Kritik und Lob » over in that area, helping the Titans lead the league

Right now, the American League standings are all about offense.The ALs top five teams in runs scored -- Boston, Toronto, Cleveland, Baltimore and Texas -- are also the five teams that would be in the playoffs if the season ended now. Its no shock that a high-scoring offense can lead to more wins, but the Red Sox and Rangers in particular are in this position despite middling performances on the mound.Texas and Boston have allowed the fourth- and fifth-most runs in the AL. Perhaps that will change now that Yu Darvish of the Rangers is back from the disabled list -- and after the Red Sox traded for All-Star Drew Pomeranz in an attempt to bolster their starting rotation.That move was an indication that Boston isnt comfortable simply trying to outslug teams all season.I still think that -- and weve seen it ourselves -- when we face good pitching, good pitching is likely to shut down good hitting, Red Sox manager John Farrell said. I dont see that changing.Despite leading the league in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging, the Red Sox are a couple games behind first-place Baltimore in the AL East. Texas, meanwhile, has lost nine of its last 12 and now leads Houston by only 4 1/2 games in the AL West. The Rangers had a double-digit advantage toward the end of last month.The race in the East could be especially intriguing. Baltimores team ERA of 4.31 isnt much better than Bostons 4.38.When you look at, whether its Baltimore or us or other clubs, youre looking at starting rotation ERA probably in the bottom half, so I think it speaks volumes to the number of runs that can be put up on a more consistent basis than some other clubs, Farrell said. But I would like to think that the most complete team is the one that emerges to advance.Here are a few other developments from around baseball:AT THE BOTTOMThere were no 100-game losers in either of the past two seasons, but a whopping four teams are on pace to reach that mark right now. Atlanta (on pace for 106 losses), Minnesota (103), Cincinnati (102) and Tampa Bay (100) are the top candidates for baseballs worst record in 2016.The Rays snapped an eight-game losing streak with a win over the Orioles on Sunday. Tampa Bay had lost 24 of its previous 27.FANTASY FOCUSPomeranz now presents quite a conundrum for fantasy owners. Hes a left-hander who has left San Diego to pitch in front of the Green Monster in Boston -- while also switching leagues. But theres a good chance hell have more run support now.Pomeranzs departure left room in San Diego for Edwin Jackson, who resurfaced Sunday for his first start since 2014. Jackson held San Francisco hitless until the seventh inning.LINE OF THE WEEKPerhaps the most surprising line of the week belongs to Pittsburgh star Andrew McCutchen. He was the only player to go 0 for 8 in his teams 18-inning victory over Washington on Sunday.The best line, however, was turned in that same day by Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets, when he threw a 1-hitter against Philadelphia.---AP Baseball Writer Mike Fitzpatrick contributed to this report.Albert Almora Jr. Jersey . Its sharpness matched my mind. This was no night to go to sleep. Bill Buckner Jersey .C. -- Chris Thorburn thinks one of the reasons the Winnipeg Jets have been successful under new coach Paul Maurice is that theyre playing together as a team. https://www.cheapcubs.com/1660t-brandon-morrow-jersey-cubs.html . -- Patrick Reed got an early start in golf. Ernie Banks Jersey . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Bob Dernier Cubs Jersey . -- If this was Aaron Gordons final home game at Arizona, and it almost certainly was, then he went out in style.The last time we looked at Marcus Mariotas Total QBR?after Week 3, it was following the second-worst game of his career, a 3.0 against the Raiders. Since then, Mariota has turned things around. From Weeks 4 through 10, Mariota has a Total QBR of 78.3, fifth best in the league. He also has three games with a 90-plus Total QBR, tied for most in the league with Tom Brady during that span. Mariota even led all QBs in Week 10 with a 95.8 against Green Bay.Lets look at a couple of areas where Mariota has excelled:Cool under pressureDuring the opening three weeks of the season, Mariota was pressured on 21 percent of his called pass plays and blitzed under 30 percent of the time. Those rates are fairly similar to what Mariota faced in Weeks 4 through 10 (25 percent pressure rate, 29 percent blitz rate), but his results have not been similar.During Weeks 1 through 3, Mariota had a 3.9 raw QBR while being pressured, mostly due to an above-average sack rate in addition to a pair of costly turnovers and no touchdowns. The first miscue came in Week 1 against Minnesota. With a defender in his face, Mariotas short pass was picked off by Eric Kendricks and returned 77 yards for a touchdown. Pass direction and distance are factors on interceptions when QBR divides credit;?shorter passes are more likely to have longer returns than deeper passes. This interception was thrown only two yards downfield, meaning Mariotas portion of the teams expected points added?(or lost in this case) is greater than if the ball was thrown 20 yards downfield. His other turnover was a lost fumble in Week 3 against the Raiders.Since then, Mariota has just two additional turnovers, and he has more thaan balanced them out with five touchdowns while pressured.dddddddddddd Only Russell Wilson has more during that span (6), and Mariota has also nearly cut his sack rate in half (from 24 percent down to 14 percent).Red zone dominanceFrom Weeks 1 through 3, just over 20 percent of the Titans drives made it to the red zone. Since then, over 32 percent have reached the red zone. And Mariota has excelled in the red zone. In Weeks 4 through 10, only Cody Kessler (99.4, albeit on less than half as many plays) has a higher raw QBR inside the red zone than Mariotas 99.3. Mariota wasnt necessarily bad inside the 20 from Weeks 1 through 3, but his 69.5 QBR ranked 16th.Mariota is responsible for 14 red zone touchdowns (12 passing, two rushing) since Week 4, which leads the league. He also has avoided taking a red zone sack and avoided turning the ball over in that area, helping the Titans lead the league by scoring a TD on 81.5 percent of their red zone drives since Week 4. They were 16th in that realm during the first three weeks of the season at 57.1 percent.If Mariota can continue his performance, the Titans should continue their rise in the Football Power Index. FPI currently has Tennessee with a one-in-five chance of making the playoffs and a 17 percent chance to win the division. This mostly comes down to already losing once to the division-leading Texans, as well as trailing in other tiebreakers (such as record in division games).A look at Mariotas QBR progression this season:For more from ESPN Analytics, visit the ESPN Analytics Index.? ' ' '