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With another week in the 2012 Major League Baseball season becoming history, the final stretch run to October is starting more and more to take shape.
The Boston Red Sox have essentially said it's time to wait-til-next-year with their mega-trade of Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Who can blame them with a 61-67 record? The Red Sox are 13.5 games out of the AL East lead and nine games behind the Baltimore Orioles and Oakland Athletics for the final wild-card spot.
In other news, the Los Angeles Angels continue to disappoint. After sweeping Boston, the Angels lost two-of-three against the Detroit Tigers. With just 34 games remaining, L.A. is four games (five in the loss column) behind Oakland.
Speaking of Oakland, the A's incredible story continued with a series win against the red-hot Tampa Bay Rays, on the road no less.
In the National League, it's the San Francisco Giants who have surged into first in the tight NL West with a three-game sweep of their free-wheeling rivals in Chavez Ravine.
For a full look at the MLB Standings, please click here.
For more on the Red Sox, please be sure to check out our blog Over The Monster and SB Nation Boston for all the latest news and updates.