The Pennant Race - 8/8

Brian Giles won't be going to the Boston Red Sox. The veteran Padres outfielder blocked a potential deal that would have sent him from one coast to the other.

The Yankees and Red Sox gained on Tampa when the Rays couldn't hold a one run lead in the 9th inning last night against the Mariners. After the M's tied it up in the 8th, Raul Ibanez sent the fans home happy with a walk off home run.

The A's went from 2 over .500 to 8 under after losing their 10th straight last night. A.J. Burnett won his career-high 14th game. Hard to imagine that someone with his stuff has never won more than 12 games in a season before.

Another Manny Ramirez home run, his fourth, was the difference in the Dodgers' 4-1 win over the Cardinals. That moved them to within 1.5 of the Diamondbacks after the NL West leaders fell to Atlanta 6-4.

The idle Twins gained a half-game on the White Sox after Chicago was pounded by Detroit 8-3. One has to wonder what Jimmy Leyland is doing with Justin Verlander. He's your prized possession, yet you let him throw 130 pitches last night to save the bullpen. What happened was a 5-3 game that turned into a romp.

The Rockies should have been sellers at the deadline. They're now 13 games under .500 after being swept in a twin-bill by the Nationals. They trail the DBacks by 8 games.

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Around the Horn - 7/28

At first glance, you had to wonder what Jerry Manuel was doing. He took Johan Santana out of his last start in the 8th inning of a tight ball game with the Phillies. Yesterday Manuel let Santana throw a complete game in a 9-1 blow out of the Cardinals. But the Mets played 14 innings on Saturday and the bullpen needed a rest. In case you haven't seen it already, be sure to catch Carlos Beltran's home run robbing grab on Sunday.

The Tigers salvaged the final game, of their three game series with the White Sox, on Sunday with Miguel Cabrera driving in 2 runs. He's now knocked in 17 in the last 8 games.

Jarrod Washburn helped his trade rumors out Sunday with 8 innings of 4 hit ball against the weak hitting Blue Jays. Washburn is 3-2, 2.44 over his last 9 starts, averaging better than 6 innings per start.

The Royals topped the Rays on Sunday 6-1, but the big story may be lefty reliever Ron Mahay. KC signed Mahay to a free agent contract over the winter and now they have a decision to make. Keep him and keep the bullpen strong or trade him for some valuable chips. Mahay has allowed just 4 earned runs over his last 30 innings (1.20 ERA) pitched. He's been scored up on in just 4 of those 21 appearances.

The Cubs won a big one on Sunday, 9-6, after being down 5-0 to the Marlins. The victory earned them a split of the 4-game series and put them 1 game ahead of the Brewers going into tonight's Chicago-Milwaukee series. Ted Lilly faces CC Sabathia in the opener.

The Brewers had a chance to remain even, but after taking a 4-1 lead, they gave up 7 runs to the Astros in the 5th inning. Geoff Blum hit a pair of home runs off of Jeff Suppan, who may want to pitch around Blum from now on, since Blum is 13-24 (.542) off of him.

The Phillies remained a game back of the Mets after a wild one in the city of brotherly love. The Phillies came back from a 5-0 deficit and then nearly blew a 12-5 lead. They hung on for a 12-10 verdict with six home runs. The worst blow of the day though came on a home plate collision when Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino slammed his head right into the head of Braves catcher Brian McCann. McCann left with a mild concussion. We still don't know why catchers are fair game.

Here they come again. The Rockies' 2nd half surge last season got them into the playoffs, and ultimately, into the World Series. They're just 6 games back now in the NL West after an 11-0 drubbing of the Reds on Sunday. They don't know now whether to be buyers or sellers at Thursday's trade deadline.

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Around the Horn - 7/22

Great pitching match up last night at the warehouse they call a ball park in Phoenix. The Cubs sent recently acquired Rich Harden up against Dbacks oldster Randy Johnson. Apparently the Big Unit still has something left in him. He tossed 2 hit ball over 7 innings to pick up his 291st win in the Dbacks 2-0 victory. Hard luck loser Harden allowed just 1 hit, a home run, in 7 innings and struck out 10.

Harden has thus far lived up to expectations - 1 earned run allowed in 12.1 innings pitched. He's yet to get a win though as the bullpen blew his first start and no offense spoiled his second time out.

CC Sabatha is also living up to expectations in Milwaukee. He's allowed just 5 earned runs in 24 IP (1.88 ERA), while winning 3 games, going the distance in 2 of them. He's also homered! After starting the season 1-5, 7.51, Sabathia has gone 8-3, 1.92.

Teammates Miguel Cabrera and Matt Joyce combined for 9 hits and 11 RBI last night in the Tigers 19-4 blow out of the Royals.

B.J. Upton's offensive numbers are down for the Rays, but he did reach 30 stolen bases for the first time in his career with a pair of swipes last night. Scott Kazmir was dominant in the Rays 4-0 win over the A's, striking out 9 and allowing just 2 hits over 7 innings.

Curt Schilling has been out, Dice-K hasn't been fantastic, and Clay Buccholz has not yet lived up to the hype, but the Red Sox are very much in the thick of things, in great part due to the performance of Jon Lester. Known more for his cancer battle and a no-hitter earlier this year, Lester has put together a very solid campaign, improving to 8-3 after 7 shutout innings against the Mariners last night. Boston won 4-0 with Lester lowering his ERA to 3.20.

The Dodgers and Rockies banged out 38 hits last night in the Dodgers 16-10 road win. James Loney drove in 5 runs in this horribly pitched game.

Watching him pitch, you wonder how he ever wins a game, but Paul Byrd did it again last night. He and the Indians out dueled All-Star Ervin Santana in the Tribe's 5-2 win against the Angels.

The Astros were on the brink of victory last night, leading the Pirates 3-2 in the 9th. Then Jason Bay, Adam LaRoche, and Freddy Sanchez each hit round-trippers. Sanchez's was a 3-run inside the parker that took a weird carom off the fence. Final score, Pirates 9 Astros 3.

You never expect pitching with the Rangers, but last night Scott Feldman and three relievers held the White Sox to one run in a 6-1 win. Josh Hamilton hit a 3-run home run to give him 98 RBI on the season. Carlos Quentin's 24th home run was the lone Chisox run.

The Brewers blew a 9th inning lead, but Bill Hall homered in the 10th and the Brewers added two more to beat the Cards 6-3. The victory moved Milwaukee into a tie for 2nd with the Cards in the NL Central, 2 games back of the Cubs.

Jose Campillo allowed just 2 hits over 7 innings in the Braves 4-0 blanking of the Marlins. The rookie is now 5-4, 2.83.

The Padres rallied for 3 runs in the 9th inning to overcome the Reds, 6-4. Kevin Kouzmanoff stroked the game winning 2-run double. Ken Griffey Jr. smacked career home run number 606.

Adam Jones and Ramon Hernandez both went deep in the Orioles 8-3 win over the Blue Jays. Toronto has lost 14 of 18 on the road.

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Around the Horn - 7/1

Look out AL Central, here come the Detroit Tigers. In case you haven't noticed, the Tigers, after last night's come from behind 5-4 win over the Twins, are now two games over .500 (42-40). The Tigers were 19-8 in June, and have won 7 straight, moving them to within 5 games of the White Sox for the AL Central lead.

The Tigers will be tested now though. Magglio Ordonez went on the DL after straining an oblique muscle on Sunday and Miguel Cabrera may be joining him after suffering from a hip flexor last night.

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit (42-40) «	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	5	12	3
Minnesota (45-38)	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	4	13	0

W: C. Fossum (1-0) L: M. Guerrier (4-3) S: J. Zumaya (1) HR: DET - M. Thames (15) MIN - None

Recap/Box

The Mets just can't build off of anything. They had a big win on Sunday against the Yankees after losing two straight. So what did they do last night? Go out and get clobbered 7-1 by the Cardinals. John Maine had a rough outing and the Mets offense fell flat. And Kyle Lohse is 10-2!

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
N.Y. Mets (40-42)	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	7	3
St. Louis (48-36) «	2	1	1	1	2	0	0	0	x	7	10	2

W: K. Lohse (10-2) L: J. Maine (8-6) HR: NYM - None STL - C. Duncan (5)

Recap/Box

Tampa Bay has its first big Summer series...EVER. They got off on the right foot last night, holding off the Red Sox 5-4 despite Troy Percival being forced from the game in the 9th inning. The Rays closer apparently re-aggravated a hamstring problem. Back up closer Dan Wheeler had already pitched, so J.P. Howell closed things out. And the Red Sox still haven't, and won't, taken any disciplinary action against Manny Ramirez.

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Boston (50-35)	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	2	4	8	1
Tampa Bay (50-32) «	1	0	0	2	1	0	1	0	x	5	6	0

W: J. Shields (6-5) L: J. Masterson (4-2) S: J. Howell (2) HR: BOS - J. Drew (16) TB - B. Upton (6), G. Gross (6)

Recap/Box

Jr. still has some pop in that bat. Ken Griffey Jr. came off the bench to hit a walk off 2-run home run to give the Reds a 4-3 win over the Pirates in the 9th. It was career home run number 603. Before the game, Jr. playfully asked manager Dusty Baker's 9-yr old son Darren why he wasn't playing. "You can't hit lefties, and you're old!", responded Darren. Take that kid.

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh (38-44)	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	3	9	0
Cincinnati (39-45) «	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	4	8	0

W: F. Cordero (3-1) L: M. Capps (1-3) HR: PIT - A. LaRoche (8) CIN - J. Hairston (2), K. Griffey (10)

Recap/Box

The Marlins walked one off too against the Nationals. After the fish tied the game in the 9th, Josh Willingham hit his second home run of the game in the bottom of the 10th. These fish know how to hit home runs.

Final 10th	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Washington (33-51)	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	5	10	0
Florida (43-39) «	0	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	6	11	0

W: K. Gregg (6-2) L: J. Rauch (4-2) HR: WAS - E. Dukes (4), D. Young (4) FLA - J. Willingham (7), H. Ramirez (19), J. Willingham (8)

Recap/Box

The White Sox know how to hit home runs too. Nick Swisher hit a pair last night, including his second grand slam in a week, as the White Sox out lasted the Indians 9-7. Jim Thome also went deep as the Pale Hose increased their lead over the Twins to 2.5 games in the AL Central.

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cleveland (37-46)	1	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	3	7	14	0
Chi. White Sox (47-35) «	3	0	5	0	0	1	0	0	x	9	9	2

W: G. Floyd (9-4) L: J. Sowers (0-4) S: M. Thornton (1) HR: CLE - J. Peralta (12) CHW - J. Thome (16), N. Swisher (10), N. Swisher (11)

Recap/Box

Good and Bad news for the Astros last night. Roy Oswalt struck out 9 to lead the 'stros to a 4-1 win over the Dodgers. The bad news? Oswalt left the game in the 7th inning with a strained hip. Lance Berkman belted his 22nd home run.

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
L.A. Dodgers (38-44)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	11	0
Houston (40-43) «	1	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	x	4	6	0

W: R. Oswalt (7-8) L: E. Stults (2-1) S: J. Valverde (22) HR: LA - None HOU - L. Berkman (22)

Recap/Box

Talk about a change in fortune. The Rockies lead the Padres 8-3. Final score- Padres 15 Rockies 8 with a 7-run 9th inning. The Pads hit 4 home runs, including a pair by Edgar Gonzalez. Jody Gerut also had one and knocked in 4.

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
San Diego (33-51) «	1	0	2	0	0	5	0	0	7	15	22	0
Colorado (32-51)	3	0	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	8	9	0

W: H. Bell (6-3) L: B. Fuentes (1-4) HR: SD - E. Gonzalez (2), K. Kouzmanoff (11), J. Gerut (4), E. Gonzalez (3) COL - B. Hawpe (11)

Recap/Box

Greg Smith pitched the A's to a big 6-1 win over the Angels. Smith threw the first complete game of his career, limiting the Angels to just 4 hits. The win moved the A's to within 3.5 games of the Angels in the AL West.

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oakland (45-37) «	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	1	1	6	13	0
L.A. Angels (49-34)	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	4	2

W: G. Smith (5-6) L: J. Garland (7-5) HR: OAK - None ANA - M. Napoli (12)

Recap/Box

Complete games are nothing out of the ordinary for Roy Halladay, who went the distance in the Blue Jays 2-0 blanking of the Mariners last night. It was the 10th career shutout for the big right-hander.

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Toronto (41-43) «	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	10	1
Seattle (31-51)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0

W: R. Halladay (9-6) L: R. Dickey (2-4) HR: TOR - None SEA - None

Recap/Box

Mark DeRosa homered twice, including a grand slam, and drove in 6 as the Cubs pounded the Giants 9-2. Ted Lilly won his 9th while Barry Zito, unfortunately for Giants fans, went back to pitching like Barry Zito.

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chi. Cubs (50-33) «	0	1	2	0	2	0	0	4	0	9	10	0
San Francisco (36-47)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	8	2

W: T. Lilly (9-5) L: B. Zito (3-12) HR: CHC - M. DeRosa (9), M. DeRosa (10) SF - None

Recap/Box

Good to see Doug Davis out on the mound and competing. In fact he picked up the win against his old club for the Diamondbacks last night.

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Milwaukee (44-38)	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	7	1
Arizona (42-41) «	2	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	x	6	11	0

W: D. Davis (3-3) L: D. Bush (4-8) S: B. Lyon (17) HR: MIL - None ARI - M. Reynolds (17)

Recap/Box

O's closer George Sherrill blew a save in the 9th for the second straight game. This time it was the Royals coming from behind to tie things up on a Miguel Olivo home run. Jose Guillen knocked in the game winner in the 11th. Joakim Soria, the best unknown closer, picked up his 22nd save.

Final 11th	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
Kansas City (38-45) «	0	0	1	0	0	2	1	0	1	0	1	6	14	0
Baltimore (41-40)	0	0	1	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	10	1

W: R. Mahay (4-0) L: C. Bradford (3-3) S: J. Soria (22) HR: KC - M. Olivo (9) BAL - R. Hernandez (7)

Recap/Box

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Interleague Weekend Recap

This past weekend we had the second set of interleague games in the 2008 battle of the AL vs. the NL.

Red Sox vs. Reds

This was the first time the Red Sox were playing in Cincinnati since the 1975 World Series. The Reds rubbed that in a little by having their World Series trophy on hand and showing highlights. But the Red Sox would take 2 of 3 this time around. Jay Bruce and Adam Dunn homered on Friday to help lead the Reds to their sole victory of the weekend, 3-1. Kevin Youkilis and Coco Crisp hit back to back home runs to take Saturday's contest 6-4 in 10 innings after Jon Papelbon allowed a game tying home run in the 9th to Edwin Encarnacion. No such trouble on Sunday as Crisp homered again, drove in 4 and Josh Beckett dominated in a 9-0 win. AL:2 NL:1

Rangers vs. Mets

The Willie Randolph death watch continued, but the Mets took 2 of 3 to help their skipper keep his job for now. The Mets won the opener on the dominant performance of Oliver Perez, who also drove in 2 runs in the 7-1 win. Saturday's game was rained out, so the two teams split a twinbill on Sunday. The Mets 8th and 9th inning rallies fell short in game 1 as the Rangers hung on 8-7. Robinson Cancel's pinch-hit 2-run single snapped a 2-2 tie in the 6th to give the Mets the nightcap, 4-2, and a series win. AL:1 NL:2

Cubs vs. Blue Jays

The Blue Jays took the opener on Friday 3-2 behind the pitching of A.J. Burnett and back to back home runs by Matt Stairs and Scott Rolen. Then Burnett told the press how he wouldn't mind playing for the Cubs and listed all of his friends on the team. We think there's a good chance J. P. Ricciardi will send him somewhere. Jason Marquis and Ted Lilly pitched the Cubs to wins in the latter two games of the series, 6-2 and 7-4. Reed Johnson got some revenge against his old team with a 3-run home run off former mate Roy Halladay in Saturday's game. AL:1 NL:2

Marlins vs. Rays

The battle of Florida went to the Rays, who took 2 of 3 at the Trop. Eric Hinske and Dionner Navarro drove in 2 runs each to win the opener 7-3, which also marked the return of closer Troy Percival. Luis Tiant threw out the first pitch on Saturday and watched Matt Garza dominate in a 4-1 Rays win. No fisticuffs with Navarro this time either. Ricky Nolasco came within one out of his first career complete game as the Marlins salvaged the finale of the series, 9-3. Nolasco struck out 12 in throwing 132 pitches. Wes Helms and Mike Jacobs hit 3-run HRs. AL:2 NL:1


Braves vs. Angels

Despite a rash of injuries to their starting rotation and freak injury to Chipper Jones, the Braves took the first 2 games of the series before the Angels salvaged the finale last night. Jo Jo Reyes beat John Garland on Friday, 5-2, with the help of that household name Gregor Blanco, who drove in 3 runs. Charlie Morton won his first major league game in defeating Ervin Santana and the Angels 9-4. Mark Texeira drove in 3 and Brandon Jones hit his first major league home run. Joe Saunders became the fifth 10-game winner when he lead the Angels to a 2-0 win. Casey Kotchman's home run accounted for all the runs. AL:1 NL:2


Dodgers vs. Tigers

Look out the Detroit Tigers are on the move. The Tigers built off their 3-game sweep of the White Sox with a 3-game sweep of the Dodgers. Armando Galarraga got things going on Friday by throwing 7 innings in the Tigers 5-0 win. Marcus Thomes and Magglio Ordonez homered. Thames and Miguel Cabrera went deep on Saturday as the Tigers outscored LA 12-7. Brad Penny was tagged for 7 runs in 3-plus innings. Nate Robertson tossed 6 shutout innings as the Tigers held on in the finale 5-4. Thames homered for the 3rd straight game and Brandon Inge went yard too. AL:3 NL:0


Pirates vs. Orioles

The O's took 2 of 3, starting with a 9-6 win on Friday after trailing 6-1. The Orioles honored members of the 1979 team, including former Yankees Scott McGregor and Grant Jackson, that beat the Pirates in the World Series after being down 3 games to 1. The Orioles trailed 7-6 in the 9th inning on Saturday after Adam Laroche hit a 2-run home run off closer George Sherrill. But Oscar Salazar hit his first major league home run since 2002 to tie it and Ramon Hernandez singled in the game winner. The O's came from behind yet again on Sunday, tying it in the 9th on Brian Roberts 2-run home run, but LaRoche's RBI single gave the Pirates a 5-4 win in 10. AL:2 NL:1


Padres vs. Indians

The Indians outlasted the Padres and the rain in a 9-5 win on Friday. Grady Sizemore homered twice in the game, 5 hours apart. The Padres took the middle game of the series with an 8-3 win in 10 innings. Tony Clark drew a bases loaded walk to break the 3-3 tie and then Kevin Kouzmanoff put the game away with a grand slam. The Padres won their threw back uglies. The Indians took the rubber game of the series behind a dominant performance by C.C. Sabathia (8 IP 10 K). Ben Francisco hit an early 3-run HR off of Greg Maddux, who dropped to 3-5. AL:2 NL:1


Twins vs. Brewers

The Twins scored 19 runs in the first two games. Friday night was a big game for Twins starter Kevin Slowey. 8 innings of 5-hit ball for the win and 2 hits and 2 RBI at the plate in a 10-2 win. Russell Branyan homered off of Joe Nathan in the bottom of the 9th to tie Saturday's game at 4-4, but the Twins struck for 5 runs in the 9th, 4 of them coming home on Michael Cuddyer's triple. It was 4, because Cuddyer scored too on Mike Cameron's throwing error. Cameron helped make up for it with a 2-run home run in the series finale as the Brewers got a good performance from Seth McClung and the bullpen in a 4-2 win. AL:2 NL:1


A's vs. Giants

The battle of the bay wasn't much of a contest as the A's swept the 3-game series at Pac Bell Park. The A's pitching dominated the series, allowing just 4 runs. Omar Vizquel accounted for the only Giants run in the opener by stealing home. Greg Smith and three relievers allowed just 5 hits and Jack Cust drove home 2 runs in a 5-1 A's win. Rich Harden topped Smith's performance with 6 innings of 1-hit, 9 strikeout ball in a 4-0 win on Saturday. Matt Cain struck out 11 in taking a tough loss. The A's finished things off yesterday with a 5-3 win lead by a strong start from Dana Eveland and Eric Chavez's 3-hit 2 RBI day. AL:3 NL:0


Rockies vs. White Sox

The suddenly struggling White Sox, coming off a 3-game sweep by the Tigers, thought they had turned things around when they rallied for a 5-4 win on Friday. Juan Uribe delivered the game winning 2-run single in the 7th. But four Rockies pitchers limited the Chisox to 3 hits on Saturday and both runs scored on White Sox errors in a 2-0 Rockies win. The Rocks took the series with a 5-3 win on Sunday as Aaron Cook won his 10th game. The White Sox had a chance in the 9th against closer Brian Fuentes when they loaded the bases with 2 outs. Joe Crede hit a pop up to shallow left that left fielder Matt Holliday and shortstop Carlos Quintanilla converged on. The ball went in and out of Holliday's glove, but the quick thinking outfielder caught the ball with his bare hand to end the game. AL:1 NL:2


Nationals vs. Mariners

This is the series that ultimately helped end Bill Bavasi's tenure as GM of the Mariners. The Nationals swept the M's in Seattle with tennis like scores- 7-6, 5-2, 6-2. AL:0 NL:3

Royals vs. Diamondbacks

A surprise here as the Royals took 2 of 3 including a 12-3 pasting in game 2. The Diamondbacks only win came on Chad Tracy's walk off home run to break a scoreless tie in the 10th inning of game 1. David DeJesus hit a grand slam and drove in 5 to take the finale 8-3. AL:2 NL:1

Final tally - AL: 22 NL: 17

In the lone intraleague series the Cardinals took 2 of 3 from the Phillies despite losing 20-2 on Friday.

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Around the Horn, AL Central - 5/12

AL Central	W	L	Pct	GB
Minnesota Twins	19	17	.528	--
Cleveland Indians	18	18	.500	1.0
Chicago White Sox	18	18	.500	1.0
Kansas City Royals	16	21	.432	3.5
Detroit Tigers	16	22	.421	4.0

The Minnesota Twins in 1st place? Is this 2002? No Johan Santana, no Francisco Liriano, no Torii Hunter. But this is an organization that knows how to put a team together. It also helps when you have Joe Nathan closing games.

The Twins lead probably won't last for long, just as the White Sox didn't after April, but right now they're in the mix in a division of over- and under-achievers. Cleveland has gotten back to about where they should be, 1 game behind the division leader. But if not them, shouldn't Detroit be leading the division? They're in the cellar again after losing 6 of 8.

The Twins have relied on their two big hitters, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, their new spark plug, Carlos Gomez, and and a mix of young and old pitchers.

Livan Hernandez has been the biggest find for the Twins this season. The veteran leads the staff with a 5-1 record and a 3.83 ERA. The season has a long way to go, but most pundits predicted misery in the AL for El Duque's half-brother. Rookie Nick Blackburn has been solid, 3-2, 3.93, as has Scott Baker (2-0, 4.09), who is currently on the DL. With an injury to Kevin Slowey and poor performances from Boof Bonser, prospect Glen Perkins has also gotten a shot to stick with the club.

Gomez has given the Twins some of the spark that left with free agent Torii Hunter. He became the first Twin to hit for the cycle in 22 years, is hitting a respectable .269, and has 16 steals in 19 attempts. Mauer is scorching the ball to a .330 tune, though he has no home runs. Morneau, .286-6-27, is the team's big RBI man as usual. Delmon Young's numbers are average, but his attitude has been good and his game is improving. Michael Cuddyer was injured and hasn't gotten his bat up to speed yet.

Nathan is still a dominant force out of the pen, but he has problably lost key set up man Pat Neshak, for the season. But Dennis Reyes, Juan Rincon, and Matt Guerrier have pitched fairly well. It would help the Twins immensely if Jesse Crain could return to his rookie form.

Cleveland's turn around ties into the thing that always win ball games- pitching. C.C. Sabathia has turned is season right side up. Cliff Lee is pitching like Sandy Koufax. Fausto Carmona has struggled with his control, but is still winning games, and kids like Aaron Laffey have stepped up to fill in for injured Jake Westbrook.

The bullpen has also been left short handed with an injury to closer Joe Borowski, but Rafael Betancourt has made the successful step up to that role and set up man Rafael Perez has snapped out of his April slump. Imagine if Travis Hafner started hitting.

The reason we didn't pick the Tigers to win the AL Central was because of their pitching staff. We still thought they would be the wild card winner, and they may very well be, but their pitching has really been a let down. Kenny Rogers, except when he faces the Yankees, is pitching like a 43-yr old ready for retirement. Jeremy Bonderman's control comes and goes, and Nate Robertson is, well, Nate Robertson. Justin Verlander is not injured, but a 1-6 record with a 6.43 ERA makes one wonder. The job #5 man Armando Galarraga has done, has made the team not worry about the return of Dontrelle Willis (hyperextended knee). The bottom line? The Tigers have a major league worst 5.09 ERA.

Offensively, last year's MVP runner up Magglio Ordonez leads the team in everything. The team missed spark plug lead off Curtis Granderson, who sat out the start of the season with a hand injury, in April. Granderson returned with a flourish, but is hitting just .171 in May. Miguel Cabrera also got off to a good offensive start, but has only 1 home run and 4 RBI since April 23.

The Tigers have tried a variety of set up men to build the bridge to closer Todd Jones. They've started to rely heavily on veteran Aquilino Lopez and youngsters like Francisco Cruceta while they wait for Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya to heal.

The White Sox reversed their 11-7 start and are 18-18 after 36 games. To say this team is scuffling for runs would be an understatement. With Jerry Owens injured, the White Sox went with Nick Swisher in the lead off spot. As his averge plummeted towards the Mendoza line, Ozzie Guillen stuck Orlando Cabrera in the top spot in the lineup despite an OBP of less than .300. The White Sox hit just .239 as a team.

Carlos Quentin took advantage of Owens' absence to claim the left field job, and leads the team in average, home runs, RBI, and OPS. Jim Thome (.220), Juan Uribe (.194), and Paul Konerko (.227) are among those with sickly looking batting averages.

The White Sox are at .500 because of their pitching. Their 3.69 team ERA is 4th best in the AL. They've also gotten solid years out of the bullpen from free agent signee Scott Linebrink and closer Bobby Jenks. 4 of the 5 Sox starters have ERAs under 4.00 and Mark Buerhle's 5.31 ERA is bloated by his opening day start.

The Royals started their season 3-0 and everyone went wild. Reality came back to KC, but the Royals have still managed to stay 5 games within .500. The Royals young pitching staff is what has kept this team, the 2nd worst offensive team in baseball, from sinking to the bottom of the league. The Royals have averaged just 3.5 runs pers game, but their pitching staff has allowed 4.3.

The Royals would be even better if their ace Gil Meche were having a more consistent season. He's had 4 quality starts and 4 abysmal starts. The Royals would take something in between. But while Meche has struggled with his numbers, Zach Grienke has come back from the brink of oblivion. Grienke started to show the much talked about promise towards the end of last year and he has continued this season. He's tied with Brian Bannister for the team lead with 4 wins and has pitched to a minuscule 1.80 ERA. AL opponents are hitting just .213 against him.

The Mets have to still be kicking themselves for dealing away Bannister who won 12 games last year with a 3.87 ERA. After a strong start, Bannister struggled and had back-to-back bad showings against the Rangers and Angels. But in his last start he limited the Orioles to just 2 hits over 8 innings to earn the win. Veteran Brett Tomko and rookie Luke Hochevar round out the back of the rotation.

Many teams envy the back of the Royals bullpen. Set up men Ramon Ramirez (1.15), a former Yankees prospect, and Leo Nunez (1.80), and closer Joakim Soria (0.00 in 14.1 IP) have been completely dominant. The three have combined for 48 strikeouts in 45 innings.

Now if they could only find an offense to match. Billy Butler leads the team with a mediocre 5 home runs and 19 RBI.

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Around the Horn - 4/24

We can visualize the TV ads. Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks sitting atop a bull with a cowboy hat perched upon his head. The dialogue would be something like, "Having trouble with your offense? Can't hit the ball out of the park? Leaving runners stranded? C'mon down to Tom Hicks' Texas Rangers Offensive Outlet in Arlington. We've got all the pitchers you can hit. Lefties, righties, it don't matter. Your offense will spring back to life."

The Detroit Tigers took Hicks up on his offer last night. Though their offense had already been steadily improving since that 0-7 start, they used an 11-run 6th inning last night to paste the Rangers, 19-6. A score like that sends fantasy enthusiasts scrambling for a box score. The big winner was whomever has Carlos Guillen. The new 3rd Baseman drove in 5 runs, while is switcheroo counterpart Miguel Cabrera cracked a 3-run homer. The Rangers have allowed 59 runs during their current 6-game losing streak.

The Angels got over their Fenway hex to snap the Red Sox 6-game winning streak, 6-4. Gary Matthews Jr. slugged a pair of solo home runs and Casey Kotchman added his 6th of the year. Dice-K was the lastest Red Sox hit by the flu and was scratched from his start in favor of Jon Lester. Big Papi continued to break out of his slump (9 for his last 22) with his 3rd home run, raising his average to .188.

The Rays dropped the Blue Jays into the AL East basement with a 5-3 win. Jason Hammel outpitched Roy Halliday who threw his 3rd straight complete game. When Halladay breaks down, will John Gibbons finally get the message not to overuse his ace?

Mike Sweeney homered and drove in 2 runs, and Chad Gaudin threw 7 scoreless innings in the A's 3-0 shutout of the Twins. It was Sweeney's first home run not in a Kansas City uniform.

The Orioles rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Mariners 3-2. Nick Markakis' ground out tied the game in the 6th and his home run in the 8th was the game winner. Daniel Cabrera was on his game, allowing 5 hits and no walks in 8 innings.

The Indians and Royals were rained out and will be playing a twinbill today.

The Atlanta Braves had a 5-game winning streak. Then they hosted the Florida Marlins. The NL East leaders dropped the Braves for the second straight game, 7-2. Mike Jacobs and Hanley Ramirez each hit their 7th home runs of the season, and Adam Miller won his first game as a Marlin.

The Cubs and Rockies played a see-saw match in Colorado. The Cubs blew a 3-0 lead, rallied from a 5-4 deficit, blew a 6-5 lead, and then finally won in 10 on Ryan Theriot's 2nd hit of the game. The Cubs offense is out of control. The Rangers should be glad they aren't playing them. Just take a look at the averages of the starting eight.

CF Reed Johnson .311
SS Ryan Theriot .338
1B Derek Lee .378
3B Aramis Ramirez .280
RF Kosuke Fukudome .351
LF Mark DeRosa .292
C Geovany Soto .353
2B Ronny Cedeno .375

The Pirates came back from a 4-0 deficit to beat the Cardinals 7-4. Doug Mientkiewicz delivered a pinch-hit 2-run single in the game winning 3-run rally in the 8th inning.

Bengie Molina homered off Trevor Hoffman to tie the game in the 9th and the Giants went on to beat the Padres 3-2 in13 innings. Fred Lewis and Aaron Rowand each singled in a run in the winning inning (nice rhyme).

The Mets had the anecdote for a 3-game losing streak, Johan Santana on the mound. The Mets ace went 7 innings to earn the win in a 7-2 Mets victory over the Nationals.

The Brewers blew a 3-0 lead, but Prince Fielder saved the day with his second 2-run home run of the day as the Brew Crew beat the Phillies 5-4. Chase Utley homered for the 6th time in 7 games for the Phillies and hot starting Pat Burrell added his 8th.

Dan Haren had his first poor outing in a Diamondbacks uniform as the Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks 8-3. James Loney and Chin-Lung Hu drove in 2 runs each.

News and Notes

Curtis Granderson made a fine return to the Detroit lineup yesterday. The centerfielder went 2-4 with 2 RBI, 2 walks, and 3 runs scored.

There was a rumor yesterday that Frank Thomas had returned to the Oakland A's whom he played for in 2006. But the Big Hurt put a halt to things when he received interest from an unnamed second team.

UPDATE 4/24 2:07 PM EDT - Frank Thomas has indeed returned to the A's. No word on who the mystery team was that supposedly came into play. Does this mean Mike Sweeney's days in Oakland are numbered?

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