Baseball Weekdays Review 5/7/2010

Here's the Baseball Weekdays Review 5/7/2010:

Most impressive performance: Philadelphia Phillies (17-11) taking three of four from the St. Louis Cardinals (18-11) in a possible playoff preview in the city of brotherly love. The Phils dropped the opener, but like they did against the Mets (15-13) over the weekend, they sent a message that they're still the team to beat in the National League. It looks like both teams are going to be here to stay this year.

Another impressive performance: The Boston Red Sox (15-14) bouncing back from their weekend sweep in Baltimore (8-21) with a convincing four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (12-18) at Fenway Park. Was this really the same team that we saw last weekend in Baltimore? These Red Sox looked like the championship caliber version of a few years ago and if they can keep this up they will be in the race. I said they needed to start playing better right away and this was a good start. We'll see if they can keep it up. I was also impressed with the Tampa Bay Rays (21-7) sweep of the Mariners (11-17) in the Pacific Northwest. The Rays continue to impress and aren't showing signs of slowing down. The Mariners have lost six in a row.

Least impressive performance: The Houston Astros (9-19) losing three of four at home to the Arizona Diamondbacks (14-15). The Astros have lost nine of their last ten. The Snakes are still ahead of the last place Los Angeles Dodgers (12-16) in the NL West. It feels good to type those words so I'll do it again: last place Los Angeles Dodgers.

San Francisco Giants (17-10) Weekdays Review: Here are some more words that feel good to type: first place San Francisco Giants. And they are there following a three game sweep of the Florida Marlins (13-15) in Miami, winning by scores of 9-6, 3-2 and 6-3. The Giants starting pitchers were amazing, with Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito and Matt Cain allowing a combined 6 runs in 21 innings pitched in the three games. Aaron Rowand, fresh off the disabled list, is really bringing it. He hit a game-tying home run with two outs in the ninth on Tuesday and was solid the entire series, including a couple of RBIs last night and a nice catch in center field. My favorite moment of the series though, was reliever Sergio Romo bouncing back from a tough outing Tuesday to get out of a bases loaded, nobody out jam inherited from Zito on Wednesday by striking out Hanley Ramirez and inducing a double play ball. It was a big-time performance and showed Romo's resilience. I think the Giants bullpen is quite solid as well. Here's what Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez had to say following the series finale last night: "We probably faced the toughest pitching staff as a whole, starters and bullpen. The old saying that good pitching beats good hitting -- you saw it this series."