MLB Smack Blog

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2013 Fall Classic: Parting of the “Red Sea”

Add another chapter to this baseball royalty rivalry as for the fourth time in their illustrious histories, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox meet in the World Series.  In until 2004, when the Red Sox ended 88 years of championship futility among other things, the Cardinals had sung sweet music against Boston winning the previous two match-ups in 1946 and 1967.  The Red Sox of course 11 years ago, capped off their magical comeback against the Yankees in the ALCS after trailing 0-3 with a sweep of the Red Birds in the Fall Classic.  That leads us to the present where both teams won the most games during the regular season in their respective leagues with identical records of 97-65.  Despite the small differences in the shades of red on the uniforms and starting rotations where St. Louis has a slight edge, these teams are so evenly matched you’d have to be Moses blessed by the power of God to see the future of how this series is going to turn out!

Adam Wainwright falls back into his number one slot in the Red Birds pitching rotation as the series opener starter against John Lester of the Sox.  The right-hander was solid in his only start against the Dodgers in the NLCS despite a 3-0 loss in game three of the series.  He pitched seven innings giving up six hits with two earned runs and five strike outs.  Lester was equally impressive in his only ALCS start a 4-3 win in game five in Detroit.  He tossed 5&1/3rd, allowing seven hits with just two earned runs.  The game two starters are Michael Wacha for the Cards and John Lackey of the Sox.  Here is where St. Louis gets the first edge in the series.  Wacha to date is the story of the post-season so far.  The 22-year –old rookie baffled the Dodgers line-up twice allowing no runs and clinching the NLCS for St. Louis in a 9-0 victory earning him most valuable player honors.  With that said, Lackey is a much better pitcher at Fenway Park (game two site) then on the road.  In two post-season starts, Lackey has produced two wins with one quality start.  He’s tossed 12 innings, giving up 11 hits but only four earned runs while striking out 14.  Wacha may be as hot as a pitcher can be this time of year but Lackey is a veteran and knows how to battle through an inning.  The three and four men in each rotation are where some question marks maybe creep in.  Game three matches up another rookie in the Card’s Joe Kelly against veteran Clay Buchholz.  Kelly pitched to mix results in the NLCS, winning a close game one against the Dodgers that Los Angeles should have taken, only to lose in the re-match in Los Angeles in game five getting hit hard in the 6-4 defeat.  The return of Buchholz from injury pushed the Sox onto another level for the post-season.  While not picking up a win three post-season starts, he did give Boston a quality start and wasn’t the losing pitcher in any of his games, throwing 16.2 innings overall, allowing 19 hits and ten earned runs against a beastly Detroit Tigers line-up.  Lance Lynn starts game four for St. Louis at Busch Stadium against Jake Peavy.  Lynn picked up the series swing game for the Cards with a solid 4-2 victory at Dodgers Stadium giving up six hits in 5&1/3rd innings with two earned runs.  Peavy on the other hand will need to be a lot better than his disastrous ALCS start in Detroit where he lasted just three innings giving up five hits and seven earned runs with just one strike out, an epic fail the Red Sox can’t afford to try and withstand with the World Series trophy at stake.  As far as the starters go, we have to give a small edge to the Cardinals.  Wainwright has the most post-season experience of any pitcher in the series and Wacha has shown the most over-power stuff so far.  The game three and four matches appear to be a total toss-up as far as which pitcher will show up and not let the moment engulf him on the mound.

Defensively and at the plate this teams are a splitting image of each other but of course in the different leagues.  Behind the plate Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been solid for the Sox hitting .273 with 14 homers and 40 doubles during the regular season.  He produced the walk-off hit in game two of the ALCS during the Red Sox comeback win.  However, Yadier Molina is the best catcher in the game, calling pitches, throwing out runners and coming up with big hits.  The Cards get a solid edge in the catcher spot.  At first base it will be interesting to see of the Red Sox gamble and play David Ortiz on the road where he’ll have to play in the field as opposed to just the DH spot at home, keeping his bat in the line-up but also taking Mike Napoli’s out as well as Napoli’s glove.  Whoever is in the Boston line-up at first has more experience and just as much power as St. Louis rookie Matt Adams who didn’t produce much in the NLCS but did homer in the divisional series win over Pittsburgh.  The edge here to come up big in the clutch has to go the Red Sox way at 1B.  Arguably the two best hitters from each club play at second base.  Matt Carpenter hit .318 with 55 doubles and 78 RBI, while scoring 126 runs in the regular season for St. Louis.  Who could forget his epic plate battle with Clayton Kershaw in the Cards clinching game six win of the NLCS where he forced the lefty into 11 pitches before lacing a rally starting double down the right field line that led to the deciding three-run inning?  Those are the type of at bats he’s capable of.  The heart and soul of the Red Sox however is Dustin Pedroia.  He is a master with the glove, while also hitting .301 with 42 doubles, driving in 84 runs and scoring 91runs himself.  He is by far the superior fielder but their base running skills are both dangerous so we’ll call this match-up a draw.  At shortstop both the Cards Pete Kozma and Boston’s Stephen Drew are awesome flashing the leather.  However at the plate Drew has a solid on base percentage and good power, so he wins the battle here.  Moving to third base, this isn’t 2011 and we’re not seeing the MVP David Freese at all.  He’s hitting just .189 with nine strikeouts and four runs batted in for the entire post-season.  But Boston’s answer is a bit of a question mark as rookie Xander Bogaerts appears to be now getting the nod in place of Will Middlebrooks.  He does have tremendous speed on the bases and is a contact hitter with a good eye as well but it’s hard to say how he’ll hold up under the pressure of a World Series game.  We’re going to call this match-up a draw as well.  On to the outfield and in left it’s Matt Holiday against the Red Sox Daniel Nava or Johnny Gomes.  Nava is solid but Gomes seems to be getting the post-season nod.  Gomes has made some nice plays in the field but overall Nava is a much better defensive player.  Holiday on the other hand like Gomes could be a liability in the outfield.  At the plate however Holiday is a much more clutch hitter and a more experienced post-season player.  Holiday gets a nice edge in this category.  Like all centerfielders both Jon Jay of St. Louis and Jacoby Ellsbury of the Sox can fly on the bases and run down balls in the allies.  Jay though seems to be out of sync altogether compared to what we’ve seen from him in the post-season before.  Ellsbury is hitting .400 in the post-season with 21 total bases with six steals.  Jay is hitting eighth for the Cards while Ellsbury is leading off for the Sox which tells you all you need to know.  Big advantage for Boston with Ellsbury’s entire post-season performance to date. Maybe the best match-up all over the field is in right where Carlos Beltran goes head to head with Shane Victorino.  Victorino is a proven post-season performer and winner, grabbing a ring with the Phillies in 2008.  He came up with the game winning grand slam to put Boston into the World Series in game six of the ALCS.  He also is roadrunner on the bases and can play the outfield with the best of them.  Beltran continues to make a name for himself as one of the best post-season hitters of this generation.  His arm in the outfield is deadly as the Dodgers found out with him gunning down Los Angeles’ potential winning run in Mark Ellis on a tag-up in game one of the NLCS, which really turned the series in the direction of the Cardinals.  But before you can throw someone out, you have to be able to get to balls and Beltran’s foot speed is nowhere near Victorino’s ability to cover ground.  We’ll have to give a slight edge here to the flying Hawaiian.  Of course when games 1, 2 and possibly 6 and 7 are played, they’ll be at Fenway Park with a designated hitter.  So you match up Allen Craig and Ortiz.  Craig was the Cards overall best hitter with RISP (59 for 130) during the regular season.  But he’s missed all post-season play up this point with a Lisfranc injury.  If can return as the productive .315 hitter overall along with his clutch gene in play, this is a big positive for the Cards who’s bench is not good.  Big Papi handles the DH role for Boston at home and we all know how that story usually plays out.  Advantage here goes to the Red Sox.  In the intangibles category, one stat really sticks out in general.  No team in baseball in the regular season hit right-handed pitcher better than the Red Sox.  Their .818 team OPS against righties was the best in the majors by 30 points.  Of course all four St. Louis starters are right-handed with just two exceptions coming out of the bullpen in Kevin Siegrist and Randy Choate so the Red Sox get the check mark here.  Speaking of the bullpen, both teams bring the heat.  St. Louis throws multiple flame-throwers like Carlos Martinez, Seth Maness, Siegrist and closer Trevor Rosenthal.  Boston brings to the table Craig Breslow, Junichi Tazawa, Ryan Dempster and closer Koji Uehara.  Both of these bullpens have been completely reliable in the post-season with neither team suspect heading into the seventh inning holding onto a lead so this category is called even.  With all that information examined closely there is just one more stat that says plenty about the Red Sox.  Boston of course finished in last place during the 2012 season causing the removal of manager Terry Francona.  With John Farrell taking over the Red Sox have not only responded but also have come together as the most unified team in the majors this season.  In other words, setting aside the entire beard thing they’ve attached themselves to, the Sox simply have the look of ‘it’s our year”.  We like Boston to beat St. Louis in six games for their third title of the new millennium. 

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2013 League Championship Series: Battle of Baseball Royalty

And then there were four.  Not just any four though!  These league championship series aren’t inviting any Cinderella’s to the ball it’s all about the big boys of baseball history.  Four old school franchises each rich in the Great American pastime’s pedigree, popularity and post-season history.  The Dodgers, Cardinals, Red Sox and Tigers, four icons of Major League Baseball, four organizations that pre-date the sport’s golden age, all sharing the October stage together for the first time since the league championship series format began in 1969.  On the eve of game one of the NLCS, one could argue this is the most evenly matched foursome in league championship series history, period.

                                            Dodgers vs. Cardinals

At the season’s start many prognosticators picked both the Dodgers and Cardinals to battle for a trip to the World Series, so this match-up is not much of a surprise especially considering the starting pitching staffs, both clubs have put together.  With Clayton Kershaw working on short rest to dispose of the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS, Los Angeles number two man Zack Greinke gets the ball in game one for L.A.  He’ll face St. Louis youngster Joe Kelly, as Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright worked game five for the Red Birds in their ousting of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Since recovering from a broken collarbone early in the season, Greinke has been just as good as Kershaw in the Dodgers rotation, basically giving the Blue Crew essentially two aces on the mound.  Together they allowed the Braves to score just three earned runs in 19 innings with no long balls against baseball’s best home run hitting team this season.  So the Cards will see Greinke’s 2.63 ERA, followed by Kershaw’s 1.83 ERA in games one and two in St. Louis.   The game three starter for L.A. will be South Korean sensation Hyan-Jin Ryu.  The rookie was spectacular in the regular season before appearing to tire down the stretch in his first full campaign in the United States.  Ryu was shaky in his only NLDS performance against the Braves giving up two first inning runs and two more before getting the hook in the fourth after 68 pitches.   During his post-game presser he admitted to feeling a little more anxious compared to his regular season starts, so the jury is still out on just how effective he’ll be in game three when the series shifts to Dodger Stadium.  For game four, no decision has been made on whether Ricky Nolasco gets the nod or not.  The fourth Los Angeles starter struggled so much over the last three weeks of the regular season; manager Don Mattingly skipped his start in the clinching game against Atlanta using Kershaw.  If Nolasco is passed over again, the Dodgers could throw either Edinson Volquez who made five starts for LA in September and posted a 4.18 ERA or even Chris Capuano, who made several starts earlier in the season before battling injuries late in the year and being moved to the bullpen.  Capuano did toss three innings of scoreless relief in the Dodgers win over Atlanta in game three of the NLDS.  All three are crafty veterans but don’t have the same stuff as Greinke, Kershaw and Ryu.  For the Red Birds on the hill, they are both accomplished and young.  Kelly sports a gaudy ERA of just 2.69 in the regular season.  He started one game of the Cards-Bucs series, going 5.1 innings, allowing five hits and two earned runs with four walks and five k’s.  The question surrounding this rookie in such a big game at home is whether or not the moment will be too much for the 25-year-old?  From there the Cards hand the ball over to a 22-year-old, in Michael Wacha.  So far Wacha has been flawless for St. Louis since being called up late in the season due to injuries.  The right-hander, like Kelly has been on fire so far this post-season allowing just two hits in 16 innings against Pittsburgh, so pressure doesn’t seem to be much of an anxiety trigger for him.  The ace Wainwright takes the ball in game three on the road, which could be the pivotal game of the series should the teams split in St. Louis.  He’s already shown his post-season toughness, picking up two of the Cards wins in their five game series against the Bucs.  The fourth starter for St. Louis will be Shelby Miller who didn’t start a game in the NLDS but did pitch one inning giving up one earned run in a relief performance.  At just 23-years-old, some believe his arm is tired after throwing 173 innings during his first full big league season but he did pitch in last season’s post-season, so he does have some experience on the big stage.  We give the Dodgers a slight edge in the pitching match-up because of the experience and age of the starters compared to the Cardinal youth with the exception of Wainwright.  When you start talking about the offense and line-ups, once again these teams are about as even as two can be.  The Dodger bats exploded after the All-Star break ranking third in runs scored, when Los Angeles put together one of the most remarkable records (42-8) in modern baseball history for a 50 game stretch.  It all starts with rookie Yasiel Puig.  Since his June call-up the Dodgers fortunes took a 180 degree turn.  Not only is he still a .319 hitter and home run threat but his base running ability puts pressure on the defense like no other player in the majors.  Leadoff hitter Carl Crawford has seemed to find his stroke hitting three home runs in the NLDS and is also a base stealing threat.  Following the steady contact hitter Mark Ellis in the two-hole the Cards will then have to deal with Adrian Gonzalez (.293, 22 HR), MVP candidate Hanley Ramirez (.345, 20 HR) and then Puig.  Andre Ethier is still not ready to start in centerfield in place of Skip Schumaker but does bring the Dodgers a huge left-handed bat off the bench for now.  One must not forget Juan Uribe’s experience and knack for the big post-season hit (just ask Atlanta) or A.J. Ellis’ ability to put the ball in play in the eighth spot.  Also, Dodger pitchers Greinke, Kershaw and Ryu all handle the bat extremely well for pitchers as far as making contact.  St. Louis can flat out score runs as well.  The Cardinals led the NL in runs scored during the first half of the season and the second half as well.  They roll out seven hitters with an OBP of .335 or higher and four of the seven hit above .300.  While they didn’t knock the cover off the ball over the wall in the regular season finishing 13th in home runs in the NL, they did hit a long ball in each game of the NLDS.  They’ll need lead-off man Matt Carpenter to get his act together after going just 1-for-19 in the division series win over the Bucs.  Carlos Beltran hitting second wasn’t much better going 4-for-18 but did rope two home runs in the series and is known for his playoff punch at the plate.  Following Beltran comes the real power in Matt Holiday (.319), Mike Adams (17 HR) and catcher Yadier Molina (.300), all who hit a home run against Pittsburgh in the NLDS.  At the end of the order David Freese was the Cards’ post-season hero in 2011 and jacked the winning home run in the game five win over Pittsburgh, while both Jon Jay and Pete Kozma are contact guys that can steal bases.  However, with Ethier, veteran Michael Young and power man Scott Van Slyke coming off the bench in pinch-hit situations the Dodgers bench is stronger and so is the overall line-up by just a small margin.  Like the starting staffs and line-ups, the bullpens of these teams match-up extremely well.  Kenley Jansen (1.88 ERA) is arguably is the best closer in the NL at the time.  Brian Wilson since joining the Dodgers has been a solid bridge to the 9th inning giving up nothing, while sporting a 0.66 ERA.  Youngster Chris Withrow gives the Dodgers a power throwing righty that can toss long innings and J.P. Howell is a crafty veteran the Braves were able to get nothing off of.  The concerns for Don Mattingly come from righty Ronald Belisario and lefty Paco Rodriguez.  Both were lights out during the Dodgers historic run over the second half of the season but have struggled the last month.  Rodriguez surrendered Jason Hayward’s game winning hit in game two of the NLDS and his home run in game three.  Belisario gave up two hits and a run for a 3-2 deficit in the Dodgers eventual 4-3 win to clinch the series against the Braves.  You have to wonder how much trust Mattingly has in either one of these relievers at the moment.  St. Louis closer Trevor Rosenthal is a rookie and not yet in Jansen class of throwers but has been solid down the stretch.  Carlos Martinez is a hard throwing right-hander with not a ton of big league experience but nasty stuff.  Manager Mike Matheny will have to hope the moment doesn’t become too large for either of these guys.  Lefties Kevin Siegrist and former Dodger Randy Choate will be ready for the Crawford, Gonzalez, Ethier part of the Los Angeles line-up, while Maness is a ground ball special from the right-side.  Once again, the nod here goes to the Dodgers.  Finally you have to add in what the managers bring to the table.  Mike Matheny has watched Tony LaRussa do it but also watched the Cards blow a 3-1 lead to the Giants last year in the NLCS only to lose 4-3.  Mattingly is riding through is first post-season rodeo as a manager and has already made some questionable decisions in the NLDS, one that maybe cost the Dodgers game two in Atlanta.  Matheny with the experience holds a slight edge in this match-up.  Overall however, we see the Dodgers with just a little more on the table than the Cardinals as well as the perfect combination of superstar power and blue collar grit to advance to the World Series beating the Cardinals in six games.

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NLDS - Pitching Will Be The Rule of Law

When you attempt to predict the outcome of both National League Divisional playoff series, about the only simple observation is that all four team possess superior pitching which got them this far.  Offensively the Dodgers, Braves, Cardinals and Pirates all have strengths and weaknesses so in the end; you figure the starting staff and relief core that stands the tallest will produce the winner in each of the best of five game match-ups.

                                               Dodgers vs. Braves

While the boys in blue seemed to take their foot off the accelerator down the stretch finishing just 9-15, orders of manager Don Mattingly, the Dodgers still possess the best starting staff of any team in the post-season according to what took place over the 162 game regular season.  Lefty Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher in the game today.  His 1.83 ERA this year was the lowest by any ERA qualifier since Pedro Martinez in 2000 (1.74) and the lowest by an NL pitcher since Greg Maddux (1.63) in 1995.  This means if the series goes five games the Braves would have to beat Kershaw most likely at least once, which of course is a daunting task.  The Dodgers are able to follow up Kershaw with righty Zack Greinke.  Greinke was arguably the Dodgers most consistent starter since recovering from a broken collarbone suffered in April during his first start against the San Diego Padres.  He went 7-1 over his last 12 starts, sporting a 1.85 ERA in the second half of the season.  Together they are the best 1-2 punch in the game.  Even if Atlanta finds a way to split the first two games at Turner Field, the Dodgers then follow with rookie lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu (3.00 ERA) and Ricky Nolasco (3.70 ERA) in games three and four.  The Braves top starter Kris Medlen may not be considered an ace but has pitched like one over the second half of the year.  In his last six starts Medlen boast a 5-0 record, allowing just four earned runs with no long balls over his last 43 frames.  The rest of the rotation Mike Minor, Julio Teheran and Paul Maholm each won at least ten games but don’t sport the gaudy numbers of the Dodgers starters.  Los Angeles has the capability of landing a crippling 2-0 lead heading back to the west coast on the strength of just starting pitching which Atlanta doesn’t possess.  Both bullpens have also been very strong with the Braves touted as the best in the majors.  Craig Kimbrel is the game’s top closer with an ERA of 1.21, part of his 50 saves.  If Atlanta gets to Kimbrel with the lead it’s basically its game over.  David Carpenter and Luis Avilan are the bridges that connect Kimbrel to the game’s end for the A-T-L.  The Dodgers bullpen has a consistent closer of its own in Kenley Jansen who’s compiled 28 saves in 32 chances, although one of those blown saves game against the Braves in Atlanta early in the year.  The Los Angeles middle relief has been solid as well, with Ronald Belisario, Paco Rodriguez and the acquisition of Brian Wilson.  The Dodgers don’t blow too many leads either but the bullpen nod still goes to Atlanta.  Offensively is where you find question marks with both squads.  The Dodgers will be missing Matt Kemp for the entire post-season with a sprained ankle and Andre Ethier will most likely just pinch hit in this series due to shin splints above his ankle, so the Los Angeles offense takes a hit there.  They do still possess a monster combination of Carl Crawford, rookie Yasiel Puig, Adrian Gonzalez and Hanley Ramirez, who many consider the NL MVP of the regular season.  Atlanta does have more home run power in Freddie Freeman (20 HR), Andrelton Simmons (17 HR), Brian McCann (20 HR), Evan Gattis (21 HR) and Justin Upton (27 HR) but as a team they strike out a lot.  1,384 fans account for the third most in baseball, while the Los Angeles pitching staff tossed 1,294 k’s which is the most of any NL playoff team.  If the Dodgers staff can keep the Braves in the ballpark at Turner Field and Dodger Stadium, they hold a major advantage towards winning games. The bottom line on this series is the Dodgers bats won’t win this series but if their pitching holds serve like the regular season, they should move on in a 3-1 series victory.

                                              Pirates vs. Cardinals

With their first post-season victory in 21 years last night, the Bucs are definitely the sentimental favorite in the National League playoffs.  But warm and fuzzy feelings don’t help overcome a major experience gap which the Cardinals hold in this match-up.  For the Red Birds it all starts behind the plate with Yadier Molina.  Touted as the game’s all-around best catcher and a legit MVP candidate he gives the Cardinals a sizable defensive presence as well as a bat with both power and the ability to hit for average.  This is all part of a St. Louis line-up that hit .330 with runners in scoring position during the regular season!  That is a sick number that no other playoff team comes close to matching.  Even though Pittsburgh won the season series 10-9, St. Louis still hit .313 with RISP against Bucs pitching.  That would be more than enough in this series you’d think.  Even without Allen Craig (out with a foot injury) the Cardinals line-up still led the league in runs scored during September.  Matt Adams has filled in nicely in Craig’s clean-up spot hitting .326 with eight long balls last month.  Both Matt Holiday and Matt Carpenter who lead the league in runs scored (126) and hits (199) boost the Cards attack even more, as they come into the post-season as the best offensive team in the National League.  While the Bucs can land a few haymakers of their own from the box, Pedro Alvarez (36 HR) and Russell Martin, six of this 15 home runs this season came against St. Louis the offensive edge is way in favor of the Red Birds.  Pittsburgh’s most important player Andrew McCutchen was held to an average of just .246 against the Cardinals staff this season.  While Pittsburgh does have a slight edge on the mound in terms of the starting rotation, the Bucs lost it by having to use ace Francisco Liriano in their wild-card game victory.  He owned the Cards this season going 3-0 and giving up just two runs in 24 innings.  So rookie Garrett Cole becomes the Pirates number one in this series.  He did not face St. Louis this season and finished the year by going 4-0 with a 1.69 ERA in September.  This could be an edge for Pittsburgh as the Cards sometimes struggle against unfamiliar arms.  A.J. Burnett and Charlie Morton are wild-cards for Pittsburgh as the Cards know them both very well but when Burnett is on he’s like having another ace on the hill.  Adam Wainwright again is the man for St. Louis but their five starters combined for a 2.36 ERA in September as they enter the post-season as the league’s hottest staff with Lance Lynn, Shelby Miller and Joe Kelly all capable of throwing eight quality innings on any night.  The bullpens of both squads have new closers with Jason Grilli finishing for the Bucs and Trevor Rosenthal for the Cards.  Grilli has more experience and appears to be back in his first half of the season form, when he led the league in saves.  The Pittsburgh bullpen finished second in NL bullpen ERA at 2.85 so the nod goes to them.  The late season additions of Marlon Byrd and Justin Morneau give Pittsburgh experience and pop off the bench, not to mention they still can use Garrett Jones or Gaby Sanchez in pinch-hitting roles for Clint Hurdle.  Don’t expect the Bucs to be wide-eyed and in awe of the Cards.  As stated they won the season series and have that “special something” going on as a team this season.  In the upset of the post-season we like Pittsburgh to outlast St. Louis in five games.

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AL Wild Card - Cleveland Rocks!!

Just as the two-team wild card race was designed to do, it’s come down the final week in the American League!  Four teams are realistically in the hunt with the Yankees in need of a major miracle at four back with six to play and the Kansas City Royals hanging on three behind both Tampa Bay and Cleveland who sit a game apart for the two top spots starting Tuesday.  The Texas Rangers meanwhile continue to fight for their fourth straight post-season appearance and second in the wild-card one game playoff.  Ron Washington’s team led the west back in early September before going 6-15 in their last 21 games to not only give the division to the A’s again but fall on the brink of missing the playoffs altogether and probably costing the manager his job in the process if they don’t rally to get in during the final week.  Although starting the final week a game back, destiny still sits in the Rangers own hands, bats and gloves.  Texas plays baseball’s worst team in the Houston Astros tonight and tomorrow in Arlington, before ending the season with four against the 76-80 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, also at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.  Of their last six games they only face one pitcher with a winning record and that being the Angels C.J. Wilson (17-7, 3.36) on Friday.  Alexi Ogando (7-4, 2.93) goes for Texas.  The Rangers have big pitching advantage in both of the final games of the Astros series with Yu Darvish and Martin Perez closing things out against Houston.  Texas can also lay its hat on the fact they’ve gone 11-4 against the Angels so far this season, including sweeps at the end of July at home and in the beginning of August in Anaheim.  The Rangers could realistically win out despite their terrible September swoon song and get in.  Two behind the Rangers are the Royals who need to basically win out and get lots of help.  Their end of the deal is doable with two at Seattle and four at US Cellular Field versus the White Sox.  Both the Mariners and Sox have losing records at home while the Royals have gone 39-36 away from Kauffman Stadium and also gone 6-4 in their last ten games.  Seattle is just 3-7 and Chicago 4-6 in their last ten so it’s not impossible but they’d still need the Rays or Indians and Rangers to collapse in the final week and all of that most likely won’t happen.  With the Yankees a game behind them, their playoff scenario is even worse, although they do face Tampa Bay at Yankee Stadium in a must sweep series before they even think about closing out the season over the weekend at Houston.  New York needs a not only a sweep of the Rays but also the Indians, Rangers and Royals to all tank in order to play meaningful games on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.  That brings us to the front runners.  Tampa is the leader, one game in front of Cleveland for the first spot.  The Rays do have the toughest remaining schedule with three against the Yankees and three at unpredictable Toronto.  The Rays have won 9 of 16 against the Bombers, including three of five in the Bronx so you have to believe getting swept during these final three meetings is almost out of the question.  In the second half of the season they’ve also won five of six from the Blue Jays, who also aren’t even over .500 at the Rogers Centre so you have to believe the Rays are in.  That leaves us with the Indians and what a job new manager Terry Francona has done!  Can you say possible A.L. Manager of the Year?  Last season the Tribe finished 68-94, good for 20 games out in the AL Central.  Entering the final six games they are 86-70, a 24 game turnaround in the loss column.  Cleveland finishes its White Sox series in which they are a dominating 15-2 against Chicago, before closing the season with four at Minnesota where the Twins are just 32-43.  Francona’s club has gone 10-5 versus the Twins this season and is 3-3 at Target Field.  After the Indians wash the Sox away at Progressive Field, expect their playoff shopping to be very productive at Target as they pass Tampa for the top wild-card spot and end up hosting the wild-card one game playoff for their first post-season appearance since 2007.

View all of the MLB Playoff Previews Here

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Dodgers Drop a Deuce on the Diamondbacks

The Los Angeles Dodgers not only took two of the four games from the Arizona Diamondbacks this week, but the also took down the division crown and left seething message in their wake. From the Ian Kennedy pitch that brushed Yasiel Puig’s nose to the one that cracked Zack Grienke above the shoulders back on June 12th, like no one saw this coming?  It’s pretty laughable the shock and outrage over the Los Angeles Dodgers little “pool party” at Chase Field on Thursday.  After winning the N.L. West for the first time since 2009, the Dodgers let loose and with good reason.  Just about the entire team after downing plenty of the bubbly in a postgame celebration, sprinted back onto the yard and headed for the Diamondbacks right field pool, well after the stadium was practically empty.  After scaling the outfield fence the boys in blue made the unique indoor water hole their own personal backyard with dives, belly flops and you guessed it, cannonballs!  You see, no one in the winners clubhouse yesterday had forgotten that on June 22nd, these same celebrating Dodgers were 91/2 games behind these very same Arizona Diamondbacks in the division.  No one in the clubhouse smelling of booze and victory had forgotten the nasty brawl that took place on Dodger Stadium soil after it appeared the now former Diamondback Kennedy, intentionally threw at both Puig and Greinke which could have ended their careers if not the Dodgers season right there.  No one in the clubhouse where sighs of relief and shouts of joy where released in the same breath forgot about how earlier in the year loyal Dodger fans attending a game at that very same Chase Field sitting in very expensive box seats behind home plate where asked to take off their Dodgers gear and put something else on or they’d be moved to a different seat because of the overall appearance caught on every television shot that evening.  No one in the clubhouse where plans for the divisional playoff series, not tee times, where being made forgot about how Diamondbacks management asked the Dodgers before the series began, that if they had clinched the division during the series to only celebrate in the clubhouse and not come back to the field and let their traveling and faithful fans enjoy the moment with the team.  Over the course of a 162 game season, plenty can go on and build up between two teams that are only 373 miles apart, play in the same division and face each other on the field 19 times.  To the Diamondbacks credit they did manage to hold their own against the Dodgers winning 10 of the 19 match-ups but that didn’t ease the frustration of watching the Dodgers take the field after the final out, not once but twice.  “I think it’s tired and disrespectful,” D-backs infielder Willie Bloomquist told the Arizona Republic of the dip in the pool.  “It’s surprising because they have a lot of veteran guys on that team that I thought were classier than that.”  After giving the visitors credit on the overall accomplishment he also said, “But there’s a fine line between going overboard at someone else’s place and doing that, I think”, he added.  “But what are we going to do about it?  Well, nothing now.  If the Diamondbacks, their management and fans didn’t want to watch the Dodgers go all “pool gate” on them, they should have handled business on the field in the final four game series of the year between the two clubs.  The Dodgers came to the desert with a magic number of four and blasted the D-backs 9-3 in game two of the series breaking the magic number down to two.   In Thursday’s finale, after trailing 3-zip, Arizona rallied with six consecutive runs for a 6-3 lead only to let it slip away with the Dodgers scoring the game’s final four runs over the last six innings.  Had the Diamondbacks relief pitching held down the fort, which has been their Achilles Heel all season long, they wouldn’t have had to deal with the division champs taking a little dip on the other side of the outfield fence.  When two teams dislike each other as much as the Dodgers and Diamondbacks apparently now do, every little incident becomes analyzed and dissected.   As the old proverb states; to the victor goes the spoils and the Dodgers certainly enjoyed winning the division at Arizona’s expense and it shouldn’t come as a surprised to anyone that has followed their NL West battles in 2013.

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Summer May Be Over but it's Still Hot Under Some Coach's Seats

When Glen Frey dropped that 80’s hit, he wasn’t talking about college football.  But had he been, he wouldn’t have been referencing his beloved Michigan Wolverines and the job Brady Hoke is doing in his third season.  Despite Big Blue’s, big scare against Akron in the “Big House”, the Wolverines are 3-0 including a victory over Notre Dame, so all is good in Ann Arbor at least for now.  That of course is the nature of the beast when it comes to college pigskin.  What have you done for me lately and in some instances, by how much did you do it?  The same can’t be said for three big-time coaches, who entering week four, might be on the verge of must wins in 2013.  The first has to be Texas coach Mack Brown.  Now, in order for Brown to get to this point, things must be pretty bad down in the Longhorn state.  Brown just might be the most liked man in college football!  I mean this guy probably doesn’t have an enemy in the world besides opposing fan bases and if he were their coach, they’d love him like a father or uncle. But then again, everything is bigger in Texas they say and that means the losses are too!  The Horns are off to a dreadful 1-2 start including a 34-23 defeat against Ole Miss at Darrell K. Royal Stadium, where the home team held a 23-14 lead before falling apart to the tune of 20 straight unanswered points from the visitors.  This of course comes off the heels of a 21-40 drubbing at BYU the week before where the Longhorns were dominated from the opening kickoff.  The last time Texas started the season 1-2 was 1998 in Brown’s first season.  Reportedly a buddy told him back then; he would not find enough friends to even be pallbearers for him by going 1-2, so he would have to be cremated.  Pretty good Texas humor, right?  But the thing is…that’s the truth of the matter, especially now in Brown’s 15th season.  Not to mention he’s coming off seasons of 9-4, 8-5 and 2010’s debacle of 5-7.  Add in the fact that Brown is just 11-15 over his last three Big-12 seasons and now you understand what all the fuss is about in the land of barbeque, sweet tea and Texas toast.  Speaking of toast, that’s exactly what Brown might be should he and his Horns lose to Kansas State, Saturday night in Austin.  When you really think about it, the only reason Brown has lasted this long in that hot burnt orange polo shirt is because USC gave the ball to LenDale White instead of Reggie Bush back in 2006 while in need of two yards back at the Rose Bowl.  Had the Trojans simply given the future Heisman Trophy winner the ball, no Vince Young drive, no Texas National Championship and no Mack Brown in 2013 at least not with Texas.  That brings us to the man behind the infamous 2006 Rose Bowl call, current USC Head Coach Lane Kiffin.  At the time he was Pete Carroll’s offensive coordinator, then seen as one of the bright up and coming minds of college football.  Now, he’s seen as another of those coaches who make great coordinators and not so good head coaches.  You have to think back and remember: Kiffin’s name was already in questionable standing at best after bad endings with the Oakland Raiders and his “by the cover of night” exit from the University of Tennessee after just one 7-6 season in 2009.  His first season as the head man of Troy produced an 8-5 record but no one was complaining because of the Bush sanctions against USC, scholarship losses and bowl ineligibility.  He improved Southern California to 10-2 the next season, including a 50-0 rout of rival UCLA at the Coliseum that year.  But his problems started with last year’s pre-season #1 ranking which turned into a horrendous 7-6 finish, unranked including a devastating loss in the Sun Bowl to Georgia Tech.  He didn’t do himself any favors with a sluggish win at Hawaii to open the season and then one of the worst conference losses in recent Trojans history, a 10-7 defeat to a terrible Washington State team at home, opening up Pac-12 play.  Kiffin did bounce back in week three with a sound 35-7 victory as a 14 point favorite over visiting Boston College.  It seems the “offensive guru” finally made some adjustments such as running the ball out of passing formations like the shotgun and throwing the ball out of double-tight end sets with play-action.  These are all things the Trojans offense lacked in the Hawaii win and the Wazzu loss.  Cody Kessler finally looked like a division one quarterback going 15 of 17 for 237 yards.  The offense gained 521 total yards and finally figured a way to get Heisman Trophy hopeful Marqise Lee the ball.  So for now the Kiffin gets a glass of ice water to cool him down.  But that will change right back to straight Whiskey with no chaser should the Trojans struggle with unranked Utah State on Saturday at the Coliseum.  This will be the stiffest test for the USC defense as the Aggies have scored 52 and 70 points in their last two wins over Air Force and Weber State.  While Kiffin should be good for another week, things get dicey in the next three games against improved Arizona State and Arizona in conference play and then a trip to South Bend to face Notre Dame.  Should USC drop all three of those contest, you can bet Kiffin will not make it to the Utah game at the Coliseum on October 26th.  Athletic Director Pat Haden would simply have no choice but to find his own guy since taking over for Mike Garrett.  Our third hot seat owner is guy many wouldn’t mind seeing get the axe, as Bo Pelini’s time in Lincoln has some of the Huskers faithful seeing red and not in a good way.  As if it wasn’t bad enough Nebraska jumped out on UCLA on national television to a 21-3 lead, only to watch the Bruins cut the Huskers down with a machete, scoring the game’s final 38 in a 41-21 defeat in Lincoln.  But this week an audio recording of a Pelini profanity laced rant about Big Red fans from two years ago was leaked to the public.   However, Pelini received a bit of a reprieve today from Nebraska Chancellor Harvey Perlman and Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst.  The two released a statement today basically saying Former Athletic Director Tom Osborne, the Nebraska legend had already addressed the issue with Pelini a year ago and that the two had observed that Pelini’s demeanor has improved significantly since the time of the incident.  So that backing will quite down the natives for now.  What won’t is Pelini’s bowl record with the Huskers.  Despite being 51-21 overall in five plus seasons now, he’s just 2-3 in bowl games including three straight losses.  He has won four Big-12 divisional championships but also dropped three consecutive Big-12 Championship games.  While Pelini appears to have the backing of his administration, his biggest break comes from this season’s schedule.  Nebraska’s next four games are South Dakota State, Illinois, at Purdue and at Minnesota.  The Huskers should win all four pushing Pelini and his crew to 6-1 before things heat up the rest of the way in conference play.  While a loss in any of the next four games would prove devastating it will probably not proved to be fatal.  A firing however could possibly follow at year’s end without a Big-12 overall Championship or at least a bowl victory.  Bodes of confidence from the administration only get you so far these days in college football, especially at a place like Nebraska.  You can bet the wealthy alumni and loyal fan base feel like Pelini is not one of them (he played at Ohio State) after the release of that audio tape and if you’re not one of them and you can’t win consistently in the big games then they’ll find someone that fits at least one of those categories since it’s the only game in town.  The overall damage done to Pelini’s image in Lincoln will only be fully known by season’s end but until then he might want to try a shade of pink because red is simply too hot to wear right now.

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Six in the Mix in the AL WIld Card

The American League wild card race is shaping into a big winner for those in favor of the two-team system that allows for a heart stopping one-game playoff at the end of the season.  Not only is the playoff must see television but the race to get into the single-game elimination outing is turning into can’t miss scoreboard watch each and every night of the season’s final three weeks.  Six teams are all legitimately in the race, separated by just 2.5 games on September 13th.  While Texas and Tampa attempt to hold down the ranch with a one game lead, the big bad Yankees, despite all their injury problems and A-Rod drama are knocking on the post-season door just a game back.  New York continued its relentless charge by winning three of four over Baltimore at Camden Yards.  New York continues to bring the heat as it now sits within one game of its high-water mark for the season, 12 games over .500, which last occurred all the way back in May.  However, the final series victory did not come without another price.  Leadoff hitter Brett Gardner left the game in the first inning with a strained muscle on his left side.  Obliques are one of the toughest strains for a baseball player to recover from in a timely manner because of the hitting motion and this could throw a serious wrench into the Yankees playoff chances that have pretty much been on the brink from the get-go of the season due to the injury bug that has been well documented unless you live on Pluto.  With the victory the Orioles continue to be the Yankees little play toy as the win gives New York the season series victory at 10-9.  Baltimore hasn’t won a season series from the Bronx Bombers since 1997.  While the Yanks continue to push, the Tampa Bay Rays hoped to put a band-aid on some serious bleeding from the last two weeks.  After blowing a 3-1 lead in the series finale at home against the first place Red Sox, the Rays rallied in the 8th for a run and an eventual 4-3 victory.  The win comes off the heels of Tampa going 3-7 on a 10-game roadie and then losing their first two back at Tropicana Field against Boston.  The Rays sudden September swoon has set up another huge series between the hated rivals Yanks and Sox this weekend in Beantown.  The Friday match-up between Hiroki Kuroda and John Lackey has to favor the visitors despite the fact Boston lit up Kuroda for career worst 11 hits and five runs in just 5 2/3rds the last time he faced the Red Sox on August 17th.  Overall, Kuroda is just 1-3 with a 4.26 ERA in five starts against Boston this year, splitting two outings versus Lackey, who is just 9-12 overall with a 3.48 ERA.  Kuroda has been the Yankees man all season, arguably the only reason they’re still in the hunt despite their injuries.  Manager Joe Girardi wouldn’t want to start anyone else in a must win series for his club.  The Saturday match-up of C.C. Sabathia versus Jon Lester favors the Sox as does the Ivan Nova – Clay Buchholz Sunday outing.  The Kansas City Royals have the toughest weekend ahead, facing the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park as they try to close in from 2.5 out.  The Orioles try to regroup on the road at Toronto, also 2.5 back of the final spot.  While the Blue Jays are a below .500 team at the Rogers Centre, so are the O’s away from Camden Yard.  The Rays head back out on the road against a terrible Minnesota club that has won just 30 home games all season long against 41 losses.  Cleveland, the unsung dark horse in all of this continues to grind under Terry Francona, moving to just 1.5 out after winning the first of three at U.S. Cellular Field against the hapless White Sox.  With six teams all within a good or bad weekend of making the playoffs, no doubt this will come down to the final week, which is what the wild card spots where intended to do!

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MLB Makes the Right Call on the Dodgers/DBacks Brawl

The fallout from the D-backs/Dodgers donnybrook Tuesday night at Chavez Ravine took a while to come down the pipe from Major League Baseball’s offices to the rosters of both clubs on Friday but the powers that be seemed to get it all right.  The main offender in the ruckus, Arizona starting pitcher Ian “headhunter” Kennedy as he could be now known, paid the biggest price being suspended 10 games or basically two starts.  Kennedy took exception to Dodgers starter Zack Greinke accidently hitting Cody Ross on the hands with a pitch that was just off the inside of the plate in the 5th inning of the Dodgers eventual 5-3 win.  A frame later, Kennedy sought retribution by throwing at the head of Dodgers rookie sensation Yasiel Puig.  The pitch just missed Puig’s face, almost braking his nose and could have caused serious harm overall.  The benches cleared with no punches thrown, just some angry words from many out of the Los Angeles dugout as expected.  So in the top of the 7th and without hesitation, Greinke beaned Arizona catcher Miguel Montero in the back on purpose, which of course is proper baseball protocol, below the shoulders.  Both managers and benches were warned with no ejections taking place.  So the scrum should have ended there but didn’t.  In the bottom half of the frame, Kennedy once again seeking retribution for a teammate, sent a 90 mile per hour fastball at Greinke’s head that hit the top of his left shoulder and then his helmet.  That sent the Dodger players sprinting onto the field for a piece of Kennedy.  The right-hander wasted no time getting over towards the Diamondbacks dugout and the protection of hitting Coach Don Baylor.  What ensued was an ugly incident as tackles were made, punches were thrown and ejections eventually taking place.  Dodgers hitting Coach Mark McGuire, Puig and relief pitcher Ronald Belisario were all thrown out, while Diamondbacks Manager Kirk Gibson, Kennedy and coach Turner Ward were all booted for Arizona.  For their actions in the melee, several on both sides were issued suspensions along with Kennedy the prime instigator.  Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly was suspended for one game for taking down Arizona coach Alan Trammel with McGuire getting two after his raging hold of both Gibson and Diamondbacks 3rd base coach Matt Williams.  Los Angeles utility man Skip Shumaker and reliever J.P. Howell both received two games for what was termed “aggressive action” during the brawl and both will appeal the decision.  Belisario also will miss a game for the Dodgers, serving it on Friday.  Besides Kennedy, Arizona’s Gibson has been suspended for one game with infielder Eric Hinske catching a five-game ban for his actions during the fisticuffs.  Also all eight were fined, as were Greinke, Puig, Montero and Diamondbacks outfielder Gerardo Parra.  All in all the punishments for Tuesday’s misfortune were in line.  Had Kennedy heeded the warning of home plate umpire Clint Fagan or even hit Greinke in the leg and not the shoulder close to his head, the entire incident would have been avoided.  What followed can’t be faulted on either side as both dugouts were just protecting their teammates and franchise honor.  There is a code of conduct in baseball that goes back 100 years about retaliation for bean balls and it calls for payback to take place below the shoulders or in the back but not to the head.  Kennedy broke baseball’s unwritten law on protecting teammates from the mound and once that happens, all bets are off and anything goes as we all saw at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night.  Many could argue with the damage he possibly could have done with the two balls thrown head-high at Puig and Greinke his penalty could have been much more severe.  Because of the second head-hunter ball thrown at Greinke, the Dodgers have declared the incident is far from over.  Stay tuned for the next Los Angeles – Arizona encounter on July 8th at Chase Field.

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Base'Ballers' Players and Failures at the Quarter Season Mark

American League East

The “what the hell” story of the season so far has to be the play of the New York Yankees!  At 28-18 Joe Girardi’s club leads the division and sports the second best record overall in the American League.  Normally, this would not even be news but considering they’ve been missing since the start of the season, Derek Jeter (ankle), Curtis Granderson (who is now back), Mark Teixeira (wrist), Alex Rodriguez (hip), Francisco Cervelli (fractured hand) and now Andy Pettitte (left trap muscle) how have the Bronx Bombers been able to stay afloat?  Girardi told the New York Post, “I think I take the approach ‘it is what it is,’ and we’ll find a way to get through the day.”  Well the approach from the manager is always a start but you have to have players getting it done on the field and that’s exactly what’s taking place.  For starters, Robinson Cano is having an MVP type of season so far.  The 2nd baseman is hitting .289 with 13 homers and 33 RBI’s.  He’s gotten plenty of help from newcomer Vernon Wells who many thought was washed up.  Since coming over from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim he’s hitting .287 with 10 home runs and 24 RBI’s.  The 34-year-old hit just 11 homers with 20 RBI’s all of last season!  The two-some have shown the way to a line-up that usually sports three or four names per game you might have heard for the first time it seems.  On the hill the surprise has been Hiroki Kuroda who’s already won six games and sports an ERA of 2.76.  To no one’s surprise both C.C. Sabathia and Pettitte have also picked up four victories apiece.  You have to think if the Bombers can keep this up until the regular troops return, the rest of the division could be in trouble after the all-star break. While the Yanks are the division’s over-achiever, the Toronto Blue Jays have experts scratching their heads?  In the off-season the Jays acquired veteran pitchers Josh Johnson and Mark Buerhle as well as outfielder Emilio Bonifacio, short-stop Jose Reyes and catcher John Buck all in one-deal from the salary dumping Miami Marlins.  On the free-agent market, infielder Maicer Izturis and outfielder Melky Cabrera came along in separate signings.  Then the Jays made one bigger move in a trade with the Mets for reigning N.L. CY Young ace R.A. Dickey, giving up Buck and others.  Combine those names with currant Blue Jay stars Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Brett Lawrie; you have the pre-season division favorite by a long shot.  Not so fast my friend!  Toronto has struggled to a 19-27 record, good for last place in the division, dropping 9 games behind the Yankees already putting their post-season dreams on life-support less than two months into the season.  While the Jays have three players (Encarnacion, Bautista and J.P. Arencibia) with double digit homers, overall as a team they rank 10th in team batting in the American League with a run differential of -43, second worst in the A.L.  On the mound, Dickey is just 4-5 overall with a 4.50 ERA, while Johnson is on the disabled list(0-1, 6.86 ERA) and Buerhle struggles continue with a record of just 1-3 and an earned run average of 5.90.  How dire is the Blue Jays situation even though there is still three-fourths of the season to play?  To reach the 93 win total, which was good enough for one A.L. wild-card spot last season, the Jays would have to play about .650 baseball the rest of the way.  That is nothing to tweet about, saying the least.                                         American League Central The Central right now is a two-team affair between the favored Detroit Tigers and the Terry Francona led Cleveland Indians who lead by a half a game.  We’ve seen this movie before however.  Two seasons ago heading into late May, the Tribe led the Central by six games.  They finished 15 games behind the first-place Tigers.  Just about a year ago, the Indians led the Central by 21/2 games.  They finished 20 back of the first place Tigers.  So why should this marathon dance be any different?  It’s all about Francona and the cast of characters he orchestrates.  Mark Reynolds, Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn and utility man Ryan Raburn are all veterans of division race baseball and so far have shown the Cleveland youngsters how to handle pressure situations, even early in the season.  The Indians had won 18 of their last 22 games before dropping their last two against whom else, the Tigers.  The latest battle pushed the season series to 3-2 Detroit after the Indians had won two of three in Motown earlier in the year.  The former Boston manager, who led the Sox to titles in 2004 and 2007, knows he’s playing with “house money” as the underdog in this race.  His veteran leadership will keep the pressure off his team, as its Detroit with all the big names and payroll in the line-up and is the club that needs to respond after being swept in the World Series last year.  The Tigers are the reigning American League champs and the favorite to capture the Central again with a powerful offense that hasn’t disappointed so far.  Their run differential of +55 is by far the best in the A.L. and third to only the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds is all of baseball.  But one big difference for Motown is on the mound as ace Justin Verlander has been far from dominant so far in 2013.  At 5-4 he’s not the unbeatable presence he’s been the past two regular seasons.  Max Scherzer however has taken his place.  He’s 6-0 with a team leading 62.1 innings pitched and a solid 3.61 ERA, second behind 4-4 Anibal Sanchez.  Throw in 5-1 Doug Fister into the rotation and this is where the Tigers definitely hold the advantage over the Indians.  Their starting rotation right now is slightly better than the Indians but over the course of 162 should separate itself if Verlander rounds back into routine form.  Francona will have to continue to push all the right bottoms to avoid the Tribe falling off for a third straight season.                                        American League West In the west, Rangers manager Ron Washington is up to his old tricks again with the help of some solid off-season decisions by general manager Jon Daniels, at least so far.  After ending last season losing the first American League Wild Card play-in game, the club decided over the winter to let Josh Hamilton and his 43 home runs and 128 RBI’s sign with division rival Anaheim.  They also let slugging catcher Mike Napoli move on to Boston as a free agent.  They then traded disgruntled all-time leader in games played and hits, third baseman Michael Young to the Phillies. Those moves haven’t hurt the Rangers a quarter of the way thru the season.  Texas leads the west by 5.5 games over Oakland which is the largest gap of any first place team in baseball.  They’ve achieved this lead with pitching depth.  Despite Neftali Feliz, Colby Lewis, Matt Harrison and Alexi Ogando all on the disabled list, the Rangers simply keep on rolling behind ace Yu Darvish and its bull pen.  Darvish is off to a 7-2 start with an ERA of 2.84.  The Rangers have gotten great middle relief work from newcomers Robbie Ross and Tanner Scheppers while closer Joe Nathan hasn’t blown a save in 14 attempts. Texas lead all of the American League in team ERA at 3.48 despite having no complete games this season.  Offensively the Rangers continue to slam with the best of them behind the usual suspects.  Nelson Cruz, Adrian Beltre and Mitch Moreland all have double digit homers and have combined for 86 runs batted in.  On the other end of this high performance story lies Hamilton’s new team the Angels.  As of this writing after winning four straight, Los Angeles still remains 10.5 games back and is getting close to the point of no return as far as the division title is concerned.  The biggest problem for Mike Scioscia’s club has been the absence of ace Jered Weaver.  The right-hander, who has been on the disabled list since fracturing his elbow on April 7th, could return to the rotation next week against the So Cal rival Dodgers after a solid rehab start in Arizona this week.  This will clearly help a rotation that is near the bottom of the league in ERA at 4.59, allowing 228 runs and who’s leader right now C.J. Wilson is sitting at 4-3 overall, despite eight quality starts.  Offense is just as big of a culprit as the lack of starting pitching.  The 7th highest payroll in the majors has brought the Halos only the eighth best offensive numbers in the A.L.  Hamilton is hitting just .225 with 6 homers while Albert Pujols isn’t much better at .253 with 7 bombs.  Mike Trout’s sudden outburst over the last week has given the Angels faithful hope as he’s hitting .297 and leading the team with 34 RBI’s.  While catching Texas and Oakland for a shot at the division seem improbable, there is still time to make a wild-card run if the Angels play lights out the rest of the way.  If they don’t Scioscia’s 13 seasons as the Halo’s manager, the longest tenure in baseball will most likely come to an end.

                                           National League East What more can you say about the Atlanta Braves then, wow!  The ATL is the class of the division despite the Washington Nationals being the favorite to win the east.  Home is where the heart is for the Braves and they love Turner Field.  At 28-18 overall, 15 of those wins have come in front of the home faithful making their 15-5 home mark the best in the majors overall.  Offense has been the overriding factor in the Braves early success.  Atlanta’s +44 run differential, makes the Braves the only team in the division in the green in that category.  There 4.5 game lead over the Nats can be placed upon the bat of off-season trade acquisition Justin Upton.  With 14 homers, 28 RBI’s and 95 total bases, he would be the National League MVP if they voted today.  He leads the Braves in all offensive categories on a team that is fifth overall in the N.L. offensively.  On the hill they’re also fifth with a team ERA of 3.35 allowing a league low of 160 runs.  Mike Minor has emerged as the ace with Craig Kimbrel 14 of 15 in save opportunities.  It will be interesting however to see if the Braves can keep it up on the hill as serious injuries have put a dent in their bull pen.  Jonny Venters is done for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery last Thursday and Eric O’Flaherty is also done for the season after tearing a ligament in his throwing elbow as well.  With that news in mind the Nationals lurk in the shadows.  This is despite their bullpen sporting an ERA of 4.21 which is 22nd overall in the majors.  That comes as a surprise considering the Nats pen has only worked 126 innings which is only the 24th highest total in the majors overall.  Washington’s starters led by Gio Gonzalez, Steven Strasburg and Jordan Zimmerman who is 7-2 overall, have the sixth best ERA in the N.L. at 3.53.  Don’t expect that reliever situation to go away soon with Ross Detwiler dealing with an oblique strain and Ryan Mattheus on the shelf after punching a locker and breaking his hand.  Offensively beside Bryce Harper it’s been a struggle for Washington.  They are 13th in the league in offense with just 159 runs scored.  Their team batting average of .225 and OPS of .653 are at the bottom of the league.  Lucky for Davey Johnson there is still plenty of time for their bats to wake up because that is the only way they will catch the offensive minded Braves.                                            National League Central The Central seems to be the same old story year in and year out?  The Cardinals and Reds battling for supremacy with the Pirates fighting hard before the eventual fade into sub .500 ball.  At 30-16 St. Louis sports the best record in the majors with Cincinnati on their wings just 1.5 out.  The Bucs start May 23rd two back but with signs the ship is already leaking.  Pittsburgh has nowhere near the starting pitching of either the Cards or Reds, so to keep up, they’ll have to do if offensively.  Well despite their small deficit in the division they’re offensive production is already well behind the other two.  St. Louis sports a +59 run differential with the Reds right behind at +57.  Pittsburgh however is at +21 already, so what’s going to happen further into the year when the Bucs pitching really slows down?  The usual nose dive, which is going to make the race a two-teamer by the Central rivals.  Right now the Pirates pitching is second best in the N.L. with a 3.27 ERA.  Wandy Rodriguez leads the way a 5-2.  The Bucs are 6-2 in their meetings with St. Louis and Cincy which explains their position in the division, but expect those match-ups to go the other way the further the season moves on.  The Red Birds are the second highest team hitting for average behind only the Giants.  Combine that with the balance of a 3.16 team ERA and it’s no wonder they sport the best record in the league.  As a matter of fact the Reds are also right there at 3.31 in third place ERA wise behind both their Central division foes and that’s with number one starter Jonny Cueto finally back in action after missing six starts with a strained back muscle.  Offensively, Cincinnati is actually in front of St. Louis in runs scored and OPS.  While the Central is a three pony show a quarter of the way home, by the time August rolls around the teams fighting for the division crown will both wear the same color, red.                                              National League West

The story in the West is the story of the team that is under-achieving, that being the Los Angeles Dodgers.  At 19-26 overall the boys in Blue find themselves six games back of the Giants, Diamondbacks and Rockies all sharing the division lead.  It’s not so much the deficit that has Don Mattingly’s job on the line which seems like every day now, but how the 26 losses have occurred.  Last week in Atlanta the Dodgers were swept by the Braves after leading late into each game as the bull pen collapsed three times.  It seems every move Mattingly made it backfired.  Those things can’t happen when your team sports the highest payroll in baseball at over 216-million dollars.  While closer Brandon League, and relievers Kenley Jansen and Ronald Belisario are all to blame with their terrible play as of late the Dodgers bigger issue lay on offense.  Despite having one of the league’s best team hitting averages, Los Angeles is second to last in the N.L. in front of only the Miami Marlins in hitting average with runners in scoring position.  Sluggers Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier are to blame, driving home just 17 and 15 runs respectively.  The Dodgers run differential is a horrible -32 which is worst in the division.  The only reason Mattingly probably hasn’t been giving the hook yet is because the Dodgers have been hit incredible hard with injuries.  Number two pitcher Zach Greinke made just his second start since recovering from a broken collarbone.  Shortstop Hanley Ramirez has played in just four games due to a broken thumb and now strained hamstring.  Mark Ellis just returned to action off the disabled list from a strained quad muscle.  So while the Dodgers slowly get their starters back in the line-up, the pressure on their manager has increased to the point where he called out Ethier, benching him for the series finale in Milwaukee which the Dodgers won 9-2 taking the series 2 out of 3, probably saving Mattingly’s job for the next week.   The good news for the Dodgers is Kemp seems to be finally recovering from off-season shoulder surgery which has affected his hitting and power.  Ramirez is due off the disabled list in two weeks and they only trail the leaders by six, while maintaining the best one, two, three starting pitcher combination in the division in Clayton Kershaw, Greinke and Hung Jin Ryu.  While the Giants offensively might be the class of the division right now, they are far from the pitching power that won them World Series titles in 2010 and 2012.  Ryan Vogelsong is out for most likely two months with a broken bone in his pitching hand and Madison Bumgarner is the only starter that has been overly consistent.  Barry Zito has an ERA of 3.91 due to starting the season red hot, Tim Lincecum is at 4.70 and ace Matt Cain is worse at 5.12.  With the Giants built for pitching and not hitting in AT&T Park if the pitching doesn’t work its way back to its previous high standards, San Francisco will fade.   No one expects the Rockies to maintain their spot at the top with their rotation but their offense at Coors Field could keep them close while the Arizona Diamondbacks are for real.  Kirk Gibson has molded his team into a hardnosed group that has decent starting pitching and sufficient offense.  About the only for sure thing in the west is that nobody will run away with the division.  Even the low-budget San Diego Padres are only 4.5 games out at this point in the season.  Expect this race to involve all five teams into August which should make for some exciting fall baseball on the West Coast.