AP Photo/Hannah Foslien

The Minnesota Twins posted a 14-4 record during interleague play, the best mark in the majors.

AL SHOWS ITS MUSCLE

By Mark Simon, ESPN Research

The American League again dominated the National League in interleague play. (Technically, there is one game left, with the Yankees and Pirates still needing to play a makeup game July 10.) But that one game won't matter much in the standings.

MONDAY NIGHT BASEBALL

• Mets at Cardinals, 7:05 p.m. ET, ESPN

The AL is 149-102 so far, and it hasn't mattered whether the NL team's opponent was the Royals or Red Sox. Truth is, any opponent has been troublesome for the NL. This was the second-most dominant showing ever by the AL, trailing only the 2006 results.

Of the 16 teams in the NL, only three have winning records against the AL. No, it wasn't a good year for the NL.

BY THE NUMBERS

Best Interleague Records (AL teams)
	W-L (Interleague)	W-L (vs. AL teams)
Twins	14-4	31-33
Royals	13-5	24-40
Tigers	13-5	28-35

Best Interleague Records (NL teams)
	W-L (Interleague)	W-L (vs. NL teams)
Mets	9-6	31-35
Reds	9-6	29-39
Braves	8-7	32-36

Past Baseball Tonight Clubhouses: June 26 | June 25 | June 24 | June 23 | June 22 | June 19

FORWARD THINKING: MONDAY

• Mets at Cardinals, 7:05 p.m. ET, ESPN: John Maine (8-5, 3.73 ERA) has a lower ERA on the road (3.64) than at home (3.86), yet four of his five losses have come away from Shea Stadium. Kyle Lohse (9-2, 3.94 ERA) is 6-0 in his past nine starts. Opponents are hitting just .220 against him when he pitches at home.

• Red Sox at Rays, 7:10 p.m. ET: Justin Masterson (4-1, 3.43 ERA) has already beaten the Rays once this season, going six innings against Tampa Bay on June 3. James Shields (5-5, 3.76 ERA) last faced Boston on June 5, when he hit Coco Crisp with a pitch that ignited a benches-clearing brawl.

• A's at Angels, 10:05 p.m. ET: The A's have scored a total of one run for Greg Smith (4-6, 3.69 ERA) in his past two outings. Smith has not gone more than 5 2/3 innings in any of his previous three starts. Jon Garland (7-4, 4.05 ERA) is on pace to hand out 72 walks this year, which would be his highest total since 2004, when he issued 76.

• Complete list of pitching probables for Monday's games

NEWS AND NOTES

• Sundays have not been kind to the Baltimore Orioles. After winning their first Sunday game of the season back on April 6, the Orioles have now lost 12 consecutive Sunday games. This time, they were undone by a 12th-inning homer by Washington's Ronnie Belliard.

• Evan Longoria's run of consecutive games with an RBI came to an end, halting the streak at six in a row. Over his current seven-game hitting streak, Longoria is hitting .424.

• A's reliever Brad Ziegler has not allowed a run in 13 innings this year, marking the longest stretch of scoreless innings at the start of a career by an Oakland pitcher since 1980.