The Angels opened up a crucial homestand against the Rangers on Tuesday, but Albert Pujols was in Kansas City with his wife and new baby girl, who was born in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Tim Lincecum tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings Tuesday to shave another figure off the Giants’ magic number, which dwindled to seven after the Giants’ 6-3 win against the Rockies.

It may be strange to look at pitching stats and see the Phils as middle-of-the-road. So what’s going on here? Well, part of it has nothing at all to do with pitching. As Bill James long ago pointed out, a great deal of what we think of as pitching is actually defense. And that’s definitely one element of the Phillies’ surprisingly so-so run prevention.

Trevor Cahill looks to keep the D-backs in the postseason hunt against Edinson Volquez and the Padres on Wednesday.

Both Max Scherzer and Quintin Berry left Tuesday’s game with right shoulder injuries. However, both underwent tests, received positive news and appeared to be OK in the clubhouse after the game.

Yankees captain Derek Jeter leads the Majors in hits with 199 and shows no sign of slowing down at the age of 38. Only Paul Molitor did Jeter one better, smacking out a career-high 225 hits in 1996 at 39 years old.

Jake Westbrook has resumed throwing and is optimistic that, if all continues as it has the last few days, he will return to the Cardinals’ rotation next week.

The Yankees are not likely to have Mark Teixeira back in the lineup before the Sept. 27-30 series against the Blue Jays in Toronto.

Lance Lynn heads to the mound as the Cardinals, who hold the second NL Wild Card spot, take on Lucas Harrell and the Astros on Wednesday at Busch Stadium.

Clayton Kershaw was examined Tuesday by a hip specialist, who said the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner can continue to pitch without risking further damage to his right hip, but the Dodgers will not allow Kershaw to take the mound if the pain persists.

Over the weekend, Reds manager Dusty Baker and pitching coach Bryan Price recalibrated the order of the rotation. After Homer Bailey’s Tuesday start, he will be followed by Mike Leake, Johnny Cueto, Bronson Arroyo and Mat Latos.

It’s time to see the A’s for what they actually are instead of what they were supposed to be. They’re good enough to win the World Series. That’s the bottom line.

After Homer Bailey twirled a gem to win the series opener Tuesday, the Reds are hoping Wednesday’s starter, Mike Leake, will have a repeat performance. Chris Rusin, coming off his first Major League win, will start for the Cubs.

The offense has been slogging and notched only four hits in Tuesday’s game. But it only took one clutch hit and Homer Bailey’s superb pitching to secure a 3-1 win over the Cubs, which lowered the Reds’ magic number to clinch the National League Central division to four.

Twins right-hander Liam Hendriks has made 17 starts in his career without recording a win. One more and he moves into third place for the most starts without a win to begin a career. Tribe right-hander Zach McAllister will try to ensure Hendriks’ first victory doesn’t come at his expense.

The Dodgers’ battle for National League Wild Card positioning will have to wait another day, as Tuesday night’s series opener with the Nationals at Nationals Park was postponed.

Max Scherzer operating at peak efficiency would seem to be a must down the stretch for a team in the Tigers’ situation. The surprising thing is finding the Tigers in this situation.