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Thursday night, the Blue Jays not only dropped out of first place in the American League East, they also fell below the threshold of qualifying for either of the two Wild Card spots in the American League. Their 4-1 loss at Oakland to kick off the 10-game road trip coupled with Baltimores 5-2 win at home over Texas put the Jays in secondnd place place in the East, one percentage point back of the Orioles. It also dropped them behind the second and third place teams in the West, the Angels and the Mariners, who now hold those Wild Card slots. With 75 games still to play, its really too early to stress over that, but it did get me thinking about the West. Major League Baseball didnt come to the left coast until 1958 when the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers moved there in tandem to cash in on a new and expanding market. The American League didnt get a west coast club until the league expanded in 1961 adding the Los Angeles Angels and the new Washington Senators, essentially replacing the team that moved to Minnesota. There have been 53 seasons where it was possible for two west coast teams to have met in the World Series, from 1961 through 2013. Over that span there have only been four true western World Series. In 1974, the Oakland As won their third Fall Classic in a row, beating the Dodgers 4 games to 1. In 1988, 14 years later, Orel Hershizer, Kirk Gibson and the rest of the Dodgers upset Oakland 4 games to 1. The following year, 1989 in the infamous "Earthquake" series, the As swept the Giants in four-straight. Finally in 2002, the Angels beat Barry Bonds and the Giants in seven games for their one and only World Series title in their 42nd year of existence. Two teams that have never met in the World Series are the Dodgers and the Angels. Could it possibly happen this year? Well, its not so far-fetched. The Dodgers have won seven of their last 10 and have climbed over the Giants into first in the NL West by a half-game. They also have the second-best record in the National League to Milwaukee. The Dodgers hitting stats are pretty impressive. Theyve scored 367 runs, fourth in the Senior Circuit, but second to Milwaukee in terms of teams holding playoff positions, They are third in team batting average in the National at .257 and third in OPS at .729. But its in the pitching department where they really impress. They are second in pitching ERA to Washington at 3.23. Theyve made 57 quality starts and four of their five starters have won at least eight games. The other, Josh Beckett has five wins and a no-hitter to his credit. The leader of the staff, and the best pitcher in the Majors right now, Clayton Kershaw, has nine victories and a no-hitter, in a near perfect game of his own. They have some flaws and a worrisome shoulder issue with shortstop Hanley Ramirez, but right now, the Dodgers look like the best all-around team in the National League with apologies to the Brewers. Over in the American League, the Angels have won eight of their last 11 and have closed to within three-and-a-half games back of Oakland in the West. They have latched on to that first Wild Card slot. The Halos are second in hitting in the American League behind the As. They have scored 408 runs, four more than the Blue Jays with three games in hand. Theyre also tied with Oakland in home runs with 91. They also have a .749 OPS behind only the Tigers and Blue Jays. The Angels pitching staff isnt as deep as the Dodgers, but their top three starters Jared Weaver, C.J Wilson and Garrett Richards have combined for 26 wins. They are fourth in team ERA in the AL at 3.86 and have made 47 quality starts. Their bullpen has been up and down, but skipper Mike Scioscia is hoping Joe Smith and Jason Grilli, who was just picked up from Pittsburgh, can do the job at closing time. The big plus-factor with both the Angels and Dodgers is hungry ownership. Arte Moreno bought the Angels from Disney in 2003, the year after they won that World Series over the Giants, They havent been back to the Fall Classic under his stewardship. The Dodgers ownership group, which includes Magic Johnson, bought the club in 2012 for a record $2 billion. They are determined to win a championship, something the Dodgers havent done since 1988. The Angels, who have played out of Orange County for the bulk of their existence have nearly always played second fiddle to the Dodgers in the L.A. market. The Dodgers hold the single game attendance record of 115,300, when they played their season opener at the old Memorial Coliseum as part of a charity fund-raising event. But the Angels are no slouches in the attendance department either. Last year marked their 11th-straight season of drawing at least 3 million fans. They have also had 30 seasons of drawing 2 million, which is second in Major League history to only the mighty Yankees. We havent had a so-called "Cross-town" World Series since 2000, when the Yankees beat the Mets in the battle of New York. The White Sox and Cubs havent done it since 1906, when the " no-hit wonder " White Sox defeated the Cubs. These kinds of match-ups are few and far between.They used to be commonplace in the early 20s and late 40s and throughout the 50s, when the Yankees, Dodgers and Giants all held sway in New York. Im not saying the Angels and Dodgers are definately going to meet in the World Series, but there is a decent shot, and it would provide some great storylines and some compelling viewing and listening. - The Yankees are a hard team to get a handle on. Theyre sitting at .500 at 42-42 in the A.L. East and theyve lost five more than theyve won at home.Yet for all of that, in Derek Jeters final season, they are still only three-and-a-half games back of the Orioles and Jays in the division. Still, what appears to be the weakest Yankees team in four decades will have to decide soon whether to become a buyer or seller at the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline. The new that C.C Sabathia has been shut down indefinately with a flair up of his swollen knee again, has got to have them thinking about next year and beyond. Still, they are the Yankees and this is Jeters final season. Stay tuned. Fake Marlins Jerseys . Smith has spent the last three seasons with the Rockies, playing both left and right field, and has a .275 batting average with 51 homers and 181 RBIs in 487 major league games. Cheap Marlins Jerseys . Weise left the arena with a splint on his wrist and underwent tests to determine whether the tendon is torn. Winger Travis Moen will also miss some time after suffering a concussion in Mondays contest. https://www.cheapmarlinsjerseys.us/ . Rooneys latest piece of football genius lost in the furore which now stalks David Moyes, and the man who gave the Manchester United striker his start as a 16-year old at Goodison Park back in 2002. Marlins Jerseys China . The 57-year-old Tietjens has coached New Zealand to nine IRB World Sevens titles and to four Commonwealth Games gold medals as its only coach in the professional era. New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew said the re-signing was made with a focus on 2016 when sevens will be in the Olympics. Custom Miami Marlins Jerseys . -- Theres nothing like winning to bring hope for a struggling team.PHILADELPHIA -- Kyle Kendrick has to wait an extra day to start another home opener. The Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers enjoyed an unexpected day off Monday without having to sit around in their uniforms and wait through rain delays. A gloomy forecast forced postponement of their game 25 hours before the scheduled start. When the teams meet Tuesday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park, Kendrick (0-0) will face former Phillies pitcher Kyle Lohse (0-1). Itll be Kendricks second straight start in the home opener. "The fans are going to be excited and Im looking forward to it," he said. "Well be back home for the first time this year and hopefully we can get a win. Thats the main thing." The Phillies went 3-3 in their first six games at Texas and the Chicago Cubs. Bullpen breakdowns cost them two games against the Rangers, including closer Jonathan Papelbons eighth blown save since 2013. But the offence got off to a surprisingly strong start after a miserable spring. The Phillies are batting .276 and averaging 5.2 runs per game. After hitting just .217 with three extra-base hits and three RBIs in Florida, Chase Utley found his groove once the games started to count. He already has three doubles, two homers, six RBIs and a .458 average. Dominic Brown is hitting .381, Jimmy Rollins has six RBIs in four games and the team has seven homers. "Chase is a perfect example of why we dont worry as much as everybody else worries," general Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "When the bell ringgs and the lights are major league lights and the background, those guys are ready to turn on the switch.dddddddddddd" The Brewers (4-2) are coming in after a three-game sweep of the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. It could be a welcome trip to Philadelphia for Ryan Braun, who has only three singles in 20 at-bats. The 2011 NL MVP has had more success against the Phillies than any other team. He has a career average of .386 with a .430 on-base percentage, .690 slugging percentage, 14 homers and 30 RBIs in 43 games vs. Philadelphia. Braun is battling a thumb injury that also bothered him last year before he served a 65-game suspension for violations of MLBs drug agreement and labour contract. Braun heard boos in Boston in his first road game since returning and surely will hear some more in Philadelphia. Lohse takes the mound for the Brewers after losing to Atlanta in his first start. The right-hander pitched for the Phillies in the second half of 2007, helping them begin their streak of five NL East titles. "That was the year we caught the Mets, when we were down seven games with 17 to play," Lohse told MLB.com. "Unfortunately, we ran into the Rockies that year, when they won 22 in a row or whatever it was to get in the playoffs. They were on fire. But I enjoyed my time (in Philadelphia). It was fun to be a part of that comeback." Both teams are trying to rebound from fourth-place finishes in 2013. The Phillies were 73-89 and the Brewers won one more game. ' ' '