The Pennant Race - 9/23

The Mets players may deny they are uptight about the last week of the season, but who can blame them. After last year's momentous collapse, the Mets are on the brink of blowing another playoff opportunity. Last night, for the second time this season, the Mets were burned by an opposing pitcher's grand slam. The Cubs' Jason Marquis joined the Mariners' Felix Hernandez in the Mets record book by taking rookie starter Jon Niese deep with the bases loaded. The Cubs went on to a 9-5 victory, which dropped the Mets lead in the wildcard to a half-game ahead in front of the Brewers.

The Phillies also pushed their advantage in the NL East to 2.5 games ahead of the Mets with a 6-2 win over the Braves. The game was tied 2-2 in eighth inning when the Phillies went ahead on a fielder's choice. Pat Burrell then put the game away with a 3-run home run, his 33rd long ball of the season. Chase Utley also picked up his 100th RBI, the fourth year in a row the second baseman has achieved the feat.

Brandon Webb picked up his 22nd win and the Diamondbacks moved to within 2 games of the idle Dodgers in the NL West with their 4-2 defeat of the Cardinals. Stephen Drew reached the 20 home run mark for the first time in his career and Brandon Lyon escaped a 2nd and 3rd, nobody out, jam in the eighth inning.

The Rays moved 2.5 games in front of the Red Sox in the AL East with a 4-2 win over the Orioles. Jason Bartlett's RBI double snapped a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning. Last year's number one amateur pick, David Price, made his first major league start, going 5.1 innings, with one earned run allowed.

The Indians' Zach Jackson won his first MLB game in two years in the Tribe's 4-3 win over the Red Sox. Jamey Carroll and Shin-Soo Choo singled in runs off of Josh Beckett in the fifth inning to give Cleveland the lead for good.

News and Notes

The Indians' Fausto Carmona (6 games) and the Tigers' Gary Sheffield (4 games) were each suspended for the role in the bench clearing brawl between the two teams on Friday night. Indians' Victor Martinez and Asdrubel Cabrera also were suspended for 3 games each.

The Red Sox J.D. Drew received a cortisone shot for his bad back, but it remains to be seen if he'll play again this year. Teammate Mike Lowell could be back in the lineup this week though.

Speaking of bad backs, Rays' closer Troy Percival will be getting a second epidural this week.

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Around the Horn - 7/11

The Diamondbacks are looking into the possibility of bringing back their former 1st baseman Tony Clark. The Arizona Republic reported that the Dbacks are one of several teams to have contacted the Padres about the 6'7" 1st baseman. We recommend they get a 3rd baseman too. Mark Reynold's lack of defense is killing them.

Dbacks GM Josh Byrnes and company have decided not to pursue Barry Bonds, and according to the East Valley Tribune, have denied having any interest in Milton Bradley, as had been reported on a radio broadcast.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Hank Blalock is set to start a rehab assignment and may soon finally return to the Rangers lineup.

Fausto Carmona threw a 50-pitch simulated game and, according to the Akron Beacon Journal, hopes to begin a rehab assignment soon.

Pitcher Josh Johnson made his return to the Florida Marlins after Tommy John surgery. He allowed 3 runs in 5 innings.

The Associated Press reported that the Mariners have acquired 1st baseman Craig Wilson from the Pirates for a player to be named.

Blue Jays outfielder Vernon Wells is out 4-6 weeks with a Grade 2 hamstring strain.

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Up, Out, and Over

Perfection has become expected of Joba Chamberlain. Anything less is shocking. Of course those expectations are too high, but that's what happens when you have a young, hard throwing pitcher that dominates hitter. Last night though it was Chamberlain who got dominated when David Dellucci turned on a 96-mph fastball and put it into the right field seats for a game winning 3-run home run. The Indians held on for a 5-3 win in the first game of the 3-game series.

There were no midges this time around, but just like last October 5th, Chamberlain was called on to protect Andy Pettitte's slim one run lead, and just like last October, Chamberlain failed in his quest.

Pettitte had gotten the Yankees through 6 1-3 innings with a 3-2 lead before Kyle Farnsworth got the final 2 outs in the 7th inning. Joe Girardi had the game just as he would design it from a pitching standpoint. But Chamberlain got in trouble immediately by walking lead off man Grady Sizemore on a 3-2 pitch to start the 8th. Jamey Carroll bunted Sizemore into scoring position before Chamberlain issued his second walk of the inning, this time to Jhonny Peralta. Ryan Garko flied out to right for the 2nd out of the inning, but Dellucci, a great fastball hitter, drilled a pitch that was up and in, up and out as a helpless Bobby Abreu looked on.

The Yankees had the top of the order up in the 9th, but acting closer Rafael Betancourt retired Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, and Abreu in order to snap the Yankees 3-game winning streak.

Andy Pettitte bounced back from two straight poor showings with an effective outing. He allowed 2 runs, 5 hits, walked 1, and struck out 6, leaving after his 104th pitch. The Yankees had given him an early lead, but as has been the pattern this season, could not break the game open.

The Yankees loaded the bases in the 1st inning against Fausto Carmona on singles by Jeter and Hideki Matsui, sandwiched around a walk to Abreu. But a slumping Jason Giambi continued his bad start, hitting a ground out to first. The only saving grace was that it was hit slowly enough to only get a force out, allowing Jeter to score on the play. Carmona escaped further trouble by getting Melky Cabrera to hit a comebacker for the 3rd out.

Peralta, who had spoiled Pettitte's game in Cleveland in April with a home run, jumped on a Pettitte delivery in the 4th inning for a 2-run home run, his 6th of the season. But the Yankees answered right back against Carmona, who continued to struggle with his control this season.

The young right-hander walked Matsui to start the 4th and Godzilla immediately scored on Giambi's double to left. Cabrera did his job grounding out to the right side to move Giambi to 3rd and Robinson Cano brought him home with a single to left for a 3-2 lead. Jose Molina's 2-out single put a runner in scoring position, but Damon lined out to Sizemore to end the frame.

News and Notes

The Yankees were 1-6 with runners in scoring position. Even if you take away Melky Cabrera's productive out in the 4th, the Yankees continued to fail in the clutch.

Bobby Abreu had a rough night on the bases. He was thrown trying to steal 2nd Base in the 3rd inning, and was throw out trying to go from 1st to 3rd on Hideki Matsui's single to right in the 5th.

Matsui's 3-3 night extended his hitting streak to 15 games and raised his average to .342. He's had 7 hits in last 12 at-bats (.583).

As hard as it is to say, Kyle Farnsworth has been pitching well. He's allowed just 2 runs over his last 9.2 innings, with both runs coming on home runs. He's lowered his ERA from 4.91 to 3.38 in his last 10 appearances.

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Yankees vs. Indians - May 6

Andy Pettitte tries to snap a 2-game losing streak tonight when the Yankees host the Indians in the first game of a 3-game series at the Stadium. Pettitte's (3-3, 3.93) skid began with a loss in Cleveland and continued when he dropped a decision at home against Detroit. In both cases, the Yankees left-hander seemed to run out of gas in the middle innings, and started serving up gopher balls like there was no tomorrow.

Jhonny Peralta and Franklin Gutierrez both took Pettitte deep in a 4-run 5th inning that turned a 3-1 Yankees lead into a 5-3 deficit.

Fausto Carmona (3-1, 2.60) is 0-1, 3.86 lifetime against the Yankees in the regular season, but he dominated them in last year's ALCS. Carmona has been suffering through some bouts of wildness this season. After walking just 61 hitters in 215 innings last year, he's already issued 26 base on balls this season in just 34.2 innings. He's walked 4 or more batters in 5 of his 6 starts. Carmona's low point was an 8-walk outing in a 3.1 inning start against the A's on April 12. That marked Carmona's lone loss of the season.


Yankees vs. Carmona

Abreu 2-6 2 RBI
Cabrera 3-6
Cano 2-7
Damon 2-5
Giambi 1-5 1 HR 2 RBI
Jeter 3-7
Matsui 1-3
Molina 0-4

UPDATE - 4:19 pm
Tonight's Lineup from Peter Abraham - Wilson Betemit is back and right in the starting nine. It's not official, but most likely Alberto Gonzalez has been sent down.

Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Matsui DH
Giambi 1B
Cabrera CF
Cano 2B
Betemit 3B
Molina C

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Yankees vs. Indians - April 25

The Yankees return to the scene of the crimemidges tonight when they start a four game series with the Cleveland Indians. Like the Yankees, the Indians have started off slowly. Their doubleheader sweep of the Royals yesterday raised their record to 10-12.

C.C. Sabathia was last year's CY Young winner and the Indians had one of the strongest bullpen. However, none of that has come to fruition this year. Sabathia finally won his last start, a 6-inning, 11-strikeout performance in which he did not allow a run. That lowered his ERA considerably...to 10.50. Jake Westbrook has just landed on the DL with an intercostal strain, and erratic closer Joe Borowski is on the shelf with strained triceps muscle.

Thankfully for the Yankees they'll miss the Indians best starter this season, Cliff Lee, unless manager Eric Wedge decides to bring him back on three days rest to pitch in the series finale on Monday.

The strength of the Indians bullpen has been their set up men, primarily Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez. Betancourt has temporarily moved to the closer's role and picked up his first save yesterday. But he had been struggling this season in the setup role to the tune of 4.00 ERA and a league average against of .300.

Perez was fantastic last season, a 1.78 ERA and .187 opponents batting average. He also put up a 4:1 strikeout to walk ratio. But this season Perez has been battered around. His ERA is 6.52 and he's allowed 15 hits and 5 walks in 9.2 innings pitched.

The very hittable Paul Byrd (0-2, 4.43) will get tonight's start and the Indians will recall Jeremy Sowers from the minors to go on Saturday.

The last time the Yankees faced the Indians was of course the 2007 ALDS when Fausto Carmona and the Indians pen dominated them. (With the doubleheader yesterday, Carmona would also be going on three days rest should he pitch on Monday.) Joba Chamberlain says he's over the experience, but you can bet he's hoping for no bug attacks tonight. We're sure the Indians fans won't let him forget it.

Yankees vs. Paul Byrd (1-4, 4.44 8 games)

Bobby Abreu 2-5 2 RBI
Melky Cabrera 3-5 1 HR 6 RBI
Robinson Cano 2-8 1 HR 1 RBI
Johnny Damon 3-19 2 RBI
Jason Giambi 3-14 1 HR 1 RBI
Derek Jeter 11-27 3 RBI
Hideki Matsui 1-5
Chad Moeller 1-6
Jose Molina 1-3
Jorge Posada 3-18 2 RBI
Alex Rodriguez 4-15 1 HR 2 RBI

Indians vs. Andy Pettitte (6-7, 4.50 16 games)

Asdrubel Cabrera 1-3
Jamey Carroll 0-7
Ryan Garko 1-3
Franklin Gutierrez 1-3
Victor Martinez 2-6
Jason Michaels 3-8 1 RBI
Jhonny Perhalta 2-5 2 RBI
Grady Sizemore 1-3

Quick update already- The Indians are going with Aaron Laffey on Monday.

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Around the Horn - 4/25

Two of the most promising young pitchers hooked up at Petco Park last night. The Giants sent second year man Tim Lincecum to the hill against the Padres big man, 6'10", Chris Young. Young allowed 1 run on 2 hits, and struck out 10 in his 7 innings...and lost the game.

Rich Aurilia, who seems like he's 400 years old, hit his first home run of the season for the game's line run. Lincecum's line - 6.1 IP 4 H 5 BB 9 K- earned him the win.

Chipper Jones, "Wally" to those out at Shea, celebrated his 36th birthday with his 393rd career home run and went 3-3. The Braves beat the Marlins 7-4 as the chipper feeling Jones raised his average to .442.

Troy Tulowitzki's fielder's choice and Ryan Spilborghs singled plated a pair of runs in the 8th to give the Rockies a 4-2 win over the Cubs.

Lance Berkman went 3-3 with a home run and 3 RBI in the Astros 5-3 win over the Reds. Rookie phenom Johnny Cueto gave up all 5 runs in 7 innings.

The Mets lead the Nationals 3-0, but starter Oliver Perez and the bullpen faltered, and the Nats pulled out a 10-5 win. Aaron Heilmann continued his horrid pitching, serving up a grand slam to Felipe Lopez who drove in 6 on the day.

Conor Jackson and Jeff Salazar drove in 2 runs each to pace the Diamondbacks past the Dodgers 6-4.

Pat Burrell's 2-run double in the 8th snapped a 1-1 tie and the Phillies held on against the Brewers, 3-1. Jamie Moyer and Jeff Suppan both pitched well in gaining no-decisions.

Brian Barton drove in 2 runs and Joel Pineiro picked up his first win in the Cardinals 6-2 win against the Pirates.

Eric Hinske drove in 2 runs to back a strong outing from Andy Sonnanstine in the Rays 5-3 win over the Blue Jays. Toronto starter Dustin McGowan walked 7 hitters in just 4 innings.

The Orioles rallied from a 5-0 deficit to beat the Mariners 8-7. Former 'M', Adam Jones drove in 3 runs including the game winner. George Sherrill picked up the save, his 5th against his former team this season (out of 8 total).

The Indians swept the Royals in a doubleheader, 9-6 and 2-0. Grady Sizemore had 4 hits including a home run and Fausto Carmona was shaky but earned his 3rd win. In the nightcap, Cliff Lee threw a complete game shutout to raise his record to 4-0 and lower his ERA to a mind boggling 0.28.

The Angels came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Rex Sox 7-5. The Angels couldn't solve rookie emergency starter Justin Masterson, but they had the number of the Sox pen. Gary Matthews Jr. enjoyed a 3-hit, 3 RBI afternoon.

The Tigers rolled over the Rangers again, this time by an 8-2 margin. Magglio Ordonez hit two of the five Tigers home runs on the day. Detroit outscored the Rangers in the three game series, 37-10. Jim Leyland has to be concerned about Jeremy Bonderman, who was removed one out shy of being eligible for the win. He'd already thrown 110 pitches and walked 7.

Donnie Murphy hit his first two home runs of the year and knocked in 4 as the A's steamrolled the Twins 11-2. Twins starter Francisco Liriano only retired 2 hitters, allowing 6 runs, 5 hits, and 3 walks. He's probably ticketed for a return to the minors.

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Around the Horn - 4/17

6-hours, 16 minutes. That's how long it took the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres to complete 22 innings of baseball. Troy Tulowitzki, in his 10th plate appearance, doubled in the game winner. The final out was recorded 1:21 a.m. PDT.

Jeff Francis (7 IP 0 R 7 K) and Jake Peavy (8 IP 0 R 11 K) started the pitchers duel off. No one scored until the 14th inning when both teams put a runner across home plate.

The Phillies belted 4 home runs in thrashing the Astros 10-2. Pat Burrell continued his hot start (.373-6-17) with a home run, single, and 2 RBI.

The Mets and Nationals went 14 innings before Joel Hanrahan wild pitched home the winning run.

The Brewers rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Cardinals 5-3 in 10 innings. Prince Fielder ended his month long home drought with a game winning 2-run blast.

Joey Votto homered and drove in 5 runs in the Reds 9-2 win over the Cubs. Ken Griffey Jr. slugged a 3-run shot, the 596th of his career.

Chipper Jones, Mark Teixeira, and Brian McCann hit consecutive home runs in the 5th inning to propel the Braves past the Marlins 8-0. Jones went 4-4 with a pair of home runs as John Smoltz picked up his 210th career win.

In an AL Central battle of heavyweights, Fausto Carmona and the Indians outpitched Justin Verlander and the Tigers. The Tribe won 11-1 with a 13 hit attack. The game also featured some hit batters (Verlander into Garko's back) and clear retaliation (Carmona and Sheffield), but no ejections.

Vincente Padilla outpitched Roy Halladay in the Rangers 4-1 win over the Blue Jays. Halladay pitched his 2nd straight complete game.

The Mariners used a 5-run 3rd inning to beat the A's 8-1. Raul Ibanez (.343) and Jose Lopez had 3 hits each. After Kurt Suzuki (.327), the highest average in the A's lineup was Ryan Sweeney at .267.

The Orioles rallied from 2 down in the 9th against White Sox closer Bobby Jenks, and Adam Jones stroked the game winning single in the 10th.

Eric Hinske homered and Jason Hammel picked up his first win in the Rays 7-3 victory over the Twins. Carlos Pena had to leave the game with a hamstring injury and has been listed as day-to-day.

Garrett Anderson drove in 3 runs and John Garland improved to 2-2 in the Angels 5-3 win against the Royals. David DeJesus already bothered by a bad ankle this year, had to leave the game with a jammed toe.

News and Notes

Evan Longoria has only played 6 major league games, but the Rays know what they've got. That's why they've signed him to a 9-year, $44 million deal.

Braves pitcher Peter Moylan may have to have season ending elbow surgery, but the Braves are still looking into all the options.

Miguel Tejada may or may not have lied about P.E.D. use, but he did lie about his age. Tejada admitted yesterday that he's 33 not 31.

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Around the Horn - 4/11

Mad Dog Russo must be having a wet dream, the Giants have won 3 in a row. Kevin Correia gave them 7+ shutout innings last night in a 5-1 win over the Cardinals.

Rookie of the Year candidate Geovany Soto had 4 hits, including a home run in the Cubs 7-3 win over the Pirates. Jon Lieber threw 4.1 innings of scoreless baseball to pick up the win.

The Marlins sent the Nationals to their 7th straight loss, 4-3. Jorge Cantu enjoyed a 3-hit, 2 RBI night.

Aaron Heilman and the Mets blew a 3-0 lead, but Angel Pagan saved the day with the game winning single in the bottom of the 12th for a 4-3 win over the Phillies. Heilman has allowed 6 runs in 6 innings this season.

Edwin Encarnacion's 2-run HR snapped a 1-1 in the 7th to lead the Reds over the Brewers 4-1.

The Braves-Rockies game was rained out and will be made up at a later date. The Braves did place closer Rafael Soriano on the 15-day DL with elbow tendinitis.

The Orioles 6-game winning streak came to a screeching halt, as the Texas Rangers swept them in a twi-night doubleheader. Kevin Millwood improved to 1-2, 1.29 in helping the Rangers take game 1, 3-1. Michael Young homered, and C.J. Wilson completed a two-save night as the Ranger took the nightcap, 5-4.

Travis Buck drove in all 3 A's runs, including the game winning 2-run double in the 12th, as Oakland topped the Blue Jays 4-3. Keith Foulke gave up a run in the bottom of the 12th, but picked up his first save since 2005. The A's lost Rich Harden to the DL once again, this time with a strained back.

The Tigers got offense for the 2nd straight night- 6 runs- but their pitching got pummeled in a 12-6 loss to the Red Sox. Mike Lowell was put on the DL with a sprained left thumb, but his replacement, Sean Casey, knocked in 3 runs.

2-0, 0.64 ERA. Looking at those stats, you wouldn't think we would be taking about Rays starter Edwin Jackson, but that's exactly what his numbers are so far. The normally erratic right-hander went 8 innings in the Rays 7-0 pasting of the Mariners. Backup catcher Mike DeFelice knocked in 3 runs.

The Twins and White Sox were rained out and we'll make it up at a later date.

The Indians had the day off, but rewarded Fausto Carmona with a 4-year, $15 million deal.

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Around the Horn - 4/3

Rich Harden and Jon Lester hooked up in a pitcher's duel in the A's-Red Sox series finale, but it was the A's bullpen that blinked first. David Ortiz had been 0-for the season before belting a 2-run HR off of Alan Embree in the 7th. Lester, Bryan Corey, and Manny Delcarmen combined on a 4-hitter in the 5-0 shutout.

The Rays have hopes of reaching .500 this season, but most of that will depend on their pitching. If last night was an indication they're in trouble. Starter Matt Garza and reliever Al Reyes blew a 6-3 lead to a weak Orioles team. Aubrey Huff homered and drove in 4 for the O's.

Seattle learned earlier in the day they would be without their closer J.J. Putz for at least 2 weeks due to mild costochondritis, an inflammation of the ribcage. For now, M's manager John McLaren is going with closer-by-committee, but last night one time Jays closer Miguel Batista finished off a 4-1 win with a scoreless ninth against the Texas Rangers.

Royals starter Brian Bannister was as good as it gets in a 4-0 win over the Detroit Tigers. Think the Mets could use the guy they mistakenly dealt for Ambiorix Burgos? Bannister is now 13-9, 3.71 in his 1 year and 1 start for the Royals.

Fausto Carmona walked 4 hitters in 7 innings, but the Indians starter pretty much picked up where he left off last season, limiting the White Sox to 1 run in the Tribe's 7-2 victory. Carmona lead the AL in inducing double play grounders last season and started off '08 with 3 more.

Nick Blackburn's wild pitch provided the only run in the Angels 1-0 win over the Twins. Blackburn was great, but Joe Saunders (8 IP) was even better as he and K-Rod combined on the shutout. Torii Hunter finally gave his old fans a treat with his first two hits of the season.

We picked Pedro Martinez to be our NL comeback player of the year, but we just know we are not a jinx like the Sports Illustrated cover (we think that's garbage anyway). Pedro was put on the DL with the hamstring he injured Tuesday night. He's expected to miss 4-6 weeks. The Mets took their frustration out on the Marlins last night in a 13-0 blow out.

Look at those Nats! The Washingtonians improved to 3-0 with a 1-0 blanking of the Phillies. Tim Redding went 7 innings and allowed 1 hit, the only hit the Phils would get on the night. Ryan Zimmerman hit his 2nd game winning home run of the season.

The Brewers pounded Ted Lilly and the Cubs 8-2 to improve to 2-0. Jeff Suppan picked up the win over the team many have picked to win the NL Central.

After a 72 minute rain delay the Giants finally got their first win, a 2-1 edging of the Dodgers. The Dodgers won't have 3rd Base coach Larry Bowa who was suspended 3 games for Tuesday night's ejection. Bowa is NOT happy!

It wasn't an important game, but there was Trevor Hoffman blowing another save for the Padres. After the Astros tied the game, Lance Berkman hit a game winning 3-run HR (Astros 9 Padres 6) off the all-time saves leader.

The Diamondbacks Brandon Lyon can empathize with Hoffman. He didn't retire any of the 3 Reds batters he faced in the 9th last night. The last one, Edwin Encarnacion, hit a walk-off 3-run HR to give the Reds a 6-5 win.

The Braves pounded the Pirates 10-2 for their first win of 2008. Pirates lefty reliever Damaso Marte was in much demand prior to the season. So far in 2 appearances he's allowed 6 runs and only recorded 2 outs.

The Cards picked up their first win too with an 8-3 win over the Rockies. Rick Ankiel, who heard off-season P.E.D. rumors, hit his 1st home run.

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The Rotations - AL Central

Tigers

Guaranteed Spots: Justin Verlander, Nate Robertson, Dontrelle Willis, Kenny Rogers, Jeremy Bonderman

The final spot in the rotation will belong to Jeremy Bonderman, though it might have not been a given if the Tigers had some competition for Bonderman. The right-hander wore down at the end of last season going 1-8, 8.23 over his final 10 starts. That was after a 10-1, 3.53 start.

The Tigers gave up prospect Andrew Miller as part of the Miguel Cabrera-Willis deal, but Willis should have an immediate impact on the rotation.

Verlander is the stud/workhorse of the rotation. Robertson just got himself a new deal will give the Tigers many solid starts. Kenny Rogers is 43 and must prove he can stay healthy. The Tigers can plug in Zach Miner for some spot starts.

The Tigers staff could be anywhere from very good to good enough.

Indians

Guaranteed Spots: C.C. Sabthia, Fausto Carmona, Jake Westbrook, Paul Byrd

Sabathia had to be keeping a close eye on the Johan Santana contract negotiations, and although GM Mark Shapiro said he would not trade his big left-hander before the season is over, anything is possible.

Carmona went from closer bust in ’06 to 19 wins as a start last season. He showed poise during the first round playoff win against the Yankees in the ALDS.

Westbrook is what he is. He’ll lose nearly as many games as he wins, but he should give you 200 innings. Byrd was busted for HGH use, and then made lame excuses for it. How that will impact his 2008 season remains to be seen. A guy with no great stuff, Byrd has managed to win 97 big league games.

The final spot in the rotation is up for grabs. Cliff Lee was 5-8, 6.29 in an injury plagued season. The left-hander won 32 games the prior 2 years and has the inside track for the final spot.

Jeremy Sowers was 7-4, 3.57 in 14 rookie starts in ’06, but was awful (1-6, 6.42) in 13 starts last year. Adam Miller has been highly touted since being drafted out of high school in 2003. He spent the full season at Triple-A last year (5-4, 4.82, 68 Ks in 65.1 IP) and, if healthy, should compete for the last spot.

Twins

Guaranteed Spots: Scott Baker

With Johan Santana, Carlos Silva and Matt Garza gone, the starting rotation is wide open for the Twins. Scott Baker went 9-9, 4.26 and threw 143.2 innings, to bounce back from a terrible 2006 season, to be the only guaranteed spot. Boof Bonser (8-12, 5.10) would be next on that list.

Francisco Liriano missed last season with Tommy John surgery, but says he ready for spring training. That doesn’t mean he’ll be ready to pitch at the major league level when teams break camp.

Kevin Slowey showed some of his promise in 13 appearances, 11 as a starter (4-1, 4.72) for the Twins, and a stellar 10-5, 1.89 mark at Triple-A.

Of the prospects acquired for Santana, only Phil Humber has a shot at making the rotation during the grapefruit league. GM Bill Smith may still be looking to add a veteran presence before the team heads to Minnesota.

Update - 4:40 pm 2/12 - The Twins have agreed to terms with free agent Livan Hernandez on 1-year, $5 million deal. Hernandez can earn another $2 million in incentives.

Royals

Guaranteed Spots: Gil Meche, Brian Bannister, Zack Greinke

Meche showed last year that he was well worth the big contract the Royals gave him prior to the 2007 season.

The Mets had to be kicking themselves for dealing Bannister for hard throwing, wild reliever, Armando Burgoix. Bannister put up very good numbers, 12-9, 3.87, in holding batters to a .249 average of 165 innings (27 starts).

Greinke started to blossom last season into the pitcher the Royals had always expected him to be. After starting the season in the rotation, Greinke was moved to the bullpen where he excelled. The Royals moved him back into the rotation late in the season and his promise continued. Overall he put together a fine season (7-7, 3.69), including a 2.42 ERA in the 2^nd half.

Brett Tomko (4-12, 5.55) was pretty much guaranteed the 4^th spot by new manager Trey Hillman, despite the fact that Tomko, in a word, stinks.

Hillman would like to have one left-hander added to that mix and either Jorge De la Rosa (8-12, 5.82) or John Bale (1-1, 4.05, 42K’s in 40 innings of relief) could fit the bill.

Kyle Davies (3-7, 6.66) continued his struggles after being acquired from the Braves and will probably start the season in Triple-A unless he puts together a big spring.

Ranking the Rotations

1. Tigers
2. Indians
3. Twins
4. Royals

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Who Let the Bugs Out?

The Yankees and Indians were battling in a tight, tense pitcher's duel yesterday evening when a Hitchcock movie broke out. Moments later the game was tied and Travis Hafner singled in the game winner in the 11th inning to give the Indians a 2-1 victory and a commanding 2 games to none lead in the ALDS.

An oustanding pitching performance by Andy Pettitte was lost in the shuffle. The big lefty had left the game in the 7th inning with a 1-0 lead, 2 on, and 2 out. Joe Torre turned to his rookie phenom, Joba Chamberlain, who quickly dispatched Franklin Guitierrez and Casey Blake to preserve the lead. But that's when the science non-fiction stuff showed up.

A swarm of "midges", annoying gnat-like creatures, swarmed the field in the 8th inning. It was difficult to watch the game so you can imagine what it must have been like to try to hit or pitch or field under those conditions. And for the 1st time in his Yankees career, something rattled the kid. Players and umpires broke out the cans of Off to try to combat the pests that were apparently drawn by the water temps and high humidity (not to mention sweaty ball players).

Chamberlain walked the lead off man, Grady Sizemore, and wild pitched him to 2nd. An Asdrubal Cabrera sac bunt moved Sizemore to 3rd and forced the Yankees to bring the infield in. Travis Hafner hit a bullet, but it was right at Doug Mientkiewicz for the 2nd out. You started to think Chamberlain would get out of it. But then he uncorked another wild pitch, which took a hard bounce off the backstop. Jorge Posada hurriedly tossed the ball to Chamberlain covering home, but Sizemore slid in safely, wiping out Chamberlain in the process.

Clearly shaken up by the situation, Chamberlain hit Victor Martinez and walked Ryan Garko. Only then, inexplicably, did Torre finally get Luis Vizcaino up in the pen. But the rookie bounced back to strike out Jhonny Peralta looking to end the inning.

Mariano Rivera threw 2 scoreless frames before turning things over to Luis Vizcaino in the 11th. Vizcaino got off to a bad start by walking Kenny Lofton. Lofton has gone 5-7 with 2 walks and 4 RBI in the series thus far. Guitierrez failed to get a sac bunt down, but then singled through the left side. Blake successfully sacrificed and the Indians were set up, 2nd and 3rd with just 1 out. The Yankees elected to intentionally walk Sizemore to load the bases to set up a force at all bases. Vizcaino made a big pitch to get Asdrubal Cabrera to pop out to Shelley Duncan at 1st for the 2nd out of the inning.

That brought up Travis Hafner who had failed in 3 previous attempts with runners in scoring position. Hafner worked the count full before lacing a game winning single into right-center and set off a wild celebration in the Jake by the buggy Lake.

More pesky than the bugs was the hard off-speed pitches thrown by Indians starter Fausto Carmona. Carmona, making his 1st playoff appearance, dominated the Yankees for 9 innings. He allowed just 3 hits, making only one mistake, a pitch left up in the zone that Melky Cabrera hit out for a solo home run. It would be about the only ball the Yankees would lift off Carmona all night.

The 23-year old threw 113 pitches, 77 for strikes. He issued 2 walks, but both were erased by double plays. In the 4th, Derek Jeter singled and moved to 2nd on Bobby Abreu's ground out, but Alex Rodriguez struck out and Hideki Matsui grounded out. A-Rod had a chance to be the hero again in the 9th, when Abreu reached on a 2-out infield single and stole 2nd, but Carmona struck out the soon to be AL MVP for the 3rd time.

Left-hander Rafael Perez gave the Yankees no breaks either, retiring all 6 men he faced to pick up the victory.

....

In addition to his home run, Melky Cabrera had the defensive play of the game. He threw a strike to home plate to nail Peralta trying to score from 2nd on a single by Lofton.

The Yankees are hitting .121 as a team. That's all that needs to be said.

photos courtesy of AP

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