Baseball Weekend Review 5/10/2010

Here's the Baseball Weekend Review 5/10/2010:

Most impressive performance: The Oakland Athletics (17-15) took two of three from the Tampa Bay Rays (22-9) at the Coliseum this weekend, highlighted by Dallas Braden's perfect game, as detailed below. The A's were impressive in winning a series against the team with the best record in baseball and are one game back of the Texas Rangers (18-14) in the AL West. I'm starting to think the A's can stay in the race for a while.

Another impressive performance: The New York Yankees (21-9) taking two of three from the Boston Red Sox (16-16) at Fenway Park. The Yankees and the Rays are fast making the AL East a two-team race, with the second place team appearing to be destined for the AL Wild Card berth. I thought the Red Sox were snapping out of their funk, but were completely embarrassed on Friday and Saturday before pounding the Yanks in turn for a much needed win last night. I think the Yankees showed they are the better team at this point in the season (as hard as that is for me to say). The Red Sox need to turn things around.

Least impressive performance: The Arizona Diamondbacks (14-18) getting swept at home by the Milwaukee Brewers (15-16) by scores of 3-2, 17-3 and 6-1. The Brewers sure have scored runs in bunches this year and that happened again Saturday, but they need more consistency from their offense, but more especially from their pitching to be a factor in the NL Central. The Diamondbacks gave truly sorry performances Saturday and Sunday at Chase Field and I don't think they have anywhere near enough to stay in the NL West race.

San Francisco Giants (18-12) Weekend Review: The Giants lost two of three to the New York Mets (17-14) at Citi Field. They lost on walk-off shots on Friday and Saturday by Rod Barajas and Henry Blanco, so those were tough ones to swallow. They did manage to salvage the finale and end the Mets' lengthy home winning streak yesterday, when Aaron Rowand hit a wind-aided home run (his 4th of the year) to give the Giants a 6-5 lead in the 8th. They would win by that score as Brian Wilson nailed down a five out save (his 7th), striking out five of the six hitters he faced. The Giants lost a couple of tough ones but I'm encouraged that they were able to take one and finish the road trip 4-2. I'd say it was an overall successful road trip. Other NL West series this weekend involved the aforementioned Diamondbacks as well as the Dodgers (14-17) taking two of three from the Rockies (15-16) and the Padres (19-12) taking two of three from the Astros (10-21) in Houston. The Giants are gearing up for a big match-up with the first place Padres this week at AT&T Park.