On Sunday, A.J. Pierzynkski bailed himself out of some atrocious baserunning by manufacturing a B.S. interference call that not only saved the White Sox an out but also awarded him third base, where he eventually scored the winning run.

I saw it, you saw it, everyone in the stadium saw it (here's video - fast-forward to the 3:13 mark) but the umpires. Second base umpire Doug Eddings is the one who blew the call, but third base umpire Ted Barrett came to his defense after the game:

"As a runner, you're allowed to (make contact). What Doug ruled at second base was, even though A.J. did kind of stick his arm out to make contact, Aybar was still in his way, so A.J., if he would have turned, he wouldn't have been able to continue on to third. So after making the throw, Aybar is no longer in the act of fielding and he can't obstruct the runner, which is what Doug ruled happened.

Yeah, nice try, Ted. On Thursday, Mike Port, MLB's vice president of umpiring, came clean to the St. Petersberg Times, admitting (albeit in a nice way) that Eddings did in fact blow the call:

"Looking back at that occurrence, for the first and last time, it was a missed call," Port said. "And it was not because Doug Eddings, an umpire with 10 years' experience and 10 before that in the minor leagues, didn't know the application of the rule, but just that in the moment in applying the rule, he saw something he thought was more than it turned out to be."

Hooray! And as a consolation, Port tweaked the standings to take away Chicago's win and give it to Tampa Bay! Oh wait ... he can't do that? Funny enough, I think that probably annoys fans in Minnesota more than Tampa Bay.

Somehow, only five weeks remain in the baseball season. Other than injuries, a contending team's schedule might be the biggest factor in determining which teams get a shot at postseason glory and which spend October on the golf course.

The following is a quick breakdown of what the AL teams still fighting for a playoff spot will face over the season's final weeks.

Red Sox

The Good: After Boston finishes a three-game set with the Yankees on Thursday, it will play 20 of its final 29 games at Fenway Park, where the team is 43-18 this year.

The Bad: The Red Sox still have to face Toronto seven more times. The Red Sox are 4-6 against their divisional rivals this year, and perhaps more distressing, have surrendered more than six runs per game against the light-hitting Jays in 2008.

Key Stretch: From Sept. 8-21, Boston will face Tampa Bay and nemesis Toronto 13 times. All things considered, the Red Sox have a very favorable schedule down the stretch, with four off days remaining. The injuries which are rapidly piling up will play a much bigger factor in whether they get a chance to defend their title than who they face.

He's one of the most hated players around the league, and I understand the the thought process behind every fan that boos him when he steps to the plate or is introduced to the crowd. He is A.J. Pierzynski and he may have just saved the White Sox season on Sunday afternoon.

The Sox were on the verge of being swept at home for the first time this season and possibly falling even further behind the Twins when some heads up thinking by Pierzynski saved the day. After Paul Konerko singled home Brian Anderson with two outs in the ninth inning and sent the game into extra innings, A.J. led off the bottom of the tenth with a single.

That's when the odyssey of A.J. began. First he showed once again that he's the smartest base runner the White Sox have by tagging up from first on a deep fly to center by Carlos Quentin, and getting into scoring position with one out. Then a few seconds later he became the dumbest base runner in the world when he took off for third on a Jermaine Dye grounder to short.

A.J. was quickly caught in a rundown when the gears in his brain began grinding. There's no way a slow-footed catcher was going to be able to outrun a bunch of middle infielders, so he needed a new plan.

Last night, I had an opportunity to take in David Price's third start for the Durham Bulls (the Rays' Triple-A affiliate). Price's performance was decidedly a mixed bag. He gave up two runs on six hits in only four innings of work against a pretty light-hitting Indianapolis Indians team. Despite that mixed line, it was easy to see why he's so highly regarded with his 93-96 mph fastball and a slider that gave Indianapolis trouble all night.

His problem seemed to be that he just wasn't locating the slider all that well. That allowed the Indians to sit fastball and ding the ball up the middle. Though I'm not a scout, I do have a couple guesses as to why this was happening. His fastball may have been a little flat, making it hittable despite the good speed he was generating. It's also possible that he was tipping his pitches, letting Indianapolis lay off of the biting slider and wait for something they could deal with.

I don't want to be misleading about Price's start; he didn't actually have an awful game. He only let two runs cross in his four innings of work and Indianapolis only hit a couple of balls hard. Still, after the seeing numbers and reading the reports about how he'd dominated Single-A and Double-A this year, I was more than a little underwhelmed by the 6-foot-8 lefty last night.

To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure how useful he'd be for the Rays in any capacity for their stretch run, be it in the bullpen or the rotation. When he does get his issues ironed out, he's going to be a very good pitcher for the Rays. It just seems like that might take a bit longer than people expected.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

Boston Red Sox (74-55) at Baltimore Orioles (67-62) 1:07 PM ET

Daisuke Matsuzaka is the very case study of new breed vs. old guard. The old guard will see Matsuzaka's 15-2 record and his 2.77 ERA and tell you that he's gotta be one of the best pitchers in baseball. The new breed of fan will tell you that his 1.37 WHIP and his 77 walks in 126+ innings tell the future of a man who's been lucky to get out of jams that he created for himself against mediocre teams. Which side are you on?

Today, Dice K goes up against the Blue Jays ... and while everybody is talking about the job that Jerry Manuel is doing for the Mets after taking over mid-season, there's been a similar, quieter turnaround in Toronto, where Cito Gaston is 32-23 this season after taking over for John Gibbons, who started the season 35-39.

As seasons progress, there are often unexpected teams that find themselves cloaked in an air of invincibility. In the last two years, the Rockies and Tigers both took on that kind of feel late in the season and made World Series runs that no one was predicting in April. It's not quite September yet, but the more time that passes, the more I'm starting to think that the Rays are that team this year.

On August 23rd, they've got a 4.5 game lead on the Red Sox and that lead only seems to be growing as injuries pile up for the Rays. Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria have both missed significant time and the Rays failed to acquire a needed bat at the trade deadline, instead electing to go with Rocco Baldelli. Given all of Baldelli's injuries and his mitochondrial disorder, that seemed like a poor choice. Early returns indicate that it wasn't.

After a slow start, Baldelli launched his first homer since May 3rd of last year (this is actually the most recent picture of him in the Getty Image database) last night. He went 2-for-4 on the night and scored twice, rewarding Joe Maddon's decision to put him in the cleanup spot. He's only got 22 plate appearences since his return so it's way too soon to judge, but the fact that the possibility even exists that he might be productive is a pretty good summary of how well things have fallen into place this year.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

New York Yankees (68-60) at Baltimore Orioles (61-66) 7:05 PM ET

I remember it being early April, 2007. I was just starting out at FanHouse, and I was blogging my ever-loving heart out while wearing some new pajamas that I had bought to celebrate my arrival here. It was then when all of a sudden, a loud "whoosh" rattled my windows and knocked me off of my seat. I thought it was some sort of freakish weather pattern, or an airplane flying a bit too low while landing at LaGuardia.

Turns out there was nothing to worry about. It was just Carl Pavano falling off the face of the earth.

Despite being benched twice in the last two weeks for lackadaisical base running, B.J. Upton committed yet another mind-numbing mistake on Monday.

With two outs left in the fourth, Upton hit a line drive to left field. After rounding first base, he casually jogged toward second, apparently thinking that he'd just homered, completely oblivious that Juan Rivera had just rifled the ball to Mark Teixeira, who was chasing Upton down from behind. Instead of picking up an easy extra-base hit, Upton ended the inning with a preventable mistake.

The mistake didn't end up costing the Rays -- they still won the game 6-4 -- but it's more than a little disappointing on the heels of Upton's other recent gaffes. But instead of benching Upton (yet again), Joe Maddon said he'd let the players deal with this one -- and from the sounds of it, Cliff Floyd is ready. From MLB.com:

"You've got a guy who, in my opinion, is going to be different," Floyd said. "I'm going to put my butt on the line by saying that. I'm going to do everything possible, and I think everybody in here is going to do everything possible to make sure it don't happen again. It's not in Joe's hands anymore. It's not in anybody else's hands but ours as players."

"We really haven't put our finger on what it is he's doing. He's going to get it right, trust me. He will get it right before I leave here."

I'm not sure what Floyd had in mind to get his message across (a prescription for Adderall or Ritalin, perhaps?) , but the Rays better hope it works. At Upton's current rate, it won't be long until his mental lapses actually start costing the team wins.

The ultimate sign of respect for any hitter is generally thought to be the intentional walk. But what about the bases loaded intentional walk? What about a bases loaded intentional walk when the act brings the go-ahead run to the plate in the eighth inning during a pennant race? Actually, that doesn't sound respectful, that sounds kind of stupid. And that's exactly what Joe Maddon did yesterday afternoon when Josh Hamilton came to the plate in the eighth inning yesterday while the Rays held on to a 7-3 lead.

"I didn't want to see Hamilton there,'' Maddon said. "I mean, listen, it's his year, and why not have him hit a grand slam right there and really screw up ours.''

Said Byrd: "It was the right move in the right spot. When the guy's AL manager of the year like he's going to be, things go your way.''

In the end, it worked. Marlon Byrd made an out to end the eighth and the Rays went on to win 7-4 and increase their AL East lead to 4.5 games over the Red Sox. Still, can you imagine the backlash of Byrd hits a grand slam there? I suppose that sort of "if" isn't applicable here since it didn't happen, the Rays are in first place, and Maddon is a virtual lock for AL Manager of the Year.

"Mr. Longoria! Do you think that the 2008 Rays are the 69 Mets in disguise?"
"I don't know, but do you want to see my impression of the 2007 Mets?"
"Sure!"
"/collapses"

Cinderella's glass slipper has broken. Snow White is comatose and being cared for by dwarves. Gaston is trying to stab the Beast to death. Whatever your comparison, the Rays have hit a snag and are down with one crucial injury after another with only a few games keeping them on top of the division. The baseball world watches with anticipation to see if the team can hold together and overcome the odds.

What are the Rays going to do? Who will fill those holes in the lineup? Can you type on the Internet with a broken wrist? Do the Rays have anything to do with free agency? These questions and more (slightly more) in tonight's Dugout, after the jump.