Two cycles, two more players hit on the head, one mound-storming, and an outfielder covered in beer… just another week in the Majors.
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In the AL East, the New York Yankees are still in charge. Last Sunday, they completed their clinical four-game sweep of the Red Sox. After losing their first eight games straight to Boston, you can be sure the Red Sox will hope to exact revenge next weekend at Fenway Park when the two divisional foes meet again. The Yankees remain 7.5 games up over Boston. Their seven-game winning streak may have been cut short, but a single loss to Toronto on Monday was immediately followed by four straight victories. Meanwhile, the Red Sox snapped their six-game losing streak with three consecutive wins over Detroit, and Josh Beckett became the first MLB pitcher of the season to reach 14 victories. In other news, Kevin Youkilis was suspended for five games after he stormed the mound and tackled Detroit pitcher Rick Porcello after being struck by a fastball. The Tampa Bay Rays had a week to forget, losing five straight, and while the Orioles have had little to celebrate this season, outfielder Felix Pie hit for the cycle on Friday night in a 16-6 drubbing of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Philadelphia are still holding strong in the NL East, and if anything, this past week has simply demonstrated how resilient they are. Swept by closest division rivals the Marlins last weekend in three games, the Phillies rebounded by sweeping the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in convincing fashion. It was an eventful series: The Phillies welcomed back Pedro Martinez who recorded a win in his debut, then saw outfielder Shane Victorino doused in beer by unruly Cubs fans while catching a fly ball near the track. The Phillies are four games up on the ever-improving Marlins, while the Atlanta Braves are just a game behind Florida themselves and have had a very good August so far with series victories over the Dodgers, Nationals, and Padres to bring themselves into contention again. The Mets continue to drift, and had the displeasure of seeing David Wright hit on the head by a Matt Cain 94-mph fastball on Saturday afternoon. Wright was kept overnight in hospital suffering from concussion.
The AL Central still looks like the weakest division in all of baseball, but someone’s got to win it. The Detroit Tigers remain out front, but only 2.5 games ahead of the Chicago White Sox. Detroit held on for a series victory over Minnesota last weekend, but only won one game of four at Fenway Park against the Red Sox. They’ve rebounded this weekend, getting the better of the Kansas City Royals. The White Sox remain three games over the .500 mark even though they lost a series to both Cleveland and Seattle this week. They’ve once again been spending money, adding Alex Rios to the outfield, and Jim Thome hit career home run 563 to tie Reggie Jackson for 12th on the all-time home run list. The Twins had a forgettable week, witnessing Orlando Cabrera’s 22-game hitting streak coming to an end, and losing a series to both the Royals and the Indians when they really needed victories to stay in touch. Now six games back and four games under .500, it’s starting to look bleak for a promising Minnesota team who usually pride themselves on exceptional starting pitching. With the pressure off them, Cleveland have looked livelier than ever and welcomed back veteran Omar Vizquel to Progressive Field, even though he’s in a Rangers jersey these days.
Out in the NL Central, could the Cardinals finally be pulling away from the rest of the pack? St. Louis is now 4.5 games up over the Cubs, and are continuing to get exceptional production from Matt Holliday. After sweeping the Pirates last weekend, the Cards took two out of three from the Reds, and are currently getting the better of the Padres this weekend. The Chicago Cubs didn’t have a particularly memorable week. Troublesome fans weren’t their only problem, as they lost three games out of four to the Colorado Rockies before the aforementioned sweep at the hands of the Phillies back home. They’ve rebounded a little this weekend with a series victory over the Pirates, which included a 17-2 slaughter on Friday, but remain inconsistent. Milwaukee sit doggedly around the .500 mark, getting the better of the Astros this weekend. Houston themselves are beginning to drift again, even though Kazuo Matsui notched up his 2000th hit this weekend. Alas, Pittsburgh Pirates fans have very little to cheer about, with the team only recording two victories in 14 games so far this August.
Turning to the AL West, it’s Anaheim still maintaining a healthy 4.5 game advantage over the Texas Rangers. Though they lost their top of the division clash to Texas last weekend, the Halos bounced back with a sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays, and are currently battling it out with Baltimore. Vladimir Guerrero hit career home run number 400, and Torii Hunter is expected to return this week for the Angels. The Rangers are still going strong, with a successful midweek series victory over Cleveland and a rubber match today in their three-game face-off with the Red Sox. Seattle learned the unfortunate news that pitcher Erik Bedard’s recent surgery revealed a torn labrum in his left shoulder, and the southpaw won’t be able to return to baseball-related activities for four to six months. The Mariners are currently suffering at the hands of the Yankees in Seattle, but have just come off successful series wins over both the Rays and the White Sox. Ten games back but with a pretty convincing record, Seattle’s hopes will still most likely be hampered by the two very successful teams ahead of them. Oakland hadn’t lost a series for a couple of weeks until they met the White Sox this weekend, and enjoyed only their first day off on Thursday (28 days, 28 games) since the All-Star break, but even during that long stretch, they went a very competent 14-14.
Finally, out in the NL West, it’s still the Dodgers in front, but their margin continues to dwindle somewhat. Now just 4.5 games up over the Colorado Rockies, and a slightly more humble looking 69-48 record, the Dodgers lost their series to the Braves last weekend, but won a crucial two out of three at AT&T Park over the Giants midweek. Unfortunately, on Saturday night, right-hander Hiroki Kuroda was carted off the field of play at Arizona after being hit in the head with a liner. The Dodgers also lost in extras to the Diamondbacks last night, thus losing the series, but fortunately, Kuroda’s injury was not too serious. The Rockies continue to play well and score a lot of runs. Troy Tulowizki went 5-for-5 and hit for the cycle on Monday night in an 11-5 victory over the Cubs, as Colorado continue to keep their wild-card hopes alive. In a crucial week for the Giants when they could have gained some ground over the (slightly) struggling Dodgers, they’ve instead dropped 5.5 games off the pace, also losing a series to the Reds to add to the misery instilled on them by the Dodgers. Still, San Francisco is just doing enough to keep themselves in contention, and are definitely a threat for the crucial wild card spot in the National League.
Well, that wraps up another eventful week in the MLB. Back next week with more news from the Majors.
That entire incident between the Sox and the Tigers seems suspicious in my mind. The Sox had been looking for a fight as evidence by their behaviour in the Yankees series. They retailated against the Yankees by having Clay Bucholz throwing at Alex Rodregiuez and that was fine, but then later in the game one of their pitchers was given a warning by the umpires and decided to throw at Arod a second time. The Redsox were unable to get their desire result as Arod quietly ran to first base instead of Charging the mound.
The problem the Red Sox have is that some of their players like Youkalis and Pedrioa are hot heads who need to realize that if they become legitimate targets should their pitchers insist on continue to throw at opposing batters. Youkalis had been thrown at in retaliation with for Miguel Cabrera was hit earlier in the game and had to leave the game because of a wrist injury.
The sad thing is that the Redsox pitchers continue to throw at players. On Saturday night, they threw at Ian Kinsler after the rangers had extended the lead. They are continuing throw at people and it’s going to get them in trouble.