AL East Roundup: Yankees And Red Sox Continue To Roll Towards October

AL EAST	W	L	GB	L10	STK	E#
Boston Red Sox	22	10	–	7-3	W3	—
New York Yankees	16	16	6.0	7-3	W2	125
Baltimore Orioles	16	18	7.0	4-6	W2	123
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	14	19	8.5	4-6	L3	122
Toronto Blue Jays	13	20	9.5	2-8	L8	121

Yankees 6, Rangers 2. The Yankees scored 4 in the bottom of 1st and never looked back as Mike Mussina worked 6 and said “We don’t need no stinkin’ Rocket”

Red Sox 9, Blue Jays 3. $100 million? So that is what a #3 starter goes for these days? Daisuke Matsuzaka struck out 8 in 7 innings and now has three good starts this season. One was versus KC on opening day and two against the Blue Jays, both of whom are among the worst teams in baseball.

NOTE FROM AROUND THE AL EAST…

• Jays manager John Gibbons and the rest of his coaching staff were given a vote of confidence despite recent discussions by JP Ricciardi about the staff’s performance.
• Roger Clemens faced his son in a workout session in Lexington, Kentucky.
• Terry Francona has asked Curt Schilling to tone down his comments to the press. Any chance it will work?

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.