September Arrives With Baseball's Races Wide Open

NEW YORK - The calendar turns to September on Monday with both wild-card races alive, the Cubs chasing 100 years of frustration and the Tampa Bay Rays — yes, the Rays — holding the best record in the American League.

Tampa Bay, which had never won more than 70 games in a season, leads the AL East over Boston behind a young rotation and the best defense in baseball. A playoff berth would be the franchise's first.

The Chicago Cubs own the National League's best record and its most feverish fan base, 100 years removed from their last World Series title in 1908. Wrigley Field has begun to dream out loud.

In the NL wild card, Milwaukee — led by midseason acquisition CC Sabathia, who threw his latest gem Sunday — holds a narrow edge over Philadelphia, St. Louis and the Mets, who are trying to erase last September's epic collapse.

The season's feel-good story may be in Los Angeles, where Manny Ramirez has hit like a man reborn since the Dodgers acquired him from Boston at the trading deadline.

September also brings the final games at Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium, both closing at season's end as new ballparks open next year.

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Associated Press writers contributed to this report.

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