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: Rocket’s Return

AL EAST	W	L	GB	L10	STK	E#
Boston Red Sox	20	10	–	7-3	W1	—
New York Yankees	14	15	5.5	6-4	W2	128
Baltimore Orioles	14	17	6.5	3-7	L1	126
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	14	17	6.5	5-5	L1	126
Toronto Blue Jays	13	18	7.5	2-8	L6	125

Yankees 5, Mariners 0. We can understand if nobody noticed that the Yankees beat the Mariners for their second straight win. Apparently news came down that the Evil Empire added a couple of dollars to their payroll with the signing of some veteran pitcher. With the Red Sox off to a huge start, and Houston being Houston, there is no surprise in this move, so let’s move on.

Red Sox 4, Twins 3. JD Drew drove in 2 runs without hurting himself and Curt Shilling didn’t allow a run until the 7th inning.

Indians 9, Orioles 6. The Tribe scores 7 runs in the 4th and 5th innings and cruised behind CC Sabathia and his crooked cap.

Rangers 3, Blue Jays 2. Michael Young’s solo home run in the 8th put the Rangers on top and sent the Jays to their 6th straight loss.

NOTE FROM AROUND THE AL EAST…

• George Steinbrenner‘s support for Joe Torre may have influenced Roger Clemen’s decision to join the Yankees.
• It will be interesting to see how all of Roger Clemen’s special privileges will go over with the rest of the Yankees veteran roster.
• JP Ricciardi revealed that the Jays lied about BJ Ryan’s injury in spring training, telling the media it was a bcak problem when in fact he had a sore elbow.
• With BJ Ryan on the DL, the Jays have been going to Jason Frasor in the 9th, but that could change as Frasor has struggled in the role and could be sent down to the minors.
• MLB has approached the Red sox and the Yankees as two potential teams that could play spring training games in China next season as well open the regular season in Japan.