SHL: American Atlantic Weekly Overview

Checking in with the American Atlantic division.

Phi-KC-Oak Athletics- It was a big week for A’s pitchers;  Ace lefty grove notched his 200th win while starter Eddie Plank blanked their division foe, the Boston Red Sox in a 1-0 win in which he allowed just one hit. Oakland’s pitching, which ranks in the top of nearly every category, has kept the team in first place in the Atlantic while it’s hitting has done a good enough job to score more than the arms give up.  What’s outstanding about the A’s pitching staff is that only one member has an ERA over 3.75 and the bullpen leads the majors in the category.  The A’s are tied with the Phillies and Orioles for most wins and should show no signs of slowing down if they can keep riding the teams arms through the season.

Bal-NY Yankees- The Yankee’s suffered a massive blow on Wednesday when Joe DiMaggio left the game after suffering a facial fracture while attempting to make a defensive play against the Phillies.  DiMaggio is expected to miss 4-5 weeks.  The Yankees will miss his bat and will need the rest of the line up to pick up the slack if they want to remain in competition in the Atlantic. In other news, Yankee great Lou Gehrig clubbed his 500th home run in a game back on May 13th against the Rangers.  When asked about how he felt about reaching the historic milestone he had this to say, “I guess this puts me in baseball’s elite,” said Gehrig. “I don’t feel any different. I probably should, but I don’t. Still, it is a nice achievement. I did get a little excited, didn’t I?”  Gehrig’s batting average after 500 home runs stands at an astounding .340 mark, solidifying himself as one of baseball’s greatest.

Bos Red Sox-The Boston Red Sox have become the team to pitch well against over the last few days.   Two pitchers blanked the Sox in a 4 day period when Orval Overall pitched to a 3-0 win on May 13th.  The outing was impressive but failed to top the 1-0, one hitter Eddie Plank threw on the 9th of May.  Boston’s offense remains in the middle of the pack, failing to impress and conversely not being bad enough to draw attention.  Boston’s rotation is like night and day thus landing them in the middle of the back in the standings.  Pedro has yet to lose this season while Cy Young has posted just one loss, both with nearly identical ERA’s (3.13 vs. 3.14).  The bottom of the rotation looks as unimpressive as the top looks impressive.  Lefty Grove, Joe Wood, and Roger Clemens have combined for just 4 wins, a mark shared by those in the bullpen. The Red Sox will hope to rebound against the Royals after losing two straight against the Twins.

Was-Min Twins- The last place Twins took two from the Red Sox to gain some footing in the standings.  The Twins were unable to keep the momentum going that they had this time last week but have still managed to go 6-4 in their last 10.  Despite being in last place in the division, the Twins still have a .500 record and are a much better team than the others who basement dwellers. Don’t worry Twins fans, with only 7 games deciding worst to first and every team possessing the ability to go on a run, the Atlantic Division is far from declaring a winner.   The Twins look to Rod Carew, Tony Olivia, who saw his average dip below the .400 mark just recently, and Harmon Killebrew to lead the offense and and hope the pitching staff can improve enough to make a difference.