Starting Five: Washington Won't Be Only Century City

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
One team has 100 defeats, two more could follow -- and there could even be a record-tying four 100-loss teams.

The Nationals on Thursday fell to 52-100 with their 7-6 loss to the Dodgers. And the Pirates are 56-95 after a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Reds.

Anyone want to bet Pittsburgh -- 3-23 since Aug. 28 -- goes better than 6-5 in its final three series against Los Angeles, Chicago and Cincinnati?

More Coverage: Scoreboard | Standings | Statistics

The other two candidates to hit the century mark are Baltimore (60-92) and Cleveland (61-91). The Orioles have lost seven straight while the Indians have dropped 11 in a row, one off the team-record skid set in 1931.

We'd bet on both teams to reach 100 losses but for one small detail: They play each other this weekend.

Which means someone's losing streak ends tonight. And the only way for both teams to lose 100 is if Baltimore wins two of three this weekend and both teams then drop their final seven games.

Which, considering how these teams are going, isn't out of the realm of possibility.

The only time four teams lost 100 games in the same season was 2002 -- Detroit, Milwaukee, Tampa Bay and Kansas City. There have been seven other seasons with three 100-loss teams, but only once (1985) since it happened four times in five years after the 1961 expansion.

From the Trainer's Room ...
Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez -- who has hit .297 with a .601 slugging percentage since Aug. 7 -- has missed two straight games with a tight left hamstring.

"We are backing off," [manager Jim] Tracy said. "He will be available to hit. But I wouldn't put him out there where he has to run. The injury is near the bottom of the hamstring so we have to be very careful."

Numbers Game ...
Boston's Clay Buchholz allowed fewer than two runs for the fourth straight start, pitching 6 2/3 scoreless innings in a win at Kansas City. Since Sept. 8, Buchholz is 3-0 with a 0.70 ERA, 18 hits allowed (one homer) and 19 strikeouts in 25 2/3 innings.

In Their Own Words ...
"I'd vote for Greinke, he's doing a great job. He's tough, he's nasty." -- Seattle ace Felix Hernandez (who improved to 17-5 Thursday with a win in Toronto) on the debate over whether he or Kansas City's Zack Greinke should win the AL Cy Young Award

Advance Scouting ...
If the Braves are going to make a dramatic charge to the playoffs, this is the weekend to gain major ground. Atlanta -- 3 1/2 games behind Colorado -- opens a three-game series in Washington Friday night (7:05 PM ET), while the Rockies host the NL Central-leading Cardinals for three (8:10 PM ET). The Braves passed the Giants, who stayed four back of the Rockies with Thursday's loss to the Cubs.