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.