The Yankees 8-4 rout of the Tigers is not a big surprise.
Today's big news is the A's and Zito beating the Twinkies and Santana, baseball's best pitcher. It's hard to get a lot of fastballs past Frank Thomas without him hitting it out of the park (twice). He can't hit Zito's curveball at all, which isn't an issue this year
The playoffs are all about pitching and defense. That's where the A's are best. Except for Jay Payton, who muffs a lot of plays in LF. The A's pitching staff is deep right now with Loaiza, Haren, and Harden to start, and several regular-season starters on call for long relief. Minny is thin at pitching with their injuries now, and Oakland now coming back from injuries. So, beating Santana was very big.
After a bad September, the Cardinals took care of business in San Diego. They look ready for prime time again.