has never lost to the Brewers, going 3-0 with six saves and a 2.84 ERA in 15 appearances (five starts) against them.
