1. Josh Donaldson, Master of the Universe: The third baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays has been on fire in the second half, putting up a 1.158 OPS since the All-Star break with an AL-leading .417 Isolated Slugging rate. So seeing him mash against the Angels wasn't necessarily unexpected, but his latest big game in the Blue Jays' 15-3 win -- going 4-for-5 with six RBIs to reach 100 on the year, plus his 34th homer on the season to pass both Mike Trout and Albert Pujols on the leader board -- was perhaps that wee bit sweeter because of the extra kick it gives to what should be an interesting debate in the weeks to come: Who's the AL MVP? It might even give rise to an extra bit of scoreboard watching in the weeks to come, so here's a place to start:
2. Jose Altuve beats up on Zack Greinke, again: The game was already important because of the stakes -- the Astros and the Dodgers are both first-place teams in the league's respective Western Divisions, and both might be understandably worried about the teams behind them picking up ground while the two of them beat on each other. But between Mike Fiers' no-hitter on Friday night and now Altuve's big night against Greinke to power Saturday's 3-1 win with a triple and a homer, a very different kind of proposition is in place: The Astros might sweep and gain some ground in their race while pushing the Dodgers back toward the pack in the NL West. After Saturday, Altuve has the highest batting average of any player with 15 or more at-bats against Greinke, batting .533 (or 8-for-15). These kinds of lists are usually more fun when it involves somebody you wouldn't guess, but it's fun to know that Altuve is one guy who seems to have one of the game's great pitchers figured out.
3. The Minnesota Twins rally again: Losing three straight games to the Yankees during the week to fall two games below .500 might have helped some of you anticipate a Twins tumble out of the AL wild-card race, but taking three straight games from the Orioles with a shot at a sweep on Sunday puts them right back in the mix, a half-game behind Baltimore and trailing Texas by just 1.5 games. Saturday's 3-2 Twins win was noteworthy for a couple of key performances. First, because all-world prospect Byron Buxton plated the go-ahead run for his first big-league RBI, and with Aaron Hicks out several weeks with a strained hammy, there's going to be no time like the present for Buxton to bust out. Second, because Kevin Jepsen sealed another victory, getting the save while subbing for closer Glen Perkins (himself handicapped by injury with neck stiffness). Together they helped demonstrate that the Twins might have more staying power than people have given them credit for at any point of the season.
4. Jung Ho Kang, Pittsburgh Pirates: Although Starling Marte's walk-off homer was the blow to put away the Giants, the hitter who put the ballgame in reach was Kang because of his two homers earlier. Both were homers smote to center field on fastballs in the lower half of the zone, the first off Mike Leake, the second against Hunter Strickland to give the Bucs a brief lead in the seventh inning. This shouldn't surprise anybody -- Kang is among the NL's top 10 when it comes to turning around heat, pounding fastballs for a 1.033 OPS.
Kang has also played a remarkably solid shortstop for the Bucs since Jordy Mercer got hurt. You can credit the Pirates' defensive positioning to some extent, but as a result you can bet that he's the one guy in the infield mix who won't be losing any playing time to Josh Harrison's return from the DL.
5. Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks: The Snakes' slugger belted a pair of home runs in Cincinnati to power Arizona's 11-7 win over the Reds. A big game from one of the game's best all-around hitters may not seem like a huge surprise, but remember that point in time a month ago when we might have been able to talk about Goldschmidt's shot at winning the NL triple crown? That's probably over after he hit just one homer since the All-Star break before Saturday, but his two-homer game tripled his tater tally since the break and provided a ready reminder that he still could win two-thirds of the crown, as he trails Dee Gordon by just five points for the batting title while having just overtaken Nolan Arenado for the NL RBI lead.
Christina Kahrl writes about MLB for ESPN. You can follow her on Twitter.
