Baseball Weekdays Review 4/23/2010

Here's the Baseball Weekdays Review 4/23/2010:

Best Series: Phillies (10-5) taking two of three from the Braves (8-7) by scores of 3-4 (10 innings), 2-0 and 8-3. The Braves had a dramatic comeback in the first game of the series behind back-to-back homeruns in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game, the latter (as previously mentioned in my blog) by rookie prodigy Jason Heyward. The kid is something else. The Braves won it on a Nate McLouth homer in the tenth. In the second game Roy Halladay tossed a complete game shutout for the Phillies. That guy is just unreal. Probably the best pitcher in the whole game for my money and a big reason I picked the Phils to win it all this fall.

Most impressive performance: Normally I'm not big on giving props to teams for beating the Pittsburgh Pirates (7-8), but the way the Milwaukee Brewers (8-7) completed the sweep, it had to be the most impressive performance of the week. The Crew outscored the Pirates by a combined 36-1 in the three games and something like that just has to be mentioned. The final game featured an astounding 20-0 Milwaukee win. Brewers slugger Ryan Braun summed it up nicely: "It was fun and it was special. This game is really so much about failure, particularly as a hitter, that you rarely get a day where everyone is enjoying so much success at the same time. I've never been involved in a game like this and likely never will be again. So, I enjoyed it and I'll savor it. It's one to remember." We'll see if the Brewers can keep it up this weekend at home against the Cubs (6-10).

Another impressive performance: The Tampa Bay Rays (12-4) taking two of three in Chicago from the White Sox (5-11). The Rays are off to a really good start and they appear like they're going to duke it out with the Yankees (11-4) in the AL East all year long. The White Sox record isn't great but I still think they'll get back into the AL Central race. I'm just impressed that the Rays are taking care of business like they are, particularly against a good team like the White Sox.

Least impressive performance: Pittsburgh Pirates, hands down. See above, anytime you get outscored 36-1 over three games on your home field, it's cause for a lot of concern.

Regarding my predictions: I successfully picked the Phillies and Yankees to take two of three from the Braves and Athletics (10-7), respectively. I also successfully picked Seattle (9-7) to sweep Baltimore (2-14). So a pretty good week for me with the picks, don't know that I'll be able to keep up such a great pace, but I'll try. I was impressed that the Athletics showed some fight in their series with the Yanks, as is somewhat evidenced by pitcher Dallas Braden getting into it with Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez during yesterday's game. The two exchanged verbal jabs after A-Rod broke what some consider an unwritten rule of the game (though I wasn't aware of it) by crossing the mound during the 6th inning. Neither man backed down afterward. I did like that Braden said something to the effect of "We're not the doormat anymore." Hopefully the A's can keep up their solid play.

San Francisco Giants (8-7) Weekdays Review: See below.