Not since 1924 has the Triple Crown of pitching been won in each league in the same Major League Baseball season, which means Justin Verlander of the Tigers and Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers are on the verge of something historic.

We're approaching the 200,000th game. We can add Cal's games, Nolie's K's, Pete's hits, Rickey's steals, Henry's homers, Mo's saves and all the scores of errors and not even approach 200,000. The game is so durable. It has such stature and such a prominent place on our society. It carries on — quite pluckily.

Making moves for Victor Martinez and Doug Fister helped earn the Tigers the upper hand in the American League Central. Now, they're delivering. Their performance showed Detroit is a team capable of much more.

A look at the top 10 reasons that the Tigers reached 2011 postseason play.

Eleven postseason victories sit between them and another ride down New York's Canyon of Heroes, and it hasn't been the easiest ride thus far. That offers plenty of time to debate if this batch of Bombers has enough to go all the way.

Here is a look at 10 major reasons the Yankees are back in the postseason once again.

If either the Rays or Angels can catch the Red Sox, Boston would become the first team to lose a 10-game Wild Card lead.

High-level scout teams will be playing at the Urban Youth Academy in Compton, Calif., throughout the fall. But Major League Baseball's first UYA isn't just providing the venue. It's producing a lot of the players those scouts are interested in.

If we're being romantic, idealistic, maybe even a tad dramatic, we could say that a would-be world champion sports team ought to be able to defeat any challenger that comes between it and the crown. But the Phillies and Yankees surely have scenarios that they would prefer to play out.

This year's final weekend is certainly not as final as it seemed it would be a few weeks ago. With an unsettled postseason picture and some individual accolades still up in the air, we really could use another few days to sort it all out.

Today's question: Rather be Braves or Red Sox?

In the Dodgers' final home game of 2011, Matt Kemp continued what he's done throughout his electrifying season, as he notched a career-high three doubles, belted a two-run homer and made a sprawling play in center field as Los Angeles beat the Giants, 8-2.

Madison Bumgarner was unusually flat and the offense reverted to its helpless ways in Thursday's 8-2 loss to the Dodgers that made the already farfetched notion of a Giants postseason appearance downright laughable.

On a day that half of the remaining Wild Card contenders managed to hurt their own cause, the Rays kept inching closer.

When the D-backs take the field on Friday against the Giants, they'll try to clinch the National League West for the fifth time in franchise history — something few thought was possible entering the season.

Carlos Lee drove in four runs and Henry Sosa turned in a quality start to snap his three-game losing streak as the Astros earned a 9-6 victory over the Rockies on Thursday night at Minute Maid Park.

With the AL Wild Card still within their reach, the Angels have the right man on the mound Friday against the A's in ace Jered Weaver.