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This Week in MLB

by Marty Gabel

ThisWeekMLBAs always, another eventful week in the major leagues, mainly concerning two over-40 pitchers who found themselves in the news, but for very different reasons. We’re also pretty much at the one-third mark for the 2009 season, and really it’s only the LA Dodgers who hold any kind of stranglehold on their league, nine games up over their closest rivals. But this is baseball, and anything can happen, and probably will.

We’ll start again with a look at the AL East, where the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are still fighting out for top dog, as many would have predicted. Boston had a few hiccups on their recent extended road trip, but managed a series sweep of Detroit to keep them in contention. Big Papi casually mentioned that he needed his eyes checked, having gone just 5-33 with two RBIs this past 10-game road trip, but it turned out to be a false alarm. Still, the slugger keeps struggling, 20-20 vision or not. Meanwhile, the New York Yankees went 18 error-free games, and they’re still playing well, but pitcher AJ Burnett was suspended for six games for throwing some wild inside-pitches against the Rangers. Toronto may have slipped in the division, but they’ve picked themselves up from a slump and have started playing well again. On Friday night against the Kansas City Royals, they even managed to break star pitcher Zack Greinke’s 111 consecutive innings without conceding a home run, with both Lyle Overbay and Adam Lind going deep in a 9-3 victory. In Orioles land, the much-touted rookie Matt Wieters may have gone hitless in his big league debut, but he’s still made a promising start as Baltimore continue to improve this year.

Turning now to the NL East, and it’s Philadelphia who top the division, now three games up on the New York Mets. The Phillies have an outstanding road record (20-8), but they’re having trouble keeping that up against the Dodgers this weekend who’ve already had two walk-off wins in a row against them. Now featuring the pitcher with the best name in the league, and Raul Ibanez hitting homers like a madman, the Phillies are emerging as a strong force this year. Meanwhile, the New York Mets have been hit quite badly with further injuries. Shortstop Jose Reyes (hamstring) and pitcher JJ Putz are on the DL. They lost a series to Pittsburgh but have rebounded against the Nationals this weekend. The big news of the week in all baseball though concerned the Atlanta Braves releasing 43-year old veteran Tom Glavine. The Braves, who already came under much criticism for not re-signing John Smolz in the off-season, are now in the spotlight for their treatment of 305-game winner Glavine.

The AL Central remains tight, and the past week saw most teams not being particularly successful. The Detroit Tigers saw a five-game lead atop the division reduced to just 2.5, after their series loss to the Red Sox. The Minnesota Twins suffered at the hands of the Tampa Bays Rays and continue to have a terrible time on the road, but were happy to see catcher Joe Mauer voted AL Player of the Month for his stellar performances with the bat throughout May. Cleveland found themselves with yet more injury woes, putting Asdrubal Cabrera on the DL with an injured shoulder. However, better news for the Indians came with the return of Trevor Haffner, and despite still remaining at the foot of the division, Cleveland has definitely been showing signs of improvement, including Carl Pavano pitching a sparkling three-hitter shutout over the White Sox on Friday.

It’s still the Milwaukee Brewers and St Louis Cardinals battling it out a the top of the NL Central, with Chicago and Cincinnati nipping at their heels. Though the Brewers started out June losing three of four to the Marlins, they had previously rounded out May with a sweep of divisional rivals the Reds. The Cardinals had to put starting pitcher Kyle Lohse on the 15-day disabled list, his first trip to the DL in his nine-year career. The Cards lost a series in San Francisco, but Albert Pujols continues to hit brilliantly, his home-run total for the year now at a very healthy 18. The Pittsburgh Pirates might find themselves a few games out, but were happy to welcome rookie Andrew McCutcheon to the line-up. The youngster had a dazzling debut going 2-for-4 with three runs scored, an RBI, a walk, and a stolen base in his very first game.

Heading out to the AL West, the Texas Rangers are still the front runners, with the Angels 3.5 game back. With a series win over Oakland, the Rangers then struggled at the Yankees, and now face a tough weekend at Fenway against the Red Sox. Josh Hamilton might still be on the DL, but stellar production from the likes of Ian Kinsler and Michael Young, and steady starting pitching, has seen Texas remain ahead of the Halos who welcomed back pitcher Kelvim Escobar on Saturday night. Seattle are hovering just under the .500 mark, and though Ichiro Suzuki had a 27-game hitting streak going into Friday, it ended that evening when he went 0-for-4 against the Twins at Safeco Field. Though the Oakland Athletics remain lodged at the bottom of the division, their recent form has been improving. They’ve started June with a 3-1 series victory over the Chicago White Sox, which included an excellent performance from right-hander Vin Mazzaro who pitched six scoreless innings in his debut on Wednesday.

Finally let’s round things out with the NL West. Sure, the Dodgers keep winning, but all eyes were focused on their divisional foes, the San Francisco Giants, on Thursday when Randy Johnson succeeded in notching up career win number 300. It’s an incredible feat for the 45-year old who joins an elite club of just 24 pitchers who’ve successfully won 300 games or more in their career. Meanwhile, the Giants continue to play better baseball than many folks expected this year, two games over .500, and 7-3 in their last 10. San Diego, Arizona, and Colorado are all struggling to keep up with the Giants and Dodgers this season, the Padres having lost four straight to start off June, and both the Diamondbacks and Rockies continue to play inconsistently. That being said of course, all three teams would probably be contending in any other division if it wasn’t for the Dodgers, who still maintain an MLB-best 39-19.

Well, that wraps up another eventful week in the MLB. Back next week with more news from the Majors.

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1 comment

Matt Smith June 7, 2009 - 7:20 pm

Nice review Marty.

I was very glad to see Mazzaro perform so well on his debut. The A’s are showing signs of life, although I don’t think a run at the West is really on the cards. I’m just hoping that our young pitchers continue to develop.

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