Teams that were sellers at the Trade Deadline are giving young players an opportunity to show what they can do, and fans of playoff hopefuls are thinking about next year a bit, too. The 2014 draftees are making their pro debuts, leading to questions about performances from those newbies.

How important is the month of August? Here’s a look at how the past 10 World Series winners did in the pivotal second-to-last month in the season.

Rangers top prospect Joey Gallo and Rockies top prospect Jon Gray will meet for the first time in their careers on Friday when Double-A Frisco plays host to Tulsa.

Hyun-Jin Ryu led a combined two-hit shutout, Yasiel Puig made a clutch catch to stave off an Angels rally and Adrian Gonzalez and Hanley Ramirez each had two RBIs as the Dodgers rolled to their third straight win over the Angels on Thursday night in Anaheim.

The Mariners muscled up with four home runs on Thursday and rookie Roenis Elias rode that support to his ninth win of the season, as Seattle rolled to a 13-3 victory over the White Sox at Safeco Field.

Jon Lester threw a three-hit shutout at the Coliseum on Thursday, walking two and striking out eight as the A’s downed the Twins, 3-0, in the first of four.

By completing a three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-2, on Thursday night, Kansas City surged to within 2 1/2 games of the American League Central lead and took over the second Wild Card position in the standings.

Kolten Wong spent the rain delay Thursday evening on the phone with his father, who sat in a boarded house in Hilo, Hawaii, awaiting the arrival of a pair of hurricanes.

With the tying runs on base, ace Adam Wainwright rose to the occasion, freezing Yoenis Cespedes with the tying runs on base to close the seventh and set the Cardinals up for a 5-2 win over Boston. Kolten Wong paced the offense with his two-homer night to help cap a winning homestand in front of 44,570 at Busch Stadium.

Blue Jays outfielder Melky Cabrera is considered day to day after he was hit by a pitch on the right elbow during Thursday night’s 2-1 loss to the Orioles.

Marlins reliever Dan Jennings was hospitalized with a concussion after being struck on the left side of his head by a line drive in the seventh inning on Thursday night. Jennings underwent a CT scan, which was negative.

Edinson Volquez allowed just one hit and struck out seven as the Pirates secured another victory with key pieces sidelined, downing the Marlins, 7-2, on Thursday night at PNC Park. The victory lifted the Pirates to eight games above .500 (61-53), matching a season best, and it marked their sixth home series win in a row.

Homer Bailey fired seven scoreless innings and Billy Hamilton sparked the offense with a pair of hits as the Reds claimed the Ohio Cup with a 4-0 win over the Indians on Thursday night.

With the Phillies down by three, Ryan Howard came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the eighth Thursday. On a full count, he skied his 13th career grand slam to send the Phillies to a 6-5 win against the Astros at Citizens Bank Park. It was Philadelphia’s fifth sweep of 2014.

Caleb Joseph homered in his fourth straight game to lead the Orioles to a 2-1 win and a series victory over the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Thursday night.

The Angels acquired veteran right-handed reliever Vinnie Pestano in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Michael Clevinger on Thursday.

Just because the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline passed doesn’t mean rumors about possible deals have stopped. There were reports this week that the Cubs had claimed Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels off waivers. This is the time of year when teams put nearly every player on revocable waivers to give them roster and trade flexibility before the Aug. 31 waiver Trade Deadline.