Around the Horn - 4/9

0 wins, 7 losses, 15 runs scored, a .235 team batting average. Those are the woeful stats of the Detroit Tigers who remained winless after the Red Sox won their home opener, 5-0. The Tigers haven't started this badly since their forgettable 119 loss campaign of 2003. How long until Jim Leyland pops his cork?

Kudos to the Red Sox yesterday (yes it pains us to say that)- they had Bill Buckner throw out the ceremonial 1st pitch. Billy Bucks has been unfairly known as the goat of the 1986 World Series because of the ball that went through his legs in Game 6, helping to extend the "Curse of the Bambino". But the real goat was manager John McNamara who wanted Buckner out there to celebrate the championship. McNamara knew Buckner was no longer the defensive gem he once was. The Red Sox also honored current and former members of the Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins.

With K-Rod sidelined for a few days with an ankle injury and Scot Shields coming off an ineffective season, the Angels gave Justin Speier a chance to close out last night's game with the Indians. The result? A Travis Hafner 2-run HR that won it for the Tribe.

Alan Embree blew a 2-run lead on a Frank Thomas HR in the 8th, but the A's prevailed over the Jays in the 9th, 9-8, on Ryan Sweeney's RBI triple. Huston Street picked up his first save and had his first scoreless appearance. The home run was #516 for The Big Hurt.

Aubrey Huff and the Orioles are on a tear. Huff had 4 hits and 4 RBI yesterday as the O's won their 6th straight, 8-1 over the Rangers. Can the Rangers ever get pitching?

Erik Bedard won his first game as a Mariners in the M's 6-5 win over the Rays. Remember when Ichiro couldn't buy a hit during spring training? With a 3-hit day, he's hitting .324. The Rays have lost 3 straight after winning 3 of their first 4.

The Phillies still have the Mets number. They won the last 8 meetings last season to help clinch the Wild Card. Yesterday they ruined the Mets home opener and a nice performance by starter Oliver Perez, by rallying from a 2-0 deficit late to win 5-2.

Troy Glaus delivered a decisive 2-run double in the 8th in the Cards 5-3 win over the Astros.

Mark Reynolds stayed red hot for the Diamondbacks, homering for the 5th time in as many games. He and Connor Jackson each drove in 3 runs as the Dbacks toppled the Dodgers 10-5. Doug Davis, battling thyroid cancer, picked up his first win of the year. He'll undergo surgery tomorrow. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Davis and his family.

Closer Brian Wilson blew the Giants one run lead to the Padres in the 9th, but Bengie Molina saved him with a walk-off home run in the 11th. Molina's 2nd home run of the game gave the Giants a 3-2 win.

Matt Holliday had 3 hits and a pair of RBI in the Rockies 4-3 win over the Braves.

Eric Gagne gave up a 9th, game tying home run to the Reds Corey Patterson for his 2nd blown save of the season. But Richie Weeks delivered a walk-off single in the 10th to give the Brewers a 3-2 victory.

Injury News

The Twins are expected to place starter Matt Garza on the DL with nerve irritation in his arm. The plan is to have Francisco Liriano take Garza's place on Sunday.

The Red Sox have placed Bartolo Colon on the minor league DL with a strained oblique.

B.J. Ryan made his 2nd rehab appearance for the Jays; Randy Johnson struck out 7 in a 6 inning rehab start. He allowed 3 runs.

The Nationals have placed Dmitri Young on the DL with a sore back.

Mets right-hander El Duque has been sent for an MRI due to continued soreness in his right foot.

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Trading Places

Spring Training is not only a time for the players to get in shape, but the fans as well. No, we don't mean getting used to hot dogs and beer. It's trying to adjust to seeing certain players in new uniforms.

Troy Percival

Dan Haren

Jim Edmonds

Miguel Cairo

Troy Glaus

Scott Rolen

Erik Bedard

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Breaking News: Glaus-Rolen Swap Close

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Blue Jays and Cardinals on the verge of swapping their respective third basemen, Troy Glaus and Scott Rolen. Both must pass a physical, which isn't a gimee since Glaus had foot surgery and Rolen had his shoulder carved up.

Both players have waived their no trade clauses, and its expected that the Cards will send along some cash to defer the cost of Rolen's contract.

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Yankees Bloop Blue Jays, 6-4

The Yankees slugged 3 home runs and Andy Phillips had the game winning hit for the 2nd straight night as the Yankees topped the Blue Jays, 6-4. The Blue Jays matched the Yankees' home run output as Troy Glaus hit a pair of shots off of Kei Igawa and Alex Rios tied the game with a shot off of Scott Proctor.

Josh Towers retired the first two men in the Yankees' half of the 6th, but Jorge Posada sliced a single to left and Robinson Cano narrowly missed his 2nd home run of the night when he doubled halfway up the wall in right-center. Without two runners in scoring position, Towers (4-6) made a pretty good to Phillips, but the Yankees' 1st Baseman blooped a single in front of centerfielder Vernon Wells for a 2 run lead.

The Blue Jays tried to rally in the 9th against Mariano Rivera. Glaus nearly had a third HR when his drive hit the wall in center and bounded past Melky Cabrera for a lead off triple. But Rivera struck out Frank Thomas swinging and K'ed Lyle Overbay looking for the first two outs of the inning. Aaron Hill then grounded sharply to Alex Rodriguez who recorded the
final out with some help by Phillips, who had to stretch out to keep his foot on the bag.

For the first time this season Rivera, who picked up his 14th save, recorded saves in 3 consecutive games. The only multiple save occurrence this season was May 3rd in a doubleheader sweep of Texas.

The Yankees took a 2-0 lead in the 2nd when Hideki Matsui and Cano hit solo shots. For Matsui, it was his 14th of the season and 6th in the last 10 games. He also extended his hitting streak to 11 games in the process. Cano's HR was his 7th and his 4th in July.

Igawa worked out of jams in the first two innings, but couldn't escape trouble in the 3rd. After a lead off walk to Vernon Wells, Glaus blasted his 13th HR run of the season to deep left-center to tie the game.

The Yankees took the lead right back in their half of the inning. With a man aboard and one out, Bobby Abreu narrowly beat out a potential double play ball to keep the inning alive. A-Rod made Abreu's hustle count when he blasted his 32nd of the season and number 496 for his career.

In the 5th, Glaus took Igawa deep again for his 14th of the season, cutting the deficit to 4-3. Glaus' HRs were the 270th and 271st of his career. Igawa would finish the inning, but that was it for him for the night. His numbers were less than stellar. 5 IP, 7 hits, 3 earned runs, 4 walks, and 7 strikeouts.

Proctor (2-5) had an up and down 6th inning in relief of Igawa. After giving up a lead off single to Royce Clayton, but got Reed Johnson to bounce into a double play. The inning really went up and down as in the a ball off the bat of Alex Rios went way up and down into the left field seats to tie the game. It was the 19th home run of the season for Rios, who was the runner up to Vlad Guerrero in the All-Star break home run derby.

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Melky Cabrera had an infield single in the 6th to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.

Andy Phillips is 15-40 (.375) with 6 RBI in July.
Luis Vizcaino threw a scoreless 8th inning, which could (and hopefully will be) the way Torre uses him in the future.

The Yankees remained 9 games back of Boston, but pulled within 7.5 of Cleveland for the wild card.

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