8/29 Morning Marquee: LA Angels extend lead in AL West

Despite a rather lopsided loss in Cincinnati to the Reds, the Chicago Cubs again showed signs of fight late in the ballgame, heading into a rivalry weekend series at Busch Stadium against Mike Matheny‘s St. Louis Cardinals. Jorge Soler tallied two hits as part of a 2-for-4 game and enters play Friday with a 4-for-8 mark in the first two games of his big league career.

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In what is quickly becoming one of the best rivalries in the game today, the Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim battled in extras, with a Howie Kendrick sacrifice fly ended a controversial game in the tenth, padding the Angels’ lead in the American League West to two games heading into play this weekend.

The Orioles continued to play solid baseball after being swept in a three-game set at Wrigley Field, taking a series at home against Tampa Bay. Adam Jones stole home in the 5-4 win over Joe Maddon‘s club and Chris Davis continues to be sporadic, hitting under .200 on the season.

Yusmeiro Petit of the San Francisco Giants set the new big league mark for consecutive batters retired, setting down his 46th straight against Colorado on Thursday afternoon, allowing the right-hander to surpass southpaw Mark Buehrle on the list. Detroit also picked up a series win over New York, thanks to a walk-off base knock off the bat of Alex Avila.

Here’s more from around the league:

“Crews begin underground work around Wrigley Field” – Cubbies Crib

“O’s fall to Tampa Bay” – Birds Watcher

“Braves’ Jonny Venters facing third TJ surgery” – Call to the Pen

“Halos walk-off against Oakland with division lead intact” – Halos Hangout

“Jorge Soler drives in run as Reds rout Cubs” – Cubbies Crib

“Giants defeat Rockies; Petit makes MLB history” Around the Foghorn