The Royals loss to the Yankees tonight combined with Chicago and Minnesota wins brought those two winning teams to within one game of the Royals. Watching the Royals is like watching that marathon runner in the Olympics who led the whole race and then staggered around the track at the very end while those behind passed to victory. This Fan hopes it doesn't end like that but the signs are there.

The White Sox and Twins both have winning records since the AllStar break while the Royals are a few games under .500. The question will continue to be if the Royals have enough pitching to get the job done. As much as it's painful to say so, it doesn't look like it.

The Phillies, who have 27 straight games without a day off, lost to a Brewer team they have to beat. It's hard to figure how this team can look so poor on some nights and like World Champions the next. I have some doubts on whether Bowa is the right manager for this team.

Fortunately, the Phillies are being mirrored by the Marlins who are not taking advantage of the opportunity. The Marlins are losing 7-1 tonight in Colorado. Colorado is not a place I'd want to travel if I was in the midst of a wildcard race.

Billy Wagner is in for the ninth inning of a slugfest between the Cubs and Astros that the Astros are leading 12-8. Sammy Sosa has gone suddenly cold as he only has five hits in his last seven games (for a .217 average over that span). Sammy just flew out to end the game with runners on second and third. Game over. The Astros win. The Cubs are now one and a half games back.

The Cardinals are winning big over Pittsburgh so they will leap frog over the Cubs and stay a game behind the Astros.

Bobby Valentine made a great comment on ESPN's "Baseball Tonight" concerning the Astros veteran players. He basically said that they look like they lack spirit and fun and play all their games with a grim determination. That is a feeling I have had without being able to verbalize it. A friend of mine at work says that if it isn't fun, it's not worth doing. It doesn't look fun for the Astros. Valentine has really impressed me with his observations.

It appears that after getting to within two games of the .500 mark that the Orioles have either run out of gas or have quit on Hargrove. The last few times I've seen them play it looked like they were sleepwalking. Tonight their uninspired play led to a gimme run as they threw the ball all over the place on a play where they had a Devil Ray player caught dead between third and home. The Orioles are now ten games below .500.