Rogers roasting

I hate to run the risk of jinxing Kenny Rogers again, but the Gambler is 4-1 with a 1.35 ERA in his last six starts. He’s allowed just 37 baserunners (25 hits, 12 walks) in 40 IP. Way to go Kenny! He's been the stopper.

The Tigers’ magic number entering Saturday was 23. A little early to start watching that stat, but, hey, it’s been a long time.

Rogers and Justin Verlander give the Tigers two 15-game winners in the same season for the first time since Willie Blair (16) and Justin Thompson (15) in 1997. Doesn’t exactly bring back memories of Lolich and McLain, or Morris and Petry, for that matter.

Speaking of Petry, he was 93-64 with a 3.49 ERA by the age of 26. Greg Maddux was 95-75 with a 3.34 ERA by the same age. Tom Glavine was 73-60 with a 3.60 ERA. Elbow trouble derailed Petry’s career, but looking at those numbers, you can see how solid he was – although never the focus of attention because of Morris.

Really, I do like Jeremy Bonderman. But he is winless in his last seven starts. He did pitch well in two of those, and deserved a better fate, yet he’s got a 5.29 ERA in his last eight outings. Not what you want to see coming down the stretch. He’s allowed 77 baserunners in 49.1 innings.

If Not Now, When?

The Baltimore Orioles have yet to commit their annual late season swan dive. They started the month of August with a 3 - 9 record, indicating they were well on their way, but finished the month at 12 - 14. Some decent pitching and a booming bat from rookie Nick Markakis led the way to the mini-surge.

Recent trips to the minors for Daniel Cabrera and Adam Loewen seem to have had good effect. Loewen went 3-1 in August with a 3.95 ERA after returning from Ottawa. Cabrera went 3-2 with a 3.38 ERA including a 16 scoreless inning streak that included a complete game shutout upon his return.

Rookie Nick Markakis hit .354 in August with 7 2B, 10 HR, 26 RBI and 22 Runs on 34 hits in 26 games. O's manager Sam Perlozzo is no longer attempting to "protect his rookie" in the batting order. Perlozzo moved Markakis to #2 in the order on August 16 and on August 30, moved him to #3. While his August numbers are insufficient to declare Markakis a basher, he clearly bashed for the month of August.

The O's start September on the West Coast with 3 at Oakland followed by 3 with the Angels. The O's are a bit banged up with both catchers (Hernandez and Widger) listed as day to day and centerfielder Corey Patterson on the shelf for a few days. Nevertheless, the mini-surge in August is enough to keep this O's fan interested in September.

Something fishy

The Phils have 10 games remaining with the Marlins, including the final series of the season. Hard to believe, but there's a possibility that series could decide the wild card.

Joe Girardi has got to be NL Manager of the Year for having Florida a game under .500 at this point. Especially when you consider Dontrelle Willis is 9-10!

I'm not sure how the Marlins are doing it. Maybe the NL is just that bad. Florida ranks 8th in the league in runs and OPS and is 12th in batting average. The pitching is 6th in ERA, but 14th in OBA allowed. The defense is 15th.

The new Ryno

I was a little worried about Ryan Howard being able to be the big bat in the Phillies lineup. I admit it. And I admit I was wrong.

All my concerns about his strikeout totals in the minors and ability to hit lefties haven't hurt him in the Majors. He tied Michael Jack's team record for homers with 48, and will smash the mark by the end of the season.

Entering last night, Howard was batting .325-19-51 in 43 games since the All-Star break. He is a legit MVP candidate, especially if the Phils win the wild card.

He's hitting .276 against lefties, too. Not as good as his .303 mark against righties, but very good nonetheless.

Surveying the wreckage

I've come out from under the covers to take a look at the damage that's been the Tigers' last dozen games. It's not pretty. But the team is still in first place, four games up on the Twins in the loss column, so we're hanging on.

A trip to the Bronx is unsettling, especially with the way Detroit's pitchers are going right now. The worries about the young arms are coming true, but it's still too soon to determine whether this is a bump in the road or a trend.

This much I know: The Tigers are 4-8 in their last 12 and three of those wins came from Kenny Rogers.

The slide also coincides with Placido Polanco's absence. Detroit was 8-6 in its first 14 games in August with Polly.

Craig Monroe has done a decent job taking over the No. 2 spot in the order, batting .277-3-8 during the span. But leadoff man Curtis Granderson is hitting .118-1-1 with 3 runs during that time. He's got a .424 OPS. That's OPS!

Maggs also has struggled, batting .200 during the last 12. So, there's no consistency in the lineup -- not with Granderson at No. 1 and Maggs hitting in the cleanup spot. Pudge is batting .357 in the last 12, but it's not worth much when no one is on base.

Leyland has juggled the lineup to no avail. He's only used the same batting order twice in the last 12 games. Pudge has hit leadoff twice. Omar Infante -- Omar Infante! -- has batted sixth once. Monroe in the 2 spot and Guillen at 5 have been really the only constants.

At least the Tigers got a win Sunday to end the weekend on a good note. Hopefully, they can get it together against NY. Then come key setup series against the Angels and Mariners before facing a steady diet of AL Central teams.

One more bit of bad news: Leyland said he doesn't expect pitcher Mike Maroth back this season. The pitcher has experienced "tenderness" during his rehab assignment.

Blass and Clemente

I just finished reading the book “Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero” by David Maraniss. It’s a good read, but one thing struck me when I completed it. How much did Clemente’s death affect Steve Blass?

Blass appeared to be close to Clemente, and delivered the eulogy at the team’s memorial service for the late star. In the five seasons prior to Clemente’s death, Blass was 78-44 with a 3.05 ERA.

In 1973, following Clemente’s death, he developed the so-called “Blass Disease” where he couldn’t find the plate. In just 88.2 innings, he gave up 84 walks (equaling his total in 249.2 innings the previous season) hit 12 batters and yielded 109 hits. He was only 31.

When discussing the 1971 World Series against Baltimore, the author writes about Blass’ nerves prior to starting Game 3. He writes that Blass and Clemente often met in the trainer’s room prior to games, just as they did prior to that start, and that “just being in the vicinity of Clemente was reassuring.”

I’ve never read anything linking Blass’ later pitching woes to Clemente’s death, but I didn’t have much reason to think about it prior to reading this book. I wonder now if there was a connection. It seems, on the surface, to make sense.

Only the strong survive

Just when I started feeling good about the Tigers bouncing back yet again, this arrives in the mail.

Reminiscent

The O's won another ball game last night defeating the Twins 6-3 behind a stellar pitching peformance from Adam Loewen (8 IP, 4H, 1 R, 0 BB). In the 7 games since being swept in Boston, the O's have gone 5-2. In those 7 games, 6 of them have seen solid starting pitching performances. Erik Bedard stumbled last Sunday (5 IP, 7 R) against the Blue Jays to end a season high 4 game winning streak for the O's. That stumble makes Loewen's effort last night look even better. The team ace gets beat up to end a winning streak and the next guy goes out and pitches a gem to (hopefully) get another winning streak started.

In the last 7 days, O's pitching has a 2.67 ERA and a record of 5-1.

The O's are definitely having a power surge, belting 5 HR's off of Carlos Silva last night to bring this recent 7 games total to 15. Brian Roberts and Corey Patterson went deep to complement the 3 HR's hit by Nick Markakis. Markakis is the 1st Oriole to hit 3 HR's in one game since Albert Belle did it in 1999.

Markakis is hitting .344 in August with 12 extra base hits (7 HR, 5 2B) out of 22 safeties. In the 6 games that Markakis has hit 2nd in the order, he is 10 for 23 with 6 HR, 10 RBI and 11 Runs Scored. That qualifies as 'starting to show some power'.

Solid pitching and home runs. Earl Weaver would be proud.

Down but not out?

There is a difference of opinion regarding how Aaron Rowand's injury might affect the Phils. Brian says the Fightins will overcome. I'm not sure. The Phils went 5-8 with Rowand out of the lineup when he busted his nose (and 2-8 in the final 10 games of that span).

It's not that I don't think Victorino can step in for Rowand. I just think his loss hurts the bench too much and might hurt the lineup overall.

Weird, too, is that Rowand gets hurt just as he's getting hot. When he broke his nose, Rowand was .326-4-12 in his previous 12 games. This time, Rowand was hitting .308 in his previous 13 games with 8 runs and 4 RBI.

We'll see what happens. One thing -- Pat Burrell could step up and be even just half the player everyone hoped he might be. I'm not holding my breath.

Nevermind

It turns out the Tom Glavine's situation is not as serious as feared and he could be back on the mound by next week. I guess the nation can resume preparation for Subway Series 2: This Time The Good Guys Win. Coming soon to a stadium probably nowhere near you.

Holding the lead

Justin Verlander has become what Jeremy Bonderman was supposed to be for the Tigers, namely, a stud. The guy might get knocked around every now and then, but he always seems to bounce back. I'm starting to lose faith in Bonderman being a No. 1 guy. He's just so inconsistent, which you wouldn't expect now with all the experience he has. But, he's still young, so I should cut him some slack, I guess. Make no mistake, I'm certainly glad to have him.

With last night's much needed victory over the Pale Hose, the Tigers improved to 9-12 (by my count) with Polanco out of the lineup this year. The addition of Neifi Perez doesn't make me do backflips, but provides some depth. I don't think he's got much range, but probably makes the routine plays.

The Tigers don't have any hitters in the lineup that teams really need to fear on the level of a Ryan Howard or Albert Pujols, etc., but they don't really have any guys in the lineup that you can think are sure outs, either.

Craig Monroe might be emerging as the Tigers best bet to become the most feared stick in the lineup. Over his last 50 games, Monroe is .344-11-41 with 34 runs. He seems to be tough in the clutch, too.

This from the Detroit News: When asked if a 6 1/2-game lead sounds a lot better than 4 1/2 — which it would have been had the White Sox won — Leyland said: “Sure, I didn’t go to school to eat my lunch. I can add, too.”

Mostly armless

After months of being concerned about the Mets' starting rotation despite their continued winning, I think I've finally got reason for alarm. Neither Pedro Martinez nor Tom Glavine will pitch this week. Pedro will likely be back and effective in plenty of time for the postseason, but Glavine could be out much longer after the discovery of what may or may not be a blood clot in his left shoulder. If the worst case scenario comes to pass and he is out for the rest of the season (or longer), it will be a serious blow to the team's postseason hopes.

Right now I have to assume, if for no other reason than the sake of my own sanity, that Pedro will pitch the first game of the Division Series. The Mets' ace as been somewhat inconsistent this year and is on the disabled list for the second time. That his two injuries were different rather than one recurring problem is only slightly comforting. But health is really the only question with Pedro. Most of his worst starts this year occurred right before or after a stint on the DL. When he's been healthy, he's often dominated, striking out batters more frequently than any National League starter but Jake Peavy. Being healthy in October should be Pedro's only concern for the next six weeks.

If he is able to return this season, Glavine will presumably pitch game two. After rough months in June and July in which he posted ERAs of 4.93 and 6.00, respectively, Glavine had returned to form somewhat in August. Despite a 1-2 record, he pitched well in all three of his starts, never allowing more than three runs or pitching fewer than six innings, earning a 3.60 ERA for the month. His strikeout-to-walk ratio, which had been so good (60:14) in the first two months of the season and so unimpressive (31:26) the next two, bounced back to a solid 12:5. He also cut down on his hits allowed after giving up significantly more than one per inning in June and July. And the two home runs he allowed in August were quite a bit better than the ten he gave up in the month of June alone. In short, he seemed to be rediscovering some of what made him successful at the start of the season. If he is unable to return this season, the Mets will have a very difficult time replacing him.

The back of the rotation has been showing some signs of life, however. John Maine has been excellent, with a 2.68 ERA in eight starts and one relief appearance, striking out 41 and walking 14 in 50.1 innings. Providing further dividends from the Kris Benson trade is Orlando Hernandez, who's often been great since the Mets acquired him for Jorge Julio. Every once in a while he'll get absolutely demolished, but he's also capable of a brilliant performance like Sunday's six shutout innings. And then there's Steve Trachsel, whose pitching is beginning to match his pretty 12-5 record. After going 3-1 in July with a 6.15 ERA, 33 hits in 26.1 IP and a 13:17 K:BB ratio (that is not a typo), August has been his best month with a 3.24 ERA in 25 IP. Any of these three looks like a competent third or fourth playoff starter right now. Maine or El Duque on a good day might be able to impersonate a number two, particularly given the caliber of opposition they'll face in the NL, but I'd rather not try it in the World Series.

Some options have begun to emerge in the minor leagues as well. Brian Bannister, who escaped the major leagues with a bad hamstring and a 2.89 ERA despite allowing a ton of baserunners in April, has started to pitch well in AAA. In his last two starts for Norfolk, he's allowed one run in fourteen innings, striking out twelve and allowing just one walk and nine hits. Oliver Perez has been at least as impressive in his last two outings, giving up just one run in thirteen innings with eighteen strikeouts, three walks and six hits. Seven innings of one-hit ball with eleven strikeouts this past Saturday raised hopes that perhaps the 2004 version of Oliver Perez still lurks somewhere within his body.

So, if Glavine can't pitch, the Mets won't exactly be setting the ball up on a tee for the opposing team. They have some guys who, if they have a good day and/or a lot of offensive support, could win a playoff game. Especially if the opposing starter is the likes of Jeff Suppan or Aaron Harang. Still, I'd much rather have Glavine out there to face Randy Johnson in game two of the World Series. Oh, you know it's going to happen. Eat it, rest of the country.

Big Game for O's?

Baseball teams with a 54-68 record do not play big games.
But since I have the misfortune of holding the Baltimore Orioles in favor and I pine for something to care about, I have elevated todays game with the Toronto Blue Jays to Big Game status.

This requires a modicum of imagination.

Baltimore took 2 in a row from the Yankees in the Bronx and came home and whipped the Blue Jays 7-2 behind a solid starting pitching performance from Kris Benson (7IP, 6H, 2ER). This makes 3 wins in a row (tying the season high for the O's) and 4 straight solid starting pitching performances (which I believe is a season high).

The O's send Daniel Cabrera to the mound today against the Blue Jays Sean Marcum. If Cabrera can produce a solid performance today, it would represent the first time in I don't know how long the Orioles have taken a complete turn through the starting rotation with a good performance from each pitcher. It certainly hasn't happened this season or last.

Cabrera is 2-1 in 3 starts vs. the Blue Jays this season pitching 18 innings in the 3 contests while allowing 13 hits, 5 runs and 9 walks. Cabrera and Marcum faced each other on August 8th with Cabrera getting the win and Marcum getting a No Decision. I do not give the Orioles the pitching edge in any game Cabrera starts, but if I were forced to do so, I would give it for this game.

The Orioles are undefeated (3-0) with Nick Markakis batting 2nd in the order. Markakis is 6-12 with 2HR, 5 RBI and 6 Runs Scored in the 3 games since being moved to the 2 hole.

The O's may be experiencing a power surge. 6 home runs in the last 4 games and none of them by Tejada. Melvin Mora went deep in yesterday's victory over the Blue Jays.

So, on to victory this afternoon against the Blue Jays and season highs all around! I can hear the Orioles faithful chanting - You can't take us with Markakis!.... (batting 2nd)

Something Positive

In the midst of their annual August/September swoon, the O's took 2 of 3 from the Yankees in the Bronx this week. Winning a road series for just the 5th time in 19 tries makes this O's fan feel like there may be hope (for next year).

All 3 starters turned in solid performances. Erik Bedard pitched 6 innings allowing 1 run in Game 1. Adam Loewen pitched 5 2/3 innings allowing 2 runs in Game 2 and Rodrigo Lopez pitched 7 innings allowing 2 runs in Game 3. It may be the first time all year the O's have turned in 3 consecutive solid starting pitching performances.

For Games 2 & 3, Nick Markakis was moved up to the 2 slot (from 8 or 9) in the batting order and responded by going 3 for 8 with 2 HR and 5 RBI.

The O's hit 5 homers in the 3 game set, none of them by Tejada (Millar, Roberts, Markakis (2), Tatis). The O's have hit precious few dingers the last 2 1/2 months. It's more likely that this was a lapse in Yankee pitching than a power surge by the O's lineup, but either is positive.

Russ Ortiz pitched a 1-2-3 8th in the Game 3 win. Of course, with a 10 run lead, there was no pressure involved, but it still represented Ortiz' 2nd straight effective appearance, which, albeit small, is still a milestone on his road back to (hopefully) recovering his form.

Honest Jim

The Detroit News ran a very interesting story today about Leyland and Omar Infante's role as Placido Polanco's replacement. Let's just say Infante shouldn't get comfy in the lineup.

Leyland said he had confidence in Infante, but also noted the team had no other option. If it could find another option, he said they would be willing to explore it. I was thinking Mark Grudzielanek would be a possibility, and wasn't alone in that assumption, but he just signed an extension with KC. I don't see a lot else out there, especially with so many teams still fighting for the postseason. Maybe Aaron Miles of the Cards? That's just a guess.

When Leyland asked what he would most miss about Polanco, he responded that there were "seven things." That tells you how much respect Leyland has for the guy. "He does every little thing for this club that a manager could want," he added.

The seven things are: Steady on every routine grounder, turns every routine double play, can hit-and-run, can hit a fly ball when needed, gets the 2-out hit when needed, can sacrifice, can make the great plays.

We’re Number 1

In runs scored that is! After last night onslaught the Phillies have the most run scored in the National League (625), just ahead of the Mets. Also Abraham Nunez has a 7 game hitting streak. No doubt he has been the key to the offence the last two nights, though one thing that is impressive about the last two games is that the Phillies have scored 24 runs with out Ryan Howard going yard.

The Re-Match!

Tonight it’s Jon Lieber (4-9, 5.51 ERA) Vs. Tom Glavine (12-5, 3.92 ERA). Lieber has a 1.80 ERA in his last two starts, including that complete game loss to the Mets and Tom Glavine last week

The Phills start tonight 2.5 out of the Wild Card and 2 games under .500 .

Shouldering the load

The Tigers are expected to find out today whether they’ve lost Placido Polanco for the season. Polanco injured his shoulder in last night’s win over the Red Sox, forcing Pudge Rodriguez to play second base for the first time in his career.

Pudge said after the game that Polanco was done for the year, which could be a significant blow for the Tigers. Polanco is a solid run producer, responsible for 0.92 runs per contest when using runs + RBI – HR / games played formula. More importantly, he is great in the No. 2 spot because he rarely strikes out (just 25 times in 435 AB). Plus, he's steady with the glove, too.

Omar Infante will take over at 2B, and will probably hit second sometimes. I’d expect Brandon Inge, Marcus Thames and Craig Monroe to hit in the No. 2 hole occasionally, too. Infante, who only has 140 AB this season, has batted at least twice in every spot in the lineup.

Jeremy Bonderman has deserved better his last two outings. He’s gotten no decisions despite allowing just four runs and 13 hits in 14.2 innings against the Twins and Red Sox. He’s struck out 13 and walked 3. It’s very nice to see him stepping up at this time of year.

Mike Maroth could be back soon if his next rehab start goes well. It might be perfect timing. Justin Verlander’s last two starts have lasted just 5 innings each and he’s allowed a total of 21 hits and 8 runs.

Nate Robertson has been an awful second-half pitcher in his career, but he’s been solid this season. Robertson has battled in every start and is 3-2 with a 4.73 ERA. Not super, but he’s keeping his team in games, and that’s what matters at this point.

Sean Casey has been playing well since joining the Tigers. He’s hitting .311-2-12 in 14 games and had a big 2-run double last night.

It’s going to be a long two weeks.

Since the beginning of the season I’ve been pointing to September as the month the Phillies will make their move. The team doesn’t play a team over .500 the whole month and their toughest opponent will be the Houston Astros for a 3 game series. The rest of the month it’s the Braves, Marlins, Nationals and Cubs. The Phills should be able to put up some wins and have their best month of the season. The problem is that over the next 2 weeks the Phillies have 6 more games against the Mets. If the Phillies can hang around the Wild Card race by a few games by the end of the month they may have a real shot at this thing.

The bad news is Tom Gordon is being shut down and we have no idea for how long, but for at least the rest of the Mets series. Apparently Flash as been pitching hurt, which can be seen by his performance over the last few games. In the mean time Arthur Rhodes, Ryan Madson and Rick White (shudder) will be filling in. Man that’s scary…

The good news is Cole Hamels seems to be as good as advertised and right now is the Phillies best pitcher and over his last 3 starts he has lived up to his ace billing. Plus he’s a lot a fun to watch pitch. Though I didn’t get to see last night’s gem since it was over by the time I got home from school.

Tonight it’s Rand Wolf Vs. El Duque

The Phills start tonight 3.5 out of the Wild Card and 3 games under .500 .

For What It's Worth

Brian Roberts stole 2nd base in the top of the 3rd inning against the Red Sox tonight to notch his 30th stolen base this season. Corey Patterson had 37 steals going into tonights game.

Roberts' and Patterson's stolen base totals mark the first time in Orioles franchise history they've had two players with 30+ stolen base seasons.

What, me worry?

Every time I think the wheels are going to fall off for the Tigers, they go out and smack people around and win a bunch of games.

I was worried with Rogers pitching poorly and Verlander's arm being "tired," but why? As my Aussie friends say: No worries, mate. If the pitching goes a little soft, the hitting carries them. If the hitting is off, the pitching is on. It's amazing how this season has played out. When Pudge hit his walkoff the other night, I felt that was the final sign that this is the year of the cat.

Now some stats: Craig Monroe is .400-6-18 over his last 18 with 1.184 OPS. Todd Jones has given up 2 ER in his 19 appearances since June 16. He's 1-0 with 14 saves during that time.

Motoring

Guillen hits for the cycle, Casey homers, Verlander gets win No. 14, Tigers equal their victory total from last season – it was another great night for the Detroiters.

Heck, Brent Clevlen even hit two homers. Clevlen, 22, has been considered one of the Tigers better prospects, but has struggled this season in Double A. He was recently called up, and some speculate it was so teams could get a look prior to the trade deadline. With the deadline passed, we’ll see what his role is down the road.

Placido Polanco, a terrific No. 2 hitter, is batting .397-0-8 with 8 runs in his last 15 games. He always puts the ball in play, striking out just 1 time during that span. He’s got his average back above .300, at .301. Much underrated/overlooked, like Guillen.

Markakis

Nick Markakis batted .403 in July, raising his season batting average to .298.

Please, sir, I want some more pitching

It wouldn't be the trading deadline if something didn't go wrong for the Mets. It'd be pretty hard to blame this one on the team's front office, though. Duaner Sanchez wound up with what is being called a separated shoulder when a taxi he was riding in was involved in an accident. And so the Mets had some tradin' to do.

The deal they made probably won't have a major effect on the team's fortunes for the rest of this season. They traded one of their least important and most replaceable offensive starters and received a couple of pitchers unlikely to make much of an impact. And instead of a top Mets prospect leaving the organization, as would be expected on this day, they opened up a spot in the majors for one.

The newest Pirate, Xavier Nady, has had a decent season, hitting .264/.326/.487, showing a bit more power than he had in any previous season. But he isn't nearly one of the best offensive right fielders in the league and his defense has not been impressive at all. Nady was a decent choice to fill the role of seventh or eighth best hitter in a good lineup, but he wasn't an integral part of the Mets' present or future.

Neither is Roberto Hernandez, the man the Mets acquired ostensibly to replace Sanchez in the bullpen. Hernandez was a revelation for the Mets last year, posting a 2.58 ERA in 69.2 innings of relief. He's been quite effective so far this year, too, with a 2.93 ERA in 43 IP. But a closer look at his stats reveals a forty-one year old reliever who has cooled off a bit.

He's giving up a hit and a walk more per nine innings as compared to last year and his strikeout rate has dropped from 7.2 to 6.4. His peripheral numbers are more in line with those of his unimpressive 2003 and 2004 seasons than his excellent 2005. Any decent reliever can get hot for a couple of months and look unhittable as Hernandez has in the past, but expecting Hernandez to regain his 2005 form or replace Sanchez's excellent production seems very optimistic. Fortunately, Omar Minaya is now saying, contrary to earlier reports, that it may be possible for Sanchez to return before the end of the regular season. If that comes to pass and Hernandez is about the fourth best reliever on the postseason roster, they may really have something.

The most interesting part of this deal, to me, is the Mets' acquisition of Oliver Perez. Perez is in some ways a Victor Zambranoesque figure. He's been awful lately, he walks far too many batters and the Mets are surely hoping that Rick Peterson can work his magic and turn him into the good pitcher his stuff says he could be. But unlike Zambrano, Perez actually was good at one point. Oh, and Xavier Nady's no Scott Kazmir.

Perez was significantly better than "good" in 2004. He was one of the best pitchers in the National League with an ERA of 2.98 and 239 strikeouts in 196 innings. But in 2005 he fell apart, posting a 5.85 ERA as his home run and walk rates skyrocketed. His 2006 hasn't been any better as he posted a 6.63 ERA in 76 innings before being sent to the minors where he did not exactly turn things around. He's gotten the walks under control a bit in AAA, but a 5.63 ERA and six home runs in 32 innings indicate he's still got some work to do.

Nevertheless, Perez has shown he has the talent to be a good or even excellent pitcher. And he won't turn twenty-five for another couple of weeks. He may not pitch in the majors again this year and I wouldn't expect much success if he did. But given the old "change of scenery" and a lot of work with Peterson in Spring Training next year, maybe he'll turn in to an asset. Taking a shot at reviving the old Oliver Perez, which was ironically the young Oliver Perez, is an excellent gamble given how little the Mets had to surrender to get him.

The Mets didn't get through the deadline completely unscathed, but things could have gone worse. Lastings Milledge is still in the organization and he'll soon be on the major league roster. And they picked up a decent reliever and a starter who basically amounts to a prospect with a lot of upside. It's not Ed Hearn for David Cone, but I'll take it.

Casey at the bat

Sean Casey must feel like he won the lottery, going from the Pirates to the Tigers. Going from 26 games under .500 to 36 games above.

I'm sorry to see "Red Bull" Chris Shelton get sent down to the minors, especially because he played a vital role in Detroit's start this season. But he wasn't hitting lately, that's for sure.

Casey is a great -- grrrrreeeeaat -- addition to the Tigers. He is a professional hitter and hard-nosed player. He's also above average with the glove. I think he'll fit in perfectly on this squad. He's a Leyland-type guy and you know he's going to come in and play his butt off.

The Tigers gave up a AA reliever to get Casey, who will be a free agent. I don't know much about the pitcher, other than he was previously a starter. As long as he doesn't turn into the next John Smoltz, I feel very good about this deal.

Goodbye and Thank You David Bell

The expected trading of Phillies veterans started last night when the Phillies traded David Bell to the Milwaukee Brewers for Minor League pitcher Wilfredo Laureano (3-2, 3.96 ERA in Class A).


The move could be seen as symbolic as much as an attempt to improve the teams future with Bell being the last of the big three acquisitions of 2003. Back then the Phillies thought with the additions of Bell, Jim Thome and Kevin Millwood they would be a World Series contender, but the teams continued to fall short of making the playoffs.

I’m going to miss David and his gutsy hard nose play at third and his ability to make hard plays look so easy even though he made the routine plays look hard. I'll also never understand why Phillies fans never ended up embracing David, since he was everything that Phillies fans claim to want from a player.

Abraham Nunez is expeted to take over at third for now, but with Bell being moved it makes me wonder if there might be some truth to the rumored deal with the Yankees that would have the Phillies sending Bobby Abreu for Yankee’s third base prospect Eric Duncan amongst others.

Heating up

Who would have guessed Tigers-Twins would mean something this time of year? Especially given the Tigers struggles over the last decade and Minny's problems earlier this season.

But here we are, and this three-game set in Minnesota has gained importance thanks to the Twins going 34-8 over the last 42 games. Detroit is 7-2 against Minny this season and has an 8.5 game lead. I don't think it's a disaster if the Tigers get swept -- and the Metrodome has been a house of horrors over the years -- but it sure would be nice to quiet the Twins a bit.

Zach Miner, Nate Robertson and Jeremy Bonderman will go to the hill for the Detroiters. Miner has struggled lately and faces Francisco Liriano, whose been nearly unbeatable. This one looks to go in the Twins' column, but maybe it's one of Sparky's reverse locks? We'll hope so. Detroit roughed up Liriano when he was a reliever.

Bonderman vs. Santana on Sunday could be a great one.

The Tigers have 68 wins so far this season. With five more victories, they will surpass their win totals for 10 of the past 12 years. They've already bettered seven of the past 12.

Arms race

The Tigers have finally opened up breathing room in the AL Central, leading by 8 games, but the Twins are looking dangerous. Minny is just 1 game out of the wild card and with Santana and Liriano seem armed to pass the White Sox.

Interesting that the White Sox are pursuing Alfonzo Soriano. Chicago leads the ML in runs and homers, but is well down the list in ERA. Yet, instead of trying to improve the staff, they're looking to add offense.

Maybe they figure there aren't any good arms available and they'll just have to bash teams into submission. It could work.

And speaking of pitching, if the last several games are any indication, it looks like Justin Verlander is going to have to be a stud and carry the Tigers for a while. He has been by far the Detroiters most consistent hurler this year.

And now a word from our sponsors

I heard this great plug on Saturday's Yankee radio broadcast:

Hideki Matsui may be out, but you don't have to miss you. There's always a great show at Benihana.

In the big inning ...

In case you missed the news, the Tigers last night became the first team since the 1891 St. Louis Browns to score at least five runs in three straight first innings.

Jim Leyland said it didn’t find the mark impressive, just “weird.” He also was unhappy to find out the Browns finished in second place that season.

Todd Jones wanted to make clear to reporters that he wasn’t on the 1891 Browns. “I was in A-Ball,” he joked. I think.

* * *

Brandon Inge is batting .432-2-9 with 10 runs in his last 11 games. His OPS is 1.164. He’s raised his average to .245 – his highest point since May 16 when he was at .246 – to go with 19 HR and 56 RBI.

* * *

Carlos Guillen continues to impress with the stick. He now leads all ML shortstops with a .902 OPS. He’s hitting .302-12-61 with 60 runs.

* * *

The Las Vegas Hilton’s odds on the Tigers winning the World Series have dropped from 100-1 before the season to 5-1. The Mets are the favorites at 4-1.

* * *

Detroit’s staff ERA is 4.32 in July and 4.86 over the last 7 days, which might be a reason for some concern?

Two Carloses are better than one

The Mets' pattern hasn't changed much lately. They keep winning despite less than overwhelming starting pitching. Pedro Martinez hasn't pitched at all this month, yet the Mets have won 12 of 20.

While the looming trade deadline remains terrifying to any Mets fan with a sense of history, it seems unlikely the Mets will add a pitcher capable of making a serious impact. Good thing, then, that no one else in the National League has a very intimidating starting rotation. Tom Glavine and a well-rested Pedro may be enough to take the Mets a very long way given the quality of their offense.

They've now scored more runs than any team in the NL and they've done it without a lot of help from their first baseman. Carlos Delgado's recent slump got so bad that his OPS dropped below that of second baseman Jose Valentin last week. Now, Valentin's having an excellent year, but Carlos Delgado should not be outhit by his second baseman.

Delgado has at least temporarily postponed his descent into a Robbie Alomardom, however. In his last five games, he has seven hits in fourteen at bats, as well as five walks. Three of the hits were home runs giving him a total of three home runs in the month of July.

Things may yet get ugly before his contract expires, but right now it seems Delgado can still be an asset to this team. The return of the real Carlos Delgado along with the emergence of Valentin and the continued excellence of David Wright and Carlos Beltran makes for a very potent starting lineup. The Mets may not have much of anyone to start the third game of a playoff series, but I like the offense's chances against any third starter they might face.

Jamily man

David Bell is a big Pearl Jam fan, as evidenced by Pearl Jam playing whenever he steps into the batter’s box.

On May 28, Bell attended Pearl Jam’s concert at the Tweeter Center in Camden. At that point, he was hitting .258-4-19 with 18 R and a .724 OPS in 45 games.

Since the Pearl Jam concert, Bell is .315-1-11 with 19 R and a .792 OPS in 42 games. Not earth shattering, but certainly much improved. He’d probably have more RBI if Pat Burrell could run.

I’ve never understood why Philly fans haven’t warmed to Bell. He plays his butt off and has battled through injuries. He might make mistakes, but it’s never from lack of effort. He seems like a guy Philly fans would embrace. Instead, Sal Fasano got showered with love while Bell still hears boos.

C’mon Philly, show the boy some love.

Put it on the boooaard ... yes!

First, I got to listen to Hawk Harrelson call the Tigers-White Sox game today. I used to think he was somewhat entertaining, but now he's just plain annoying. Maybe because I'm a Tigers fan.

Anyway, Jeremy Bonderman and Kenny Rogers came through like aces over the last 24 hours to help Detroit take 2 of 3 from the White Sox. That bumps the Tigers lead up to 5.5 games and, hopefully, will get everyone off the boys backs about not being able to beat Chitown. Heck, the Tigers have take 3 of the last 4.

Craig Monroe's grand slam helped Detroit last night and Marcus Thames (photo) broke up a double play to help the Tigers today. Chris Shelton drove in the winning run right after Thames kept the inning alive.

Hopefully, there will be no letdown against Oakland over the weekend. But the Tigers have taken another step toward in their campaign to restore the roar.

Phalling Phlat

For all the talk from the Phillies about the second half being a new start, it sure looks old to me.

This weekend's crowd for the Braves series -- if there is a crowd -- won't be in the best of spirits, I'm sure. Given a choice of landing in Philadelphia or Beirut, which would most Phils choose?

Good story in the Inquirer today, too, detailing the lack of talent in the system. No present, no future.

Happy that ESPN decided Braves-Phils would be the Sunday night game. Gives me something to look forward to all day.

I really believe this era of bad mojo was ushered in by the Phillies painting the Phanatic red before the season. The gods have spoken.

Ready for battle

The Tigers, after taking three of four from the Royals, welcome in Chicago for a key three-game set against the White Sox. At least with a 4.5 game lead in the AL Central, thanks to the Yanks smacking around CWS, Detroit is guaranteed to remain in first place.

Robertson faces Garland in the opener followed by Bonderman vs. Vasquez and Rogers vs. Contreras.

This is where it gets interesting.

Robertson is 19-16 with a 3.60 ERA before the All-Star break; 9-18 with a 5.90 ERA post break. He’s 4-4 with a 4.09 lifetime vs. Chicago. Bonderman is 28-28, 4.49 before the break; 12-21, 5.16 in the second half. He’s 3-6, 4.08 against the Sox. Rogers is 119-75, 4.27 first half; 82-59, 4.12 second. He’s 14-7, 4.56 against Chicago.

Those numbers are a little scary, especially on top of having to worry about Verlander hitting the rookie wall. There’s been talk of the Tigers going to some kind of six-man rotation when Mike Maroth returns.

Detroit still leads the league with a 3.54 ERA. The White Sox are eighth at 4.59. Chicago is tops in runs with 532 and the Tigers are seventh with 483.

On the bright side, Dmitri Young could be on his way back soon. This not only helps the Tigers with another bat, but, I’m guessing, it could start the trade pendulum a-swingin.

Speaking of Verlander, Reggie Sanders said he reminds him of a right-handed Randy Johnson. I’m hoping that’s a compliment.

Our friend Fish just returned from Chicago today. He informs me it’s a toddlin’ town.

A call to arms

One thing that's driven me crazy this season is listening to Phillies fans, and radio talkshow folks, drone on and on about how the Phils failed to get a No. 1 starter. Who were they supposed to get? Where was their failing?

These knuckleheads think because they were able to trick their secretary into trading them Roy Halladay for Rich Aurelia in their fantasy league that swinging a deal is no great effort.

The fact the Mets have had to turn to Lima Time and the Yankees have signed Hell Sid tells you all you need to know about the dearth of quality arms.

Although, I hear Jimmy Haynes is available.

Hell Sid

One can imagine the trepidation among O's fans as they watch Sidney Ponson land in the House That Ruth Built.

Sure, there is every indication that Sir Sidney will pitch only slightly better than the guys throwing those BP fastballs in the HR Derby. But in the back of every Yankee-hater's mind is the thought of Ponson being somehow rejuvenated and leading NY to the East title.

I know, that's as likely as Aaron Small going 10-0 with a 3.20 ERA down the stretch.

Oh, nevermind.

Mets at the midpoint: I hate July

The Mets eased into the All-Star break by winning five of eight games in a busy week. The offense remained good, the pitching remained troubling and neither John Maine nor Mike Pelfrey could do anything about it. But now we move into what has recently been the hardest time of the year to be a Mets fan. It is July and as a result, rumors of the Mets emptying their farm system to acquire washed up veterans are flying. So I thought this would be a good time to look back at Omar Minaya's offseason trades and see how they're working out so far. Maybe he really does know what he's doing and I can relax.

The first significant trade of the winter was the deal that sent Mike Cameron to San Diego in exchange for Xavier Nady. Cameron was recovering from a serious injury and stuck playing right field if he were to remain on the Mets, so his trade value was certainly diminished a bit. Still, it seemed Minaya jumped the gun a bit in making this trade when he could perhaps have received more by getting a CF-less team like the Red Sox involved in the bidding.

At the artificial midway point of the season, this deal is not looking so great. Cameron got off to a slow start but is now hitting .259/.349/.440 in a very tough pitcher's park. Nady is at .265/.321/.484 and has actually played fewer games than the once injured Cameron. Nady has also looked pretty bad defensively and I seriously doubt the same could be said for Cameron. While the Mets did save a bit of money with this deal, I think they clearly wound up with the inferior player. The Mets couldn't have utilized Cameron in center field the way the Padres have, but I still think they could have gotten more for him.

Next up was the biggest deal of the season and the one I liked the most at the time. Carlos Delgado came to the Mets while Mike Jacobs and top pitching prospect Yusmeiro Petit went to Florida. Delgado got off to a hot start in April only to cool off considerably in May. He bounced back with a good June but his overall numbers are still not good.

Delgado is hitting .252/.344/.513, which would add up to his lowest full-season OPS in ten years and his lowest OBP ever. Perhaps more disturbing is that Jacobs is putting up nearly identical numbers. He's hitting .278/.351/.494 in about forty fewer at bats. Petit has struggled in both the minors and the majors this year, but even so, this trade is a looking like a disappointment. The thirty-four year old Delgado, whom the Mets have signed up for two more years, isn't even out-hitting the twenty-five year old he was traded for. I still believe Delgado has it in him to finish strong. And in any case he's been a significant upgrade over the 2005 Mets' first basemen. But when the Mets are paying $13 million for a thirty-six year old Delgado in 2008, Mike Jacobs might be down in Florida making them regret it.

The Mets made one more deal with the Marlins this winter and that one is more obviously not working out. Gaby Hernandez is having a solid year in high-A ball at age twenty, posting a 3.24 ERA in 111 innings with 107 strikeouts and just 31 walks. Meanwhile, the guy the Mets got for him isn't outplaying his own backup or the guy he replaced.

Paul Lo Duca is showing us all how useless a .300 batting average can be if you don't have any patience or power to back it up. At .302/.343/.409, Lo Duca is about even with Ramon Castro, who's slumped a bit lately to drop to .255/.347/.402. Castro remains the superior defensive player. And out in San Diego, old Mike Piazza is hitting .290/.348/.504 playing only slightly less often than Lo Duca. There was no way Piazza was coming back to the Mets and even I didn't think playing him every day was a good idea. But it sure would be nice to have him around now.

The other two significant trades of the offseason saw the Mets trade pitching for pitching, some of which they've since traded for more pitching. Jae Seo and Tim Hamulack went to the Dodgers in exchange for Duaner Sanchez and Steve Schmoll. And Kris Benson went to Baltimore for John Maine and Jorge Julio, who has since been traded to Arizona for Orlando Hernandez.

The deal with the Dodgers seems like the best of the bunch as Sanchez has been very good in relief while Seo struggled mightily in LA. Seo's since been traded to Tampa Bay and pitched well against the Yankees. I swear if Jae Seo and Scott Kazmir lead the Devil Rays to the top of the AL East one of these years, I will never forgive the Mets. But I digress.

Benson's apparently been his usual mediocre self in Baltimore, just with a bit of AL inflation added to his standard 4.something ERA. Neither Julio nor Maine has been any better for the Mets, but Hernandez has at least added a bit of stable adequacy to the back of the rotation.

Wow. Looking at all of these trades together, a picture begins to develop. And it is not pretty. I thought this could be an unusually relaxing July, given the Mets' enormous division lead, and all I'd have to complain about would be the weather. Now I'm not so sure. I guess I'll get started on my "they traded what for Livan Hernandez?" post.

He's not old, he's mature

So Jim Eriotes, 83, became the oldest person to play pro baseball on Tuesday when he struck out for the Sioux Falls Canaries in his only at-bat.

What really impressed me, though, is he batted lead off. Take that Julio Franco. It sure would have been fun to see him leg a double into a single.

I liked Eriotes’ quote in the AP story about his performance. “If I got a couple more at-bats, I’d get a hit. Easy,” he said.

Guillen is swingin'

The Tigers will start the second half of the season the same way as the first – against the Royals. Hopefully, the results will be the same, too. Detroit is 8-0 vs. KC so far this season. After the four games with KC, the Tigers have three against the White Sox.

SS Carlos Guillen is very quietly putting together a great season. He’s .298-10-52 with 12 SB and 50 runs. Last year, Guillen struggled through an injury-plagued season but still batted .320. In 2004, he hit .318-20-97 and had a .921 OPS.

His .875 OPS this year is second on the Tigers, behind Marcus Thames’ 1.006. His OPS also ranks second among all SS in the game, trailing only Derek Jeter.

* * *

Brandon Inge continues to amaze and perplex me. He’s got 17 HR, tied for most on the team, and 47 RBI – all while batting .221. Remarkably, he’s hitting .221 at home, and .221 on the road. He hits .232 with RISP, which is substantially better than his .206 mark with the bases empty.

* * *

Seven Tigers have at least 10 HR this season. Only Pudge and Polanco do not among the regulars.

What Did He Say?

Nick Markakis, 22 yr. old rookie outfielder for the Baltimore Orioles, is making a statement.

Excluding AL scouting reports, it is unlikely to be heard beyond the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay.

In 2005, Markakis played 92 games for Class A Frederick, hitting .300 before being promoted to Class AA Bowie for their final 33 games. Markakis hit safely in 28 of 33 games in AA earning him the Orioles "Minor League Player of the Year" and an invitation to the Orioles spring training camp where he impressed enough to make the team.

Having only 33 games experience in facing AA level pitching, it was no surprise that Markakis was overmatched by AL pitching. The "Book" on Markakis said he couldn't handle the fastball on the inside corner. He couldn't. AL pitchers pounded it in there and Markakis watched or flailed.

He hit .182 in April.

Meanwhile, Terry Crowley, Orioles hitting instructor, had been crowing all along about Markakis patience at the plate (which he has) and about his aplomb at executing several of Crowley's "secret" hitting drills (of which we can never be certain). The confidence appears to be well founded.

In May, Markakis hit .254.
In June, .338.
So far in July, .467.

His season average stands at .272. He has not shown any power (8 2B, 2 HR), but he did have some pop in the minors and he's only 22, so he'll likely beef up over the next few years.

In just 3 months, with only 33 games of professional baseball at the AA level, Nick Markakis is forcing the AL to rewrite the "Book" on him. Many hitters never achieve that. If Markakis can survive the rewrite (which usually calls for plunking), the O's may well have a solid hitter in the lineup for years to come.

Steal blue

In honor of Pudge making the All-Star game as a starter (Sparky needs to get his eyes checked) let’s talk about stolen bases. Thanks to Pudge, the Tigers have yielded a ML-low 18 stolen bases in 35 attempts, also the ML low.

That means teams try to steal on the Tigers once every 2.3 games. I would think that’s got to be a comforting thought for the pitchers, who know they can focus more on the batter rather than divide their attention with runners on base. It’s got to be a significant factor in Detroit having the major’s best ERA.

Or is it? Upon further review of the stats, I noticed that San Diego, which has the major’s second-best ERA, has given up a ML-high 69 stolen bases in 79 attempts. And the Mets, who are No. 3 in ERA, have given up 63 SB in 82 tries.

I know that Bill James believes stolen bases to be overrated, and, if I remember correctly, argued that being caught stealing costs more runs than successful attempts create. The White Sox lead the majors in runs, but are 12th in stolen bases. The Red Sox are No. 2 in runs and No. 29 in thefts. Of the top six teams in runs, only the Yankees are in the top six in stolen bases. The Blue Jays are No. 18, the Tigers are No. 22 and the Indians are No. 26.

I must ponder this. Perhaps it is just best to say, and I think Stanley would agree, that stolen bases matter, except when they don’t.

Mets Week Thirteen: Seriously, enough with the interleague play already

I'll just say it's a good thing the playoffs don't start this week, even if that would mean the Yankees not making it. The Mets went on the road to face the class of the AL East and wound up doing their best impression of the entire history of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays franchise. They lost five out of six games and most of them by wide margins. If the front office wasn't constantly searching for some decent starting pitching, they had better be now. I hear Jeff Weaver's available.

Alay Soler, who had often looked to me like the third best starter on this team, had an absolutely disastrous week. Limaesque, you might call it. Two starts. Seven innings. Seventeen hits. Six walks. Four home runs. Sixteen runs. Zero strikeouts. With John Maine healthy and pitching adequately in Norfolk, Soler may not be long for this rotation.

Steve Trachsel and Orlando Hernandez actually had the two most effective starts of the week, though only Trachsel was able to win a game. Each allowed just two runs against the Yankees with Trachsel pitching six innings and Hernandez seven. Still, both men have been quite inconsistent and each has an ERA just south of five. I think the Mets are going to have to do better that these guys if they're going to go deep into the playoffs.

In happier news, six Mets were named to the All-Star Game on Sunday. David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Paul Lo Duca will all start for the NL and Tom Glavine and Pedro Martinez were chosen for the pitching staff. Billy Wagner is also on the ballot for the fan-selected final spot, though I think Nomar Garciaparra deserves it more. Lo Duca isn't one of the five best catchers in the NL and doesn't really belong in this game and I would be pretty surprised if Pedro even went, let alone pitched, especially now that he's missing a start tonight due to a sore hip. But it will still be fun to see all those Mets in the lineup given that they may actually have some stake in the outcome.

Also, congratulations to that kid from Tampa Bay who made the AL squad. I think he might have a future in this game.

Even with Pedro missing tonight's start, things will get a little easier for the Mets. They'll begin a four-game series with the worst team in the National League, the Pittsburgh Pirates. Then they'll finish off the first half with four games against the Marlins, who have somehow climbed all the way to third place in the East.

Halfway home

We’re at the halfway point and the Tigers are on pace to win 110 games. What a ride it’s been, and hopefully it will continue. Even if Detroit goes 40-41 the rest of the way, and there’s no reason to think this team will fall apart, that gets them to 95 victories.

This has been a true team effort, as evidenced by the All-Star voting. No Tigers will be starters. Pudge finished second at catcher and second baseman Placido Polanco was the only other Detroit player to crack the top five at his position. Polanco was fifth.

It’s understandable. I can’t even pick a first-half MVP for the team. Maggs has got to be considered for his .313-15-58. But Thames, Guillen, Pudge, Granderson, and Shelton all have been major players at some point during the year so far. Inge still isn’t hitting for average, but has dangerous power at the bottom of the order.

Obviously, the pitchers deserve recognition, too. Rogers, despite a couple poorer starts lately, has led the way for much of the campaign, on the field and off.

Verlander (10-4, 3.13) also has been great, as has Robertson (8-3, 3.14). You can’t overlook the bullpen with Zumaya, Rodney and Walker. And Zach Miner has stepped into Maroth’s spot in the rotation and produced 4-1, 2.59.

That’s 14 guys playing big roles without even mentioning the contributions of Bonderman and, before his injury, Maroth. That’s probably why you can be optimistic entering the second half – this isn’t a team relying on any one person for its success. It would take a massive collective slump to send this team in a long-term tailspin.

At least that’s what I’m hoping.

Feel the glove

Curtis Granderson, aka Star in the Making, saved the Tigers with a diving catch in the eighth inning of Friday night's 7-6 win in Pittsburgh.

Marcus Thames homered, as did former Pittsburgh farmhand Chris Shelton. And, of course, former Pirates manager Jim Leyland was on the Tigers' bench.

With the win, the Tigers moved 30 games over .500 at 55-25. All this does is equal the 80-game record of the great 1984 Detroiters that won the World Series.

Bless you boys.

Trade winds

Jim Leyland says the Tigers are not trading for Bobby Abreu. That's been one of the hot rumors going around because Detroit is in need of a left-handed bat. Another rumor has John Smoltz headed to Motown at some point.

It appears that pitcher Joel Zumaya, and maybe OF/DH Marcus Thames, are the most sought after players by other teams. I hope the Tigers don't trade Zumaya as arms like that are tough to come by. I know you have to give something to get something, but I'm not a big fan of tinkering with a team that's playing like this one is right now.

Thames is interesting. He's got talent, but can he hit consistently? His trade value will never be higher. But, again, I would hate to see him go because of the attitude and energy he brings. I could live with it, but I wouldn't like it. Of course, if he slumps to .230, I'll wish they'd pulled the trigger on a deal.

Mets Week Twelve: Playing out the schedule

Jose Reyes had 19 hits in 31 at bats this week, seven of them for extra bases, to earn his second consecutive National League Player of the Week award.

Moving on, the Mets won just four of seven games. The offense continued to roll, putting thirty-nine runs on the board, but the pitching was less dependable. Steve Trachsel and Orlando Hernandez each had one good start and one bad one, though Hernandez lost both of his while Trachsel won his two. Alay Soler, with little help from his defense, struggled. At least Pedro and Glavine got back to pitching well.

Billy Wagner also had a bit of a rough week. He only allowed runs in one of his four appearances, but he did blow his fourth save of the season on Wednesday. Overall, Wagner has been very good this year despite a handful of memorable failures. There's nothing wrong with his velocity and his strikeout rate of 11.29 per nine innings is his best since 2001. His control has been a problem, though, as he's already walked 17 batters. Last year he allowed just 20 free passes in more than twice as many innings. He's on pace to surpass his career high of 30 walks, which he allowed in both 1996 and 1997. Even with the control issues, he's an excellent closer. But if he can't locate the strike zone a bit more often, he's not going to be the elite reliever the Mets thought they were signing.

Speaking of guys who aren't as good as the Mets thought they were, Paul Lo Duca hurt himself this past weekend. It's nothing serious and he should return to the lineup soon, but there's no need for him to hurry back. Lo Duca, despite his reputation for clutchness, has a history of starting off strong and fizzling down the stretch. In the past three years, he's hit .302/.356/.426 before the All Star break and .249/.307/.345 after. This year he's hitting .280/.321/.394 in what's supposed to be the good half. Meanwhile, his backup, Ramon Castro, is hitting .256/.347/.427 and throwing out a greater percentage of potential base stealers. I don't expect Castro will ever supplant Lo Duca as the starter, and perhaps he couldn't hold up under the strain of playing every day, either. But letting him start more often than he is now could both help the Mets score runs and help Lo Duca stay fresh until October, when the team will need all the clubhouse presence he can muster.

Now that the Mets have taken two of three from the third-place Blue Jays, they move on up to take on the top two teams in the AL East. First they'll play three in Boston and then head to the Bronx for three against the Yankees, from whom they took two of three at Shea last month. Logically, some team is going to stop Jose Reyes eventually. But I don't think either these teams has the pitching staff to get it done.

O's Improve Starting Rotation

The Baltimore Orioles signed free agent pitcher Russ Ortiz and have inserted him into the starting rotation. Ortiz is scheduled to take the mound for the first time as an Oriole on July 1 against the Atlanta Braves.

This season, Ortiz was 0-5 with a 7.54 ERA while with the Diamondbacks. He replaces Adam Loewen (0-2, 6.66 ERA) in the O's rotation who has been sent down to AAA Ottawa.

This move cannot hurt the O's. Loewen had six starts for the O's and has clearly been in over his head. He's got talent and moxie, but not enough to overcome inexperience and lack of command at the Major League level. Loewen pitched about as well as he can pitch at this level (at this point in his career).

Ortiz, on the other hand, has pitched about as poorly as anyone can pitch. His career establishes that he can be an excellent starter. He's had health problems since signing with Arizona. The O's (Mazzone) claim Ortiz is healthy and that he "just needs to pitch good".

So, if Ortiz continues to pitch poorly, it only means that the O's lose the games he starts. They've been losing those starts all season anyway (Chen and Loewen). Arizona is paying Ortiz' salary (the O's pay only the pro-rated minimum salary), so the gamble costs the O's almost nothing. Of course, if Ortiz returns to form, that in itself is a huge improvement to the O's starting pitching.

The guaranteed improvement is that the O's get Loewen back down to the minors where he can develop his skills with first hand knowledge of what it's going to take to compete in the AL. If he develops command of the strike zone, he will be a solid major league starter.

Random thoughts, again

Maybe Gwen Stefani was singing about the AL Central when she eloquently stated: This sh*t is bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

The Tigers have gone 9-1 in their last 10 and have put no ground between themselves and the White Sox. Or the Twins, for that matter. That’s because the Sox and Twins are also both 9-1 in their last 10.

Detroit has the best record in baseball and is on pace to win 109 games, or so. And yet they lead the Central by a scant game as CWS headed into its Sunday night contest against the Astros. This is no way for the baseball gods to treat fans that have waited more than a decade for a good team.

(Of course, I'm sure the White Sox and Twins fans are lamenting their inability to make up any ground. Shut up, we're due.)

Star-in-the-making update: Curtis Granderson, who Brandon Inge has labeled the Tigers’ “clutch MVP of the first half,” is batting .344-4-24 over his last 31 games. He’s also got 28 runs, 10 doubles and three triples during that span and his OPS is a cool 1.000.

For the year, he’s batting .377 with a 1.206 OPS with runners in scoring position.

Quote of the week: “There's no fluke anymore. There's no, we'll see how they do in the first half, or after 50 games. We are a good team.” – Brandon Inge. By the way, the Tigers are 14-3 since beating the White Sox on June 8 (thank you Gambler) and ending their mini-slump against the Yankees, Red Sox and CWS.

Worth the price of admission: The Tigers drew a three-game Comerica record 125,417 fans for their sweep of the Cardinals. A number of other fans reportedly watched games from the roof of the parking garage beyond the left-field wall.

Hump Day lumps: Detroit has lost its last four Wednesday games. That equals the number of losses the Tigers have had all other days of the week since May 31.

Call him Mr. Thames: Marcus Thames has always had power – and a flair for the dramatic. He hit a grand slam in his first game up with the Tigers in 2005. He homered in his first at-bat with the Rangers in 2003. And, of course, he homered on the first pitch he ever saw in the majors, as a Yankee – off Randy Johnson.

The story is that Leyland’s brother, Larry, sold the manager on Thames. Larry Leyland has been a frequent fan at Triple-A Toledo, where Thames has seen plenty of action the last couple years.

During his career as a Tiger, Thames has 32 homers and 77 RBI in 437 AB. He entered this season a .232 hitter, though. Now he’s batting over .300. If he can bat .280 with the power he has, watch out. As he’s already proven this year, he can be very dangerous.

How Good is Jay Gibbons?

There is debate amongst Orioles followers regarding the value of Jay Gibbons to the Baltimore Orioles. Gibbons supporters claim he is a hustling ballplayer with adequate range in right field and a moderately powerful left handed hitter. Gibbons detractors claim he is mediocre at best in all facets of the game and would represent almost no loss if the Orioles didn't have him.

Gibbons has been absent from the O's lineup most of the past month due to the death of his father followed immediately by a trip to the DL (where he remains as of today).

For this season, Gibbons offensive production is as follows:

Player	Games	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	OBP	AVG
Gibbons	48	190	22	52	12	10	29	10	.312	.274

Using a "Run Production per Game" formula of (Runs + RBI - HR), Gibbons produced .85 Runs per Game.

Gibbons has hit behind Miguel Tejada and ahead of Ramon Hernandez for most of those 48 games. Tejada's offensive production looks like this:

Player	Games	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	OBP	AVG
Tejada w/Gibbons	48	195	39	62	8	13	35	16	.370	.318
Tejada w/o Gibbons	27	114	15	33	6	3	19	9	.339	.289

Tejada has produced 1.27 runs per game with Gibbons hitting behind him and 1.14 runs per game w/o Gibbons behind him. So, sans Gibbons, the O's lose his .85 runs per game plus .13 runs per game from Tejada for a total Gibbons Effective Runs per Game value of .98.

Ramon Hernandez offensive production looks like this:

Player	Games	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	OBP	AVG
Hernandez w/Gibbons	43	157	20	49	4	8	36	16	.383	.312
Hernandez w/o Gibbons	27	106	9	25	10	4	15	7	.281	.236

Ramon has a 1.12 Runs per Game with Gibbons in front of him and .74 runs per game w/o Gibbons for a differential of .38 runs per game bringing Gibbons Effective Runs per Game to 1.36.

The Orioles, as a team, have scored 5.17 runs per game with Gibbons in the lineup and 4.39 runs per game w/o Gibbons in the lineup (a difference of .78 runs per game). So, the O's have managed to replace .58 effective runs per game of Gibbons 1.36 effective runs per game contribution.

The bottom line is that Gibbons is twice as productive as anyone the Orioles have to take his place and he improves the productivity of Tejada in front and Hernandez behind him. It's enough for me to wish for Gibbons' speedy recovery.

A Perfect Day for a Firing

The rumor popped up earlier this week that if the Phillies were swept by the last place Devil Rays then Manager Charlie Manuel would now be unemployed, but the Phillies fought from being down and won the final game of the series. Now this was just a rumor so who knows if Pat Gillick had any intention of firing Manuel, but if he did or does today would be a great day for it. The Phillies have no game and our traveling up to Boston, and just blew Cole Hamels’ best performance of his young career managing only 3 hits to the Yankees’ 5 runs on 11 hits. The team’s defense has been terrible, they are near the bottom or in the middle of the NL in every offensive category except home runs, and if nothing else they can’t win at home. If Pat Gillick wants to make a move I think now’s the time before the season might slip away before July is here.

Other random Phillies notes.

Ryan Howard is the fastest player in the history of Major League Baseball to ever hit 25 homeruns in their sophomore season. Quicker then Joe DiMaggio and Eddie Mathews.

Ryan Howard’s monster third deck blast from Monday has been honored with a white H pained on Seat 8, in Section 304, Row 1.

Randy Wolf got roughed up in his first double A rehab start. Wolf lasted 3 2/3 and gave up 6 runs on 71 pitches. YAR!

Divisions among us

While Mets fans are busy watching the World Cup, or pro wrestling or The Real World, in the hopes of viewing something meaningful, I'm touched with envy.

The Tigers are 3 games better than the NYM, yet have just a one-game lead over the White Sox in the AL Central. Meanwhile, the Mets are 9.5 up in the NL East. Sigh.

What goes around ...

In 1987, the Tigers dealt Single-A pitcher John Smoltz to the Braves for Doyle Alexander. Smoltz turned into one of the foundation pieces for Atlanta's remarkable run in the NL and Alexander helped lift Detroit to the 1987 East title by going 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA in 11 starts.

Some have called this the worst trade in Tigers history, but I'm not among them. There was no guarantee Smoltz would become the pitcher he did, and Alexander and Detroit overcame a 2.5-game deficit with a week to play by sweeping Toronto on the final weekend. (Frank Tanana beat Jimmy Key 1-0 in the finale -- why don't people talk about this more?)

Anyway, last year, the Tigers dealt Kyle Farnsworth to the Braves for a minor-league pitcher named Zach Miner. After last night's complete game win, Miner is 3-1 with a 2.08 ERA for Detroit since being called up to replace injured Mike Maroth. Farnsworth is blowing games for the Yankees.

Have the Tigers gotten their Smoltz thanks to that deal? Way too early to tell, but fun to think about.

And speaking of Smoltz, who can become a free agent at the end of the season, might he end up back in Detroit this year? He said that if he's traded, the Tigers would be a natural fit. Imagine a staff of Rogers, Smoltz, Bonderman and Verlander or Robertson heading into the postseason. Food for thought.

Memory lane

I was reading Rob Neyer’s fine book of baseball lineups recently and came across a story about Dave Stieb. It’s a name that, sadly, seems to have been forgotten by most fans. I take that back – by most everyone. After all, Sir David only got 7 votes for the Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot, thus making him ineligible for future ballots.

Stieb was always one of my favorite pitchers, even though he hurled for the rival Blue Jays. Maybe I liked him because he kind of had a Jack Morris-type nastiness. Anyway, I was reminded that in a two-year period, 1988-89, Stieb lost three no-hitters with two outs in the ninth. Those were among five one-hitters he threw.

In fact, Stieb ended 1988 with back-to-back one-hitters and pitched another in his second start of 1989 – three one-hitters in four freakin’ starts! He finally tossed a no-no in 1990.

Stieb led all AL pitchers in the decade of the 1980s in ERA (3.32) and shutouts (27) and was second in wins (140, behind Morris’ 160).

What killed Stieb was his record. He never won 20 games, but eight times had an ERA of 3.25 or lower. His ERA was more than a full run better than the league’s ERA on six occasions.

Take 1985 as an example. Stieb posted an AL-best 2.48 ERA – well below the league’s ERA of 4.23 – and went 14-13. And Toronto won 99 games that year. It makes no sense. Making even less sense, Stieb got 2 points in the Cy Young voting and finished tied for seventh. His teammate Doyle Alexander (17-10, 3.45) was sixth. Neyer figured Stieb should have won three Cy Young Awards -- he won none -- based on Win Shares.

In 1981, Stieb was 11-10 for a Blue Jays squad that won just 37 games (strike-shortened season). I could go on, but you can see for yourself.

Mets Week Eleven: So, what are we supposed to do for the next three and a half months?

A disappointing weekend series put a bit of a damper on the Mets' week. Their pitching wasn't very good. And Cliff Floyd hurt his ankle. But all of that seems insignificant after a week in which the Mets opened an insurmountable lead over their division rivals.

The Mets' offense had a terrific week, scoring more than six runs a game to bail out their shaky pitchers. Jose Reyes was spectacular, getting a hit in exactly half of his at bats with nearly half of those going for extra bases. Despite his struggles earlier in the season, Reyes is now hitting .269/.336/.439. His on base and slugging percentages would both be the best of his career by a narrow margin if he kept them up through the end of the season. He's now drawn more walks than he did all of last year in 95 fewer games and he's on pace to top his totals of doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases as well. After his injury troubles in 2004 and his disappointing 2005, Reyes appears finally to be making good on the promise he showed back in 2003.

Less encouraging this week was the failure of Tom Glavine and Pedro Martinez to dominate opposing hitters. The two of them allowed 12 runs in 18.1 innings. The Mets did win both of Glavine's starts and the first of them might have been less ugly played somewhere other than Citizens Bank Smallpark, but the Mets can't really afford to have these two regress to being merely good pitchers. Even with Alay Soler continuing to impress, the Mets need their pair of aces to compensate for the ineffectiveness of the rest of the rotation. I mean, with a nine and a half game lead, they can afford it for now. But come October, Pedro and Glavine need to be Pedro and Glavine.

The Mets don't get to rest on their lead this week, though, as they face a pair of teams with legitimate playoff aspirations. First they play four at home against the Reds, the current National League Wild Card leader. And then it's off to Toronto for three against a Blue Jays team that trails the Yankees by just three games. The Mets have really beat up on their own division so far this year. Now we'll see if they can keep it up against the rest of baseball.

Ok, I'm Posting

I may be a fool but I’m not giving up just yet. Even though just yesterday I was discussing the horrible out look for the Phillies down the road, I’m still convinced that the Phillies still aren’t that far off from making the playoffs with their current roster but something creative has to be done, something I’m not sure is possible. The Phillies need to find starting pitching and fast and their just isn’t really any available. The Phillies starting pitching is right there with the worst in all of Baseball, but we knew this and Pat Gillick has said so much since spring training that he feels the Phils don’t have the pitching to really contend. The question is can anything be done to save this season or are we going to have to wait as fans for Gillick to start making big changes?

The Philles can’t go for a rent a player type since that would further hamper the future of the team, so young but major league worthy pitchers are needed. Not really something that’s easy to find mid season and teams often don’t want to give up that kind of cheap pitching and possibly great pitching. Also there is the problem that the most movable pieces are the corner outfielders which both make a lot of money that a team giving up a young pitcher most likely would not want to take on. The fact is if the Phillies are going to make the moves necessary they probably would have to take some big chances on high risk players like Mark Prior who maybe able to be had for a Pat Burrell or Bobby Abrue, but may turn out to be completely wasted on the DL or never live up to his potential and turn out to be anything better than what the team already has.

The one player that maybe able to be moved to bring in some serious value in return is Jimmy Rollins. J-Roll is going to be making decent market value for is position and is locked up while. He’s still young enough that his contract is fair and his defense is amongst the best in the league at short stop, but again the problem is that you need to find a dance partner and there aren’t that many if any teams that need a short stop this year that would have a pitcher the Phillies would want.

Still there is hope, even after how bad the last week has been the Phillies managed to gain a ½ game back in the Wildcard and are only 3 back. I know on the 19th of June one doesn’t want to think of the Wildcard but to catch the Mets right now the Phillies would pretty much need The Mets to fall completely apart, so it’s the giver of false hope the Wildcard that we’ll have to dream of. Maybe Randy Wolf can come back, maybe when Liber comes back he can catch some of his old form. This week may tell us a lot about if the Phillies may try to be buyers or sellers at the dead line, but probably not. That’s the one thing the Wildcard has really screwed up. Too many teams still have hope.

The Gambler for MVP

The season is nearing the halfway point and Kenny Rogers has emerged, in my mind, as a legitimate candidate for MVP. I can, at this time, imagine few players more valuable to their teams than Mr. Rogers.

First, Rogers is 10-3 with a 3.17 ERA. On Sunday, he picked up his 200th career victory.

Detroit is 11-4 in games started by Rogers. In the four losses, the Tigers scored a total of five runs and were shutout twice.

He is probably responsible for having the Tigers at least 10 games over .500 on his own – remember, he essentially replaced Jason Johnson in the rotation. It would be easy, based on history, to surmise that Johnson could be at least three games under .500 at this point. (He’s 3-7 for Cleveland.)

Rogers helped set the tone for the pitching staff by tossing six innings of three-hit ball to beat KC on opening day. Two of his other April wins followed a Tigers’ loss. Two more of his victories since then have followed defeats.

Over his last four starts, Rogers has pitched seven innings twice and eight innings twice. His median innings pitched per game for the year is seven innings.

Finally, of course is the impact Rogers has had on the staff as a whole. He is a legitimate No. 1 starter, which immediately moved all the other Tiger starters into spots where they were better suited. Let’s face it, having Robertson slide from No. 2 to No. 3 and Maroth (when he was healthy) from No. 3 to No. 4, makes this staff much more formidable. Not to mention that Bonderman gets to relax in the No. 2 spot and almost gives Detroit a 1 and 1A in the rotation.

There is no way to quantify what Rogers has meant to the club as a mentor to the young pitchers, but it has to be substantial. The Tigers entered Sunday with a ML-best 3.61 ERA. Consider this – the last time an AL team led the majors in ERA was in 1990 when Oakland did it.

O's take two - CDC alerted

The Center for Disease Control has been alerted to an outbreak of O's Fever in the borough of Queens.

The Baltimore Orioles have taken the first 2 of three games from the NL East leading NY Mets in surprising fashion. The Orioles have delivered timely hitting to take advantage of sloppy Mets defensive play and backed it up with good pitching.

Getting 6 and 8 innings pitched in games 1 & 2 from starters Bedard and Benson, respectively, easily represents the best two game stretch of starting pitching for the O's all season. The bullpen has 4 innings of shutout baseball.

I suspect Mets manager Willie Randolph has some medicine for the Mets affliction and no doubt gave 'em all a dose of it after last nights game in which the Mets committed 3 errors.

The final game of 3 is today and the Mets send Tom Glavine to the mound. A solid left handed starter combined with a dose of "Get yer head out of yer #!$@%@$" from Randolph, will likely be enough to stay the CDC from quarantining the borough.

As for the carrier of O's fever, I can only say "Go North, young germ".

So, does this matter?

Having some time to kill this afternoon, I decided to look at run production by individual players. I think I stole this idea from somewhere, but I don’t recall where.

What I did was take the Top 20 RBI men in the ML. I added their runs scored and RBI and then subtracted their HR so they didn’t get credit for two runs. I then divided the total by their plate appearances and came up with, for lack of a better term, their run production average, or RPA.

Obviously, factors outside the individual player's control are part of this study, and I haven’t thought much about how to resolve that yet. For instance, a player can only drive in runs if guys get on base ahead of him, and can only score – outside of a HR – if someone behind him drives him in. So the strength of a team’s lineup can help or hurt a player in these rankings.

Anyway, below are the Top 20 RBI men ranked according to RPA. The first number is runs produced followed by plate appearance and then their average (with their RBI rank in parentheses). Following the Top 20 are four players I did just out of curiosity.

Does this have any value?

Pujols 92-233 .395 (1)
Beltran 84-254 .331 (T11)
Hafner 93-289 .322 (T6)
Thome 87-277 .314 (T4)
Giambi 77-251 .307 (T11)
Glaus 83-280 .296 (T13)
Tejada 89-305 .292 (T13)
A Jones 80-284 .282 (T2)
Berkman 74-263 .281 (T4)
Morneau 69-250 .276 (T13)
Konerko 78-287 .272 (T17)
C. Lee 79-290 .272 (T6)
Ortiz 79-291 .271 (T2)
Lopez 82-304 .270 (T17)
Wells 76-283 .269 (T9)
Wright 79-296 .267 (T19)
Guerrero 73-277 .264 (T9)
Bay 79-300 .263 (T13)
Howard 70-275 .255 (T6)
Burrell 65-255 .255 (T19)

The other four:
Abreu 90-292 .308 (T27)
A Rod 85-283 .300 (T30)
Holliday 80-276 .290 (T27)
Blaylock 80-290 .276 (T27)

Winning ways

The big news out of Motown is that the Tigers reached win No. 43 yesterday, matching their victory total from the dreadful 2003 season when they lost 119 games.

Detroit has 95 games remaining. That means if the Tigers go just 47-48 the rest of the way, they still hit 90 wins, which probably keeps them in the postseason chase. Obviously, we're hoping for better than .500 the rest of the way, but at least this is comforting.

Inge (pronounced Inge)

Brandon Inge is a vexing player. He was barely a .200 during his years as a catcher, then was moved to 3B and blossomed with .287-13-64 in 408 AB in 2004. He hit .261 last season and had 16 HR and 72 RBI.

This year, he’s back around .220, although he has 13 HR and 39 RBI already. He is often mentioned as one of the Tigers’ best – if not the best – all-around athletes.

What’s really odd, to me, anyway, is that he’s got 39 RBI on just 48 hits. Among the top 50 players in the AL in RBI, there’s only one with more RBI than hits, and that’s Jason Giambi with 50 hits and 51 ribbies. So Inge is picking up 0.81 RBI per hit. For comparison, leaders like Vernon Wells and Vlad Guerrero are at 0.66 while Miguel Tejada is at 0.57.

So, you have to figure Inge is a demon with runners in scoring position, right? Wrong. He’s batting .234 with RISP.

I have no idea how he’s doing it. All I know is he appears to be too talented to be a .220 hitter, and too poor of a hitter right now to be driving in runs like he is. But I’m glad he is.

Swing batta!

Lastings Milledge makes Juan Samuel seem disciplined at the plate. How in the world does anyone throw a pitch near the strike zone to that guy? I'm thinking high heat and breaking balls away and Milledge could strike out 3 times a game. Stanley, if he was a manager, I'm sure would fine any pitcher throwing a ball in the strike zone to Milledge.

Catching up

A lot has happened over the last several days, and much of it was good for the Tigers. After that tough stretch against the Yanks, BoSox and ChiSox, they took two of three in Toronto and beat TB last night with a late rally (two in ninth to tie and then won in 13th).

Curtis Granderson drove in the winning run and was 4-for-6 on the night. Jim Leyland called him "a jewel" after the victory. For the season, our star-in-the-making is hitting .285 with 9 HR and 31 RBI. Not bad for a leadoff man. He's got a .385 OBP, but strikes out a lot -- 71 times so far.

It seems that offensively, Pudge, Maggs and Guillen are going to be fairly consistent. The rest of the lineup produces a new star regularly. Our man of the hour is DH Marcus Thames, who is hitting .310 with 12 HR in just 125 AB. He's got a 1.079 OPS.

Zach Miner got his first win filling in for Mike Maroth, so that was encouraging. The Tigers got Miner from the Braves when they dealt Farnsworth last year. He was 6-0 with a 2.82 ERA at Triple-A Toledo this season. He is only 24 -- meaning 3/5 of the rotation is 24 or younger -- but has six years in the minors.

One guy that's overlooked in the pen is Jamie Walker. This guy has been incredible, posting a 0.93 ERA and 0.83 WHIP in 19.1 innings. He has 17 K and just 2 BB. He's allowed only two runs.

Mets Week Ten: How the west was whipped

The Mets had their best week of the year, winning six out of seven and outscoring the opposition 55-25. They got good pitching from unexpected sources and good hitting from just about everyone. The NL West offered up its two best teams and the Mets proved once again that the East coast is the superior coast.

Tom Glavine and Pedro Martinez had a bit of a rough week, but a couple of other starters stepped up to earn some lopsided wins. Orlando Hernandez pitched the Mets' first real complete game of the season on Friday, allowing just one run. And Alay Soler had two excellent starts, allowing one run in sixteen innings including a complete game shutout on Sunday. One good start doesn't erase all of the bad pitching Hernandez has done this year, but Soler is a different story. He's had one terrible start this year, but otherwise has ranged from solid to excellent. Four major league starts can only tell you so much, but right now he's the closest thing the Mets have had to a legitimate third starter all year.

Of course, concerns about pitching become less important when your offense is scoring nearly eight runs per game, as the Mets did this week. Carlos Beltran and David Wright remain unstoppable. And Carlos Delgado sprang to life, hitting .391/.429/.870 on the week. The Mets temporarily lost Cliff Floyd to a sprained ankle, but so many other hitters had big weeks that he was hardly missed.

The Mets start off this week with a chance to expand their six and a half game lead over the Phillies with a three game series in Philadelphia. Then they'll return home to breathe new life into the heated Mets/Orioles rivalry for three games. It will be nice to see clips of those Tommie Agee catches again.

Blowpen

If there is one trend that seems to be developing, it's the Tigers penchant for blowing games in the late innings. In fact, three of their last five losses have come in such fashion, with their foes scoring the winning run in the eighth inning or later.

Hopefully, this isn't a trend, just a patch of bad luck. But Ernie Harwell didn't nickname Todd Jones "roller coaster" without reason.

Perspective

Stanley left a message that echoed the feelings I was going to share about the Tigers. OK, Detroit went 2-5 against the Yanks and Red Sox. However, they should have won the Boston series, if not for a blown save by Jones. They could have won another game against the Yanks (the 11-inning loss on May 30), thereby getting a split. And turning 2-5 into 4-3.

Even with their slump, which was inevitable given the way they'd been playing, they have the best record in the majors and a 2.5 lead over the CWS in the AL Central. As Stanley says, it's just time to grind it out until another hot streak comes around. Also, it shows the importance of whipping up on the weaker competition so you have a cushion to absorb slumps.

Justin Verlander was named the AL Rookie of the Month.

The Tigers grabbed UNC lefty pitching standout Andrew Miller with the sixth pick of today's draft. Many expected Miller to be the No. 1 player on the board, so this was quite a break for Detroit.

Mets Week Nine: The kid is alright

The Mets had a merely average week, winning three out of six. But the Braves lost six out of seven to drop below .500 and out of second place. So the Mets remain comfortably in first place, four and a half games separating them from the Phillies as they head west.

The big story of the week was the arrival of top prospect Lastings Milledge in the major leagues. He got off to a slow start and his behavior drew quite a bit of hot air from the local media. But a big game on Sunday gave a glimpse of his potential. In five games he's already hit a pair of doubles and a home run and his defense has been pretty impressive when he's not making dumb rookie mistakes. He may head back to AAA when Xavier Nady is healthy, and that's probably not the worst thing in the world. But Milledge should be a solid major league outfielder by next Spring at the latest.

Also making the most of an opportunity to start this week was Jose Valentin. Once the Mets finally accepted that Kazuo Matsui's offensive ability had not accompanied him on his journey from Japan to the US, they gave Valentin a shot at playing second base. He'd gotten off to a terrible start in a reserve role, but had shown signs of life in May. And he kept it up once given the chance to start, leading the team with a 1.455 OPS and three home runs this week. Second base has been the biggest hole in the Mets' daily lineup this year, but if Valentin can resemble the player he was prior to his lost 2005, he can definitely fill that hole.

First base, on the other hand, has become a problem. Carlos Delgado hit just .208/.300/.406 in May after an excellent April. The Mets have had enough offense to pick up the slack, but this slump has really become a concern.

Otherwise, the story remains unchanged for the Mets. They keep winning despite a lot of bad pitching. This week they'll take their show on the road to the west coast with three games in Los Angeles and four in Arizona. Hopefully Bill Plaschke will find the time to write another love letter to Paul Lo Duca upon his return to LA.

Ouch!

Four losses in a row -- including three to the hated Yankees -- and now the news that Mike Maroth will be getting elbow surgery.

And the Tigers were on the cover of this week's SI. As if that even needed to be added.