Kuzul

Major League Baseball is running a full schedule again this weekend.  There are some interesting matchups that will probably have an influence on who will make the playoffs and who will not.  These are my picks of the week:

Los Angeles Angels (51-46) at Texas (55-40)

This is an AL West affair between the only two teams in the division who have a chance to get a playoff spot.  Leading five games over the second-place Angels, the Rangers would like to win a few more in this four-game series to widen their gap. 

The odds should favour the home side, as they have been hot since the All-Star break, taking both series in Boston and Detroit.  Besides, manager Ron Washington will have two ace pitchers ready on the mound this weekend: Cliff Lee (8-4, 2.59) on Thursday and C.J. Wilson (8-5, 3.23) on Friday.  Sunday starter Tommy Hunter (7-0, 2.09) is looking for a three-game winning streak.

The Angels split a two-game series with the Yankees in New York after beating the Seattle Mariners three games out of four.  They certainly need to bring their offensive power to Texas.  In the last two games against the Yankees, they scored a total of 16 runs, 10 of them produced by five home runs.    

The Rangers only played five times against the Angels so far this season and have a winning record of 3-2.

New York Mets (49-46) at Los Angeles Dodgers (50-46) 

Both teams have very similar records, but they are sitting in different positions in their respective divisions.  The Mets are second in the NL East, six-and-a-half games behind the Atlanta Braves; the Dodgers, contrarily, are in fourth place, six games behind the division-leading San Diego Padres. 

With 2B Luis Castillo, SS Jose Reyes, and CF Carlos Beltran back from the disabled list earlier this week, the Mets seem to have an ideal lineup.  However, their recent results do not reflect that, and they are quite disappointing.  In their present West Coast trip, they lost three games out of four in San Francisco before being swept by the last-place Arizona Diamondbacks.

SP Mike Pelfrey (10-5, 4.01) should be the real concern for the Mets.  Although he has already reached 10 victories, he is on a three-game losing streak.  In his last four games, he gave up 21 runs in 14.2 innings (ERA of 12.89).  His last outing against the Diamondbacks was the shortest in his career, lasting only 1.1 innings.

He will be on the mound on Saturday against Jason McDonald (0-1, 7.20) who filled in the No. 5 spot in the Dodgers’ rotation.

Johan Santana (7-5, 2.87) is scheduled to pitch on Friday night for the Mets.  He is the only pitcher that manager Jerry Manuel can rely on right now.  Santana gave up only one run in eight innings facing the Giants last Sunday, but did not factor in the game’s decision.  He has the reputation to pitch well in the second half of the season.

The Dodgers experienced a six-game losing streak before beating San Francisco Wednesday night.  They lost all four games against the St. Louis Cardinals last weekend. 

The Dodgers are looking for an urgent solution for their big problem; their offensive productivity is low.  The heart of the lineup is not generating any runs or getting any hits.  Hitters from the No. 3 to No. 5 slots only hit .156 (5-for-32) collectively, scored three runs, and had four RBI in their series against the Giants.

They need Manny Ramirez, but he is not available.  The right calf strain sent him back to the 15-day DL, his third trip of the season. 

Although the Dodgers will enjoy home-field advantage this weekend, they are only 5-11 against teams from the NL East.  The teams’ last meeting was in late April, when the Mets swept the Dodgers in Citi Field.

Note: It will be a Japanese pitching duo on Thursday night: Hisanori Takahashi (7-4, 4.69) for the Mets and Hiroki Kuroda (7-8, 3.74) for the Dodgers.

Colorado (51-43) at Philadelphia (48-46)

The Phillies cannot afford to lose any more games, as they have already slid down to third place in their division.  They are currently seven games behind the Atlanta Braves and a half game behind the New York Mets, thanks to their four-game losing streak.

They have one more game in St. Louis on Thursday before flying back home to face the Rockies starting Friday night.  

The Phillies lineup is not producing enough runs; they scored only six runs in the last three games.  They need some quick fixes offensively this weekend to get back on track. 

Both Roy Halladay and Kyle Kendrick, who will start in the first two games of the series, suffered losses in their previous outings.  Halladay was victimized in Wrigley Field, giving up five runs (including two home runs) and six hits in six innings.  Kendrick only won once in his last six starts.  His previous start resulted in a loss to the St. Louis Cardinals Monday. 

The Rockies are 2-4 since the All-Star Break, losing both series to the Cincinnati Reds and the Florida Marlins.  But there is a positive side to look at.  Starting pitcher Jeff Francis (3-3, 4.63), who has spent most of the season’s first half on the disabled list, pitched seven solid shutout innings on Tuesday night to help the Rockies beat the Marlins, 10-0.  He will start again on Sunday. 

However, 15-game winner Ubaldo Jimenez was not so smooth in Miami.  He gave up six runs (four earned) in the 8-9 loss.  His start against Kyle Kendrick on Saturday will be a great pitching matchup. 

This weekend’s matchup is only the second time both teams meet.  The first time was in May in Colorado; only two games were played in that three-game series because the second game was postponed.  They split the series 1-1. 

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The three runs scored by the Houston Astros in the 12th inning extinguished the Chicago Cubs’ hope to take another series at home.  The Astros won the rubber game by beating the home team 4-3 in a marathon match of three hours and 46 minutes.

Both starting pitchers of the game, Ted Lilly of the Cubs and Brett Myers of the Astros, brought their best game in the series finale.  However, neither one was implicated in game decision.  They only gave up one run each in this tight game. 

The Cubs got on scoreboard first in the fifth. With one out, Lilly hit a single to right field.  After right fielder Tyler Colvin struck out courtesy of Myers, shortstop Starlin Castro drove Lilly home with his 14th double of the year.

The visiting team equalized the score in the seventh.  Lilly, who struck out six Astros and walked only one, gave up a solo homer to Pedro Feliz, the pinch hitter for Myers.  The long shot to the left bleacher is Feliz’s fourth dinger of the season.

The score remained the same until the 12th inning, when the Astros took the lead for the first time in the game.  Cub reliever Jeff Stevens gave up two inherited runs when Astro pinch-hitter Jason Michaels hit a double to send home Chris Johnson and Jason Castro,  who had hit singles off Bob Howry (1-3).  He then gave up the game winning run, a single to SS Angel Sanchez to score Michaels from second base.  The Astros led the Cubs 4-1.

Geovany Soto gave the last hope to the Cubs at the bottom 12th.  After two quick outs, right fielder Kosuke Fukudome walked, and Soto clashed his 13th home run off reliever Gustavo Chacin to make the score 4-3. 

The Cubs attempted to prolong the inning; Ryan Theriot and Jeff Baker got on base with a single and a walk, respectively.  But too little too late, as the game ended with Tyler Colvin’s fly ball to right field.  Brandon Lyon (6-4) is the winner of the game and Chacin is credited with the save, his first of the season.

In fact, the Cubs had a few good chances to get the “W” earlier in the game, but they could not cash in every time with runners in scoring position.  They ended the bottom of the ninth with two men on.  And with the bases loaded in the 10th, Fukudome struck out swinging and Soto ended the rally with a fly ball.  Overall, they left 16 runners on bases.  The Astros only stranded eight.

The Cubs have to forget about today’s loss.  They have a bigger mountain to climb when they open a three-game home series Friday against the mighty Albert Pujols and his St. Louis Cardinals to kick off the weekend.  This upcoming series against their division rivals is crucial as it will determine their destiny in 2010. 

If the Cubs cannot beat the Cardinals, their chances of making the playoffs will greatly be diminished. 

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The Houston Astros visited Wrigley Field tonight to kick off a three-game series with the Chicago Cubs.  It ended up as a hitting festival for the visitors as they scored five runs in the first inning and added another six more in the rest of the game to beat the home team by a final score of 11-5.

The Cubs had starting pitcher Carlos Silva (9-4) on the mound tonight, but he failed to deliver a winning chance for the Cubs.  In fact, he had a ridiculously bad outing; facing 11 Astros, he gave up a total of five runs (all earned), seven hits and two walks in a 41-pitch inning for the right-hander. 

Cubs manager Lou Piniella had to pull Silva out of the game after one complete inning, the shortest start Silva has experienced this year.  He surpassed his 1 2/3 innings pitched in his previous game on July 11 in Dodger Stadium where he gave up six runs and was ejected by first base umpire Brian Runge. 

To start the first inning, the Astros loaded the bases with singles by CF Michael Bourn and SS Angel Sanchez and a walk by 1B Lance Berkman, RF Hunter Pence, and LF Carlos Lee produced two runs each with no one out. 

The Cubs had to wait until Silva faced the seventh batter of the inning to register their first out; with bases loaded, they made 3B Chris Johnson hit into a double-play which scored Lee to make the score 5-0 for the Astros.    

The Astros widened their lead in the third.  Catcher Jason Castro hit a three-run homer, his second of the season, off long reliever Mitch Atkins to score 2B Jeff Keppinger and Johnson. 

Although the Cubs attempted to rally early in the game, they never created any real threat to the Astros.  They only managed to score five runs, including a two-run homer by 3B Aramis Ramirez (12th of the year) in winner pitcher of the game, Astro start Wandy Rodriguez’s (7-11) six innings pitched. 

Houston added three runs of insurance late in the game.  In the seventh inning, Chris Johnson hit his first ever Major League home run, a two-run shot off RP Justin Berg.  He also tripled to drive in Keppinger in the eighth.  He finished the night by scoring two runs with three hits and three RBI. 

The Astros (38-55), never considered as a good offensive team this year, had bombarded the Cubs tonight with a total of 17 hits in the game.  They will try to do the same tomorrow night in Wrigley Field; manager Brad Mills will put reliever Wesley Wright (0-0, 5.59) in the starting slot to face Ryan Dempster (8-7, 3.57) of the Cubs (42-52).

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Tonight’s game in New York was not just “another” ball game. In a gorgeous night, it was played with mixed emotions. To begin with, in the pre-game ceremony, the Yankees honoured and commemorated the most recognized owner in baseball, George Steinbrenner and the 99-year-old long-time Yankees public announcer Bob Sheppard who both passed away early this week. And at the end of the night, the Yankees beat their division archrivals Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 in a walk-off style to start their second half the season.

A crowd of 47,524 were present in the Yankee Stadium to witness a simple but emotional ceremony to honour both great men, the symbolic icons of the Yankees organization.  It was a quiet game to start with; especially the players’ introductions were not made throughout the game in memory of Sheppard. 

The Rays opened the score in the second inning; facing Yankees starting pitcher C.C. Sabathia, 2B Ben Zobrist scored on designated hitter Willy Aybar’s sacrifice fly.  

They made it 2-0 in the third. Leadoff batter SS Jason Bartlett got on base with a single.  Two outs later, 3B Evan Longoria drove him in with his 28th double of the season, his 62nd RBI.

The Yankees responded by cutting the lead into half at the bottom of third inning; LF Brett Gardner walked and then one out later, scored on Nick Swisher’s single.

Sabathia did not pitch a gem tonight as he has done in his previous eight starts. He seemed to have some control problems tonight. In the fifth, he gave up singles to Bartlett and Carl Crawford and a walk to B.J. Upton to load the bases.  He was fortunate to get out of the inning by giving up a sole run on Longoria’s 6-4-3 double play. 

The Yankees rallied in the sixth inning. Facing Rays starter James Shield who gave up only a run and two hits in the first five innings, they hit back-to back homers to equalize the score. With two outs, 2B Robinson Cano hit his 17th of the year, a line-drive home run to the centerfield. Then catcher Jorge Posada smashed his 10th on a 0-3 count pitch.

Both teams added one run each in the 7th and in the 8th inning. The Yankees won in the ninth; leadoff Curtis Granderson singled off Rays reliever Randy Choate (L, 2-3), moved to second on pinch hitter Ramiro Pena’s bunt, and scored on Swisher’s third RBI of the game, a single off Lance Cormier. The Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who pitched in the perfect ninth inning, gets his third win (3-1).

Both Yankees players and their fans went crazy to see the Yankees’ victory, a tribute to Steinbrenner and Sheppard. It also widens the gap between the AL first place Yankees and the Rays by three games.

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While the Chicago Cubs fans are disappointed with the team performance so far this year, they finally have one thing to cheer about. CF Marlon Byrd, the Cubs’ only representative in this year’s Midsummer Classic, proved that he belonged to the All-Star team. 

His contribution in Anaheim was huge in the National League’s victory over the American League for the first time in 13 years. In the seventh inning of the game, he fought back from a 0-2 count against pitcher Matt Thornton on a eight-pitch at-bat to get walked and later scored on Brian McCann’s game-winning double. 

In the bottom ninth, as right fielder, he made a precise throw to shortstop Rafael Furcal to force out David Ortiz at second base. The Cubs desperately need him to bring back this kind of his play to the team. 

The Chicago Cubs (39-50), positioning themselves on very thin ice from the Opening Day, are having no margin of error whatsoever in the remaining games. Sitting in the fourth position in the NL Central, they are nine and a half games behind the division leader Cincinnati Reds. 

In order to get a chance to play in October, they need an immediate mend, the kind that Colorado Rockies had in 2007 by winning 21 games out of 29 to clinch the wild-card berth.   

As Jim Hendry’s initial game plan of the season, 1B Derrek Lee (.233 AVG), 3B Aramis Ramirez (.207 AVG), and starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano (on restricted list to undergo anger management), were supposed to be the key guys in Cubs’ success. But they all have miserable season.  

With the failures of the superstars, Marlon Byrd becomes the best acquisition that the Cubs made in the off-season; a three year $15 million contract offered to the man from Boynton Beach, Fl., which is a good deal. Penciled in 87 of 89 games, he is the workhorse for manager Lou Piniella. 

His numbers are the best among his teammates: .317 AVG, 47 R, 105 H, 40 RBI, .480 SLG. And he has been very productive in situational play; with runners on base, he is hitting .320, scoring 43 runs and having 36 RBI. Defensively, he makes only two errors in 771 innings of play.

Aged 32, Byrd was a journeyman between big league and farm clubs in his early career with the Philadelphia Phillies and the Washington Nationals. Drafted in the tenth round by the Phillies in 1999, the center fielder finally earned his regular spot with the Texas Rangers where he played almost three complete seasons. Now with the Cubs, he has blossomed and seems to fit perfectly in the North side of Chicago.

The Cubs are running out of time. We will find out soon whether it will be a make-or-break season for them.  If they cannot catch up with the Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals before the trade deadline on July 31, they have only one managerial alternative—rebuilding the team and hoping for the best next year.

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The Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be held tonight in Los Angeles. That means the 162-game season has reached its half.  Let’s review the AL East team performances so far this year.

New York Yankees (56-32)

The defending World Champions have the best record in baseball for the first half of the season.  Their offensive lineup has been very consistent, generating hits and runs day-in and day-out.  Unlike last year, when they started the season slowly, Joe Girardi’s team has an impressive 20-11 record against teams in the division and has won 21 of 28 series.

Offense

The Yankees are doing very well offensively.  Second baseman Robinson Cano, being on top in almost every offensive category (.336 AVG, 115 H, 51 R, 68 RBI, .556 SLG), is surely a strong candidate for this year’s AL MVP.

Alex Rodriguez hit 14 home runs to bring his career total to 597, seventh-best all-time.  Nick Swisher is getting on base constantly and Brett Gardner can run, ranking fifth in the league with 25 steals.  Mark Teixeira, hitting .254, may not repeat his number last year (.292), but there are still a good two-and-a-half months of baseball for him to catch up.

Pitching

Starting pitchers Phil Hughes, C.C. Sabathia, and Andy Pettitte have been pitching extremely well, combining to win 34 victories for the Yankees so far, and they all have 10 wins or more.  Javier Vazquez (7-7, 4.45) had a terrible season debut, but has been improving gradually.  40-year-old closer Mariano Rivera (20 saves) seems rejuvenated this season.

Tampa Bay Rays (54-34)

The Rays started the year strong, but they have cooled down since mid-June.  However, through last Sunday, they are only two games behind the Yankees, which proves that they can still keep up with the Yankees to compete for the playoff spot.

Offense

The offensive power relies heavily on the middle of their lineup: LF Carl Crawford, 1B Carlos Pena, and 3B Evan Longoria.

Nine years into his career, Crawford is sixth in the AL in hits this season (106), first in runs scored (70), and second in steals (31).  Clean-up hitter Pena is eighth in home runs with 18 and walks tied for third with 51 walks.  With Evan Longoria, they combine to score 117 runs, almost 38 percent of the team total in first half of the year.

Pitching

All-Star starting pitcher David Price and Matt Garza lead the Rays pitching rotation. Price has an impressive 12-4 record with a 2.42 ERA and 1.20 WHIP.  His fastball can reach 97 mph consistently.  He and Garza (10-5) are the only 10-game winners on the team. Third-best goes to James Shields (7-9).  Besides, no Rays starter has more than 10 losses (Wade Davies has nine).  Closer Rafael Soriano has done a good job with 33 saves and just one blown save.  He can also be seen in All-Star Game in Anaheim.

Boston Red Sox (51-37)

The Red Sox had a slow start from the beginning of Opening Day. People seemingly believed it would be a forgotten season for the team.  While they were talking mostly about the race between the Yankees and the Rays, Terry Francona’s team is back in the playoff race.

However, luck is not on their side.

The lineup is infected with a massive number of injuries.  These injuries took immediate effect, as the Sox were swept by the Rays last week.

Offense

David Ortiz is one of the reasons why the Sox were not successful at the beginning of the year. He only hit .143 and with one home run in the month of April.

He’s caught up now with 18 home runs (tied for eighth in the AL) and the Sox rank second in total home runs with 118.  3B Adrian Beltre and SS Marco Scutaro consistently reach base with 107 and 101 hits respectively.  The third-best goes to 1B Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedrioa (86 each).

The Red Sox have six players on the 15-day DL: Captain, C Jason Varitek (foot), C Victor Martinez (thumb), 2B Dustin Pedroia (foot), Mike Lowell (hip), and OFs Jeremy Hermida (rib) and Jacoby Ellsbury (rib).  Catcher Kevin Cash was acquired to fill in the empty catcher spot for now.  The organization should be worried offensively and defensively to start the second half.

Pitching

Boston has a team ERA of 4.34 (fifth-worst in the league) and walks 314 opposing batters (fourth-worst).

To contend in AL East, they need to post better numbers, especially from starting pitching.  Daisuke Matsuzaka has not been very consistent.  Besides knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (5.22), John Lackey has the worst ERA (4.78) on the team. His numbers seem to decline year by year.

Jon Lester (11-3) and injured Clay Buchholz (10-4) are the only 10-game winners.  Other injury casualties include SP Josh Beckett (lower back spasm) and reliever Manny Delcarmen (right forearm). 

Toronto Blue Jays (44-45)

Who would have thought that the Jays could lead the Major Leagues in home runs?  Out of Toronto’s 404 runs scored, 136 of them were caused by home runs—the best in baseball.  However, they will not be a real threat in AL East.  Their sub-.500 record is just not good enough to compete with the three big guns in the division.

Offense

Eight Blue Jays already have 10 home runs or more: 3B/RF Jose Bautista (24), CF Vernon Wells (19), SS Alex Gonzalez (17), C John Buck (13), 2B Aaron Hill (12), LF/DH Adam Lind (12), 1B Lyle Overbay (10), and 3B Edwin Encarnacion (10).

But the home run is the sole offensive category that is impressive.  The team only hits .240 collectively, fourth-worst in the majors, and only has an on-base percentage of .306.  They also have the third-worst batting average with runners in scoring position (.240).  These figures explain why the Jays are barely a .500 ball club.

Pitching

With the departure of the “Doc,” Roy Halladay, manager Cito Gaston cannot find a true ace.  Brett Cecil leads the team with eight wins, the most among starting pitchers.  Shaun Marcum (7-4) has the best starter ERA (3.44). He is currently injured (elbow inflammation), and will be back after the All-Star break. 

Baltimore Orioles (29-59)

No one would expect Orioles to escape out of the cellar.

Although mathematically possible, they still have 78 games to play to get out of the bottom of the division.  Chances are it will not happen.  Thirty games under .500 is sad.  The firing of manager Dave Tremblay in June was appropriate, but the organization has yet to find a long-term replacement to lead the team.

Offense

Losing star second baseman Brian Roberts at the beginning of the season to the 60-day DL (herniated disc in lower back) was crucial to Orioles’ failure.  The team seemed to lose direction from the start.  Its offense mainly comes from RF Nick Markakis, leader in team avg (.308), and CF Adam Jones who has 14 home runs (tied with 1B Ty Wigginton for team lead) and scored 44 runs (most on the team).

Pitching

Bad pitching will make you lose games.  Ask the Orioles if you don’t believe me.

No Oriole starting pitcher has more than five wins.  David Hernandez’s four victories is a team-high.  The ace, Kevin Millwood, is injured, and had horrible first half (2-8, 5.77 ERA, 1.58 WHIP).

The rotation also consists of veteran Jeremy Guthrie (3-10, 4.77), Brad Bergesen (3-6, 6.40), Brian Matusz (3-9, 4.77), and rookie Jake Arrieta (3-2, 4.38).  A consolation prize belongs to closer Alfredo Simon (2-1, 13 saves, 3.24 ERA), as the management seems to have found a stable reliever to close games.

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The Chicago Cubs continue their West Coast trip, shifting from Arizona to Los Angeles. Having swept the Diamondbacks, they began their four-game series against the Dodgers before the All-Star Game with a 3-2 loss.

In a night starting pitcher Randy Wells (4-7) gave the team a quality start, the Cubs could not find the way to solve Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw.  The Cubs left their hot bats in Phoenix, only scoring a mere two runs in a game that if they won, they would have a four-game winning streak. Nevertheless, it was a very good pitching duo between two starting pitchers. Wells, the losing pitcher, only gave up three runs in seven innings, scattering six hits, striking out eight, and walking one. But it was not good enough as starting pitcher, left-hander Kershaw conceded two runs in eight and closer Jonathan Broxton came in the ninth to shutdown the Cubs.

Dodgers scored first in the first inning; leadoff shortstop Rafael Furcal hit a double to center field, Andre Ethier grounded into a double-play only to have James Loney scored Furcal with a single. The Cubs responded right in the second inning. LF Alfonso Soriano tied the game up by sending Kershaw’s 92-mph fastball into the left-field bleacher, his 15^th home run on the year. Bad base running halted the Cubs to score more in the third. With one out, Ryan Theriot got picked-off at first base. Marlon Byrd grounded into a 9-3-6-3 rundown to finish off their inning. They managed to score their second and last run in the fourth; 3B Aramis Ramirez doubled to have C Geovany Soto sent him home with a single, his 24^th RBI of the year. 

The Dodgers had the last word. The Cubs managed to keep the score 2-1 until the seventh inning in which the Dodgers scored their game-winning run. With C Russell Martin on second base, Furcal hit his sixth home run of the year off Randy Wells. He finished off the night scoring twice, producing two runs in three hits. 

The winning pitcher, Kershaw (9-4), went deep into the eight giving up only two runs, striking out 11 Cubs and walking none. Broxton got his 19^th save of the year pitching the final inning. 

Cubs manager Lou Piniella will send southpaw Ted Lilly (3-7, 3.76) to the mound tomorrow, while Chad Billingsley (6-4, 4.06) will pitch for the Dodgers.

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