Climbing the Ladder with the American League 7/20/08

 Oakland out of running, Texas needs some Pitching plus more in this weeks Climbing the Ladder with the American League.

The Tampa Bay Rays ended a nice first half with 55 wins.  The 55 wins at the All Star break are the most ever by any team who finished the previous season with the worst record in the Major Leagues.  The Rays became just the third team since 1900 to be 23+ over .500 after finishing the season with worst record.  Tampa looks to sweep the Toronto Blue Jays today for the second time this season, something the Rays have never done before.

The Boston Red Sox have lost their last 4 road games despite the hot hitting of Dustin Pedroia. Pedroia has hit safely in 20 of his last 21 games and before yesterdays game was hitting .443 with 5 home runs, 12 doubles, 18 RBI’s, and 28 runs in his last 28 games.  Pedroia raised his season average from .260 to .316, ranking him 7th in the American League and collected 124 hits before the All-Star break, one shy of the record of 125 held by Wade Boggsin 1987 and Nomar Garciaparrain 2003.

The New York Yankees are one of six teams in the Majors who have yet to lose more than 4 consecutive games.  The Bronx Bombers join the Chicago Cubs, Florida Marlins, LA Angels, Oakland Athletics, and the St. Louis Cardinals.  Derek Jeterhit his 200th career home run on Saturday making him the only Yankee in history to reach the 200 home runs and 200 stolen bases.    The Yankees have scored 447 runs this season, the lowest amount at this point in the season since 1992 when the club scored 428 runs in 97 games.

A.J Burnett’sstart on Friday night marked the first time in club history that a starter made back-to-back starts for the Toronto Blue Jays.  Burnett’s last start came on July 13th against the New York Yankees.  GM J.P. Ricarrdi still hasn’t given up on his team this season and until he does it’s unlikely the Blue Jays will make any moves.  Ricarrdi wants to see what the Jays can do when they – in his words- “put the petal to the metal.”

The Baltimore Orioles will yet again look to put an end to their consecutive losing streak on Sundays.  Baltimore has lost 14 straight Sunday games and will tie the record of 15 straight losses on a given day held by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Chicago White Sox’s Jim Thome is just 2 hits shy of 2,000 for his career.  Upon reaching this milestone, Thome will become one of 9 players in baseball history to achieve 2,000 hits, 1,500 walks, and 500 home runs.  The White Sox are 37-21 since May 14th and hold the best record in baseball over that span.

Minnesota has won its first two games since the All Star break against the Texas Rangers and have won five of their last 6 games.   Twins outfielder Delmon Younghas contributed a lot to the Twin’s recent success and has gone 7-9 in in the series against Texas and in the 35 games since June 1st Young has batted .350 with 18 runs, 10 doubles, 4 HR’s, and 24 RBI’s.

The Detroit Tigers have won 24 of the clubs last 37 games since June 7th and are tied with the Minnesota Twins for most wins during that span.  During the 37 game stretch, the Tigers are hitting .295 with 191 runs scored, 65 doubles, 9 triples, and 52 home runs while compiling a 3.92 ERA.

The Kansas City Royals will play in just its 7th rubber match of the season today when they face the Chicago White Sox.  Kansas City have won 4 of the previous 6 rubber matches with the Royal’s last series decider coming on June 29th when the KC lost to the Cardinals 9-6.

The Cleveland Indians ended their 10 game road losing streak yesterday when they beat the Seattle Mariners.  The Tribe has won 5 of their last 6, homering in each game.  The Indians will get starting pitcher Fausto Carmonaback soon.  Carmona made a rehab start last night in Akron going 5.0 innings while giving up 9 hits, 1 ER, 0 BB and 2K’

The Angels have won 4 straight games, including the first 2 of a 3 game series against the Boston Red Sox.  Los Angeles holds the best record in the Majors and has increased their lead over the Oakland Athletics to 8.0 games.  It appears that the Angels have a strong grip on their lead in the American League West and will look to keep things rolling for the rest of the season.

Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane has vastly improved the teams minor league system and there may still be more moves to come before the trade deadline passes at the end of the month.  With rumors of the Brewers and White Sox inquiring about Huston Street, it may only be a matter of time before Street’s time in Oakland comes to an end.

The Texas Rangers purchased the contract of Chris Davison June 26th and since then Davis has gone on to hit the most home runs in the American League  and 5th most in the Majors over that span.  Davis’ 7 home runs in 64 at bats is pretty impressive and will only improve the already powerful Texas offense.  If Texas can land a closer and some starting pitching before the trade deadline passes they could have a good chance of making a move in the West or for the wild card.

The Seattle Mariners are making news in the trade rumor department with the increased interest in third baseman Adrian Beltre.  With Bedard on the shelf until after the trade deadline passes, it will be unlikely that any team would be interested in acquiring him.   Beltre has  been rumored to be attracting interest from a number of teams, the asking price has been thought to be similiar to that of what the Phillies gave up for Joe Blanton.