defending NL champion Mets had already lost captain David Wright and former ace Matt Harvey for the season and power-hitting Lucas Duda for

David Ortiz is set to get booed at Yankee Stadium, Chris Sale is ready to resume striking out Kris Bryant and the Kansas City Royals are facing a rugged road back to the playoffs.Now that the All-Star fun is finished, a look at whats on deck as Major League Baseball makes the turn and heads home toward October:---PENNANT PUSH: All eyes will be on Joe Maddon and his Cubs as they chase their first World Series crown since 1908. Theyre in prime position so far -- Jake Arrieta, Bryant and Co. hold the biggest lead at the break, up seven games over St. Louis in the NL Central.The Cubs have never won a title while at Wrigley Field. All those past failures? Thats something we dont really discuss very often, Arrieta said.Only one division race closer than five games: The AL East, with Baltimore up two on Boston and Toronto. Ortiz got a lot of love this week, but what Big Papi really wants is one more swing in the postseason. The Red Sox begin the second half Friday night in the steamy Bronx.Quite a scramble is shaping up for wild-card spots -- 18 teams are within five games of the slots. World Series MVP Salvador Perez, All-Star Game MVP Eric Hosmer and the defending champ Royals are hovering at 45-43.DEAL OR NO DEAL: Will Aroldis Chapman soon be closing somewhere else? Can Jonathan Lucroy catch on with a contender? How about Carlos Gonzalez? Could Drew Pomeranz or Jake Odorizzi be starting a new chapter?Plenty to track before the Aug. 1 deadline to make trades without waivers. Last year, a lot of big names moved in the final week -- Yoenis Cespedes, Johnny Cueto and Troy Tulowitzki, among them.This year, several elite teams need bullpen help. The Yankees have two of the top targets in Chapman and Andrew Miller. A few more wins might quiet all the trade noise, Miller said.We can shut down those rumors, and I think thats the goal. Thats what need to do. Thats what we should do, the lefty said.HEAL OR NO HEAL: Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Craig Kimbrel come out of the break on the disabled list, as do Felix Hernandez, Michael Brantley and several Texas pitchers.How fast the likes of Jordan Zimmermann, Wade Davis, Matt Carpenter and others can effectively come back might determine how far their teams go.The defending NL champion Mets had already lost captain David Wright and former ace Matt Harvey for the season and power-hitting Lucas Duda for a long time when slugger Yoenis Cespedes and hard-throwing Noah Syndergaard recently got hurt in the same game.I dont want it to sound like woe is me, Mets manager Terry Collins said, but woe is us.STEP IT UP!: Andrew McCutchen, Prince Fielder and Giancarlo Stanton are among several stars who slumped through the first half. Jose Bautista, Jason Heyward and Dallas Keuchel also have been shaky.All over the majors, All-Stars who havent performed that way get 2 1/2 months to return to form.A big second half by Justin Upton could propel Detroit in the playoff chase, same for Yordano Ventura in KC and Adam Wainwright in St. Louis.FLY, BALL, FLY: Giancarlo Stanton is done putting dents in the Western Metal Supply Co. building at Petco Park. Time now for mere mortals to swing away.Home runs are at a point that rivals the peak of the Steroids Era, but Commissioner Rob Manfred isnt worried that PEDs are juicing performances.The increase takes place against the backdrop where Major League Baseball does 22,000 drug tests a year, he said.The ball tends to travel when temperatures heat up -- former Phillies manager Charlie Manuel used to call this hittin season.It always goes back and forth, and you never know when its going to kind of take the swing the other way, Orioles catcher Matt Wieters said.DATES TO WATCH: Coming up, Ken Griffey Jr. (in a Mariners cap, not a backward lid) and Mike Piazza (Mets hat) step to the Cooperstown podium for their Hall of Fame induction speeches on July 24.Later, the Atlanta Braves play for the last time at 20-year-old Turner Field (Oct. 2 vs. Detroit) before moving to a suburban ballpark.Also in range: Ichiro Suzuki needs 10 hits to reach 3,000 in the majors and Alex Rodriguez is five home runs shy of No. 700. 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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Tom Crean knew there was one thing No. 13 Indiana couldnt have Sunday ?? a letdown.So with the fourth game of the week looming, the Hoosiers coach made some changes. He installed some new plays, urged players to fight through the fatigue and encouraged them to have some win.Winning made it even better. Robert Johnson had and seven rebounds and DeRon Davis scored 14 points to lead the Hoosiers past Southeast Missouri State for an 83-55 victory.In a week like this where you have these numerous games, its real easy to go vanilla with the game plan, Crean said. I dont believe in that. So we put a couple of things in yesterday and this morning that were a little different. It makes them be a little more aware and alert.Eventually, Creans strategy worked well enough to produce the Hoosiers fourth straight win, all this week.But whether it was the rugged stretch, the lack of a big-time opponent, the absence of high-energy forward OG Anunoby (ankle) or something else, Indiana (7-1) wasnt itself. Instead of pushing the tempo with quick passes early, the offense bogged down and repeatedly went deep into the shot clock. The result: 18 turnovers and 7 of 20 on 3-pointers.I think it was pretty tough, four games in eight days or whatever it was, Johnson said. I think it was a really big jump for our young guys, and I thought it was a good week for us.Denzel Mahoney led Southeast Missouri State (4-4) with 16 points, and Antonius Cleveland had 13.Indiana took advantage of Southeast Missouri States early shooting struggles to jump to a 17-2 lead. After the Redhawks closed to 26-21 late in the half, Indiana closed it on a 13-5 run then opened the second half on an 11-4 spurt to make it 50-30 with 15:51 to play.The Redhawks never seriously challenged again.Southeast Missouri State shot a season-low 31.3 percent from the field, went more than 8 minutes in the second half without a basket and finished with iits lowest point total this season.dddddddddddd think what happens when a team like Southeast Missouri State plays a ranked team thats really good, like Indiana, is that guys think they have to come in and make extraordinary plays and really what you need to do is just make simple plays, Redhawks coach Rick Ray said. Where you need to be extraordinary is on the defensive end.BIG PICTURESoutheast Missouri State: The Redhawks are 0-9 against Big Ten teams and 0-13 against ranked teams. This loss, coupled with Illinois 81-62 victory on Nov. 11, demonstrates how far they must go to really compete with college basketballs big boys.Indiana: Sure, this win was expected long before the Hoosiers stepped on the floor Sunday. But after the stumble in Fort Wayne and a sluggish first half, Indiana proved it can overcome fatigue and adversity and still win. Expect the Hoosiers to start climbing in the rankings again this week.BUMPING UPCrean drew laughter in the first half when he decided to chest bump preseason All-American center Thomas Bryant after he tried to run down a ball. Bryant took only two shots from the field, making one, but had 10 rebound, seven points, three assists and four blocks. And Crean had a reason for the chest bump.I would say Juwan (Morgan) and Thomas and Robert, they have been on point and on a mission since the middle of the week a week ago to take the lead, Crean said. So he (Bryant) just needed a reminder that its OK to have some fun.UP NEXTSoutheast Missouri State: The Redhawks return home to take on a more manageable opponent Wednesday, in-state rival Missouri State.Indiana: The Hoosiers get a well-deserved break before suiting up Saturday when they host Houston Baptist.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 . ' ' '