AL East Roundup: Prelude To The Great A-Rod Escape

AL EAST	W	L	GB	L10	STK	E#
Toronto Blue Jays	4	3	–	4-3	L1	—
Boston Red Sox	4	3	–	4-3	W2	—
New York Yankees	4	3	–	4-3	W2	—
Baltimore Orioles	3	5	1.5	3-5	W2	154
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	2	5	2.0	2-5	L4	154

Red Sox 14, Mariners 3. The Sox went all Tea Party on the Mariners in their home opener at Fenway. Boston scored 7 in the first two innings and were up 13-1 after 5. Josh Beckett may have had his best start as a Red Sox giving up just 2 hits and 1 run over 7 innings. He walked none and struck out 8. JD Drew managed to hit his first home run with Boston and he didn’t pull a hamstring rounding the bases.

Tigers 3, Orioles 1. The Orioles just can’t catch a break. Jaret Wright pitched better, but still lost his second straight with the O’s and then had to be removed with shoulder stiffness.

Royals 6, Blue Jays 3. Toronto committed 4 errors leading to 3 unearned runs. Josh Towers made his first start of the year and gave up all 6 runs.

Yankees 10, Twins 1. Andy Pettite pitched 6 scoreless innings and he was supported by Alex Rodiguez’s 6th home run of the season. An A-bomb by A-Rod! At this pace A-Rod may beat Barry Bonds to the home run record. He only needs 286 more home runs. The Yankees, Sox and Jays are all tied for first in the AL East. This race is going down to the wire!

NOTES FROM AROUND THE AL EAST…

• Jaret Wright was upset after the game and indicated that the injury to his shoulder is reminiscent of his previous shoulder injuries that led to two surgeries.
• The Yankees starters have struggled, but the bullpen has been strong.
• Daisuke Matsuzaka will face Ichiro tonight to lead off the Red Sox game against the Mariners. The two have faced each other before in Japan. Here is video of their encounters in Japan.
• The Red Sox honored the 1967 AL Championship team before their home opener.
• Frank Thomas has 488 career home runs, but his sights are set on 600.
• Alex Rodriguez is just the 4th player in the last 50 years with an extra-base hit in each of his team’s first seven games, and one of seven players with 6 home runs in his teams first 7 games.
• It is only seven games, but some are already talking MVP for Alex Rodriguez. The funny thing about all this is…Let’s say A-Rod hits .330 with 60 home runs, 150 RBI and wins the MVP. The he has a big October but the Yankees fall short in the playoffs. Because of all the crap he has received from the fans, he will opt-out of his contract and Yankees fans will find a way to blame A-Rod. He will be a coward, even though it was the fans that wanted him gone as recently as the second game of the season when he popped up in the 8th inning with the bases loaded against the Rays.
• Alex Rios is a better player when he is leading off.

AL East Roundup: Japanese Media To Invade Kansas City

AL EAST	W	L	GB	L10	STK	E#
New York Yankees	1	0	0	1-0	W1	—
Toronto Blue Jays	1	1	0.5	1-1	L1	161
Boston Red Sox	1	1	0.5	1-1	W1	161
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	0	1	1.0	0-1	L1	161
Baltimore Orioles	0	3	2.0	0-3	L3	159

Twins 7, O’s 2. The Twins completed a season opening 3-game sweep of the Orioles. Rays fans everywhere are rejoicing as 4th place in 2007 could be a reality. Making his first start for Baltimore, after two seasons with the Yankees, Jaret Wright gave up 4 hits and 5 walks in 2+ innings.

Red Sox 7, Royals 1. The Sox dominated from the start, scoring 3 in the first, making sure that all Royals fans know their place in the universe. Josh Beckett struggled with his control, walking 4, but only gave up 2 hits in 5 innings of work. The Shaggy God of OBP Kevin Youkalis homered for Boston.

Tigers 10, Jays 9. The Jays scored 7 in the 8th, but still fell 1 run short. AJ Burnett pitched like Nuke LaLoosh screws….kinda, all over the place. He gave up 5 hits, 4 walks and 6 runs in 2 innings. Victor Zambrano was up to his old tricks in his first appearance for the Jays. He walked 3 in 1 inning. ‘Bout right.

• Daisuke Matsuzaka will make his major league debut today against the Royals. The Royals? It’s always nice to have a tune up for the real games.
• Baseball Musings says that the Red Sox should be worried about their rotation. We say they might not be yet, but if Dice-K struggles tonight. The Pink Hat Nation will start to panic.
• At 0-3, is it too early to panic in Baltimore? Maybe not, but they are having serious doubts. Did they really expect Jaret Wright to be a difference maker?
• Jays manager John Gibbons may not have a lot of job security this season.
• Apparently Canadians have the sense of humor of a fungoe. A commercial featuring Frank Thomas had to be removed from Canadian broadcasts because it depicts the Big Hurt hitting one of his children with a pillow, with exaggerated effects.
• Sports in Toronto has come a long ways since the Blue Jays came on board in 1977.