Tag Archives: St Louis Cardinals

Obstruction!

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You know you have had a strange ending to a game when one of the leading videos on MLB.com is of a press conference by the umpiring crew.

Game Three of the 2013 World Series will certainly live long in the memory as the game that ended on an obstruction call, putting St. Louis into a 2-1 series lead over Boston.

Obstruction isn’t an especially common occurrence in MLB games. I went years keeping score of MLB games without really knowing much about the rules around it as the play hardly ever cropped up.

Often the best way to learn is through finding out you don’t know something and then filling that gap in your knowledge. I suspect I’m far from the only baseball fan who knows a lot more about obstruction this morning than I did prior to Game Three.

The umpires did a good job after the game of explaining the laws and the thought-processes they followed in applying them on this particular play. The main thing to keep in mind is that the law is there to be fair to the baserunner and that they have a right to attempt to progress to the next base – in this case home plate – without being impeded.

It was tough on Will Middlebrooks as, even with his feet raised, I don’t think anyone believed he was trying to impede Allen Craig. However, intent doesn’t come into it and it’s not unique in sporting rules that a law fair to one side means that the opposing player can be seen as hard done by.

In football, if a goalkeeper as last man makes a genuine attempt to get the ball, trips the striker and denies a clear goal-scoring opportunity, the opposing team will get a penalty and the goalie will be sent off. The ‘double jeopardy’ aspect of this seems harsh, but it’s there for a reason and it’s up to the goalkeeper as a professional footballer to know the laws and to play within them. In other words, when he stretches to get the ball, he does so knowing if he gets it wrong he will be sent off.

In the case of Middlebrooks, the argument that he had nowhere to go and ‘couldn’t evaporate into thin air’ (as I read one Red Sox fan putting it) is completely irrelevant. Middlebrooks should know the laws of the game. When he lunged to try and catch the ball he did so knowing that if it went past him and he ended up in Craig’s way, he would be left obstructing the baserunner.

As in the goalie example, Middlebrooks had a split-second to decide how to react to the throw coming down the line and if he had more time or could re-do it then he probably would have fielded it differently, but in sport you only get one crack at it. The way Middlebrooks played it meant he obstructed Craig so he has to accept the penalty.

It should also be noted that the decision at third base didn’t itself result in the winning run. Home plate umpire Dana DeMuth still had to make a judgement call as to whether Craig would have scored had he not been obstructed (again, as in football where the referee makes a judgement on if a clear goal-scoring opportunity has been denied).  It was a close play at the plate and so DeMuth’s decision to award the run was sound.

The cries of Jake Peavy and David Ortiz that this wasn’t the way to end a World Series game should be brushed aside as heat-of-the-moment comments driven by understandable frustration at losing in such a bizarre way. The umpires cannot ignore the laws of the game just because the result will be the game-winning run. And, indeed, the fact that it ended the game made it all the more important that the umpires called it. Considering the badly hobbled Craig nearly beat the throw home anyway, it would have been a travesty for the umpires to have ignored the obstruction that otherwise would have denied the Cardinals the victory.

Yes it was unusual and yes it was a very harsh way for the Red Sox to lose the game, especially considering the wonderful piece of fielding by Dustin Pedroia that started it all off, but Boston’s bad luck ultimately was that the umpiring crew made the correct call.

In amongst all the discussion, that should not be overlooked or downplayed in anyway. On an unusual play in the most intense situation imaginable with just one real-time-speed chance to look at it, the umpires got it spot on.

Doesn’t it sum up the life of an umpire that they can make an exceptional call on a very difficult play and they still end up under the spotlight.

World Series 2013 Preview

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The 2013 MLB World Series gets underway in the early hours of Thursday morning, U.K. time.

Fenway Park will be a cauldron of noise as the hometown Boston Red Sox take to the field looking to win Game One of the best-of-seven series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

American World Series guides will inform you that this is a series between two of the most ‘storied franchises’ in sports. It’s a phrase you don’t here much in Britain and when it’s used, normally by well-meaning Americans that have bought up an iconic British team, it tends to set teeth on edge like scraping nails down a blackboard.

Replace the phrase with the word ‘historic’ and you’ll get a better understanding of what is meant.  They are classic teams with over a century of wonderful players, great successes and heart-breaking losses to call on as part of their heritage. Boston and St. Louis are true baseball cities; the Red Sox and Cardinals are team names that resonate through the ages. They both won World Series in the first quarter of the Twentieth century and have both won the ‘Fall Classic’ twice in the last ten years.

Quite simply, you cannot picture MLB history without thinking of these two teams.

They have met in the World Series three times before. They served up seven-game classics in 1946 and 1967 with the Cardinals narrowly edging them both. Their most recent meeting in 2004 was an altogether different affair with the Red Sox brushing the ‘Red Birds’ to one side with a 4-0 series sweep. The latter story was all about Boston claiming their first World Series in 86 years, becoming the first team to turn around a 3-0 series deficit into a 4-3 series win – against their greatest rivals the New York Yankees – along the way.

The Red Sox won a second World Series in four years with another 4-0 sweep in 2007, this time against the Colorado Rockies, one year after the Cardinals had taken the title with a 4-1 series win against the Detroit Tigers. St. Louis followed this with another title in 2011 in one of the great World Series of recent times against the Texas Rangers (miraculously recovering from what seemed a certain losing position in Game Six to win the series 4-3).

There isn’t really an underdog in this series for a neutral to latch onto.  Instead, the hope is simply that we have an exciting series going six or the full seven games.

Here is the schedule

U.S. Eastern Time UK Time
Gm 1 St. Louis @ Boston Wed 23 Oct 8:07 PM Thu 24 Oct 01:07 AM
Gm 2 St. Louis @ Boston Thu 24 Oct 8:07 PM Fri 25 Oct 01:07 AM
Gm 3 Boston @ St. Louis Sat 26 Oct 8:07 PM Sun 27 Oct 01:07 AM
Gm 4 Boston @ St. Louis Sun 27 Oct 8:15 PM Mon 28 Oct 00:15 AM
Gm 5* Boston @ St. Louis Mon 28 Oct 8:07 PM Tues 29 Oct 00:07 AM
Gm 6* St. Louis @ Boston Wed 30 Oct 8:07 PM Thurs 31 Oct 00:07 AM
Gm 7* St. Louis @ Boston Thu 31 Oct 8:07 PM Fri 1 Nov 00:07 AM

* = if necessary

As has been the case for many years, all of the games will be played at night during prime time in the U.S. Consequently they are all in the early hours of the morning for us in the U.K.

The main thing to note is that whilst we move out of Summer Time back to GMT in the early hours of Sunday 27 October, most parts of the U.S. don’t switch from their Daylight Time until a week later.  That means the time difference will be reduced by one hour for that week, affecting the start time for us from Game Four onwards even though all of the games start at roughly the same time from the perspective in the U.S. (aside from Game Four starting eight minutes later than the rest).

It’s also worth stating that the start times listed on MLB.com (normally 7:30 ET) include all of the pre-game hoopla, whilst the times listed above are when the first pitch should be.

All of the games will be available to watch live on BT Sport, with repeats at more sleep-friendly times on the ESPN channel. BBC 5 Live Sports Extra will once again be broadcasting the games live on digital radio, whilst online coverage is available at MLB.com with an MLB.TV subscription

It’s rare in the modern postseason era for the World Series to end up being between the two teams that won the most regular season games in the two leagues, but the Cardinals and Red Sox have bucked that trend this year. It should be a great series.

A Red Birds and Red Sox World Series

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The line up for the 2013 World Series is set with the Boston Red Sox hosting the St. Louis Cardinals in Game One at Fenway Park in the early hours of Thursday morning, U.K. time.

In recent years we’ve reveled in the unpredictability of the playoffs, the feeling that if you can make it into the postseason then the short-series format gives everyone an equal chance of success.

That still holds true and part of the enjoyment of the postseason so far has been the knowledge that had a moment here or there gone another way, we could be looking at a completely different Fall Classic.

However, after all the twists and turns, it does seem fitting that we have ended up with the two teams that won the most regular season games in their respective leagues.

You have to admire the way that the Cardinals keep on developing their own players; giving the team a chance to compete every year with a mid-ranking payroll (their Opening Day payroll of $103m was the 14th highest of the 30 teams).

There’s no real secret to their success. As often is the case, it is based on something that seems simple but is actually not so. From amateur draft picks, trades, promoting prospects at the right time, free agent signings and knowing when to part with players, the Cardinals consistently make good decisions.

They don’t get it right every time, nobody does, but they appear to have a strong, stable structure at the heart of the organization that gets everyone on the same page working together. If you have good processes in place that everyone buys in to, you’ll get more decisions right than wrong.

The offseason after the Cardinals’ World Series triumph two years ago was a perfect illustration of this.

Although plenty of neutrals saw the logic in allowing Albert Pujols, the team’s marquee player, to leave as a free agent, it was still a brave decision. No doubt everyone in the organization wanted to keep Pujols if they could, but they set a financial limit on what they were prepared to offer with future budgets in mind and the knowledge that one player, however good he may be, does not make a team successful on his own.

The Los Angeles Angels made an offer to Pujols that the Cardinals were not prepared to match and so, with everyone in the organization on board, they walked away from the negotiations and committed to turning the situation into an opportunity.

Of the many positive outcomes of letting Pujols leave, Michael Wacha is the most striking due to his outstanding performances this postseason.  Wacha was acquired by the Cardinals with the compensation draft pick they received from the Angels due to Pujols’ departure. Having the 19th selection in the 2012 amateur draft was a bonus for St. Louis but, as with every opportunity, they still had to make the most of it by making a good decision. There’s no doubt that they did just that with Wacha.

That wasn’t where the good decision-making ended either. They evaluated Wacha’s process carefully and knew he could contribute at the Major League level in the second half of 2013, so they put a flexible plan in place that allowed them to limit his innings whilst ensuring he would be available at the most crucial point of the season.

Whilst fans of the vanquished Dodgers and the Pirates will cast an envious eye at the Cardinals when they line up at Fenway Park, fans of the Washington Nationals will have every right to feel just as frustrated. I know this is flogging a dead horse, but the Cardinals’ sensible handling of Wacha’s innings limit and the subsequent success experienced by the player and team just adds to the bafflement at the way the Nationals made a complete horlicks of Stephen Strasburg’s innings limit in 2012 (and, just to add to the story, it was the Cardinals that knocked out the Nationals in the NLDS last season).

Like the Cardinals, the Boston Red Sox have also made plenty of good decisions this season too. Admittedly they came after the team made several poor decisions in the preceding year or so, not least hiring Bobby Valentine to be their manager; however the 2012 campaign is looking like a necessary lull after the Theo Epstein/Terry Francona era came to its natural conclusion. General Manager Ben Cherington got a stroke of luck last year with the Dodgers coming calling for several of their big contract players, but again you have to take full advantage of the opportunities that are presented.

Cherington did that by signing some experienced free agents, underwhelming moves for some onlookers at the time, and the team has gelled brilliantly under a new manager, ex-Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell. Boston have produced some dramatic moments to make it to the World Series, such as an unlikely Grand Slam by Shane Victorino to win Game Six against the Tigers.

Are they a team of destiny or a team relying on their lottery numbers coming up again and again? Regardless of the debate on whether ‘clutch hitting’ is a repeatable skill, neither depiction would be accurate. The Red Sox have got quality players full of confidence and belief and that combination will always give you a chance for producing a memorable moment or two. Cherington can’t rely on David Ortiz being ‘clutch’ all the time, but he can – and has – put together a roster where there are a number of players with the potential to make a big play, thereby increasing the odds that one of them will come through.

Both the Cardinals and the Red Sox, and frankly every successful team, will have benefited from a bit of luck here and there this season, but the well-used saying ‘the harder I work, the luckier I get’ comes to mind.

In fact, perhaps in baseball that should be changed to ‘the smarter I work, the luckier I get’.

The Cardinals and Red Sox are two of the smarter organizations in MLB and their teams should produce a pulsating Fall Classic.

No more Neighbourhood plays?

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Wednesday’s games in the MLB postseason left both the American and National League Championship Series finely poised.

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ survived their first ‘must-win’ game, denying – temporarily perhaps – the St. Louis Cardinals a berth in the World Series with a 6-4 victory. The series will now head back to St. Louis for Game Six on Friday night.

Whilst the Cardinals remain favourites leading the series 3-2, a win for the Dodgers in Game Six will not only level the series, it will also bring back all the bad memories the Cardinals have of letting a 3-1 NLCS lead slip last year against the San Francisco Giants.

In the ALCS, the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers will play Game Five on Thursday night with all to play for. The Tigers took Game Four 7-3 to make the series all square at two apiece.

Detroit jumped on Red Sox starter Jake Peavy, scoring five runs in the second inning. Boston had a chance to escape a bases-loaded situation having conceded only one run, but Dustin Pedroia and Stephen Drew were unable to turn an inning-ending double-play and despite a late rally, they were never able to recover.

Watching that inning again on Thursday evening, the main thing that stood out was that the Red Sox were lucky to get even one out on the potential double-play. Second base umpire Dan Iassogna called Austin Jackson out on a force play even though Drew hadn’t touched the bag, nor got particularly close to doing so.

It has long been the case that umpires have given fielders some leeway at second base when base runners are charging in trying to break up a double-play. The pivot man on the play, in this case the shortstop Drew, is vulnerable to being caught unguarded by what amounts to a sliding tackle.

So long as the fielder is ‘in the neighbourhood’ of the base, he will be given the out. It’s the baseball equivalent of a referee whistling for a foul when a defender slides in and doesn’t actually make heavy contact with the attacker. The fouled player shouldn’t have to leave his leg in the way and get it broken to prove that it was a mis-timed dangerous tackle, and a pivot man on a double-play shouldn’t have to suffer such an injury either.

However, what will happen next season when instant replay is introduced?

Maybe there will be a gentleman’s agreement that managers will not challenge such a play, knowing that allowing it as a general rule helps protect the players.

No,  I don’t see that lasting too long either when an important game is on the line and, in any case, the incident in last night’s game shows there’s a significant grey area involved. Whether someone tags a bag or not is clear enough. Whether a fielder is ‘in the neighbourhood’ of the base is much more subjective. Certainly Tigers manager Jim Leyland would have been well within his rights to challenge the call in this case yet one person’s definition of close will differ from another, largely based on which team you are attached to.

What’s more likely to happen is that players simply will have to adjust and make sure they touch the base, taking the ‘neighbourhood play’ out of the equation. I’ve stated before that introducing instant replay doesn’t just involve adding a new officiating tool, it will also change the way the game is played.

In this case, the result also could be an increase in injuries to infielders and if that happens they’ll potentially be a clamour for a rule change or two. One possibility would be for umpires to take a hard line on calling interference on a baserunner going into second base if the pivot man would in any way be likely to be touched in attempting to turn the double-play. Traditionalists will like that as much as they like the idea of collisions at home plate being outlawed.

It could have a series of consequences, or maybe everyone will quickly adjust and it doesn’t become an issue. It’s difficult to tell, yet it’s clear that instant replay will change baseball. Whether that’s for better or worse remains to be seen and like every other issue in baseball, opinions will be divided.

Baseball, like all sports, will continue to evolve and the game in MLB will be different as a result of instant replay.

 

 

Championship Series thoughts on a rainy Sunday

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For many in the U.K., today is the sort of Sunday where you’re glad to be able to stay indoors to shelter from the wind and rain.

Saturday night’s two Championship Series games were the perfect gift for anyone trying to find something to occupy the mind whilst huddled up away from the elements.

If you don’t have the time or inclination to re-watch the games in full then the Complete Game videos on MLB.com are a good way to catch up on the main flow of each game, even if the lack of commentary does take a bit of getting used to. Alternatively the Pulse of the Postseason video follows the timeline of the day in one neat 10 minute package.

First up on the ‘Pulse’ video is the St. Louis Cardinals’ 1-0 triumph over the Dodgers to take a 2-0 series lead as the teams head out to L.A.

Rookie Michael Wacha was impressive once again, but the most telling part of the tale came in Trevor Rosenthal’s 1-2-3 ninth inning to seal the Dodgers’ fate.

With Matt Kemp done for the season, Hanley Ramirez and Andre Ethier battling injuries and Yasiel Puig battling a loss of form, they are severely restricted when it comes to scoring runs and whilst pitching can take you a long way – good pitching beats good hitting, and so on – you can’t win if you can’t score runs.

Puig looked completely lost at the plate throughout the game and none more so than when he struck out to lead off the ninth inning, lumbering him with the ‘golden sombrero’ for four strikeouts. Juan Uribe, no one’s idea of a number 5 hitter on a World Series contender, then wildly hacked his way to the next strikeout, before Andre Either came off the bench to end the game striking out on three pitches.

L.A. have received two strong pitching performances from Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw and both have gone to waste due to their scuffling batting lineup. That lineup will now have to face the Cardinals’ best pitcher, Adam Wainwright, in Game Three whilst the Dodgers are likely to send Hyun-Jin Ryu to the mound knowing that he’s dealing with arm soreness and has been ineffective of late.

The Dodgers aren’t done just yet, but the Cardinals couldn’t be in a better position.

The other game of the night also finished 1-0 as Anibal Sanchez and the Detroit Tigers’ bullpen came within two outs of no-hitting what has been a potent Boston Red Sox batting lineup.

This series has been billed as a match-up between the Tigers’ starting pitching and the Red Sox’s offence and in that respect it was Detroit’s strength that won out in Game One. However, I suspect that it will be Detroit’s batting lineup that will determine the result of this series and in that sense the first game showed Boston how they could make it to another Fall Classic.

Even though they were handcuffed by the Tigers’ pitching – Boston fans have some reason to point to Joe West’s strikezone as a contributory factor too, although all hitters know they have to adjust to the zone being called on the night – they were always in the game because their own pitching was able to limit the Tigers’ offence.

Whilst Detroit are justified in having faith in their starting pitchers – not least in Max Scherzer for Game Two tonight – they’ll know that it’s unlikely they can win four games in this series against a strong Boston team if they can’t find a way to get the offence going around a clearly hobbled Miguel Cabrera.

You expect the Tigers to pitch well and, even in the face of this, you expect the Red Sox’s offence to score runs. What we should expect from the Tigers’ offence is less clear and finding out should make this a fascinating series.

Championship Series off to great start

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The Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals got the Championship Series stage of the 2013 postseason off to a flying start with an enthralling Game One on Friday night.

The Cards won 3-2 in thirteen innings and left U.K.-based fans wondering whether to go back to bed or just to get on with their Saturday morning with the game ending at close to 6.30 a.m. The latter was probably the option most took as it was difficult to drift off after such an exciting game.

Carlos Beltran once again proved to be an October hero, this time making two decisive plays to add to his postseason scrapbook.

The first came in the tenth inning when his perfect throw from the outfield beat a tagging-up Mark Ellis to home plate where Yadier Molina was more than happy to play the role of base-blocker to preserve the 2-2 scoreline. It looked initially from the TV footage that centre-fielder Jon Jay might take the fly-ball, but Beltran had the better angle to catch and fire and he did so brilliantly.

It was the second impressive outfield contribution to a double-play of the game after Dodgers right-fielder Yasiel Puig caught a David Freeze line drive and then smartly got the ball to first base to double-off Jay to end the seventh inning.

Beltran’s fielding play came with a side story, that of the man who hit the fly ball to him to start it off.

Adrian Gonzalez had walked to lead off the eighth inning and Dodgers manager Don Mattingly decided to take the first baseman out of the game for pinch-runner Dee Gordon. With all to play for in a 2-2 game, Mattingly’s keenness to take a late lead was understandable but it was a gamble considering Gordon still needed to get around from first base and, if he didn’t, the Dodgers would play the rest of the game without one of their most potent threats at the plate.

Unfortunately for LA, Mattingly’s gamble didn’t pay off – Gordon was out at second on a fielder’s choice in the next at-bat and Juan Uribe then grounded into a double-play to end the inning – and the result was that Michael Young took over Gonzalez’s spot in the batting lineup. It was Young who flied out tamely in the eleventh inning to set up Beltran’s double play and Young compounded the situation in the twelfth inning when he killed another Dodger rally by grounding into a double-play.

We’ll never know how the game might have panned out had Mattingly not been so hasty to remove one of his best hitters, but it certainly didn’t help their cause as the game ultimately unfolded and all Gonzalez could do was watch from the bench rather than stand in the batter’s box.

Gonzalez’s watching brief ended in the bottom of the thirteenth inning with the sight of Daniel Descalso crossing home plate to score the winning run. There was an air of expectation and also inevitability as Carlos Beltran stepped into the batter’s box with the game there to be won. Sure enough, he singled into the right field to send the Red Birds to a 1-0 series lead.

It was a great game and a great win for the Cardinals, not least because Zack Greinke was terrific on the mound for the Dodgers. Watching a masterful pitcher snapping off curveballs at will is one of the joys of baseball – unless you‘re the batter trying to hit them – and he struck out all three Cardinal batters with that pitch in the fifth on his way to ten K’s over eight innings.

Game Two of the series begins at 21.07 BST on Saturday and although it’s got a tough act to follow, don’t rule out it being just as exciting as the first with Clayton Kershaw and Michael Wacha on the mound.

Detroit and Boston will then get their series underway at 1.00 a.m. with Anibal Sanchez and Jon Lester taking to the mound at Fenway Park.

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: End of May MLB Rankings

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The St. Louis Cardinals have moved up to the top of my rankings, whilst their nearest NL Central challengers at the end of April have gone in the opposite direction.

1. St. Louis Cardinals (previous rank 5)

The Cardinals had the best record in the Majors during May (20-7). Adam Wainwright, Lance Lynn and Shelby Miller led the starting rotation to a very strong showing over the course of the month, whilst a sluggish offence in April really turned things around in May. Losing pitcher Jaime Garcia for the season due to shoulder surgery is a blow, but the Cards have shown in the past that they can use their organizational depth to absorb injuries.

2. Texas Rangers (3)

The Rangers keep on rolling. Jurickson Profar, considered by many to be the best prospect in baseball, rejoined the team in May when Ian Kinsler was placed on the Disabled List. Just like St. Louis, they have the depth to take injuries on the chin and should get stronger as the season goes on with Colby Lewis, Matt Harrison and Neftali Feliz working their way back from injury.

3. Cincinnati Reds (4)

As expected, the Reds are going to be in a fierce battle with the Cardinals in the NL Central all season long. Cincinnati swept three-game series over the Brewers, Marlins and Mets to help them to the second-best record in May (19-8, one win behind those Cardinals), with an impressive offence led by the outstanding Joey Votto.

4. Atlanta Braves (1)

The Braves put together an eight-game winning streak during May on their way to a 15-13 month. Jason Heyward and Brian McCann both came of the Disabled List to join the offence in May. The bad news came from the bullpen where several faltering performances were coupled with both Jonny Venters and Eric O’Flaherty undergoing Tommy John surgery.

5. New York Yankees (13)

Curtis Granderson’s return from the Disabled List lasted only eight games before a different injury, this time a fractured knuckle, sent him away again. Andy Pettitte also joined the pinstriped throngs on the treatment table, but the month ended positively with both Kevin Youkilis and Mark Teixeira joining the team and it continues to be the case that the longer this banged-up team keeps themselves in contention, the greater the chance that they’ll be a real force as we get to the business end of the season.

6. Tampa Bay Rays (8)

Two separate six-game winning streaks during the month – admittedly one of which included a four-game sweep over the Miami Marlins – powered the Rays to an 18-10 May. The starting rotation suffered the loss of David Price due to a strained left tricep, but the offence more than picked up the slack.

7. Detroit Tigers (7)

Miguel Cabrera was the joint-leader in the Majors with 12 home runs during May as the Tigers’ offence roared despite Austin Jackson landing on the Disabled List and Victor Martinez’s continuing struggles at the plate. Anibal Sanchez, Doug Fister and Max Scherzer were the leading lights in the Majors’ best starting rotation during May.

8. Boston Red Sox (12)

The talent and experience is there to give Boston a chance; however there remain doubts as to whether enough players will hold up over the course of the season. During May, the Red Sox lost closer Joel Hanrahan to Tommy John surgery, Andrew Bailey (now back with the team), Shane Victorino and Will Middlebrooks also went onto the DL whilst Clay Buchholz was held out of a start before being scheduled to take the mound on Sunday night against the Yankees.

9. Baltimore Orioles (9)

The O’s went 15-13 in May despite suffering a six-game losing streak. Chris Davis launched 10 homers in the month, Adam Jones homered in all four-games against the Blue Jays near the end of the month and Manny Machado has started to draw comparisons with Mike Trout and Bryce Harper as one of the very best young players in the Majors.

10. Oakland A’s (14)

The A’s won 12 of their final 14 games in May, including 3 of 4 against the San Francisco Giants, to make for a 16-12 month, after Brett Anderson, Coco Crisp, Chris Young and Josh Reddick headed onto the DL in the first week. No team has been happier than Oakland to see the Houston Astros join the AL West this season: the A’s are 9-0 so far against the Astros.

11. San Francisco Giants (6)

It’s been an interesting season so far for the Giants. They are hanging in there but it has been the offence that has been doing most of the heavy lifting, rather than the pitching staff that has been such a strength in recent years. Their luck was summed up by Ryan Vogelsong. He finally looked like he had found something through five good innings against Washington on 20 May, only to be hit by a pitch and to fracture a finger, putting him out of action for four to six weeks.

12. Arizona Diamondbacks (15)

D-Backs fans might take issue with being behind the Giants in these rankings, seeing as they lead them in the NL West rankings. Patrick Corbin was a perfect 5-0 in five starts during May (1.53 ERA) and Brandon McCarthy was pitching well too before he hit the DL with right shoulder inflammation. Paul Goldschmidt has continued his excellent start to the season and started June off in grand style with a grand slam off the Cubs’ Carlos Marmol on Saturday.

13. Cleveland Indians (21)

The Tribe completed four-game sweeps over both the A’s and the Mariners as they went 18-12 during May to keep the pressure on Detroit in the AL Central. Jason Kipnis led the offence during the month and Justin Masterson continued his good start to the season, going 4-1 from six starts with a 3.02 ERA. The bullpen wasn’t at its best though and Chris Perez poor form culminated in him being sent to the DL.

14. Pittsburgh Pirates (22)

A 19-9 May, capped off by taking three of four against the Detroit Tigers at the end of the month, keeps the optimism high in Pittsburgh that this might finally be the season when the losing-season streak, and hopefully the playoff drought, comes to an end. One thing they do have in their favour is an in-form bullpen, with Jason Grilli and Mark Melancon proving to be an excellent eight and ninth inning partnership.

15. Washington Nationals (2)

May wasn’t a disaster for the Nats (15-13); however the cracks are starting to show in what looked like being an all-around excellent roster. The offence has not fired at all and that will be exacerbated by Bryce Harper’s knee injury that has put him on the disabled list. Add on Stephen Strasburg’s recent lower back pain, likely to see him join Harper on the DL, and confidence levels will have taken a hit from their pre-season standing as favourites for the NL pennant.

16. L.A. Angels of Anaheim (16)

An eight-game winning streak showed that there is still life left in the Angels, although you could argue that the opposition (White Sox, Mariners and Royals) wasn’t exactly the elite of the league. The wins count regardless of the quality of the opposition so the Angels won’t care about that. What they will care about is that they’re still firmly under .500 and they need to string together four good months from now on. Getting Jered Weaver back from injury is a positive sign and Mike Trout was exceptional in May.

17. Philadelphia Phillies (19)

Cliff Lee pitched extremely well for the Phillies during May – 4-1 with a 1.80 ERA in six starts – and Domonic Brown had an impressive month power-wise with 12 homers (his .303 OBP shows he didn’t do much at the plate when he wasn’t leaving the yard). Other than that there wasn’t too much to cheer, particularly with the Youngs – Delmon and Michael – hurting rather than helping the team and Chase Utley landing on the DL.

18. Chicago White Sox (20)

The White Sox have two figures of hope in Chris Sale and Jake Peavy leading the rotation and both Jesse Crain and Dylan Axelrod provided some good work from the bullpen in May. The pitching contributions simply haven’t been enough to overcome a stagnant offence so far. Alex Rios was probably their best hitter in May and his batting line of .280/.325/.486 with four homers is decent without being particularly inspiring. Unless the likes of Adam Dunn, Paul Konerko and Jeff Keppinger can turn their seasons around, it could be a year when good pitching goes to waste.

19. Colorado Rockies (25)

After an eye-catching 16-11 record in the first month, the Rockies went 12-16 in May to drop them back a bit but still leaves them exceeding expectations so far. With Troy Tulowtizki and Carlos Gonzalez leading the way at the plate they’ll have a chance to stay somewhere in the reckoning if they get some luck with injuries. Jhoulys Chacin and Jorge de la Rosa have been positives on the mound and we’ll have to wait and see whether Roy Oswalt – signed by Colorado on a Minor League deal – can work his way back to the Majors.

20. L.A. Dodgers (11)

The big-spending Dodgers went 13-13 in April which seemed a disappointment at the time considering the expectations on the team; however it was relatively successful compared to their 10-17 May, beginning with an eight-game losing streak that had the rumour mill going into overdrive regarding manager Don Mattingly’s future with the club. Matt Kemp hit just one home run whilst struggling to a .291 OBP during May before a groin injury put him on the Disabled List. Brandon League has also had a tough month out of the bullpen.

21. Toronto Blue Jays (10)

The Blue Jays and Dodgers go hand-in-hand; dramatic off-seasons raised expectations that have been nowhere near met due to injuries and poor performances. Jose Bautista started coming to life in May, but the team hasn’t showed many other signs of improvement that would create hope for a turn around.

22. San Diego Padres (28)

The Padres had a decent May with a 15-13 record that has stated to move the team forward. The big problem has been with the pitching staff, where Jason Marquis, Andrew Cashner and Huston Street all struggled through the month, with Street’s May ending with a trip to the DL. Chase Headley has performed well since coming back from injury and both Jedd Gyorko and Everth Cabrera, the latter leading the NL with 19 stolen bases, have made good contributions too.

23. Seattle Mariners (24)

Jesus Montero and Dustin Ackley were seen as two talented young position players that could turn around the M’s faltering offence of recent years. Unfortunately an eight-game losing streak culminated in those two players being demoted to the Minor Leagues as Seattle continues to work out how they can put together a roster that can help Felix Hernandez to the playoffs. Hopefully the M’s Front Office can start to find the answer over the coming months, but it’s extremely unlikely that King Felix’s postseason debut will come in 2013.

24. New York Mets (23)

In a season when expectations are justifiably low, fans have to latch on to seemingly small victories as a source of great comfort to get through the season. Matt Harvey has been a shining light in that respect and a four-game sweep over the New York Yankees, including getting the better of the great Mariano Rivera, certainly counts as something to celebrate in a season when there will plenty more losses than victories.

25. Kansas City Royals (18)

Oh dear. A 14-10 April provided reason for optimism in Kansas City only for a dreadful 8-20 May to put the Royals into a tailspin yet again. Hall of Famer George Brett has accepted the call to take over as the team’s hitting coach, but when you’ve gone this long without winning it’s easy for heads to drop. ‘Here we go again’ is likely to be the overwhelming feeling in KC right now.

26. Minnesota Twins (26)

A ten-game losing streak made for a long May in Minnesota. They did win six of their last eight to end the month on a positive note, but the lack of quality pitching in their starting rotation makes it difficult for the team to find consistency regardless of the ever-impressive efforts of Joe Mauer.

27. Chicago Cubs (27)

The Cubs took three wins against White Sox in the battle of Chicago, but those victories mirrored the reaction of the Mets: good wins to hold on to considering there has not been much else to get excited about. Matt Garza has come off the DL to add another good arm to the rotation, whilst Kyuji Fujikawa went the other way with the relief pitcher being yet another player undergoing Tommy John surgery.

28. Milwaukee Brewers (17)

The Brewers ended April with a 14-10 record and were in second place in the NL Central, just 0.5 games behind the Cardinals. What a difference a month can make. Milwaukee lost nine of their first ten games in May and ended it being swept in a four-game series by the Minnesota Twins, landing them with a terrible 6-22 record for the month.

29. Houston Astros (29)

Two six-game losing streaks during May saw the AL newcomers go 10-18 in the month.

30. Miami Marlins (30)

The rebuilding continues in Miami. May brought a seven-game losing streak and a nine-game losing streak as they matched the Brewers’ MLB worst record of 6-22 during the month.

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Bonus breakfast baseball

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Several times over the course of a season, a game will go deep into extra innings and turn into a battle of the last man standing.

The Arizona Diamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinals produced such a marathon match on Wednesday night in only their third game of year.

If the contest is played in the evening Stateside, you’ll often find that the crowds thin out as the game heads beyond the tenth inning and the fans reluctantly decide that they have to head to bed to get up early the next morning.

Here in Britain, the morning has already arrived. Although the crowds in the ballpark diminish, fans in other parts of the world start to arrive virtually over the Internet. Little starts a week-day morning better than settling down with your cereal and cup of tea, logging on to MLB.com and finding out that there’s some live bonus breakfast baseball waiting to be watched.

It was Thursday morning for us in the U.K. as the D-Backs and Cards battled their way beyond the regulation nine innings. The Cardinals took a 9-8 lead in the top of the twelfth inning only for a sacrifice fly by Martin Prado to level the game once again in the bottom of the frame and move us on to the thirteenth.

In these situations, there’s always a sense that something is quickly running out. For the teams, it’s their pitching staffs that are being whittled down as the innings pile up and every available arm gets called into action. For fans in the U.K., it’s the relentless ticking of the clock on the wall and the hope that a dramatic end to the game will arrive before you have to head off to work.

On Thursday morning the climax came at approximately 8.15 a.m. when Cliff Pennington’s single into right-centre field brought home Jason Kubel for a hard-earned 10-9 walk-off win in sixteen innings.

It’s always tough to lose a game when you’ve put so much effort into it, but the Cardinals were down to their final available pitcher, Fernando Salas, and had it gone much further they would have needed to turn the ball over to a position player. That’s always fun for us fans, but not so much for the manager having to watch it from the dugout.

As it was, the game was brought to an end before a position player had to take to the mound and both managers headed to the clubhouse glad that their teams had an off-day on Thursday.

A fantasy failure

One of the benefits of fantasy baseball is that it gives you an emotional attachment to games played by teams other than those involving your chosen club. Even if it’s an early season game with little riding on it in the general scheme of things, the performances of player or two involved can grab your attention and give you a reason to watch intently.

The Tampa Bay Rays’ home-opener against the Baltimore Orioles last Tuesday was one such game for me. David Price was my third round selection in this year’s BaseballGB Fantasy League draft and he was on the mound for the Rays.

After giving up a two-run homer to Matt Wieters in the first inning, Price settled in nicely and pitched a solid if unspectacular six innings. It looked like I was in line for a bonus ‘Win’ as two Rays runs in the bottom of the sixth inning turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead and put Price in line to be the winning pitcher.

But then manager Joe Maddon relieved Price and brought in Jake McGee for the seventh inning. McGee is also on my fantasy team and that just seemed like it was tempting fate. Sure enough, despite throwing a fastball in the upper nineties, McGee was jumped on by the Orioles and gave up five runs, three coming on a home run by Chris Davis.

As I watched my fantasy team’s ERA balloon whilst Price’s pitching ‘W’ vanished into thin air, I suddenly remembered that the benefit of fantasy baseball making other games seem important can also be a curse.

And I cursed quite a lot when Davis was circling the bases.

Incurring injuries

One week into the season and some players are already heading onto the Disabled List.

The Reds’ Ryan Ludwick lasted less than three full innings on Opening Day. He made a head-first slide into third base in Cincinnati’s game against the LA Angels and separated his right shoulder, putting him out of action for a good proportion of the rest of the season.

Jake McGee’s meltdown in the aforementioned Orioles-Rays game was a shock I didn’t need, but the game produced a welcome surprise of sorts in the sight of the O’s Brian Roberts taking the field and going 2-for-4. The second baseman has endured a miserable run of injuries over the last three years with a catalogue of ailments restricting him to just 115 appearances over that period. His Opening Day start gave rise to hopes that he might have put the bad luck behind him, yet sadly those hopes were dashed a couple of days later. Roberts suffered a ruptured tendon in his right knee and will miss the next three to four weeks.

It looks like Roberts should be fine to come back healthy after that rest period and hopefully the same can be said for the Red Sox’s pitcher John Lackey. After missing all of the 2012 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, Lackey was doing a decent job against the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday in his first game back when all of a sudden he grabbed hold of his right arm after letting go of a pitch in the fifth inning. It looked awful and everyone, Lackey included, probably thought the worst as soon as it happened. The initial diagnosis is that it’s a right biceps strain and not something structurally wrong with his repaired elbow, so it’s a case of crossing fingers that Lackey won’t have a long rehabilitation assignment to work through so soon after his last one.

Zito’s sophisticated slop

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The Yankees couldn’t escape from their Championship Series predicament, but the San Francisco Giants might after their surprising Game Five victory.

The St. Louis Cardinals were ready to party when heading to Busch Stadium on Friday evening. They were one win away from clinching a return to the World Series and the Giants had Barry Zito on the mound.

What could go wrong?

What went wrong for the Red Birds was Barry Zito finally getting it right. He kept the Cardinals hitters off balance and got the job done by pitching 7.2 scoreless innings, helping his team to a 5-0 win to keep the Giants’ hopes alive.

This was not a case of Zito rolling back the years to his 2002 Cy Young-winning days. Never a hard thrower, Zito’s stuff wouldn’t frighten anyone any more. The big knee-buckling curve isn’t quite so fearsome and he has been far too hittable for the Giants’ liking in recent seasons.

But just as a 99 MPH heater doesn’t guarantee success against the best hitters in the world, a more modest arsenal doesn’t have to condemn a pitcher to an early retirement. With good command of the fastball and a good mix of secondary pitches – plus the odd bit of good luck in batted balls finding fielders rather than grass or the outfield seats – a pitcher can succeed.

MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince summed up Zito’s performance by stating “you could call his stuff slop if not for the sophistication with which he delivered it”. No pitcher would like to be known for their ‘sophisticated slop’, but I’m sure they would take it if it got Major League hitters out.

Zito more than most would be glad for any compliments he can get, however back-handed they may seem.

He has become a poster boy for ‘free agent flops’ since signing a seven-year/$126m contract with the Giants over the 2006/07 offseason. It was the worst type of free agent contract, one that looked bad from the very moment the player put pen to paper.

Zito had been effective for the Oakland A’s in the couple of seasons leading up to his free agency, yet he wasn’t bowling anyone over with greatness. Even though teams often accept they may have to slightly overpay to acquire a free agent, it’s difficult to understand how the Giants thought his future performances would ever be worth $126m.

Putting the contract into context makes it seem all the more baffling. It was the largest ever contract (in terms of total dollars) given to a pitcher at the time of signing and only four larger contracts have been handed out since. Two came during the current season when the Giants and Phillies locked up Matt Cain and Cole Hamels respectively before they hit free agency, with Johan Santana (6 years/$137.5m signed in the 07/08 offseason) and CC Sabathia (7 years/$161m signed in the 08/09 offseason – since amended by a 5 year/$122m deal this past offseason) being the top two contracts.

Zito had a good run between 2002 and 2005 and even though his performances were trending downwards he deserved a decent-sized free agent deal. However, it clearly stands out as a bad contract when looking at it alongside the others.

Overpays can be brushed to one side if they lead to a World Series victory or two, following the adage that flags fly forever. In Zito’s case, the Giants’ 2010 triumph actually makes his contract look worse as he had pitched so poorly that season that he wasn’t included on the postseason roster.

2012 could be his one remaining shot at redemption. Thanks to Zito’s Game Five performance, the Giants have a chance to win the two remaining games of the series at AT&T Park to make it to the World Series.

If the Giants can do it, and if Zito puts in a decent showing in a World Series start on the way to another victory parade in San Francisco, then history will view the contract in a more favourable light. It will come with an asterisk pointing to a comment saying ‘yes it was an overpay, but …’.

There are some big ‘ifs’ in the equation, but it’s better to have the possibility of ifs than no chance at all.

Pujols booed and Rivera suffers from the closer curse

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It’s already been a dramatic week in MLB, from the high of Jered Weaver’s no-hitter to the low of Mariano Rivera’s knee injury.

Weaver’s no-no was a welcome positive news story for the Angels in what’s been an indifferent start to the season. Many had them pegged as a World Series contender following their off-season spending spree and there’s too much talent in Anaheim for them not to right the ship at some point, but a 10-17 win-loss record shows there is plenty of room for improvement.

They need a spark to get the team going and a no-hitter would seem to be exactly the sort of moment to provide it; however the Toronto Blue Jays have quickly stopped them from gaining any momentum thanks to Brandon Morrow and Henderson Alvarez pitching back-to-back complete games.

Most notable in their loss on Friday was the the latest 0-for-4 performance by Albert Pujols and the subsequent booing of the first baseman that could be heard at Angel Stadium. Few players deserved a lucrative contract as much as Pujols this past offseason, but moving away from St. Louis was always going to create added pressure. He had built up such a great history with the Cardinals that any downturn in form during a new contract with them could be put into context with all he had achieved before.

Signing with a new team means he starts with a blank slate. He has been brought in as one of the game’s greatest players, is being paid accordingly, and can expect no settling-in period. The Angels expect him to play like a star from day one and quite simply he is not coming close to that.

With 108 at-bats in the books, he has only eight extra-base hits and all of them are doubles.  We can attach an endless stream of caveats to those figures and many will have merit (particularly that it’s only 108 at-bats and he’s still in his first go around the American League pitching staffs), but they don’t count for much when you’re a disappointed fan watching another at-bat go past in a losing effort.

$250m will buy you a lot of things, but it will not buy any sympathy. Quite the opposite, in fact.

The question for the Angels is not whether Pujols will carry on with a .505 OPS, because clearly he is scuffling a long, long way below his normal level. What matters is a) how quickly he gets out of his early season slump and b) if his form so far is an early indication of his Hall-of-Fame powers starting to wane. Every day I look at the boxscores and expect him to have broken out with a 5-for-5, 3 homer day and to start going on a brutal revenge mission against AL pitchers. I still expect that to happen, but I don’t know what to expect from him five or six, let alone eight or nine, years down the line.

The Angels won plenty of headlines, and a hefty TV contract, on the back of the Pujols signing; however they need to win a World Series or two for it to be seen as a success on the field and there may start to be a few concerns among the Angels’ Front Office that those triumphs will need to come early in Pujols’ ten-year contract if he is going to contribute significantly to them.

Mariano felled by the closer curse

Pujols can at least be thankful that he is fit and healthy.

Mariano Rivera is one of those rarest of things: a New York Yankee that fans of other teams can’t help but admire. Irrespective of personal team-supporting interests, few true baseball fans could fail to be saddened by the sight of the greatest closer of all time crumpled on the floor in pain from a serious knee injury that is likely to cost him the rest of the season.

Rivera strongly hinted during Spring Training that 2012 could be his final season before retiring, so the injury was initially seen as not simply season-ending, but potentially career-ending too. His emotional comments on Thursday added to those concerns, but on Friday we saw the return of the fighting character that has been so evident throughout his career.

As soon as I first read the news, my instinct told me that Rivera wouldn’t want to go out that way and if the operation and rehab both go well, then I suspect hitters who thought they had seen the last of that fearful cutter may find it diving in on their hands again in 2013.

One thing I do know for certain: it’s been a bad couple of months for closers.

Saturday’s early games

Neither the Angels or Yankees are in early game action on F.A. Cup Final Saturday, but there are six good games to enjoy nonetheless.  They include a home-game for the high-flying Washington Nationals. The Nats have won four in a row, have Bryce Harper creating plenty of interest in their team and Gio Gonzalez on the mound today against the Phillies.

All times are in BST.

18.05. LA Dodgers at Chicago Cubs (Capuano - Volstad)
18.05. Philadelphia at Washington (Worley - Gonzalez)
18.10. Baltimore at Boston (Hammel - Cook)

21.05. Chicago White Sox at Detroit (Floyd - Scherzer)
21.05. Arizona at NY Mets (Corbin - Santana)
21.05. Milwaukee at San Francisco (Wolf - Bumgarner)