AL East Roundup: Marcus Scutaro Helps Mariano Rivera Honor Jackie Robinson

AL EAST	W	L	GB	L10	STK	E#
Boston Red Sox	6	4	–	6-4	W2	—
Toronto Blue Jays	7	5	–	6-4	W1	—
Baltimore Orioles	6	6	1.0	6-4	W3	150
New York Yankees	5	6	1.5	4-6	L1	150
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	5	7	2.0	4-6	W1	149

A’s 5, Yankees 4. Mariano Rivera is the only player in baseball that is still allowed to wear #42 regularly, so it was fitting that Rivera picked up his first save on Jackie Robinson Day. What? oops. our bad. Apparently Marcus Scutaro didn’t get the memo that said the A’s were supposed to let Mariano pick up the save so that SportsCenter could have their feel-good moment.

Blue Jays 2, Tigers 1. Josh Towers worked into the 8th inning and allowed only 3 hits, a walk and an unearned run.

NOTES FROM AROUND THE AL EAST….

• The Yankees placed Mike Mussina and Carl Pavano on the DL. AA pitcher Chase Wright will be called up to start on Tuesday.
• Derek Jeter has committed more errors (6) than BJ Upton (5). That’s not an easy thing to do.
• Yet another big name pitcher goes to the DL in the AL East. This time it is Jays’ closer BJ Ryan.
• Selling Japanese players to the Japanese market is easy. Selling teams to Japanese baseball fans is not as easy, but that is exactly what MLB is trying to do.
• Boston is hoping that Diasuke Matsuzaka will boost local tourism.
• Willy Mo Pena is the odd man out in Boston.
• The baseball schedule features one morning tilt every season, on Patriot’s Day in Boston. Make that zero games this season as the game has been rescheduled for noon.

AL East Roundup:The Devil Rays Bullpen…Not So Good

AL EAST	W	L	GB	L10	STK	E#
Boston Red Sox	6	4	–	6-4	W2	—
Toronto Blue Jays	6	5	0.5	5-5	L1	152
Baltimore Orioles	6	6	1.0	6-4	W3	151
New York Yankees	5	5	1.0	5-5	W1	152
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	4	7	2.5	4-6	L1	150

Yankees 4, A’s 3. Jason Giambi won the game in the 13th inning with a home run against his former team. Here is a sentence we will never write about the Devil Rays…The Yankees bullpen pitched 7.2 shutout innings. That was more depressing to type than it should have been.

Red Sox 8, Angels 0. Curt Schilling pitched 8 shutout innings and now has pitched 14 consecutive scoreless innings. After struggling his first outing of the season against the Royals, Schilling looks to be on top of his game which will go a long ways to getting the Red Sox back to the playoffs. David Ortiz had 4 RBI on 2 hits including his 3rd home run. The win vaults the Sox past the Blue Jays and into first place of the AL East. The Red Sox bullpen pitched 1 shutout inning. *feeling sad*

Orioles 6, Royals 4. The Orioles are getting well at the expense of the Royals, as they have now won 3 straight and have evened their record on the season. A grand slam by Chris Gomez in the 6th gave the O’s the lead and they held on for the win. The O’s bullpen pitched 4 shutout innings. *crying hysterically*

Tigers 10, Blue Jays 7. The Jays bullpen gave up 6 runs in 3.2 innings. We feel better now.

NOTES FROM AROUND THE AL EAST….

• Chien-Ming Wang pitched 5 hitless innings during an extended spring training game against Devil Rays minor leaguers. Wang is on the DL and is expected to make one more rehab start before returning to the Yankees.
• Carl Pavano is the latest Yankee to miss a start due to an injury.
• Kei Igawa and baseball fans in Japan are realizing that Yankees fans can be less than forgiving.
• The Blue Jays called up one of their top prospects, Adam Lind.
• JD Drew is off to a hot start in Boston. That should not be surprising as he has always put up strong numbers when he is healthy. Still, Red Sox fans must cringe every time he runs down a fly ball and every time he starts running out of the batters box.
• Cal Ripken would like to follow in his fathers footsteps and manage after his children have grown.
• The Red Sox had an opportunity to sign Jackie Robinson but racial attitudes in Boston and withing the organization at the time
  may have stopped them from doing so.

Tidbits: Devil Rays @ The New York Yankees

• The Devil Rays were 5-13 versus the Yankees in 2006.
• Carl Pavano will be making his first start since the middle of 2006, and is likely to be booed lustily by the Yankee faithful.
• Former Devil Rays first baseman Josh Phelps earned his way on to the Yankees opening day roster and may actually get the nod to start on opening day. Phelps hit .442 with 4 home runs in spring training.
• Yankees fans are a demanding sort. Being the best player in baseball doesn’t make you a Yankee. You have to earn your pinstripes and Alex Rodriguez still hasn’t. He could hit 80 home runs this season, but the fans will still boo him if he doesn’t come through in the playoffs.
• Andy Pettite will get the ball on Wednesday in his first start for the Yankees since 2003.

PROBABLE STARTERS
(stats are from 2006)
Monday, 1:05 et
Devil Rays Scott Kazmir, LHP (10-8, 3.24)
New York Carl Pavano, RHP (0-0, 0.00)

Wednesday, 1:05 et
Devil Rays Jae Seo, RHP (3-12, 5.33)
New York Andy Pettite, LHP (14-13, 4.20)

Thursday, 7:05 et
Devil Rays James Shields, RHP (6-8, 4.84)
New York Mike Mussina, RHP (15-7, 3.51)

The Hangover: A Tale Of Two Devil Rays Springs

• How bad were the Rays first 15 spring games? After the Rays 12-4 win over Pittsburgh yesterday, their 7th in 10 games, they still have the worst record in baseball. Delmon Young picked up three more hits to raise his spring average to .345 and Jonny Gomes smacked his 4th spring home run. Jae Seo was stretched by Joe Maddon going 7 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks. Seth McClung is doing his best to assure a return to Durham giving up2 more runs in 1 inning.
• Al Reyes will pitch today and tomorrow. Joe Maddon wants to see how his arm responds to pitching on back-to-back days. A strong outing on Tuesday could secure Reyes the closer’s job.
• However, Joe Maddon suggests that he may start the season with a closer-by-committee.
• Supposedly Jonny Gomes is competing for a spot on the roster. We find that hard to believe. Gomes represents the Rays only real power threat in a lineup that will not hit a lot of home runs.
• The new turf at the Trop may change the way the Rays approach games this season. We may see the Rays bunting more frequently in 2007 due to the slower speed of balls in the infield.
• On opening day the Yankees may send out Carl Pavano to face the Rays. Pavano hasn’t pitched in the majors since June 2005.