6. Detroit Tigers (63-52) (LW 5) – The Tigers’ pitching staff is spreading the injury bug. Starter Anibal Sanchez strained his right pectoral muscle on Friday, followed by reliever Joakim Soria going down with an oblique strain. Both are on the DL and could miss a month.
7. Washington Nationals (63-53) (LW 7) – Denard Span has taken charge of the Washington offense. In his first nine games of August, he hit .462/.463/.538 with 11 runs and three stolen bases.
8. Toronto Blue Jays (63-56) (LW 10) – The Blue Jays’ bullpen ERA of 4.20 ranks 25th in baseball, but the Toronto staff threw 14 2/3 shutout innings in Sunday’s 19-inning win over the Tigers, while also setting the mark for longest game in franchise history.
9. St. Louis Cardinals (62-54) (LW 9) – Cardinals pitchers need to do a better job of keeping the ball in the park. The 11 home runs the staff has allowed in August is tied for the second-most in the National League, and nine of those were given up in the first two games of their weekend series with Baltimore which were both losses.
10. Kansas City Royals (63-53) (LW 15) – The Royals are on fire, winning seven in a row and 10 of 11. Now, Kansas City is within a half game of first place Detroit.
