Climbing the Ladder with the American League 8/3/08

Manny Moves On, The Wild Card Race Heats Up plus more in this weeks Climbing the Ladder with the American League.

Tampa Bay Rays

Tampa is now a franchise best 24 games above .500 and have been in first place for 28 of the last 30 days.  The Rays have been in fist place for 55 days this season which is already 37 more days then their first 10 season’s combined.  Rookie Evan Longoria, who now has 21 home runs on the season, has tied the rookie franchise record held by Johnny Gomesin 2005.

Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox have certainly not been let down by newly acquired left fielder Jason Bay.  In his first game at Fenway, Bay was greeted by a standing ovation during his first at bat and those watching could really tell he was touched by the gesture.  Bay homered in his second game with the Red Sox on Saturday, which is the fewest games a player making his debut with the Sox has needed to hit their first home run with the team since Dustan Mohrhomered in his Boston debut on April 12, 2006.  The Red Sox have not lost a game since Bay arrived and will look to complete a sweep of the Oakland Athletics this afternoon.

New York Yankees

The Yankees recorded their 30th comeback win of the season on Saturday when they topped the Los Angeles Angels 8-2.  Yankee pitching bounced back holding their opponent to three hits or less for the third time this season and the first time since April 11th. With the acquisition of catcher Ivan Rodriguez, the Yankees became the first team in Major League Baseball to have seven teammates, active or on the disabled list, with 200 Major League home runs.

Toronto Blue Jays

Many speculated that the Toronto Blue Jays would make a move before the trading deadline in hopes of making a last ditch run at the American League East.  At the time, Toronto had  the same run differential at the Tampa Bay Rays, but sit in 4th place in their division.  With a Major League leading bull pen ERA of 2.95, the overall second best team ERA in the American League (3.69), and their offense heating up, the addition of a bat could have really made a difference.  I guess Toronto fans will just have to “wait till next year” for one more season.

Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles will finish up their battle bottom’s when they host the last place Seattle Mariners today. Baltimore will look to make it two straight Sunday wins after losing their previous 15, tying the Arizona Diamondbacks for the record of consecutive losses on a particular day.  The Orioles are one of just 3 teams in the Majors to have 5 players with 15 or more home runs and the only American League team to have 6 or more players with 10 or more home runs.  Although this season is a wash, Baltimore may have something in the making and surprise some people in 2009.

Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox are on the verge of losing their hold of 1st place in the American League Central.  With a White Sox loss and a Twins win, Minnesota could move ahead of Chicago for the first time in 105 days. Pitching is to blame for Chicago’s slide out of first, White Sox hurlers have posted a 6.15 ERA in their last 18 games.  Jim Thomebecame the 19th active player to reach 2,000 hits on 7/20 and is one of9 players in baseball history to have 2,000 hits, 1,500 walks, and 500 home runs.

Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins can smell the blood in the water and their play has shown their hunger to win.   The Twins are 6-4 over their last ten and with a win today, could move into first place for the first time in over three months.  Minnesota finally pulled Francisco Lirianoout of the minors and will throw him today against the Cleveland Indians.  This has to be the boost the Twins need to make a run in the Central.

Detroit Tigers

Detroits run in the Central his a speed bump this week when the Tigers lost three straight to the Indians and Rays.   Despite their rough week, the Tigers have won 31 of their last 50 games and are tied for the most wins during that stretch with the Los Angeles Angels.  The winning has come at a time when Tiger hitting has started to play the way everyone thought they would.  Detroit has hit 68 home runs during that 51 game stretch, the second most in the American League during that time.

Kansas City Royals

Kansas City’s battle with the Cleveland Indians for last place in the Central continues this week with the Royals coming out on top.  Kansas City is  6-4 over their last ten games and although there isn’t really anything to play for this season, finishing ahead of the Indians will become the teams primary goal for the remainder of the season.

Cleveland Indians

Cleveland Rocks?  Not this season.  The Indians are currently in last place in the American League Central and are going through the motions until the end of the season.  Cleveland will be able to take advantage of this time to give some of their young player a chance to gain some major league experience.

Los Angeles Angels

The Los Angeles Angels remain the best team in baseball for another week.  The Angels are one of two teams in the Majors with a winning percentage over .600, the other being the Tampa Bay Rays.  With the addition of first baseman Mark Teixeira, the Angels moved themselves in position to represent the American League in this years World Series.  There’s still a lot of time from now until the end of the season and a lot of games to be played but the Angels are rolling and no one wants to get in their way.

Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers moved ahead of the Oakland Athletics and have finally taken hold of second place in the West.   The Rangers should have little competition from the rest of the division for the remainder of the season and may be in contention for the Wild Card at months end if they can play a little better than they have.  Saturday night marked just the 6th time this season that neither team hit a home run in Rangers Ballpark.  It’s tough for Texas’ American League leading offense to win without the long ball…someone needs to bail out the pitching.

Oakland Athletics

Trading away a majority of your best players can reek havoc on a team and the Oakland Athletics are proof of that.  The Athletics are trying to avoid a sweep of the recently hot Boston Red Sox this afternoon  but have little available to throw at their opponent in Fenway.  Oakland is 2-8 over their last 10 games and a sweep would be the lowest of the low this season for Oakland.

Seattle Mariners

With a win today, the Seattle Mariners would improve to 8 games over .300 and  put an end to their current 2 game losing streak.  Seattle did little to make their team better during the trade deadline and have left their fans wondering how 2009 will go for the Mariners.