Around The Majors- Monday

Happy Labor Day everyone! It's time for that last trip to the beach, that last chance to fire up the grill, and a great opportunity to kick back with a cold one and watch some big matches in all the pennant races. But before I tell you what's on tap for today, I'll take a look at the standings and how the pennant races are taking shape.

Standings
Boston has a 6 game lead over the Yankees in the AL East. Toronto has won 7 of 10 to be respectable. Cleveland has won 8 of 10 and leads Detroit by 5.5 in the AL Central. Seattle has dropped 9 in a row and trail the Angels by 6.5 in the AL West. Atlanta has lost 7 of 10 and are now 7.5 games behind the Mets in the NL East. Philadelphia is 4 out in the race. The Cubs are 1.5 ahead of Milwaukee and 2 clear of St Louis in the NL Central. The Padres and Diamondbacks are 4 games ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West. The Yankees are 2 games clear of Seattle for the AL Wild Card and 3 ahead of Detroit. The Padres/D-Backs are 3 ahead of the Phillies, 4 ahead of the Dodgers, and 5 ahead of Colorado in the NL Wild Card race.

Monday On Tap
Huge series starts in The Bronx as Roger Clemens take on King Felix Hernandez and the Mariners. Philly and Atlanta begin an elimination series in the NL East with Jaime Moyer going for the Phils. Sabathia and Santana lock up in a Labor Day Duel, and Pedro Martinez makes his first start after rotator cuff surgery for the Mets as they face the tough Aaron Harang and the Reds. Dice-K Matuszaka faces Toronto up North, and James Shields faces Baltimore. Oswalt and Sheets match up in Milwaukee, Cain and Francis in Denver, Esteban Loaiza goes for the Dodgers against Carlos Zambrano, and Maddux faces Owings in Phoenix. Gaudin faces Ervin Santana in LA.