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Week 7 MLB Review
Who’s in first?
AL East: Red Sox (25-16)
AL Central: Tigers (29-14)
AL West: Rangers & A’s (22-21)
NL East: Mets (26-17)
NL Central: Cardinals (29-15)
NL West: Rockies (25-19)
Who’s in last?
AL East: Rays & O’s (20-24)
AL Central: Royals (10-31)
AL West: Angels (17-27)
NL East: Marlins (11-31)
NL Central: Pirates (14-30)
NL West: Giants & Padres (23-21)
1968 Reunion?: That the Cardinals are leading the NL with a 29-15 record is no surprise. St. Louis has arguably the best player in the game in Albert Pujols, an outstanding supporting cast surrounding Phat Albert in Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen and David Eckstein, plus solid defense and pitching. They’ve been in the last two NLCS, and there’s no reason they won’t be there again this year.
But it is a mild shock to say the least looking at the Detroit Tigers running out in front of the American League currently with a 29-14 tally. Motown’s cats have won nine of their last 10, including sweeps on the road in Cleveland and at home against the Twins.
New manager Jim Leyland certainly deserves a little credit with several Tiger players suggesting Leyland has instilled confidence in the team and been enthusiastic about Detroit’s chances this year from the get-go. But pitching has been the real key to this team so far with all but one starter sporting an ERA of 3.18 or below and a solid trio in the bullpen.
The Tigers rotation sports three southpaws --- Kenny Rogers, Mike Maroth and Nate Robertson --- with that trio a combined 16-6 in their 26 starts and a 2.81 ERA between them. Rookie Justin Verlander (5-3, 3.18) has had some ups-&-downs though the ups outnumber the downs so far. In the pen, Todd Jones and Fernando Rodney have 19 saves between them while Jamie Walker sports a sub-1.00 ERA in setup duty. Young Joel Zumaya has also flashed some brilliance working in relief. The Tigers are the only AL club with a team ERA below 4.00, with their 3.26 mark leading both leagues.
Five regulars on offense are hitting over .300 and the club ranks second in the AL with 62 home runs playing half their games in a home stadium that isn’t supposed to be long ball friendly.
There’s a lot of ground to cover between now and the Fall Classic, so write a possible Tigers-Cardinals matchup in pencil right now instead of ink. Should the two teams eventually meet, it will be the third time in World Series history they have squared off against each other for the big banana. The last time Detroit met St. Louis for the crown was 1968, the last World Series before divisional play started in the majors and one of the all-time classics in postseason play as the Tigers pulled off unlikely wins on the road in Games 6 and 7 for the victory.
This week's dogs: I was all set to list my beloved Astros here after they were swept early in the week at home by the Giants and were outscored 34-5 in the 3-game set.
But it’s time to give credit where credit is due as two teams went winless on the week and dug themselves deeper into their respective cellars.
Kansas City’s best day last week was Monday when their game in Cleveland against the Indians was postponed. The Royals ended up losing the next three days to Cleveland before being swept over the weekend at home by the St. Louis Cardinals. The oh-for-last week left KC with a 9-game skid and a 10-31 record on the year.
Florida also went winless last week, dropping all seven of their contests on the schedule to Atlanta and Tampa Bay. The Marlins, who were closing out a 10-game road trip during the week have now lost 13 of their last 16 and sit 11-31 on the season. Making the Marlins even bigger dogs is their complete inability to draw a crowd either at home or on the road.
The big Marlins-Rays interleague series drew just under 44,000 for the entire series. And the last time the Marlins were at home, May 9-11 against the Braves, the team sold just 21,000 tickets for the 3-game set.
Injury News: Going from injured to healthy in the last week were Cleveland right-hander Rafael Betancourt, Atlanta right-hander Lance Cormier, Chicago Cubs right-hander Kerry Wood, Cincinnati infielder Rich Aurilia, Kansas City outfielder Shane Costa, Seattle right-hander Julio Mateo, Cincinnati left-hander Eric Milton and Chicago White Sox right-hander Jose Contreras and Houston infielder/outfielder Chris Burke.
Hitting a disabled list near you this past week were Daniel Cabrera (BAL-shoulder), JJ Hardy (MIL-ankle), Kyle Davies (ATL-groin), Bubba Crosby (NYY-hamstring), Mike Holtz (BOS-elbow) and Joe Kennedy (OAK-shoulder).
In addition to those moves, the Angels released infielder Edgardo Alfonzo, the Pirates placed outfielder Chris Duffy on the restricted list after Duffy failed to report to the minor leagues, the Mets designated pitcher Jose Lima for assignment and released outright pitcher Bartolome Fortunato, the Reds designated lefty Dave Williams for assignment and the Phillies announced the retirement of shortstop Alex S. Gonzalez.
Fantasy Studs & Duds: Atlanta catcher Brian McCann hit .412 last week to take over the top spot in the NL Batting Title race with a .350 mark for the season. McCann, who suffered a sprained left ankle in a collision with Arizona’s Eric Byrnes on Saturday during the only non-interleague series of the weekend, could miss the next few games. The last catcher to win an NL Batting Title was Ernie Lombardi in 1942 when he batted .330 for the Boston Braves.
Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter had a solid week with a .419 average (13-for-31) including a homer, two doubles, seven RBI and six runs scored. Jeter lifted his season average to .351, good for third in the AL.
Albert Pujols had just three hits for the Cardinals last week, but three of them went out of the park to give him 22 so far and maintain his 80+ HR pace for the season. Pujols also leads all major leaguers with 54 RBI.
Tampa Bay’s Scott Kazmir won both of his starts last week, allowing just one earned run in 15 innings to the White Sox and Marlins, striking out 19 along the way and issuing but three free passes. Kazmir is 7-2 on the year with a 2.39 ERA.
Veteran Tom Glavine also won twice last week for the Mets, picking up wins over both the Cardinals and Yankees. Glavine chunked 12 innings in his two starts and moved to 7-2 on the year with a 2.48 ERA.
Anyone but me surprised to see the Diamondbacks leading the NL with a .279 batting average? … The Astros’ pitching staff leads the NL with six shutouts this season, though only two have been the complete game variety … The Brewers continue to lead the majors with 65 homers … The New York Yankees crossed the million mark in attendance this season on Wednesday when they nipped the Rangers, 4-3 …
Quote(s) of the Week: "It has been an excellent ride through the years. There are many things I will miss about the game including the competition at the highest level and the camaraderie with my teammates." - - - Phillies shortstop Alex S. Gonzalez when announcing his retirement. In his 13th MLB season after beginning his career with the Toronto Blue Jays, Gonzalez had 1,209 hits, a lifetime .243 average, 137 HR and 97 steals.
“I don't know if he did it on purpose or not. Who am I to judge? I'm just a relief pitcher." - - - Giants reliever Steve Kline on whether or not Houston’s Russ Springer had intentionally beaned Barry Bonds.
"I'm just glad it's over with. Now you guys can watch Albert Pujols. He's doing some amazing things." - - - Barry Bonds during a press conference after he hit his 714th career home run in Oakland on Friday to tie Babe Ruth for second on the all-time list.
"I don't know how to say it. I mean, when you hit another grown man, it's never right, you know. I expect to be disciplined, that’s part of the price.” - - - Cubs catcher Michael Barrett after his role in a bench-clearing brawl Saturday against the White Sox.
"I got sucker-punched. He grabbed me and said, 'I didn't have the ball' and then he punched me. ... I was trying to pick up my helmet. I tried to take a step around him and he grabbed me. I thought he was going to say 'Hey, are you OK?' And I was going to say the same thing. The words came out, I got hit and the next thing I know, all hell broke loose." - - - White Sox catcher AJ Pierzynski’s description of how everything got started in the Cubs-White Sox battle.
"I saw a clean play by A.J. That's how you play the game." - - - Cubs manager Dusty Baker’s observations from the Barrett-Pierzynski scuffle.
On Deck: The Yankees visit Fenway and the Red Sox to highlight the slate during the first of the week. That series opens tonight with Chien-Ming Wang starting for New York and Curt Schilling on the mound for Boston. Jaret Wright and Tim Wakefield square off on Tuesday with Randy Johnson and Matt Clement the scheduled starters for Wednesday.
The Athletics travel to Chicago to take on the White Sox in another top series during the week’s first half. The Philadelphia Phillies begin their week in New York against the Mets in a big NL East series. Barry Bonds will try and break his 714-HR tie with Babe Ruth at home as the Giants host the Cardinals. Mark Mulder, Jason Marquis and Chris Carpenter are the scheduled starters for St. Louis in that series with San Fran countering with Jamey Wright, Matt Morris and Noah Lowry.
My pick for the best weekend series is Cleveland at Detroit. The Tigers look to hold on to their top spot in the AL Central while the Indians are hoping to get things turned around and find some pitching to go along with their MLB-leading offense.
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Originally Posted by bigboydan
