The dog days of summer can make or break a season. Just ask Alex Rios. He was batting .324 heading into the month of August with his name among the batting leaders all season long. However, the Jays’ outfield hit just .198 for the month and his average has now dipped below the .300-line for the first time all year.

Others have used the summer months to salvage their years or propel their seasons to the next level. Howard has turned a breakout season into a historic one, Garland has somehow made a bid for 20 wins after winning just four games in his first two and a half months, and Markakis has joined the AL Rookie of the Year race out of the blue. In this edition of Inside the Numbers, we’ll break down a few of the best performers in the month of August.

Ryan Howard, PHI 1B .348 (39-for-112), 14 HR, 41 RBI, 25 R, 22 BB

Howard blew past Mike Schmidt’s former franchise home run record of 48 homers. For the season, he’s got his average up to .309 with an astonishing 53 home runs and 134 RBI. He smacked three long balls on Saturday and has a chance to hit 60 long balls in his first full season in the bigs. If the Phillies, who are currently 1 1/2 games behind San Diego, can sneak into the postseason, he definitely warrants some MVP consideration. For the month of August, teammate Jimmy Rollins hit an impressive .344 (45-for-131) with seven HR, nine SB, 24 RBI and, benefiting by Howard’s hot month, a league-high 30 runs.

Chris Duncan, STL OF/1B .361 (30-for-83), 9 HR, 14 RBI, 20 R

The coach’s son has made the most of his opportunity. Pitching coach Dave Duncan’s son, Chris, has earned a spot in the Cardinals outfield the past couple months and is now playing everyday. He’s quietly hitting .320 for the season with a home run every 13.5 at-bats. Incidentally, Dave’s career-high for home runs was 19, set back in 1972. With those numbers, nobody is crying about nepotism in St. Louis.

Nick Markakis, BAL OF .354 (34-for-96), 10 HR, 26 RBI, 22 R

Markakis has been the Orioles best hitter over the past month, smacking 10 homers in August and raising his average to .304 (119-for-391). He’s now hitting third in the lineup too, so we should continue seeing decent RBI and run totals from him. With his monster August, he warrants consideration in the deep AL Rookie of the Year honors – but doesn’t really have a chance to win.

Delmon Young, TB OF .727 (8-for-11), HR, 4 RBI, 3 R

Young made the most of his promotion to the bigs, homering in his first game and going 8-for-11 in his first series against the White Sox. He hit .316 (108-for-342) with eight homers, 59 RBI and 22 stolen bases while at Triple-A Durham, including his much-publicized 50-game suspension for throwing a bat at an umpire. His power numbers were significantly down this year, but he’s definitely capable of 30/30-type numbers. He’ll play everyday next year so is a fantastic keeper candidate as the season winds down.

Jon Garland, CHW 5-1, 2.89 ERA, 23 K and 6 BB in 43.2 IP

Garland has been lights-out the past three months, going 11-1 with a 3.12 ERA in 15 starts. He leads the majors with 10 road victories and is one of only a handful of pitchers who has a shot for 20 wins. He’s currently tied with Johan Santana, Chien-Ming Wang, Roy Halladay and Brad Penny with 16 wins, and leads all of baseball with 34 victories the past two seasons.

Esteban Loaiza, OAK 4-0, 1.48 ERA, 31 K and 4 BB in 42.2 IP

Loaiza put together a string of 28 1/3 straight innings without allowing an earned run in August. He’s 5-0 over his past seven starts and hasn’t lost since July - his 35-5 K-BB ratio is a big reason why. He hasn’t been a very reliable pitcher since 2003 in stints with the Yankees and Nationals, but has been reborn in the summer months in Oakland. In the month of August, teammates Kirk Saarloos, Dan Haren and Barry Zito also had four win in August, going a combined 16-2.

Francisco Rodriguez, LAA 1-0, 12 S, 0.00 ERA, 17 K and 6 BB in 13.1 IP

KRod has not allowed a run since June… since June! In that span, he’s struck out 33 in 26 innings. The Angels have gone 23-2 in the games that he’s appeared in. He’s currently tied with Bobby Jenks for the major league lead in saves (39) and is on pace to break last year’s 45-save campaign. Also in the pen, Francisco Cordero went 1-0 with 10 saves and a 0.00 ERA and Trevor Hoffman registered seven saves with a 0.00 ERA.

Leaders for August
Average (min. 50 at-bats)
1. Matt Diaz, ATL .406 (28-for-69)
2. Vladimir Guerrero, LAA .393 (42-for-107)
3. Luke Scott, HOU .389 (35-for-90)
4. Robb Quinlan, LAA .387 (24-for-62)
5. Endy Chavez, NYM .384 (28-for-73)

Home Runs
1. Howard, PHI 14 HR
2. Travis Hafner, CLE 13 HR
3. Alfonso Soriano, WAS 11 HR
4T. Jermaine Dye, CHW 10 HR
4T. Markakis, BAL 10 HR
4T. David Ortiz, BOS 10 HR

RBI
1. Howard, PHI 41 RBI
2. Miguel Cabrera, FLA 32 RBI
3T. Hafner, CLE 30 RBI
3T. Jermaine Dye, CHW 30 RBI
5T. Markakis, BAL 26 RBI
5T. Carlos Delgado, NYM 26 RBI
5T. Jose Reyes, NYM 26 RBI

Wins
1. Garland, CHW 5-1
2. Steve Trachsel, NYM 5-0
3T. 19 tied with four wins

ERA (min. 25 IP)
1. Loaiza, OAK 1.48
2. Chad Billingsley, LA 1.50
3. Kenny Rogers, DET 1.64
4. Derek Lowe, LA 1.69
5. Clay Hensley, SD 1.82    

Saves
1. Francisco Rodriguez, LAA 12 S
2T. Billy Wagner, HOU 10 S
2T. Joe Borowski, CHC 10 S
2T. Bobby Jenks, CHW 10 S
5. Francisco Rodriguez, MIL 9 S

Questions, comments or quandaries? You can contact me at Matt@CREATiVESPORTS.com.