The Giants (38-30) salvaged the finale of their series with the Blue Jays (38-32) by winning yesterday's game 9-6. The offense came alive and I'm really starting to believe this team will hang around all year. Edgar Renteria is finally off the disabled list and looks good out there. I think third baseman Pablo Sandoval is starting to bust out of his slump which is good news for the offense. We really need him to get going if we're going to make a push for the postseason. The Giants take on the Astros (26-44) in Houston tomorrow through Thursday. The Giants are 6-0 so far this season against Houston and I think they'll keep it rolling this week -- I'm optimistically hoping for a sweep.
Jimmy Rollins is coming off the disabled list this week for the Phillies (35-32) who are in third in the NL East and trail the Braves (42-28) by 5 1/2 games. They're still in the race but clearly have missed the 2007 NL MVP being in the lineup but also in the clubhouse. I've read a lot of comments from his teammates about how he brings swagger, charisma and leadership to the club. I think he really is invaluable to the Phillies and makes them a much better team. All this stuff is why he's my favorite player in the game right now. I thought the Phils were turning it around this weekend, but coughed up a 5 run lead in the 9th inning on Saturday to the Twins (40-29) and went on to lose in extra innings. They went on to lose yesterday as well. The Phillies host the Indians (26-42) and really need to win the series and preferably sweep the Tribe to help get some of that mojo back.
The Reds (37-33) were swept up in Seattle (28-41) this weekend and really struggled to score. They now trail NL Central favorite St. Louis (38-31) by a game and a half. The Cards are in Toronto and the Reds in Oakland (34-37) this week. I think the Reds offense really needs to produce if they are going to stay in this race and I think they will be strong enough to stay in the race, particularly as they play their home games in a hitters park. I still think the Cardinals will win the division, though.
The Rangers (41-28) have now won eight in a row and are still surprising me, particularly with their pitching staff which I thought would be the team's undoing this year. The Red Sox (43-28) have won six in a row and are right in the hunt in the AL East and it's weird to think that one of the teams with the three best winning percentages right now in baseball will be left out of the playoffs. The Yankees are atop the division at 43-26 and the Rays are one back at 42-27. I was happy that the Red Sox swept the Dodgers (38-31) who now trail the Giants by a half-game for second in the NL West. The Dodgers face their southern California rivals the Angels (39-33) this week in Anaheim and I'm hoping the Angels can sweep them again. The Padres (40-29) lead the division by a game and a half and visit the Rays this week.
The AL Central is really heating up right now with some good baseball. The Twins were in impressive in winning two of three in Philadelphia and showing some really good resiliency on Saturday in making an incredible comeback, capped by a tying home run by Joe Mauer with two outs in the top of the ninth off Brad Lidge. The Tigers (38-30) have won eight of ten and just took two of three from the Diamondbacks (27-43) this weekend. The White Sox (34-34) are back to .500 and are finally playing some good baseball, having won six in a row and nine of ten after a sweep of the Nationals (31-39) this weekend. Maybe the Sox really will get into the race in the division after all, but I'm still not holding my breath. They take on the Braves at home this week in what is a good opportunity for them to prove themselves as legitimate. The Twins visit the disappointing Brewers (29-40) and the Tigers visit the Mets (39-30). Jerry Seinfeld will be visiting the Mets broadcast booth on Wednesday and I'm hoping to catch the game just for that, not to mention two teams playing well this year.
It's a light schedule tonight and right now I'm checking out the Royals (29-41) at the Nationals on MLB Extra Innings. Since Stephen Strasburg isn't pitching tonight, there is a very and I mean very sparse crowd at Nationals Park. It doesn't help that the Royals, who have become perennial losers are in town either. Strasburg's next start is Wednesday against the Royals and I'm betting more fans will be there for that 4:35 p.m. local time start than in the first two night games combined. Credit to Strasburg for bringing any level of excitement to D.C. about baseball, though, and now the Nats need to bring the rest of the team up to speed and become a contender to really build a strong fan base.
I'd really love to see the Royals do well and I was really surprised to hear that they have scored more runs than the Phillies this year. Reigning Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke has had a down year so far to this point. His ERA isn't too bad (3.94), but his record isn't great and he hasn't been close to as dominating as he was last year. But it can't really be pinned that much on him. A lot of the problem with smaller market teams like the Royals is pitching, particularly in the bullpen. The Royals have a good closer in "The Mexicutioner" Joakim Soria, but the rest of their staff doesn't inspire a lot of confidence as their team ERA is 4.90 which is good for 13th out of 14 teams in the American League. It's weird that my team, the Giants, have pretty much the opposite problem with ample pitching but not as much hitting, when more teams than not always seem to be in need of more pitching.
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