AL East Roundup: Apparently The Blue Jays Had An Aura

AL EAST	W	L	GB	L10	STK	E#
Boston Red Sox	8	5	–	6-4	W1	—
Toronto Blue Jays	8	6	0.5	6-4	L1	149
New York Yankees	7	6	1.0	6-4	W2	149
Baltimore Orioles	8	7	1.0	7-3	W1	148
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	6	9	3.0	4-6	L1	146

Yankees 7, Indians 2. Kei Igawa picked up his first win and Yankees fans let out a collective sigh of relief. Alex Rodriguez hit his 9th home run becoming the 4th fastest to hit 9 home runs (13 games). We think we actually saw him snickering as he rounded the bases.

Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 1. The Sox hit three solo home runs, including David Ortiz’s 5th of the season. Tim Wakefield, who currently has the third longest tenure with one team (behind John Smoltz and Trevor Hoffman), pitched 7 innings and only gave up 4 hits.

NOTE FROM AROUND THE AL EAST…

• Looks like we are back to turning our monitor upside-down for a while to see the Rays in first place.
• Chase Wright has “earned” a second start against the Red Sox and Diasuke Matsuzaka on national television Sunday Night.
• The Orioles activated Corey Patterson from bereavement leave.
• John Lester, recovering from cancer, will have at least one start in AAA before returning to the Red Sox.
• The Blue Jays had an Aura? Maybe back in 1993.

Tidbits: Devil Rays vs. Baltimore Orioles

The Devil Rays come home to face the Baltimore Orioles for three games in what is the most important series so far in this young season. If the Rays want to show they have improved they need to be competitive in the AL East. That means they have to beat the team that they have the best chance of finishing ahead of this season. With the offense clicking on most cylinders right now and James Shields and Scott Kazmir going to the mound, the Rays must win at least two games in this series if they want to start moving up the standings and possibly reach 81 wins.

• The Orioles are 6-6 after taking 3 straight from the Royals before having Sundays match rained out. Baltimore was 13-6 against the Rays in 2006 including 6-4 at Tropicana Field.
• Center fielder Jay Payton and catcher Ramon Hernandez are on the DL. Hernandez is eligible to come off the DL for this series. Outfielder Corey Patterson will miss the first two games of the series after the death of his grandfather.
• The Devil Rays return home and will begin a stretch where they will play 30 of their next 44 in the state of Florida.
• Aubrey Huff will return to the Trop for the first time since being traded to the Astros. He does not regret playing for the Rays, but he doesn’t regret leaving either.

But in the end, it started getting old for me as far as the losing. It was time for a change of scenery for me. — Aubrey Huff

We are curious. Is Huff aware that the Orioles haven’t had a winning record in 10 years? That is the third longest streak in baseball.

• The Rays have homered in all 12 games. The record for most consecutive games with home run to start the season is 14, set by the 2002 Cleveland Indians. The overall record for consecutive games with a home run is held by the 2002 Texas Rangers (27).

PROBABLE STARTERS
Monday, 7:10 et
Baltimore Adam Loewen, LHP (1-0, 1.80)
Devil Rays James Shields, RHP (1-0, 4.61)

Tuesday, 7:10 et
Baltimore Steve Trachsel, RHP (0-0, 2.63)
Devil Rays Casey Fossum, LHP (0-1, 7.59)

Wednesday, 3:10 et
Baltimore Eric Bedard, LHP (2-1, 5.09)
Devil Rays Scott Kazmir, LHP (1-1, 4.59)

AL East Roundup: Devil Rays Magic Number Is 159

AL EAST	W	L	GB	L10	STK	E#
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	2	1	0	2-1	W2	—
Boston Red Sox	2	2	0.5	2-2	L1	159
New York Yankees	1	2	1.0	1-2	L2	159
Toronto Blue Jays	1	2	1.0	1-2	L2	159
Baltimore Orioles	1	3	1.5	1-3	W1	158

Orioles 6, Yankees 4. It was another cold night in the Bronx and as usual, cold weather is harder on old people. The 22 year-old Adam Loewen out-pitched the 38 year-old Mike Mussina to give the O’s just their first win of the season, and drop the Yankees a full game behind the Devil Rays. Man, we love the sound of that.

Rangers 2, Red Sox 0. The Rangers picked up their first win in their home opener. Robinson Tejeda pitched 7 innings giving up only 2 hits. Sammy Sosa picked up an RBI single. Oriole’s fans must be pissed off when they see Sosa. He looked anorexic in his one season in Baltimore, and now he looks like Slammin’ Sammy again. He obviously spent a lot of time in his year off lifting weights and taking dietary “supplements”.

• A report shows that the Orioles have a major impact on the Baltimore economy. No word on the impact the team has on the health of their fans.
• It’s a good thing the O’s won last night, because the fans were starting to get restless after their season-opening sweep at the hands of the Twins.
• Corey Patterson will be the O’s representative to wear Jackie Robinson’s #42.
• Jonathon Papplebon is back as the Red Sox closer, but the team is planning on using him less than they did in 2006.
• At 13 seasons, Tim Wakefield is tied with Mo Rivera with the longest continuous service with their current teams. Only John Smoltz (19 years) and Trevor Hoffman (15) have longer tenures.
• Jonny Damon missed another game, but reported significant improvement, and won’t go on the DL.