AL East Roundup: Yankees And Jays Join Rays In Kiddy-Pool

AL EAST	W	L	GB	L10	STK	E#
Boston Red Sox	12	6	–	8-2	L1	—
Baltimore Orioles	11	8	1.5	8-2	L1	143
Toronto Blue Jays	9	10	3.5	4-6	W1	141
New York Yankees	8	10	4.0	4-6	L4	141
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	8	11	4.5	5-5	W1	140

Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 3. With a 4-3 lead heading to the 8th inning and BJ Ryan on the DL, the Jays realized their only hope was to do the obvious…score more runs. A 2-run homer by Aaron Hill capped the scoring and gave the Jays enough of a cushion to top the Pink Hats who were obviously still hung over from their April sweep of the Yankees. APRIL.

A’s 6, O’s 5. The Orioles lose! The Orioles lose!

NOTES FROM AROUND THE AL EAST…

• The Yankees would be 17-0 without A-Rod. Derek Jeter’s defensive struggles? A-Rod’s fault. All the injuries to the pitching staff? A-Rod’s fault.
• Alex Rodriguez is the fastest ever to 13 14 home runs.
• This makes us giggle like a school girl.
• The Yankees passed over top prospect Phillip Hughes last time, but they won’t make the same mistake this week. Chase Wright was demoted after giving up 4 straight home runs to the Red Sox on Sunday Night and Hughes will get the ball for his major league debut on Thursday against Toronto. Hughes is generally regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball.
• While Mets fans have trouble letting go of Scott Kazmir, Orioles fans are having trouble letting go of Jeffrey Maier.
• David Ortiz is Shakespeare with a bat. We had no idea Shakespeare had a tendency to go yard in the 9th inning of close games. We admit, some metaphors confuse us.
• Jaret Wright and Ramon Hernandez finally get to throw to each other, on rehab assignments. That is soo BFF.
  

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)