Yes, it’s true. Mauer shook off a sluggish August with a massive September, hitting .388 with 16 RBI and 16 walks and a phenomenal 1060 OPS, to pull within two points of Miggy for the AL Batting Title. While Cabrera is home and clear with a nine-RBI lead, he’s only tied for the home run crown and now the batting average lead is getting rather slim. This puppy’s going to the wire.

Well, the second baseman who has generally entrenched himself in the three-hole in the Yankee lineup of late, cooled off in July, was a tad better in August, but has struggled in September. The second half has not been kind to Cano.

The Braves gave him a serious beatdown in what proved to be Halladay’s second shortest start ever (1 2/3 IP) in 376 career starts and his shortest ever that didn’t involve coming out early because of injury. It was an absolutely awful time for Doc to turn in a stinker as the loss dropped Philly four back in the Wild Card race with just 10 games remaining after – against all reason – the team had clawed its way back into postseason contention with four straight wins and a 12-3 run over the last 15 games.

Since then, Hughes has been Mr. Inconsistency. He took back-to-back beat downs in Detroit and Toronto, then proceeded to right the ship with strong performances against Boston, the White Sox and Toronto to nearly carve his ERA back under 4.00.

Boston has now fallen 7.5 games behind the third-place Orioles as the prospect of a Wild Card spot slips further away. If not for a Toronto squad that is having even greater struggles, surely the BoSox would again be making a push for the AL East cellar.

He’s been on a serious roll since mid-July (seven straight scoreless outings, five of them hitless), and now that he’s survived the non-waiver trade deadline (there had been talk that San Francisco was very interested in him), Perez’s value for the remainder of the season has been solidified.

So here we are, at the end of July and on the cusp of the trade deadline, and the Phillies continue to struggle in last place in the NL East, now 12.5 games behind the second-place Braves after getting swept in Atlanta this weekend. We can be generous and say that the club’s offense has been middling.