Climbing the Ladder with the American League 4/27/2008

Ray’s Shine While Flu Bug and Tribe On War Path

The Baltimore Orioles are back in first place in the American League East. The O’s played well against Seattle and Chicago, but are tied for the divisional lead because of the poor play of the Boston Red Sox. Through Saturday, Baltimore has only scored three more runs than they’ve allowed, and their record should move back towards .500 as the season progresses.

The flu bug has hit the Boston Clubhouse hard and caused many of the team’s starters to miss time. Boston’s offense has been heating up and currently ranks third in the majors in runs scored with 133, and first in team batting average at .295. In the upcoming week, Boston will host the struggling Toronto Blue Jays, who have dropped 8 of their last 10, followed by another weekend series with the red hot Tampa Bay Rays.

Things have begun to fall into place for the Tampa Bay Rays. The team has won 5 straight and will travel to Baltimore after they finish their series with Boston. The Rays starting pitching has been impressive over the last week and will improve with the return of Matt Garza. Team ace, Scott Kazmir, is slated to start his season at the end of this week and should give the team another boost in the pitching department.

The New York Yankees continue to struggle and had lost three straight before beating the Cleveland Indians earlier today. Starters Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes continue to have bad outings, and the team currently ranks 18th in the majors in runs allowed with 119. The Yank’s finish their series with the Indians on Monday night, then host the Detroit Tigers and the Seattle Mariners. New York has a tough schedule for the next few weeks and it will be hard for the team’s young starters to get on track against tough lineups.

The Toronto Blue Jays have had a tough beginning to the season and haven’t won a game since last Sunday. Toronto has had a tough time scoring runs, and despite decent outings by the teams starting pitchers, they haven’t been able to win any games. The Blue Jays have scored more runs than they’ve allowed so it is expected that their record should improve back towards .500.

The White Sox remain in first for another week. The Chicago offense has continued to put up runs and currently ranks 6th in the majors with 121 runs scored. White Sox pitching has also been solid and remains first in the majors in home runs allowed and 4th in the majors in runs allowed with 97. Chicago’s success should continue in week 4 as they face the Orioles, Twins, and Blue Jay’s.

The Cleveland Indians have their Ace back! CC Sabathia has put up back to back solid outings, yielding only 1 earned run in his last 14 innings pitched. Before losing to the Yankees earlier today, the Tribe had won 5 straight and outscored their opponents 37-16 last week. Cleveland finishes its series with New York on Monday and then hosts Seattle and KC. Look for the Indians to take over the top spot in the Central by weeks end.

Kansas City’s offensive woes continue for another week and the Royals have lost 7 of their last 10. The Royals have allowed 28 more runs than they’ve scored and rank in the bottom half of the majors in most offensive categories. Fortunately for the Royals, Greinke and Bannister continue to impress and have combined for 6 wins. Kansas City faces Texas this week and should be able to get a win or two in that series.

After 10.1 innings of work and an 11.32 ERA, the Twins sent Francisco Liriano down to the minors to work out the kinks during his recovery from Tommy John surgery. Many predicted Liriano to have a solid year after missing the entire 2007 season, and he still can if he’s able to regain what made him effective in 2006. The Twins could really use an arm like his in their rotation and should bring him back up once he gets his control back.

The Detroit Tigers continue to dig their way out of the basement in the American League Central and have done so by beating up on mediocre pitching. The Tigers continue to struggle against good teams with good pitching, but have improved tremendously. Curtis Granderson returned to the line up last week and has had an immediate impact on the team’s offense. The Tigers are 6-4 in their last 10 and travel to New York to face the Yankees after their Sunday night game against the Angels. Detroit should have an easy time with the teams they face in the coming week, as none of the teams have dominant starting pitching. The Tigers should pass Minnesota and Kansas City in the standings by this time next week.

Los Angeles’ offensive woes have seemed to come in conjunction with the teams road trip to Boston and Detroit. The Angels have dropped from 3rd to 7th in runs scored and no longer lead the majors in batting average. Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana continue to anchor the pitching staff, while Chone Figgins, Tori Hunter, Casey Kotchman, and Gary Matthews Jr. lead the offense. The Angels are a good team and should rebound this week against Oakland and Baltimore.

The Oakland Athletics added a power bat this week when they signed Frank Thomas. This signing will help the team in their effort to compete in the American League West. Oakland leads the majors in runs allowed with 90, and can thank their starting pitching. Oakland pitching has only one starter with an ERA over 4.00 and the team’s closer, Huston Street, has returned to form. Oakland has a tough road series against the team they share first place with. The Athletics will then host the Texas Rangers during a weekend series. Oakland should lose their place at the top of the standings after their series with the Angels.

The Mariners received a boost this week when Erik Bedard returned from the disabled list, to notch his second win of the season when he faced the Oakland Athletics Saturday night. The team also had stud closer JJ Putz return to the team and get a save in his first appearance. The Mariners did a good job remaining in contention while two key members of their pitching staff got healthy again. The Mariners have a tough week coming up and will travel to Cleveland and New York to face the Indians and Yankees. Seattle should remain in 3rd for the remainder of the week, but could rebound the week after when they face the Rangers in a 4 game series at home.

The Texas Rangers remain the worst team in the American League. Texas ranks 24th in the majors in runs allowed with 159 and 17th in runs scored with 104. Texas was swept last week by both the Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers. They may have better success this week when they face the Kansas City Royals. There is little to no hope that the Rangers will ever get out of last place in the American League West.