It’s been an eventful couple of weeks in the Major Leagues. As the divisional races have begun to settle down, there’s been some truly memorable pitching achievements this past fortnight, none more so than Dallas Braden of the Oakland A’s pitching only the 19th ever perfect game last Sunday.
In the AL East, Tampa Bay now just have a single game advantage over the New York Yankees (and that might change by the end of the day). The Rays are still an MLB-best 25-11 with series victories over Kansas and Seattle last week and a sweep of the Angels this week. Tampa Bay were yet again the victims of a perfect game, this time from Dallas Braden. Readers may recall that they were also at the hands of Mark Buehrle’s perfect effort in 2009. The New York Yankees continue to be mostly dominant. Despite dropping three games at Detroit (including being shut-out twice), it was only their second series loss of the year. Meanwhile, Toronto are surging with strong performances over Texas this weekend so far, and mastery of AL Central foes last week. Boston have improved too, a four-game sweep of the Angels a highlight for them last week, and Baltimore are playing better as well, splitting a four-game series at Minnesota before taking two of three from Seattle.
The Phillies currently hold a three game lead over the Washington Nationals in the NL East. Starting pitcher Jamie Moyer claimed most of the headlines recently when he became the oldest pitcher, at 47, to throw a complete game shutout on Friday 7th May, however Brad Lidge returning to the DL won’t be pleasing news to most fans. The Nationals have stumbled against the Rockies this weekend, but consecutive series victories over their three other divisional foes (Marlins, Mets and Braves) have kept them well in touch with the lead. Florida will look to improve on their three-game winning streak today with victory over the Mets, while the Braves, despite a three-game sweep at Milwaukee this week, are still just 5.5 games out of first place, a margin which can be easily overcome this early in the season.
Is the AL Central turning into a two-horse race? Minnesota now holds just a 1.5 game lead on Detroit, who in turn are a massive seven games up over Chicago and Cleveland. The Twins have been stumbling a bit lately, managing only a split over four games with the Orioles last weekend, before succumbing yet again to the Yankees this weekend. With upcoming trips to in-form Toronto and Boston, Minnesota could face more difficulties on the road, and it might be the ideal opportunity for the Tigers to pounce. Both the White Sox and Indians continue to disappoint, and the Kansas City Royals sacked manager Trey Hillman on Thursday, quickly replacing him with Ned Yost, who formerly managed the Brewers from 2003 to 2008. The Royals have responded by showing a little more spark already, and will be going for a series victory over Chicago today.
The NL Central is certainly looking a little more interesting lately. The St. Louis Cardinals have been struggling, though their 21-16 record still sees them at the top of the division. However, for the Cards, a series loss at the Phillies and then a sweep at home by the Astros have allowed Cincinnati to close the gap significantly. The Reds themselves have been surging. They went on a five-game win streak this week, and this included Johnny Cueto dealing a one-hit gem over the Pirates on Tuesday. A victory over St. Louis today could see the Reds out front. The other four teams in the division all possess sub-500 records, however Milwaukee were cheered by Jody Gerut hitting for the cycle last Saturday, and the Cubs were encouraged by rookie Starlin Castro’s seven-RBI debut, despite his struggles in the field back at Wrigley the following days. However, both teams need to win more series if they’re truly going to contend, which will be far more valuable than good individual performances.
The Texas Rangers head the AL West now, with a two game advantage over the Oakland A’s. Texas, who’ll look to avoid a sweep at Toronto today, still managed a four-game sweep of the Royals last week, and though they dropped a series at the A’s, they quickly turned things around when Oakland visited Rangers Stadium this week. After Dallas Braden’s celebrated perfect game last Sunday, the Athletics have stumbled somewhat, losing four straight to drop their record below the .500 mark. Behind them, both the Angels and Mariners have continued to disappoint. Anaheim’s four game sweep in Boston was not pleasant viewing for Halos fans, but at least Hideki Matsui go to knock in his 1,500th league RBI at Seattle last Saturday. The Mariners themselves have gone 3-7 over their last ten, replaced their hitting coach, and allegations of Ken Griffey Jr. sleeping in the team’s dressing room during a game, since repudiated by the team, still haven’t helped Seattle’s poor start to the year.
Finally, out in the NL West, the San Diego Padres have continued to surprise everyone maintaining a 22-14 record at the top of the division, but with the Giants still a mere 1.5 games behind. The Padres swept San Francisco at AT&T Park this week which included Mat Latos taking a perfect game into the sixth on Thursday, before finally finishing up with a one-hit complete game shutout. He even knocked in the game’s only run. Despite being swept, the Giants have rebounded with two victories over the Astros, but it’s the Los Angeles Dodgers who have been the in-form team lately. LA’s win streak is at six to finally bring them over the .500 mark for the year, and it’ll be interesting to see where they go from here. Colorado remain at 18-18 and have been dealing with snow falling at Rockies Stadium in May, while the Diamondbacks have only won two of their last ten games and continue to struggle, despite their offense coming alive against the Braves yesterday afternoon.
Well, that wraps up another eventful couple of weeks in the MLB. Back in a fortnight with more news from the Majors.
The 2010 season may still be very young, but we’ve already had our fair share of excitement over the past fortnight: Ubaldo Jimenez of the Rockies pitched a no-hitter, the Mets and Cards battled for 20 innings and almost seven hours, and the Washington Nationals are a game above .500… and that was just yesterday!