• There's no reason to be surprised or (if you're one of the dozen existing Rays fans) concerned about the Tampa Bay Rays 7 game losing streak. Think of it as a "regression towards the mean." The Rays have some top notch starting pitching among Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Matt Garza, and even Andy Sonnanstine has put up 10 wins, but they're 8th in the American League in runs scored. Their everyday SS, Jason Bartlett, has 9 extra base hits (8 doubles, 1 triple) in 273 at bats! With the exception of rookie Evan Longoria, none of their "big bats" are performing anywhere up to par. From last season to this season, B.J. Upton has gone from a .300/24/82 with a.894 OPS to a .276/6/44 with a .787 OPS; Carl Crawford has gone from a .315/11/84 with a .821 OPS to a .270/8/47 with a .700 OPS; and Carlos Pena has gone from a .282/46/121 with a 1.038 OPS to a .236/14/47 with a .778 OPS. In order for the Rays to seriously compete with the Red Sox for the division crown, they'll need major improvements from just about every offensive player on their roster in addition to adding at least one big right-handed bat and a shortstop with more power than a little leaguer. Realistically, the Rays are a 90-92 win team and serious contenders for a Wildcard berth, which is nothing to laugh at considering their pathetic team history.
• The Yankees are toast. And I'm not just referring to this season, but to next season as well. A team with a salary of over $200 million should NEVER have gone into a season relying on THREE rookie pitchers to carry them. Joba looks like the real deal but don't you think they might be reconsidering not giving up Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, and Melky Cabrera for Johan Santana now? As it stands, they have somewhere on the order of $75 million coming off the books this offseason (Jason Giambi - $23.5 million, Bobby Abreu - $16 million, Andy Pettite- $16 million, Mike Mussina - $11 million, Carl Pavano - $11 million (remember him), Kyle Farnsworth - $6 million, the main culprits), but as a result they'll have a number of huge holes. With no minor league position players they can realistically fit into their lineup, how do they not offer Mark Teixera 7 or 8 years at $150 plus million as well as $100 million plus to Ben Sheets and/or CC Sabathia? Not to mention, what do they do with Right Field? Do they sign Pat Burrell or Adam Dunn for $50 plus million, move Johnny Damon back to Center and put Melky Cabrera in Right? No matter what way you slice it, the Yankees will be forced to either overpay for position players or trade some or all of their top prospects for a player like Matt Holliday. And yet again, they'll need to completely overhaul their bullpen aside from Rivera. They're a disaster and I'm loving it.
• Most people didn't notice but the Boston Red Sox may very well have won the World Series during last Friday's 7-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles: JULIO LUGO TORE A QUADRICEPS AND WILL BE OUT FOR 4-6 WEEKS! Oh happy day! I'm not sure I've ever mentioned this but I have an almost irrational hatred of Julio Lugo. My enjoyment of watching Red Sox games is seriously hampered by his presence on the team. I would actually rather see him strike out with the game on the line rather than get a basehit at this point because of the possibility that that hit might extend his stay on the Red Sox. Now we get to see talented rookie Jed Lowrie take over -- something which should have happened last season -- and hopefully never give the job up. Julio Lugo getting injured is the equivalent of adding an Albert Pujols or Hanley Ramirez to the lineup, that's how much he detracts from the team by his presence. At this point, I can't see how the Red Sox don't win the World Series -- unless they put Lugo back in the lineup in September that is.
• There are 3 Jewish All-Stars out there tonight: 1B Kevin Youkilis (.314/15/63), 2B Ian Kinsler (.337/14/58), and 3B/LF Ryan Braun (.286/23/66). A pretty nice trio I'd say. I don't know if there are any All-Star Jewish Shortstops on the horizon, but we certainly could put together a nice Jewish infield. Oy!
• My apologies to Cliff Lee, but Roy Halladay should be the starting Pitcher for the AL. I know that Lee has the better record and a slightly better ERA (2.31 to 2.71), but Halladay's 7 complete games and 2 shutouts are remarkable in this day and age. If Halladay were on any other team than the Blue Jays, he would be openly discussed as one of the great pitchers of his generation.
• I'm usually fairly biased when it comes to anything related to Red Sox-Yankees, but there's absolutely no question that Mariano Rivera should be the AL closer over Jonathan Pabelpon. Rivera's had the better season, end of story. But the treatment that Pabelbon and his wife received during this afternoon's Red Carpet parade of All-Stars down Avenue of the Americas, where he was booed unmercifully and some threats were hurled at him and his wife, was typical no-class chickenshit behavior from Yankees fans that was completely uncalled for. Now I hope Rivera is used in the 5th inning or not at all. Maybe they can detonate Yankee Stadium with those ass-clown "fans" sitting in the stands.

Game time! Finally, mercifully!

Whoops, my bad, the longest pre-game introductions in the history of sport continues.

• George Steinbrenner being wheeled out to the mound doesn't quite give the same level of chills as when Ted Williams was brought out at the 1999 Fenway Park, does it?
• Ted Williams at Fenway was one of those special moments that only sports can deliver.
• From my fiancee: "Wade Boggs looks weird. Like a serial killer."
• I think we're possibly within 45 minutes of game time.
• I'm predicting a 6-4 AL victory. The AL's pitching advantage is the difference. But for the first time in a LONG time, I would actually favor the NL's line-up, particularly at the top. Ichiro/Jeter gets schooled by Hanley Ramirez/Chase Utley. You wouldn't know it by listening to Tim McCarver, but Jeter is an average baseball player at this stage of his career. Ichiro has finally brought his average up to .300, but Hanley Ramirez is one of the Top 5 offensive players in the game.

First Inning

Top Half:

- Hallelujah, the game's on!

- I can barely watch the T.V. when Hanley Ramirez is on. To think that I could have been watching him for the past two seasons instead of Julio Lugo!!! Sure, it's nice having Beckett and Mike Lowell, but trading a future Hall-of-Famer always has its drawbacks.

- Wow, Cliff Lee is fired up. Let's hope -- for Cleveland's sake -- that he doesn't overthrow and have to go on the DL like Pedro Martinez did after striking out 5 in a row to start the 1999 All-Star game.

- Nice, quick half inning. 17 more of those and it might make up for the 2 hours worth of pre-game introductions.

Middle Half:

- How is Milwaukee going to deal with the impending free agency of Ben Sheets AND CC Sabathia? I like the trade they made, they saw an opportunity to boast one of the top rotations in the game and they took it -- unlike the New York Yankees, who have quickly grown into chickenshit "let's hold onto all of our precious prospects" mode -- but I doubt the Brewers can sign both. I would sign Sheets if I were them. Sabathia has pitched a lot of innings and would soon look like Jabba the Hut after a year or two of living in Milwaukee.

- What a chump A-Rod is for not participating in the Home Run Derby. The whole "it screws up your swing" meme is complete bullshit and he knows it. You think that Josh Hamilton regrets his experience? A-Rod's a coward, that's why he didn't participate in the Derby. He was afraid of looking bad. While he may undoubtedly be remembered as one of the greatest players to ever play the game, he'll never be a legend.

Second Inning

Top Half:

- Wasn't Albert Pujols supposed to have blown out an elbow by now?

- Who saw this season coming from Chipper Jones?

- Ryan Braun strikes out! Jews everywhere hang their heads in disgust.

Middle Half:

- That Kevin Costner movie "Swing State" looks painfully bad. My advice: rent the 1993 Clint Eastwood-directed Kevin Costner movie, A Perfect World, instead. Very under-rated film. Highly recommended.

- The Red Sox don't have much choice other than to pick up Manny Ramirez's option for next season. What else are they going to do? Sign Pat Burrell or Adam Dunn to an overpriced 4 or 5 year contract, trade Kevin Youkilis and Craig Hansen to Colorado for Matt Holiday (that was a proposed trade), or give LF to rookie Brandon Moss? It's only a one year commitment, hardly a difficult decision.

- I always liked Milton Bradley. Crazy as all hell, but I'm glad he's doing well for himself. It's doubtful that he'll be able to maintain his equilibrium though -- If I were the Rangers, I'd trade him before the deadline and restock my minor league pitching depth.

- Kevin Youkilis strikes out! The Jews are growing restless!

Third Inning

Top Half:

- Yogi Berra making fun of Derek Jeter. Classic.

- Is there a more pathetic thing in sports than Yankee fans who wear those fake Jason Giambi moustaches? Yay, he's hitting again, so let's forget that he's a steroid-taking, gold thong wearing moron. If the average human body is 60% water, I would guess that Giambi's is 15% water an 45% HGH at this point.

- I wonder if "Fukodome" is actually prounounced "Foo-kay-dome" in Japan? Are there any Japanese out there that can confirm this for me?

Middle Half:

- I also have to say that I loved the Chicago Cubs trade for Rich Harden. Pair him with Carlos Zambrano and that's nice 1-2. Unfortunately Harden is as fragile as a leg-shaped lamp and there's at best a 10% likelihood that he makes it to the post-season in one piece.

- Nobody hits into a smoother double play than Derek Jeter. He's truly a gifted athlete.

Fourth Inning

Top Half:

- Raise your hand if you're excited for the X-Files Movie? Nobody?

- Halladay is a free agent after the 2009 season. It's funny you don't hear any discussion of the Blue Jays considering putting him on the trade block. I would expect they could extract no less than 2 top tier prospects as well as a couple of mid-grade prospects for him.

- What a laser from Ichiro to gun down Pujols at second. There's nothing more enjoyable than having an outfielder on the team you root for who has a gun for an arm like Ichiro or Vlad Guerrero. I still miss Dwight Evans.

Middle Half:

- Madonna? Seriously, A-Rod? That's who you end your marriage for? Just when you thought he couldn't sink any lower, he starts dating a 49 year old woman. He could have had a Paris Hilton/Lindsey Lohan sandwich, but he settled for someone who was born in the 1950s.

Fifth Inning

Top Half:

- Pineapple Express will be a huge hit. I read the screenplay and it is hands-down hilarious. After The Dark Knight it's the movie I'm most looking forward to this summer.

- Home run by Matt Holiday and we have a run on the board!

- If the Rays are serious about this season, Holiday would be a good addition. They certainly have the prospects to get the job done. It's a question of whether they have the desire. I doubt it.

Middle Half:

- I was a little surprised that Billy Beane traded Rich Harden. The As are 7 games over .500 and had a realistic chance at the Wild Card. Methinks Beane might know a little something about the health status of Rich Harden that he's not letting on. To think of all the pitching talent that Oakland has traded over the years -- including Danny Haren, the guy on the mound for the NL -- and they still have the best ERA in all of Major League baseball!

- Ian Kinsler with a stolen base! First the Jews control the media, the banks, and Hollywood, and now we're taking over baseball. What will we think of next?

- Thankfully for Derek Jeter there are already two outs so he can't hit into a double-play...Only a ground out to the pitcher. Rally killed.

Sixth Inning

Top Half:

- If I were Jason Varitek I would be significantly embarrassed to be named to the All-Star team. I know, it's a great honor to be chosen by the players, but have a little self-respect and come up with a "hamstring injury" or something. Is his .218 average the worst in baseball All-Star game history? To think just how much A.J. Pierzynski has to be hated by his fellow players for them to choose Varitek over him.

- Lance Berkman drives a deep out to Sizemore in Center, Hanley Ramirez tags up, and the NL takes a commanding 2-0 lead.

- You can choose to call it classy, but I prefer to see it as Terry Francona embarrassing himself with this whole removing A-Rod and Jeter in the middle of the inning so they can get a big cheer. Terry, have a little respect for yourself. These Yankee fans deserve an opportunity to be dipped in a barrel of feces before they deserve an opportunity to cheer for their hometown clowns.

Middle Half:

- I feel like it's time for a good All-Star game beaning. Milton Bradley is coming up soon. Maybe we could get the first brawl in the history of the All-Star game.

- That was a nice pitch by Haren to strike out Sizemore. Again, I reiterate, it's incredible the amount of talent the As have had to trade.

Seventh Inning

Top Half:

-Apparently Pabelbon's pregnant wife getting threatened by Yankees fans is a lead story on the Nightly News here in Los Angeles. I wonder if this story will get national attention? I ask you, do Yankee fans have any decency?

- Can we all agree that it would be nice if the Minnesota Twins overtook the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central?

- I just saw the the Clippers traded a 2nd round pick to the Nuggets for Marcus Camby. Good move by the Clippers, I'm shocked. Camby's only under contract for 2 seasons and will improve their interior defense signifcantly. Probably not the move that Clippers fans were hoping for after losing Elton Brand, but they may be better off in the long run.

Middle Half:

- Wait, Corey Hart is in right field? Is he wearing his sunglasses at night?...Sorry.

- Edwin Volquez really does look like a young Pedro Martinez out there. He brings the ball up higher before his release, but very similar to Martinez.

- J.D. DREW ties it up with a 2 run jack! I think I've mentioned this before, but J.D. Drew's emergence into an All-Star this season has me worried that the apocalypse is just around the corner. I will never be shocked by anything for the rest of my life after his turn-around.

Eighth Inning

Top Half:

- If I were Jonathan Pabelbon, I would just turn and start firing pitches into the stands. Fucking cowards.

- And the next time the Red Sox face New York, I'd plug a few Yankees batters for good measure.

- Yankees fan start chanting "over-rated," which of course is a chant they stole from Boston Celtics fans. How pathetic. I have a chant for Yankee fans: how about "YEAR 2000!...YEAR 2000!...YEAR 2000!"

- NL takes a 3-2 lead after Navarro throws a ball into centerfield, allowing Tejada to get to third and score on a sac fly.

Middle Half:

- You know what, it might be a good thing if the AL loses, because that way the Red Sox would be able to celebrate at Fenway Park after their 4 game sweep of the World Series.

- Hey, were you aware that this is the last season at Yankee Stadium?! Shouldn't they have been drilling that into our heads every 5 minutes for the entire length of the game?

- I'm going to go out on a limb and predict 10 All-Star appearances for Longoria's career. He ties the game with a double down the left field line.

Ninth Inning

Top Half:

- K-Rod is into the game. Apparently he has 38 saves on the season! I take back my earlier comment that Rivera should be closing this game. He'll be a free agent this offseason, can you say 5 years, $55 million?

- Oh please God, let Rivera blow this game.

- Seriously, Terry, neither Rivera nor his mongrel fans deserve your deference.

- Oh well, strike em out, throw em out and the inning is over.

Middle Half:

- C'mon Kinsler, hit a walk-off. Do it for the Jews!

- Oh my sweet Lord, the Yankees are coming to Fenway Park next week! Let's pray that Radio Shack is stocked up on batteries!

- Kinsler strikes out. First the Exodus and now this! Haven't we suffered enough?

- J.D. is going hit another one, I can feel it...and he strikes out.

Tenth Inning

Top Half:

- Rivera's still out there. I like Terry's strategy now: wear out Rivera in the All-Star game before the Yankees come to town next week. Brilliant.

- 1st and third with one out. Rivera may blow this yet.

- Crap, double play. It looks like Rivera will get out of the game unscathed...unless Terry is thinking of bringing him out there for a third inning? That would be too good, but it's not happening.

Middle Half:

- Uggla was Uggly on that play.

- Uggla does it again, right through the wickets and it's first and third with no outs. Oh right, Uggla was also the batter who just hit into the double play. You think he might just want to dig a hole out at second base right about now?

- Walking the bases loaded. I like the strategy, not much else you can do at this point.

- Oh thank goodness Uggla didn't choke on that one, might have scarred him for life. One out, bases still loaded.

- Longoria up with a good chance to be MVP if he can get the run home...And he grounds out feebly to third and there's two outs. This game has had quite the ending.

- WOW, what a play by Tejada! He has to charge hard, the ball hits the lip of the glass, he fields it and then he makes a powerful off-balance throw to just catch the runner! How about Aaron Cook's performance under pressure there?

- How excited is Uggla right now?

Eleventh Inning

Top Half:

- If this game ends in a tie, I am going to be SO pissed off for spending my entireevening doing this live blog. If I do a live blog, I'm going to pretty much demand that I at least get to see a winner and a loser.

- Rafael Soria pitches to Christian Guzman -- quite the parade of stars.

- Well, that half inning was quite a downer from the theatrics of bottom of the tenth. Let's hope this game ends soon.

Middle Half:

- Kinsler with a lead-off single! The Jews may rise again!

- Kinsler caught stealing on a pitch-out! And he wasn't even tagged by Tejada! These umpires are all anti-Semites, I tell ya!

- J.D. Drew singles up the middle which should have been the game-winning hit. He still might get the MVP unless there's a walk-off home run.

- What a play at the plate! Great throw by McLouth, great block by Martin. There's nothing better than a bang-bang play at the plate.

- On to the 12th. My fiancee is NOT happy.

Twelfth Inning

Top Half:

- I promised to get my fiancee Pinkberry when the game is over so I think I've bought myself another inning or two.

- What the hell kind of flip was that from Morneau? This isn't a egg-tossing contest, throw the ball!

- Then Morneau fields a bunt that was going foul. Is he trying to make Dan Uggla feel better about himself?

- Francona decides to walk the bases loaded.

- Longest game in ASG history. Figures.

- Uggla strikes out. Is it possible to retroactively revoke a player's All-Star selection?

- A pitching change? Seriously, Terry? This might have been one of his worst coached games ever. I'm dying.

Middle Half:

- Carlos Guillen DEEP TO LEFT...and it's off the wall. It's officially the game that never ends.

- Uggla almost boots another one, but gets the out. Will they walk the bases loaded and try for the double play?

- Nope, they bring the infield in. Strange, I would have at least put a runner on at first base and tried for a conventional double play.

- Longoria strikes out and the fiancee is getting very restless.

- Now they intentionally walk Morneau and Kinsler again has the chance to be the hero.

- Kinsler grounds out to third. Maybe he's only half-Jewish?

Thirteenth Inning

Top Half:

- I'm slowly losing my will to live, but I'll press on.

- How long before one of those broken maple bats lodges into a pitcher's face?

- Now I'm starting to wonder, what happens if the AL runs out of pitchers? Scott Kazmir threw 104 pitches on Sunday so he won't be able to go too long. Will they have to bring in a position player? In which case would Kazmir have to play in the outfield? Or will they just call it a tie? This is incredibly intriguing.

- Was George Sherrill and his 4.08 ERA really the best that the Orioles had to offer this season? I can't tell you how thankful I am not to be an Orioles fan.

Middle Half:

- Someone named Carlos Marmol is now in the game to pitch for the NL. Even Peter Gammons is scrambling for his program to figure out who this guy is.

- Marmol has an ERA of 13.50 for his last 12 appearances. My mistake, All Star all the way.

- Oh my dear Lord, ANOTHER error for Uggla? I feel like the crowd at the end of Braveheart: Mercy! Mercy! Mercy!

- J.D. Drew steals a base. He can taste that MVP trophy now. He will NOT be denied.

- I'm guessing that Marmol is a Dominican based on his Pedro Martinez-like delivery. This is incredible: there must be an entire generation of Dominican pitchers who based their delivery on Pedro and will soon decend on Major League Baseball. I'm very excited.

Fourteenth Inning

Top Half:

- McLouth drills it to right, back, back, back! And J.D. Drew brings it it at the wall. I could have sworn that one was long gone. It was like the hand of God kept that one in the park. This game might not be ending anytime soon.

- And Russell Martin clocks one deep to right...and Drew catches it just short of the track. What's it going to take?

- You can't deny George Sherrill, son! On to the bottom of the 14th.

Middle Half:

- Why is Clint Hurdle using Brandon Webb when he has Brad Lidge still in the bullpen?? Webb also pitched on Sunday and the D-Backs didn't want him in the game. This makes absolutely no sense.

- And Brandon Webb mows the poor AL down.

Fifteenth Inning

Top Half:

- Scott Kazmir is in the game. Now I'm really hoping that this game goes beyond this inning and we find out what happens when the AL runs out of pitchers. What recourse does Major League Baseball have if there's a tie? It's not like they can retroactively declare that the league that has the better record in interleague play has home field advantage in the World Series, can they? I bet they'll have to do something stupid like a coin flip. Too funny.

- Kazmir walks Wright but gets a one pitch groundout from Guzman. My vision is growing blurry. At least I live on the West Coast and it's not even 11 PM yet.

Middle Half:

- Now Brad Lidge is in the game, the last pitcher for the NL. Oh please let this game make it to the 16th inning!

- Leadoff single by Morneau. You know the AL is going to win now that I want it to continue.

- Ryan Ludwick makes a great diving catch on Ian Kinsler. Anti-Semite!

- Dioner Navarro singles to center and J.D. Drew is up with the MVP on the line. One lousy, little single and he's got it.

- J.D. walks. He's now been on base three times with a steal and has 2 RBIs. He may have the MVP yet.

- Young with a fly to right...play at the plate...SAFE! Wow, that was close. He might have made it by a toe. AL WINS!

- Terry Francona is a little TOO excited. Eleven wins in a row for the American League. I guess the Red Sox will be celebrating in Chicago or Arizona this year. Alas.

- J.D. Drew gets the MVP after all. Suck it Yankees fans, suck it! Ha ha!

Peace, I'm out of here.

The win puts the Yanks 6.5 games behind the Rays in the division standings.

This was a typical pitchers' duel between journeyman Sidney Ponson and Rays No.5 starter Edwin Jackson. The pitchers both gave up just one run each, but Ponson left earlier than Jackson. However, Ponson's performance was great, striking out four and walking two over 6 innings. New York has won all 3 of Ponson's starts since he was cut by the Texas Rangers earlier in the season. Mariano Rivera, Kyle Farnsworth, and Jose Veras combined for scoreless innings after Ponson left the game.

With the game tied 1-1, after a RBI single from Giambi and a solo homer from Rays slugger Carlos Pena, Bobby Abreu turned out to be the lone game-changer. Abreu fouled off four straight fastballs delivered from Grant Balfour in the 10th inning, then lined a pitch straight into the center-right gap, doubling home Derek Jeter for the walk-off hit. Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera later dumped Gatorade all over him.

Are the young Rays starting to lose their power? With this loss, Tampa Bay has lost 3 in a row, and dropped to 2-28 (.071) during their losing streak. Will they continue to dominate or drop?

And, with a four-game winning streak going on, the Yanks look to start another second-half surge like last year, when they went 39-26 to get a slot in the playoffs. Maybe they can.

All in all, a great day.

The score was tied up going into the tenth. After Grant Balfour struck out Brett Gardner, he walked Jeter. Next up was Bobby Abreu. Abreu singled to the gap between center and right field scoring Jeter from first. The Yankees won and have extended their win streak to four games.

David DeJesus went three for six with two RBI's. John Buck homered in the tenth inning it was his fourth. Mike Aviles had a three for five day and also hit a home run in the tenth. Joakim Soria blew the save in the ninth inning but came back to pick up the win for the Royals. Starter Gil Meche went five and a third and struck out five.

For Tampa Bay, Matt Garza went six and a third and let up three runs and struck out five. Carlos Pena hit the home run to tie the game in the ninth. It was Pena's 13th. All-Star snub Evan Longoria had two hits in five at-bats.

The offense doesn't need another Aaron Hill to man the other side of second base and hit doubles to the gap (although that would be nice too). It needs a legitimate power threat. Someone that can strike fear into an opposing pitcher. Tampa has Carlos Pena and the emerging Evan Longoria. The Sox have Ortiz, Manny, and J.D. Drew. The Yanks have A-Rod, Bobby Abreu, and to an extent Giambi. The Jays on the other hand have a batting order that showcases Alex Rios, Vernon Wells, and Matt Stairs in the 3 through 5 spots. Together they've combined for 20 HRs. Add in the totals of Scott Rolen and Lyle Overbay (who usually follow in spots 6 and 7) and the number rises to a whopping 32. In comparison, the trio of Ortiz, Ramirez, Drew have totalled 45 thus far this season. As has the trio of A-Rod, Giambi and Abreu, while Pena, Longoria, and Jays cast-off Eric Hinske have totalled 39 for Tampa Bay.

Burnett is a premuim trading chip to be holding at this point in the season. With lots of teams still in the playoff hunt, a pitcher like Burnett has the potential to push a middle-of-the-pack wild-card contender (New York, Texas, or Milwaukee) over the top. As such, he could probably fetch a good, power-hitting youngster, especially if his new team could convince him not to opt-out of his deal and stick around for two more years at $11m per (which is a bargain considering $11m a year is the going rate for Carlos Silva these days).

It would just be nice to see, for once, J.P. Ricciardi make a move with the club's long-term future in mind, rather than with the naive assumption that a guy like David Eckstein (or whatever other middle-of-the-road shortstop Ricciardi plans on going after with Burnett) will push this already light-hitting group over the top.

Losing is losing, of course, but we've lost the last 5 games by a grand total of 7 runs. That's almost a ridiculous string of bad luck. I know it's not fun watching Julio Lugo ground out AGAIN to kill a rally, or Craig Hansen get roughed up again, but it's not like we're getting blown out here. And we're still 16-13 since June 1. Without David Ortiz. Something tells me that once he returns, we won't be losing quite as many one-run affairs.

I also know that all the talk is about the Rays as the new divisional champ. They've apparently had the toughest schedule among the top 3 AL East teams so far, and have the easiest road ahead. Still I say, don't believe the hype. Tampa should be at 48 Pythagorean wins, according to their run differential, while Boston should be at 50.5; that means they are about 4 wins luckier than they have a right to be. I see a number of shortcomings with this Tampa team. They are still inexperienced, and that won't help down the stretch. Scott Kazmir has a history of injury, and they don't have great rotational depth. If the rotation stumbles, their relatively thin bullpen will be exposed. Their closer, Troy Percival, has had trouble saying healthy, and had a 5.40 ERA in June, walking 7 men in 6 2/3 IP. They have Dan Wheeler, but Al Reyes, their other setup man, is having arm trouble. Their outfield still has a weak link, with Gabe Gross providing defense, but not much stick. With Carlos Pena scuffling at, they lack that one big impact bat in the middle of their order.

Let's take a look at our June and see what went right for the Sox:

Boston outhit and outscored Tampa Bay (without Big Papi).
J.D. Drew just received AL Player of the Month honors for his .337/.462/.848, 12 HR, 27 RBI performance. Not enough recognition went to Dustin Pedroia (.356/.407/.545, 11 XBH and 21 RS) and Mike Lowell (.351/.425/.608, 6 HR and 25 RBI), who also put up brilliant months in June.

The team did surprisingly well in Papi's absence, scoring 138 runs while hitting .279/.358/.473. The Rays put up just about as many runs with 134 (in one less game), but did it with a .266/.349/.457 line, suggesting that there was some luck involved there.

Boston has more rotational depth.
This one is very simple. If a starter (or two starters) goes down, Boston can weather that much better than the upstart Rays. Which top 7 would you rather have?

Red Sox: Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Bartolo Colon, Jon Lester, Tim Wakefield, Clay Buchholz and Justin Masterson.

Rays: Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Matt Garza, Andy Sonnanstine, Edwin Jackson, Jason Hammel, Jeff Neimann

Boston has a better and deeper bullpen.
Despite the inconsistencies here and there, the Red Sox do have better arms in their bullpen, most notably at (ahem) closer. There is no shutdown setup man thus far, but we do have at least 3-4 candidates who could emerge this season. Furthermore, the Red Sox are well-stocked to make a move at the deadline to make the relief corps even better. If Masterson joins this group, watch out.

Summary
I think Tampa actually gets the advantage for defense, because of the putrid play of Lugo at short, but other than that, I have trouble seeing how they are a better team than us. I still think they are a 3rd place team in this division. So let the Tampa fans enjoy their week in first place; it's a new feeling for them. It's all hype, as far as I'm concerned.

After spending the first 10 years as an organization in the cellar of the American League East, the Tampa Bay Rays are atop the baseball world. The young Rays are playing well beyond their years, and thanks to a talented core of players with a few veterans thrown in, Tampa Bay has the best record in the majors, at 49-32. The team's success is wrapped around players like Evan Longoria, their rookie third baseman; Carl Crawford, their speedy spark-plug of a left fielder; and B.J. Upton, their talented, five-tooled center fielder. These players, at the ages of 22, 26, and 23, respectively, have built the franchise not only as a young team, but as a young, good team.

Think of their team this way: Carlos Pena, a power hitter who hit over 40 homers last year, hasn't been much of a factor this season, Crawford, though producing, hasn't had the same consistency this year as in past seasons, and Upton, a player that usually possess a good amount of power, only has four homers at this point in the season. With these players not playing as they are expected, the team is still as good as they are. If the team can get these players going, along with the other solid talent they have on their team, this record won't be an admiration at season's end.

After just being recognized as a ball-club with young talent and no ability to win, the team now has some lasting success. A veteran like Troy Percival, who is anchoring the closer's role (18 saves), helps the team in so many other ways than closing out a win. He brings some much needed leadership to a very young team, allowing the team to mature into a contender. Eric Hinske, the teams' designated hitter, has also provided some guidance as a six year veteran, helping the players around him not only with his bat (a bat that has produced 13 homers).

Evan Longoria, the Rays phenom, has had a very good first year, compiling 15 homers and 47 rbi's. Despite being 22, he is one of the leaders of the team, which could be a good and bad thing. Though B.J. Upton's power numbers aren't there, he is doing so many other things for his team. He has 23 stolen bases, contributing to his 51 runs scored. Carl Crawford has put up similar numbers (.278 8 homers, 44 rbi's, 53 runs, 20 stolen bases) though they aren't spectacular, he, like Upton, makes the most of what he gets.

To go along with the flurry of gifted hitters, the Rays also have many talented pitchers that have helped make this season as successful as it has been. No matter how good the teams' hitting can be, you'll only go as far as your pitching will take you. What is scary about this team is that they have the pieces to go a long ways, which means a solid pitching staff. Scott Kazmir, the teams' ace, has been superb after sustaining an injury in the beginning of the season, posting a 7-3 record in 11 starts, with a 2.38 ERA. The rest of their staff is compile of pitchers at the age of 25 or younger but all of them have made significant contributions this season despite the lack of long term experience in the majors (Andy Sonnanstine, 9-3 record, James Shields, 5-5 with a 3.6 ERA, Matt Garza, 6-4, 3.7 ERA, and Edwin Jackson, 4-6 with a 4.3 ERA).

Since the Rays have, at this point, established themselves as one of the best teams in baseball, and since they have a ton of young talent, do they go out and sign a big name player to fill out their ball-club. A player that comes to mind is C.C. Sabathia, the talented Cy Young award winning Indians pitcher who will most likely be put on the market come July if the Indians front office can't sign him long term. The problem with going after him what the Rays would have to give up. They have a plethora of young pitchers, as previously mentioned, as well as some blossoming hitters that could be enticing to the Indians, but would they want to ruin their chemistry for a star. Baseball analysts such as ESPN's Buster Olney have said that even with the great young pitchers they now have on their team, they have more on the way. The reason why the Rays are so good now is because they have held onto their youth and have let them mold into the current stars they are now. Why risk losing players like Sonnanstine, Shields, Crawford, Jackson, Upton, Kazmir and Garza, players have helped the team to where they are now, and overpay for a C.C. Sabathia. Even if the Rays were to go after and acquire Sabathia in a trade this season, with their payroll at the minuscule size that it is ($44 million), he would take up half of it, giving the Rays nearly no chance to sign any of their other players long term.

Even with the success the Rays have had during the first 82 games, there is a question that needs answering: how will this small marketed team full of 20-something talented players hold up come September and October, months that have never been important in their franchise's history?

Carlos Delgado- Massive day saw him hitting a grand slam, a 3-run homer, and a 2-run RBI. For a player that is in the twilight of his career todays numbers give him some respectable season totals with 13 home runs, and 43 RBIs. He is still a poor option to be playing everyday for most fantasy teams, but if you had him in today, props to you.

Curtis Granderson- He continued his hot hitting moving his streak up to 14 games. Back-to-back 4/5 games and his last three games he is 10/14. During this 14 game hitting streak he has moved his average .054 points. Now batting .294 on the season, and finally attempting to steal (though caught two nights ago, but got a steal last night), and the best part is that he had 2 triples tonight doubling his total this year. He isn't just hot, he is sizzling tobasco hot.

Seth McClung- A bad outing against surging Twinkies. Not surprising as many NL starters are getting rocked against AL lineups when the AL is home. That and it was Minnesota's second time seeing him in the last two weeks. After posting four straight quality starts in a row, he was due for a poor outing. Look for a better start early next week against the Diamondbacks when he pitched 6 innings of one run ball back in early June.

Jair Jurrjens- 8 innings of 3 hit ball, striking out 3. It was probably his best outing of the season. The Blue Jays on the other hand are an awful hitting team, so this might just be a blimp of his possibilities in the future. of great month. He is young with a lot of potential and will have a typical rookie roller coaster season.

Chase Utley- Still in a pretty big slump despite his recent 4/5 game on Tuesday. I was reading a wonderful report on him that was really impressive on my news link.

Prince Fielder- Another oh fer night against the Twinkies has brought his hitless streak to a season high of four games. In that span he is 0/17 dropping his average from .292 to .274. Granted this streak has coincided with a road trip as his home average is .313 compared to .250 on the road, just an observation.

Chris Davis (TEX)- He strikes out like Howard, and like Jay Bruce is doing and did in the minors. He has some pop, but only with marginal power (aka mid 20's in a full season). Pickup at your own risk.

Brian Buscher- Finally putting it all together after struggling last year. With this last call-up he is 18/44 with 10/1/15 with a .375 batting average. He is a very timely hitter for the twins, and his call-up has coincided with the Twins winning streak (now up to 10 games). Tomorrow I will give a player break down on him. This waiver wire fodder is better than the air conditioner above.

CC Sabathia- Pitched 8 innings of shutout ball, while striking out 11 Reds while allowing only four hits. I think his funk in officially over. His last 10 outings have produced 8 quality starts, and all of them he has pitched at least 7 innings.

Edinson Volquez- I don't know how I missed it yesterday, but he had his worst game of the season by far. Has Dusty Baker been riding our young starlet? If he has another poor start in his next outing it could make the dog days of summer even longer in Cincinnati, and for all you Volquez owners out there.

Clayton Kershaw- This year Lincecum? Um, more like over-hyped, and not totally prepared for the big leagues. Still young enough to adjust (DUH!), but probably not this year.

Nick Swisher- A grand slam, a double and two runs, a pretty nice night for a struggling Swisher. On pace for typical year (minus his career year in 2006). Just have to keep expectations lower than his 2006 numbers.

Kei Igawa- The Yanks are going to try and use him as their long reliever after the sent Ross Ohlendorf who got rocked today. Kei is definitely not the key to fit into this broken bullpen.

Carlos Pena- Can anyone say Brady Anderson (career stats here). Striking out at a 34% rate this year and a 30% rate for his career. He whiffs just as much as Ryan Howard, but Howard's free air conditioning has proven to hit home runs. With a career average at .250 don't expect more than 15 more homers all year.

Evan Longoria- I tell you to trade him and he goes out and hits his a three-run bomb for his 15th homer of the season. With a 4/5 day he has raised his average up from .248 to .272 during his five game hit streak. With a line of 41/15/46 he just might be this years Pence-Braun tweener (aka not as good as Braun, but better than Pence)

Jacob McGee- Keeping along the Tampa Bay Rays news, he will undergo Tommy Johns Surgery. This should just be a small set back as he is often given the title of the best minor league pitcher on his way to the majors. Now, we just have to wait a bit longer to see him in the majors, and maybe this will make some fantasy owners forget about him and he could fall through the holes in the near future.

Game 1: Boston 7, Tampa Bay 4

Justin Masterson (2-0) turned in another strong start. Even though the numbers weren't as great as the other two, he threw quality pitches in this one. He fanned five and walked just two over six innings. What a workhorse! He gives you six good innings every start! Both Jason Varitek and Terry Francona complimented him on the sharpness of his slider tonight.

Mike Lowell, an expert at utilizing Fenway Park's Green Monster, homered to give the Sox a 2-1 lead, and J.D. Drew also hit a long one to right in the 4th. After Jason Varitek singled to tie the game in the 6th, Coco Crisp gave the Sox the go-ahead run with an RBI double off the wall. I didn't know he could hit it that far going opposite field, and that's good to see.

Don't look now, but the bullpen (outside of Hideki Okajima) is putting together a lot of good innings lately. In fact, none of the other relievers has been scored on since Mike Timlin gave up the walkoff single in Seattle, and the bullpen has a collective 1.90 ERA in 23 2/3 IP since the beginning of that series, May 26. Take out Okajima's 4-run performance the other night, and it has been seriously lights out.

Carlos Pena suffered a broken finger after being hit with a pitch early in the game; that still didn't stop him from doubling and homering tonight.

Game 2: Boston 5, Tampa Bay 1

Josh Beckett (6-4) was in strike-throwing form, and pitched six very strong innings, allowing one run on seven hits. No walks, though he seemed to miss the corners a lot towards the end. Beckett did slip on the wet mound in the 6th, prompting a visit from the training staff. The bullpen continued its streak of goodness, with three scoreless frames. Manny Delcarmen struck out the side in the 7th, and Hideki Okajima needed a lot of pitches, but got through the 8th, striking out two. Craig Hansen pitched a clean 9th on just 10 pitches to seal the deal, his second strong outing in a row.

The Sox scored three runs in the 2nd off of Edwin Jackson (3-5) on the strength of a some clustered hits, including a long ground-rule double to right by J.D. Drew. That's a home run in more than a few ballparks. Dustin Pedroia apparently hit a home run just inside the Pesky Pole in the first, only to have it ruled a foul ball. Frustrating for him, but at least it didn't affect the outcome of this one.

After stealing second base, Coco Crisp made a baserunning error in the 6th when he put his head down and rounded third on an infield single by Jacoby Ellsbury. He thought it went through the infield, but Jason Bartlett, who had no play at first or third, simply threw to third to get Crisp. Crisp later slid hard into second base on a stolen base attempt in the 8th, prompting some stares from Rays players and a word or two from Joe Maddon. Crisp was upset about Bartlett putting his knee down in front of the bag earlier, when Crisp stole second and sprained his thumb as a result.

Manny Ramirez continues to DH, as he's having some leg soreness or something like that.

Game 3: Boston 7, Tampa Bay 1

Jon Lester (4-3) came up big after being spotted an early 3-0 lead. 6 1/3 innings on 109 pitches is average for him, but he issued zero walks, which is great for him. He scattered 8 hits and allowed just one run, striking out 5 Rays with average stuff but good command.

Coco Crisp's residual anger boiled over in the 2nd inning when starter James Shields (4-4) hit him on the leg with a changeup, and he charged the mound, clearing both bullpens and getting both himself and Shields ejected (I guess Crisp won't be traded to Tampa). That worked out fairly well for Boston, who extended the lead on Tampa's bullpen to 7-1, where it would stay. I say fairly well, because after Jacoby Ellsbury rolled his wrist on a diving catch in the 4th, we ended up fielding an outfield of Kevin Youkilis in right, J.D. Drew in center and Chris Carter in left. Carter went 2-3 with two singles off the bench, his first big league hits.

The anger continued to seethe under the surface, as a total of five hitters were plunked in this one altogether. Is this for real? A Red Sox-Rays rivalry?

Manny Ramirez golfed one of his patented shots into the Landsdowne parking lot in the first, making it 3-0, and contributed a bases-loaded single in the 4th to drive in two more. The other guy to come up big in Papi's absence is Drew. He's really stepped up his game offensively and defensively in this series, and has done a tremendous job in that #3 hole. Just get on and let Manny be Manny.

One thing I hope is not an issue; Manny and Youk were seen going at each other in the dugout near the end of the 4th inning. They had to be physically separated. Knowing how intense Youkilis is, and how relaxed Manny tends to be, it was probably something said that didn't sit well. Ramirez seemed to tweak his knee/hamstring in the 7th in an at-bat, and was lifted for Kevin Cash. Let's hope that this doesn't mean we'll be without both pieces of our dynamic duo.

Well folks, we’re briskly moving to the time of year when you start hearing scouts and experts use the phrase “small sample size” less and less, and begin to believe that the slump your star hitter is going through is no longer just a slump or that hot start for a guy may turn into season-long success. How are the stars and the no-namers doing so far in 2008? Let’s just see…

We wrap things up in the American League to check on AL East - where the current landscape is as follows:

Tampa Bay Rays     35-22
Boston Red Sox      35-25
Toronto Blue Jays   31-28
New York Yankees 28-29
Baltimore Orioles   27-29

TAMPA BAY RAYS

Biggest Suprises-

1. 1st Place- Isn't it obvious? The clear-cut reason why this team is in first place is because they fined people $1 every time someone mistakenly referred to them as the Devil Rays. Now they've taken that revenue, and put it back into the team for once! OK, so the real reason they're in first place is because they finally have some pitching depth at the Major League level that is backing up the young talent that has been showcased at nearly every other position.
2. Troy Percival (CL)- A year ago at this time, Percival wasn't even on a Major League roster. Now, he's the closer and clubhouse leader of the team sitting atop the AL East. He's striking out nearly a hitter every inning, and has led this bullpen back from the depths of hell (sorry, had to work that Devil reference in somwhere - you understand, right?). Having a guy at the end of that bullpen that will finish off a close game more than 80% of the time spurs confidence through the entire team, and it's showing so far in 2008.

Biggest Disappointments-

1. Carlos Pena (1B)- He came out of nowhere to hit 40+ homers last year, and could very well do it again this year with 10 already on this campaign. But a .221 batting average with 71K's in 57 games just isn't going to cut it. Pena needs to scale back the strikeouts and start making more contact if the Rays plan on seeing continued success.
2. Jason Bartlett (SS)- I had trouble finding another guy that really hasn't been up-to-snuff so far this season, and I have to admit it was pretty tough. Bartlett is a guy that is known almost solely for his defensive ability, being able to track down most everything hit to the left side of the infield and still record an out. But is his defense making up for the fact that he's a black hole when it comes to batting? His numbers so far in 2008 cry no: .246, 0 HR, 9RBI with a .575 OBP - worst out of any everyday player in the the majors.

BOSTON RED SOX

Biggest Suprises-

1. Jacoby Ellsbury (CF)- There was a reason why the Red Sox were adamant about not parting with Ellsbury and the other guy that is a surprise on this team (see No. 2) in the same trade for Johan Santana. Ellsbury has played phenomenal defense along with batting .287 with a .385 OBP and 27 steals. Those numbers are ridiculous for a guy that hasn't been in the majors for a full year! And now with David Ortiz gone, Ellsbury's speed is going to become a necessity for team success.
2. Jon Lester (SP)- What more can you say about this guy. He's fully recovered from cancer in 2007, and has already thrown a no-hitter so far this season. Lester possesses the rare combination of great stuff along with the mental makeup that could take him to ace status in the future. It's amazing to think what this man has fought through in such a short amount of time, and he's proving to the franchise it was a great choice NOT to trade him for Johan Santana.

Biggest Disappointments-

1. David Ortiz (DH)- It's difficult to call one of the best hitters of the last half-decade a disappointment, especially when the guy has 13 homers thus far. But a near career-low .247 batting average that coincides with a recent wrist injury that will disable him for a month at least makes him a casualty on this team. The Red Sox have become so much more balanced in the past two years that they can last for a little while without Ortiz, but a full month or maybe more is stretching that hypothesis.
2. Mike Timlin (RP)- I'm really reaching here I tell ya. I have to search through rosters just to find guys that are struggling on some of these top teams. Timlin is obviously at the tail end of his career, and was due for a dropoff here in 2008. I'm not to sure a 6.48 ERA qualifies as the downhill slide of your career, however (more like jumping off a cliff). Timlin will either bounce back, or the Red Sox will find someone in the minors that can pitch better.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS

Biggest Surprises-

1. The Starters- Everyone knew the Jays had a deep rotation that could be a difference-maker in the this division. But I don't know that anyone could've dreamed of them being this good. The starters have picked up 27 of the teams 31 wins so far this season. I know, you need a good bullpen for the starters to get wins, but these starters are not only pitching well, but they are pitching deep into ballgames, giving the bullpen fewer chances to blow the wins they've established. It's good to see Roy (Doc) Halladay bounce back this year too. He's easily my favorite pitcher in the majors.
2. BJ Ryan (CL)- Already back from Tommy John surgery last year, Ryan picked up right where he left off after he signed that big free agent contract with Toronto. He averages more than a strikeout per inning, and has just a 1.53 ERA in 18 appearances. It looks like the Jays made a wise buy when they yanked this difference-maker from division foe Baltimore a couple years ago.

Biggest Disappointments-

1. Alex Rios (OF)- The Jays showed Rios the money in the off-season, and Rios has done nothing but prove he was a good long-term investment. He's hitting just .262 and has 54 K's in 57 games played so far. He's currently on pace for nearly 150 strikeouts in 2008, and that would shatter his career-high in that category by nearly 50 punch outs. If the Jays plan on making the next step toward contention in the AL East, they're going to need premium performances from Rios.
2. The Power Numbers- They dumped Frank Thomas so his option year for 2009 didn't vest after a specified number of plate appearances, and they're paying for it through statistics. Toronto has mustered just 39 homers so far this season, and have nobody on their roster with 7+ homers. If you don't have the plate discipline like the Yankees or Red Sox, than you better be knocking some baseball over the fence to hang with them, that's why their current position of third place will probably be higher than where they finish.

NEW YORK YANKEES
(Note: I allowed my co-worker Derek, a depressed Yankee fan, to choose these as a way to let out his sorrow.)

Biggest Surprises-

1. Mike Mussina (SP)- His velocity keeps dropping, and he continues to re-invent himself as a pitcher to continue recording outs. He may only have a pedestrian 4.26 ERA, but he has kept the Yanks in nearly every ballgame he's pitched, and has done exactly what they wanted from him in the final year of his contract (don't kill the team). Now you wonder if the Yanks will bring him back on a one-year deal in 2009 just to keep some sense of stability in that sporadic rotation.
2. That Yankees Share A Thong- Derek originally had "Joba's Bullpen Stay" penciled in for this spot, but i made a change after the pinch hitter was announced. Gentlemen of this world: If you wear a thong - more power to ya. But I sure as shit don't wanna see it, or hear about it, let alone find out you've shared that thong with struggling teammates!!! I knew being a member of the Yankees was special, but i was mis-informed (or mis-remember) of the definition of the word in this case.

(Imagine Jason Giambi wearing this - then hurl yourself off a cliff.)

Biggest Disappointments-

1. The Young Guns- Don't fret Yankee fans, I'm still a firm believer that it was a good move not to overpay for Johan Santana, despite the struggles of the young fireballers that were rumored to be headed west in the potential deal. Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, who were both in the opening day rotation, have begun the season 0-7 with an above 8.00 ERA in 14 starts. Both of them are fiddling with injuries right now, and with the emergence of Darrell Rasner and the promotion of Joba Chamberlain to the rotation, I think these guys will return to Yankee stadium in a bullpen capacity when they're healthy.
2. The Offense- This team was built to wear out starting pitchers and then gut the underbelly of nearly every Major League team (the long relievers). Instead they are just a tick above the .331 on-base percentage average, and have struggled to score runs in particular stretches of the season. Part of the paradigm can be blamed on the loss of slugger Alex Rodriguez to a quad injury. But some of the Yankee stalwarts (Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, and Robinson Cano) have played well below their career averages.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES

Biggest Suprises-

1. Their Record- I figured there was little chance of this team winning 60 games this year. They traded their best hitter and ace pitcher during the offseason, and didn't appear to receive a ton of short-term help from either of those trades. Boy was I mistaken. Adam Jones is going to be an above-average outfielder when he fills out in the next couple of years, Luke Scott has played better than anyone thought he could, and George Sherrill, despite his age (31) has been a Godsend for that bullpen. There's no doubt this team will finish last in this division, but if they continue this pace it won't be by much.
2. Daniel Cabrera (SP)- Another one of those guys that has ace stuff, but minor league control and feel, Cabrera seems to have figured things out (somewhat) in 2008. His strikeouts are way down, but his walk numbers are down just as much. He's the Carlos Zambrano of the American League in that regard - learning that strikeouts are important, but only when you really need them. Otherwise, just go after the hitter and throw strikes. Keep those innings short, and you'll see success.

Biggest Disappointments-

1. Lack of Hits- They have no guys in their everyday lineup hitting over .267 and that tends to be a big problem when you have sub-par pitching staff. They will more than likely part with Brian Roberts if they can get enough in return for him (since the biggest Roberts suitor - the Cubs - don't appear interested anymore), and will also try to purge the salary of Melvin Mora if they can just dump his contract on somebody with a B- prospect in return. Don't expect these numbers to improve greatly.
2. Ramon Hernandez- A .218 average just isn't going to cut it for a guy $7.5 million this season. He's supposed to be the rock steady hitter in that lineup, but he hasn't hit well enough to protect a free swinging pitcher these days. It's official - he's washed up.

Carlos Peña inicialmente apuntaba a seguir los pasos de su ilustre abuelo, “El tin tan “ Peña, como jugador de futbol profesional, hasta hace algún tiempo militaba en las fuerzas especiales del Club Municipal, es estando allí cuando entra al Instituto Angelia Rosa. Definitivamente el Ídolo que entro no encaja con el que es ahora ya que según varios de sus contemporáneos en la academia lo recuerdan como un alumno que al principio era “chiviado y de voz temblorosa”, tanto que la primera vez que fue al concurso (fue descalificado en la segunda ronda) su misma entrenadora se mostraba reacia a que el principiante alumno participara. Durante todo el año siguiente mostró tenacidad al no dejarse caer por un momento de debilidad durante el evento anterior, durante ese mismo desarrollo un fuerte lazo de amistad con un compañero de la academia llamado Carlos también y apodado “Rock Star”, con quien formó un dúo en el cual destacaban las composiciones que estos hacían, “hacían muy buena pareja” recuerdan los compañeros, es por esto que Carlos Peña le promete a su mancuerna que cuando el alcance la fama va a buscar un manager para los dos y su otra gran amiga de la escuela de canto, Sophia Amezquita, quien antes del suceso American Idol se identificaba como cantante de música cristiana, cantante de bastante amplitud en cuanto al rango de voz, con dificultad para manejar los pianos y pianisimos así como el mesa di voce fue eliminada de la edición 2008 de Latinoamerican Idol al no haber pasado la audición inicial.

Carlos en Argentina mientras tanto en Guatemala…

La voz de alerta de que había un guatemalteco compitiendo el latinoamerican Idol salio desde la radio en un programa puramente de tinte político llamado “Contravia” que es conducido y dirigido por Estuardo Zapeta quien es amigo desde hace años de alguien clave en la carrera de Carlos Peña, Hugo Peña, padre del ídolo. El señor Zapeta promovió la participación de Carlos durante el concurso haciendo énfasis durante varias de sus transmisiones de que no lo apoyaba por que lo conocía, sino por que sencillamente era bueno (hasta el momento se conoce como el único al que ha apoyado abiertamente)

Hugo Peña, como cualquier padre que ama a un hijo hizo todo lo que estaba a su alcance para promover a Carlos, tanto como hijo y como a un negocio (el es su actual representante). El señor Peña tiene una amplia experiencia de varios años mercadeando candidatos políticos, algunos ganadores incluso. De esta experiencia no solo conservo la astucia para enamorar al público si no que también los contactos necesarios para hacerlo de una manera barata y eficiente. Algunos contactos influyentes, antiguos colegas y favores por cobrar, bastaron para poner manos a la obra en tapizar la capital con las fotografías tomada por Julián Quevedo. Eso sin contar lo rentable que resultaba para las compañías telefónico el que la gente apoyara a Peña, por que de cada mensaje un porcentaje de su precio quedaba en manos de la empresa. El río estaba revuelto y no tardarían en aparecer los pescadores. Esto debió haberse convertido en una gran lección para los empresarios y la ansiada apertura para todos los artistas guatemaltecos

Del Instituto Angélica Rosa salio la historia acerca del buen Carlos que había estudiado música con la Doctora desde niño y que era graduado de la misma cuando en realidad el ídolo latinoamericano tenia tres años de estar en el instituto para cuando lo dejo por el programa (muchos concuerdan que era bueno pero no el mejor) , nunca llego a graduarse de dicha institución que de la noche a la mañana se convirtió en el Santuario de Carlos Peña y por ende en centro de peregrinación para todos aquellos que soñaban y sueñan con el camino fácil a la fama.

Al mismo tiempo la televisión nacional hablaba del evento y contaba lo que sucedía para todos los que no tenían alcance a la televisión pagada, varias empresas acceden a las ideas de Hugo Peña y empezaron a regalar tarjetas de teléfono específicas para poner mensajes a favor de Peña en la compra de jugos, licores, boquitas, etc. Todo lo que tenia la cara de Carlos Peña se vendía, situación que aumento hasta el día que fue proclamado ganador del concurso.

Puedo ser yo el próximo Ídolo?

Claro que puede serlo cualquiera que tenga cierto entrenamiento vocal ya que la exigencia del programa no es mucha, es un concurso de canto en las primeras 3 rondas, una vez comienza el programa y la eliminatoria por votos esto es un concurso de popularidad. Por eso va a ganar el que mas escándalo haga entre sus posibles votantes.

A Carlos Peña no solo le ayudo la magnifica campaña publicitaria que hizo su familia si no que también una serie de factores que si bien podrían repetirse la posibilidad es minima.

Carlos competía contra gente de países que tradicionalmente tienen gente muy bien colocada en la industria del entretenimiento a nivel no solo latino si no mundial, en Guatemala el programa transmitido por el canal Sony pereciera ser muy famoso en toda Latinoamérica pero la realidad es otra, esto dificultó para el resto de competidores, que pasaban desapercibidos en sus respectivos países, poder promocionarse, por lo que quedaron a merced de su talento y la publicidad que el canal hacia en sus espacios publicitarios para mantenerse en el programa a excepción del competidor de El Salvador que se mantuvo largo rato en competencia gracias a un grupo de amigas que se dedicaban a captar donaciones económicas y a recolectar dinero en los centros comerciales, con lo recolectado compraban tarjetas de teléfono y votaban por su compatriota, finalmente sucumbieron a la maquinaria publicitaria y de gente adinerada que había atrás de Carlos Peña, esto es definitivamente necesario para poder ganar el concurso, la capacidad económica de echar a andar a las masas.

La publicidad Peña se aprovecho de lo emotivo que resultaba el que un guatemalteco por fin hiciera sonar el nombre de nuestro país, habían pasado casi 20 años desde que Arjona apareció en México ya necesitábamos otra estrella.

Ahora la situación ha cambiado, los precios del combustible han hecho que la gente empiece a renunciar a ciertos gastos superfluos ¿estarán dispuestos los consumidores a gastarse 20 dólares nuevamente por algo que no tiene mas caso que el puro orgullo chapín? Esto aunado al hecho de que finalmente Carlos Peña no tuvo el empuje internacional que se creía (esto se veía venir ya que de la ganadora anterior a Carlos nadie ha sabido nada) un contrato de corta duración, un disco con covers en su mayoría que no recaudo lo que se esperaba, que la mayoría de presentaciones de Carlos finalmente son en Guatemala y que las que son de proyección internacional son para promocionar el mismo concurso hace que muchos artistas serios desistan de competir en el circo de Latin American Idol.

Por eso juzgue usted si en el corto plazo podremos repetir la hazaña.

Sometimes, however, the reasoning behind their arguments is just downright idiotic. In today's show they did one of their usual segments, Over/Under. The question essentially was whether the Tampa Bay Rays would finish the season over or under .500. To paraphrase, Kornheiser's answer was "Under! I can't name anyone on the roster so how I can believe they'll finish above .500?"

Tony, you're a sports journalist. You have a daily show on ESPN in which you discuss, amongst other things, sports. Don't you think you could take a moment to learn a player or two on Tampa Bay's roster? Ever hear of a guy named Scott Kazmir? Or Carl Crawford? Or Carlos Pena? I could go on (I could probably name nearly the entire 25-man roster plus a number of their minor league prospects off of the top of my head, but I won't bore you with that at this time.).

The Rays are 23-16, tied for first in the division, and on pace for 95 wins. Now, I don't believe they'll win 95 but it is certainly feasible for this team to finish the year with their first winning season in franchise history. I've been saying for awhile now that this team was going to get good, and it'll seemingly happen overnight to some of us. It's only May, but they're looking pretty good so far don't you think?

After a brutal 5-game stretch in which the offense scored only 8 runs total, the bats came alive in this series at Fenway, with Dustin Pedroia (7-14, 2 2B, 4 RS, 5 RBI) and Kevin Youkilis (4-9, 2 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 4 BB) leading the way. The Red Sox had at least 11 hits in each of the three games (ouch!). It clearly made a big difference for Jacoby Ellsbury (4-11, 2B, 4 BB, 5 RS, 3 SB) to be back atop the lineup. It was also nice to see David Ortiz also go 4-9 with two doubles, though his aching knee forced him to sit out game 3. The pitching staff put down the Rays handily in all three games, with the three Sox starters going 19 1/3 IP with an overall 2.79 ERA and each being credited with wins.

With the sweep, the Sox are again in sole possession of first place in the AL East and are tied with the Angels for the best record in the AL. This is a great position to be in, with other teams trying to overcome bad starts and personnel issues.

Game 1: Boston 7, Tampa 3

After a two and a half hour rain delay (the game ended at almost 1AM, and I've never seen the Fenway boxes so empty), Clay Buchholz (2-2) went just 5 1/3 innings, but that was due to some walk troubles and elevated pitch counts in the 2nd and 3rd innings. Brandon Moss threw out Evan Longoria at the plate in the second to prevent Tampa from scoring. His stuff was good, and he didn't allow a run until the fifth, when another walk cost him on a double by Carl Crawford and a wild pitch. As many have noted, it was nice to see him work well under pressure, retiring hitters when he needed to get big outs. As with Dice-K last year, it's an important part of the learning process for a big-league pitcher.

It was nice to see the offense get kick-started, and they treated Edwin Jackson (2-3) the way he outght to be treated. You get the sense that Boston felt like they owed Tampa Bay something for the sweep in Florida. The Sox put together a 2-out, 5-run rally in the 4th inning on a Moss homer, Jason Varitek single, Julio Lugo walk and three more consecutive singles by Ellsbury, Pedroia and Ortiz. Pedroia had three hits and 3 RBI, and Mike Lowell had his first two-hit game (and first XBH) since returning from the DL. Ellsbury got on base 3 of 6 times, and stole his ninth base of the year. Lugo had two hits and a walk, but he made another throwing error which cost the Sox runs in the 7th.

Moss had to get an emergency appendectomy after this game, and will miss some time. I haven't heard when he's expected to rejoin the team, but it usually takes 4-6 weeks for a 100% recovery.

Game 2: Boston 12, Tampa 4

Josh Beckett (3-2) had plenty of support for this game, and while the results weren't as good as usual, he went a strong 8 innings for the win. It wasn't his best stuff, but it was good to see the walks back down, which is what you expect out of Beckett. Manny Ramirez made a very good throw to nail Carlos Pena at the plate in the 4th, and probably prevented a big inning. Is this going to be a regular thing with these Rays, getting thrown out at home? That's not very good baserunning, showing these Rays are still a little raw.

Boston knocked around starter James Shields (3-2) tonight, and the Rays' bullpen didn't fare much better. Tampa's staff has been excellent before this series, and I think what we're seeing here is a little statistical regression. Though improved, they just aren't as good as the numbers they were putting up.

Game 3: Boston 7, Tampa 3

Sox starter Jon Lester (2-2) made his second consecutive quality outing, going six innings and allowing just one run on 4 hits and 3 walks. Rays lefty Scott Kazmir (0-1), in his first start back from the DL because of a throwing elbow issue, showed a good deal of rust. Manny Delcarmen looked underwhelming in this series, and you gotta wonder if his head is alright after some confidence issues lately. Hideki Okajima pitched another 1 1/3 scoreless innings, but allowed another inherited runner to score. That makes 6 of 8 inherited runners scoring on him this season; last year he only allowed 4 of 28 inherited runners to score all year. Does he need some more time to warm up or something? Or perhaps he's being too predictable this year with the first hitter he faces?

Youkilis went 3-4 with two doubles and a HR in this one, driving in 4 runs. It was fun to see the Sox baserunners giving Tampa a little payback, as they swiped 5 bases off of Shawn Riggans and Dioner Navarro without getting caught once. The Rays have been running often on the Sox, and have stolen 5 bases in the two series and been caught once. It's been a while since we had a team that could even do this kind of aggressive baserunning; it's a nice change.

Next up, the surging Detroit Tigers, in Motown.

Jacoby Ellsbury, as he has all year, started the rally in the first inning with a lead-off single. Dustin Pedroia followed with a walk, and stole second base as part of a double steal, sending Ellsbury to third (Ellsbury added another in the game for 11 on the year). With no one out and runners on second and third, Kevin Youkilis drove in Ellsbury with a sacrifice fly to take the early 1-0 lead. Kazmir would hold the fort from there, escaping more damage by retiring the next two batters.

Despite a high pitch total early for Lester he continued to get outs, pitching five scoreless innings before allowing a solo homer by Carlos Pena in the sixth. Two batters reached in each of Kazmir's four innings of work for the Red Sox offense, as they finally took advantage of his struggles in the 3rd. Pedroia started the inning with a single, followed by a double by Youkilis. Pedroia scored from third on a wild pitch by Kazmir, and Manny Ramirez hit a rbi double to increase the Sox lead to 3-0.

The Rays offense put a scare into the Red Sox when Lester left the game after the sixth. Reliever Manny Delcarmen continued his struggles this season by allowing an rbi triple to Akinori Iwamura, cutting Boston's lead to 4-2. Hideki Okajima took over for Delcarmen an allowed an rbi single to the next hitter, Carl Crawford, dwindling the lead to one. After Okajima struck out the next two batters, the Sox offense went back to work with a lead-off solo homer by Youkilis in the 7th. Okajima and closer Jonathan Papelbon combined to pitch a scoreless 8th, before Youkilis went at it again, this time delivering a two-out, two-run rbi double for the final margin. Papelbon pitched a perfect ninth for his 9th save of the year.

Shields wasn't the only starting pitcher to get knocked around a bit as Beckett allowed two runs on a homer by Gabe Gross in the top of the second inning. As the Red Sox kept pouring it on, Beckett got into a groove, retiring 11 of 12 batters at one point. Beckett had a bad 4th inning as well, allowing three straight hits to start the frame to Eric Hinske, a double, Carlos Pena, single, and Evan Longoria, rbi single. After getting Dioner Navarro to fly out, Gross walked. Nathan Haynes then flied out to Manny in left field, Pena, who was on third at the time, decided he would test Ramirez's arm and tag up. Bad idea. He was gunned out at home, ending the inning and stopping the rally in it's tracks. Beckett controlled the damage over the next 4 innings, allowing just two hits over that span, both by Akinori Iwamura, including a lead-off homer in the 8th. David Aardsma pitched the ninth inning for Boston to complete the win.

Dustin Pedroia and J.D. Drew combined for 5 hits, 4 runs scored and 2 rbi's behind Ortiz's efforts at the plate. Ellsbury continued to get on base, reaching three times, two hits and a walk, while scoring twice. Kevin Youkilis and Manny Ramirez also contributed to the cause offensively, combining for 5 walks, 3 runs scored and 3 rbi's.

Note: These are for the baseball played since the first series in Japan in late March, through the end of April. Some of these acknowledgments will be completely irrelevant in May (if they are even relevant now)...

Best Team: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

The Angels are tied with Oakland for the best record in the AL. However, I give the edge to the Angels because the A's will fizzle. LA just has more star power. Their pitching staff, led by Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana, both have ERAs under 3 and Jered Weaver pitched like an ace the other day against the potent Detroit offense. Santana is stepping it up while Jon Garland is sucking and Kelvim Escobar's career could be over. K-Rod is 11 for 12 in save opportunities.

The offense is really clicking this season for the Angels. They have scored 140 runs so far with their strong lineup. Casey Kotchman is off to a great start batting .344/.406/.594. Chone Figgins is having an all-star season so far batting .313 with 8 steals. Offseason acquistion Torii Hunter is fitting in very nicely with his new squad and Vladimir Guerrero is batting .271, which is good, but will most likely rise because he is very dangerous. SS Erick Aybar is a young guy to keep an eye on batting .318 so far. He also plays a good shortstop.

Los Angeles is doing just fine without stud pitchers John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar. Though Escobar won't be back, Lackey should be around soon, and he will only help the Angels pull ahead of Oakland for what looks to be another championship season.

Most Valuable Player: LF Carlos Quentin-Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox are atop the AL Central and Carlos Quentin is having an excellent/breakthrough season. He was a second round pick of the Diamondbacks a few years back but was sidetracked by Tommy John surgery. Quentin came over from Arizona where he had little success. He is presently leading the league in OPS at 1.052. He has shown some power with 6 homers and has scored 21 runs. He does not bat high in the order, but he keeps things going from the lower spots in the lineup for the powerful Chicago offense. Carlos, you won't win the AL MVP this season, but your gift certificate to Chili's is in the mail!

Honorable Mention: OF Josh Hamilton TEX, OF Manny Ramirez BOS, 1B/3B Carlos Guillen DET, OF Nick Markakis BAL

AL Cy Young: LHP Cliff Lee-Cleveland Indians

Cliff Lee has come a long way since tipping his hat to a crowd of boo's back at the Jake (or Prog?) last season. Lee has always been talented, but completely fell off last season. He seems to have rectified his problems this season, as he has been phenomenal so far. Lee is leading the AL, and MLB for that matter, with a microscopic 0.96 ERA. He is 5-0 and pitching like an ace. The Tribe might be disappointing people so far, but it won't last long. C.C. Sabathia is back on track and Rafael Betancourt has filled in nicely at closer for the injured Joe Borowski. Lee will be essential to Cleveland climbing through the ranks of the AL Central. Resident homer Ben has some praise for Cliff Lee...

Honorable Mention: Zack Greinke KAN, Felix Hernandez SEA, Brian Bannister KAN, Chien-Ming Wang NYY

Biggest Disappointments-Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, Carlos Pena, David Oritz

The AL Central was supposed to be a great division this year. So far, it isn't pretty. Detroit and Cleveland are tied for last right now. While both are turning it around, they have allowed Chicago and Kansas City to get off to good starts this season. Cleveland has stacked the deck against their chances of defending their AL Central crown. For the sake of competitive baseball, both teams need to get their acts together. Detroit really needs to win because $138 million is a lot of money to field a loser.

Boston's David Ortiz is off to one of the worst starts I have ever seen out of a franchise player. He is batting .184 and has an OBP of less than .300. His knee is obviously hampering his efforts at the plate. Luckily for the Red Sox, their lineup is stacked with guys like Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis and a rotation featuring Josh Beckett and Dice-K, so it may not be a huge issue for them. But obviously, Red Sox Nation would like Ortiz's clutch bat back to its old form.

Carlos Pena of the Rays was the Comeback Player of the Year in 2007, but right now he is batting a measly .200. At least he finally got over the Mendoza Line. He is among the AL leaders with 6 homers and he gets walks. The walks put his OBP up to .327 which is respectable. However, he just signed a new contract with the Rays and should be putting up much better numbers. I think he'll be fine though because he has shown throughout his career that he can be a great hitter. If Pena keeps improving, we could see the Rays remain above .500 this season.

Worthy of Recognition-Josh Hamilton, Kansas City's Top Two

Josh Hamilton of the Rangers is listed earlier as an honorable mention for April MVP. Unfortunately, he plays for the Rangers and they are stuck at the bottom of the AL West. Hamilton is batting .336 and leads the American League with 28 RBI. He is 4th in OPS for the AL and is definitely on his way to his first all-star appearance. It'd be nice if we could take Hamilton, Michael Young, Hank Blalock, and Ian Kinsler, and put them onto contenders because they don't get much play as members of the worst team in baseball. There have a lot of talent for a team who sucks.

Kansas City is actually decent right now. They may be a couple games below .500, but they have two excellent young guns in their rotation in Zack Greinke and Brian Bannister. Greinke has put it all together this year and among the AL leaders in ERA at 1.25 and is 3-0. Bannister is not far behind with a 2.48 ERA (now 4.04 but he was pitching well) and a 3-2 record.

Surprisingly, by April 12th Longoria found himself starting at 3B, batting third, against the Baltimore Orioles. By the end of the week he had a six-year contract in hand. Talk about turning over a new leaf. The same team scoffed for preventing players from coming to the majors so they can avoid doling out the cash gives an unproven prospect a six year contract in under a week.

The 6-year, $17.5 million pact gives Longoria guaranteed money right through his arbitration eligible seasons, while Tampa locks in a potential star at what may look like bargain basement annual salaries by the time Longoria reaches years five and six, each valued at $11.5 million. Ryan Howard recently garnered $10 million in arbitration, and he's not even close to year 5 and 6 yet. Not to put that expectation on Longoria, widely considered the top prospect in baseball, but if he evolves into the player most expect the Rays will surely be paying below market value on this contract.

After years of bad free agent signings - remember Vinny Castillo and Greg Vaughn - new owner Stuart Sternberg and General Manager Andrew Friedman finally have the Rays headed in the right direction. In addition to Longoria, Carlos Pena is signed for three seasons, up and coming pitcher James Sheilds is locked up for four years, the club holds options on Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli, Japanese import Akinori Iwamura is signed through 2009 with a 2010 club option, and last years top draft pick David Price has a six year deal. Next on the list CF BJ Upton and lefty starter Scott Kazmir, both approaching free agency. With a solid, young nucleus in place, combined with an influx of young pitching on the way from the minors, the Rays are ready to compete.

At slightly over $43 million, Tampa's 2008 payroll ranks next to last in baseball, only above the Marlins - not much of an accomplishment - but moves like the Longoria signing prove Tampa is committed to winning and heading the right direction. Following the model Cleveland used in the mid-1990's, buying out the arbitration years on young players to control costs while keeping a young team together, Tampa has taken a calculated risk with a high reward. They are well-positioned to improve each year, possibly compete for a playoff as soon as next season.

Nate McLouth - Pirates

As McLouth is approaching his age-26 season, he has already hit safely in 13 games with a .383 average, continuing hot hitting from Spring Training. Players sometimes break out in their age-26 seasons, but anyone would be laughed out of Vegas if they were predicting McLouth to be one of those players before Spring Training. He was a decent hitter in the minors, hitting .292/.362/.427/.789 and probably projecting as a bench player in 2004, but, although an early prediction, McLouth could breakout for real for one or two years, like this one and his age-27 year and then fade out into .260s numbers. He will not keep up a .383 pace, but, unless he slumps or gets injured, I do expect him to be around .270s to the .280s and an OPS at where he usually is, about the .780s or so. I think that would be a reasonable prediction for him.

Gabe Kapler - Brewers

Gabe Kapler has four homers and is hitting .423 in 11 games, providing the offense for the Milwaukee Brewers, and although I do not think he will keep this up, he has definitely solidified himself in that Brewers bench, and unless he goes to the slump of life, he will stay around with the Brewers. Kapler, Jason Kendall, and Corey Hart are the only three starters hitting over .250 on that team. I have already mentioned his life story, but what he has done this year is nothing short of really, really cool, because Kapler has always been a fun player to watch, and all of us would love to see a guy like him play well. I wonder where he will be this year.

Joe Crede - White Sox

Crede has hit .313 with 4 homers and leading the majors with 16 RBI, and for now he looking like a good choice for trade bait in the midseason to a contender. It is also good to see Crede play well again, with him being a fan favorite for the White Sox. If he plays well and we see the White Sox up there by September (in which it can happen), he could be the AL Comeback Player of the year. A little lofty, but that is entire plausible.

Carlos Pena - Rays

I mean Pena is hitting an awful .191 right now, but those six home runs the lead the league cannot be ignored. Two-thirds of his 9 hits have been home runs, which is probably the craziest stat of the year by far. But he also has 18 strikeouts, which also leads the league. If you can hit them, hit them long I guess?

Batting Average:

Justin Upton (.415): First off, this kid is the youngest player in the league. There are guys who have been in the minor leagues longer than this kid has been alive. He is his brother B.J. but with power. Not just any power, prolific power. I don't even think he's done growing either.

Home Runs:

Carlos Pena (6): If this were any other year prior to 2006, we would all be saying "What the hell is Carlos Pena on?" After failing to make the Devil Ray roster last year, (that's right, I said Devil Ray roster), the expected starting first basmen for the team, Travis Lee, goes down with an injury and Tampa Bay is forced to start Pena at 1st. He then goes on to hit 46 HRs and drive in 121 runs. If you did the math, he hit 33% of his career homeruns last season after 7 years in the league. Unheard of.

Runs batted In:

Joe Crede (15): Granted, Crede did drive in 94 runs in 2006, but in all his other years, he didn't get past 75. And granted, he did only play in 47 games last year. So only 8 more RBI, and he'll pass last year's total.

Wins:

Livan Hernandez (3): There a few pitchers who have 3 wins: Jake Peavy, Chien-Ming Wang, Brandon Webb, and Brian Bannister. But Livan has got to the greatest anomaly. At the beginning of the season, the Twins were going to be the American League pitching doormat with names like Blackburn, Baker, and Boof. But here comes the Pillsbury Throw Boy. And he pitches in his Pillsbury Throw Boy way. Forcing hitters to swing for the fences with his 82 MPH fastballs, and jiggly physique.

Strikeouts:

Johnny Cueto (24): If you played a word association game with Reds fans and Johnny Cueto's name came up, chances are, "Savior" would be the answer most of the time. I would also accept "future". But truth be told, those words wouldn't be too far from the truth. Only being 22 years old, he has major league stuff and major league control. Currently, his K:BB ratio is 24:1. That's Ben Sheetsesque. Is that a word? Maybe, I don't know. Should be.

ERA:

Justin Germano (0.00): Altogether now, "Who?" Honestly, Justin Germano? Anyway, I did the research and Wikipedia confirms his existence as a major league pitcher. And he once was traded for Rheal Cormier. Good to know. But seriously, this is the last time you will see his name on any league leading lists. Has decent stuff. And is the fifth starter for the Padres. But I'm sure Jake Peavy doesn't even know his name. 

 After 162, we'll see where these names end up...

Richie's 2007 season was so profoundly horrible, that it's easy to forget the fact that Sexson hit .261 with 76 RBIs when runners were in scoring position a year before, and hit .264 with 35 RBIs with runners on and two outs.  Or the fact that he slugged five grand slams in 2006.  Luckily, the Tampa Bay Rays ignored that throughout his career Richie is a capable hitter with runners on, and his 14 grand slams to his name.  Twice in yesterday's game, Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon opted to walk Raul Ibanez to load the bases for Richie and Sexson obliged by taking a bases-loaded walk in the first at-bat, and dunking a soft line drive- not what we expect from one who can hit the ball a country mile, but so much preferable than a strikeout- for a two-run single that gave the M's their final lead in the 6-5 victory, stopping their four-game skid.  With this single, Richie has now chalked up six RBIs in the ten at-bats he's had with runners on so far this season, and gave the M's their first one-run lead of the year.

Bedard pitched well enough to win, allowing five hits, four walks, and five runs- three earned- in six innings.  And you have to be impressed by the 1.2 scoreless innings tossed by Ryan Rowland-Smith for his first career save.  Nice to see a lefthanded reliever not getting lit up like a Christmas tree.  Toss in that dynamite block by Beltre, and a heads up play by Lopez who tagged an advanced on a pop-up to the Rays' catcher- setting the stage for Raul's second IBB- and it was a nice solid game by the M's.  I was beginning to forget what those were like.

Today's match-up pits two flyball pitchers against each other in Jarrod Washburn and Andy Sonnastine in what could be a hard-fought pitcher's duel.  Washburn enters the game with an identical 10-3 record against the Rays that Bedard entered yesterday's game with, a record that includes a 1.99 ERA at Tropicana Field and little trouble given him by any Rays batters, save a couple home runs hit by Carlos Pena.  Sonnastine, meanwhile, has won his only start against the M's, allowing one run- a homer by Adrian Beltre- in seven innings.  This game is too close to find an edge, but the Rays just might pull this one out.