Long ball blues

The Tigers have dropped three in a row, but from looking at the team’s pitching stats, it’s no time to panic. After all, the last two losses have been to the defending world champs. Of course, you’d like to beat them, especially at home, but the numbers from the White Sox series aren’t bad.

What’s hurt the Tigers is homers, I think. They’ve given up 4 HR in the first two games of the series. Other than that, the staff has held Chicago to a .197 batting average and yielded just 18 baserunners in 18 innings. You’d have to think you’re going to win most of the time with pitching like that.

Heck, if Thome stayed in Philly the Tigs might be 7-1. He's hit more homers against Detroit than any other team.

Justin Verlander goes this afternoon. Tough to ask a 23-year-old making his fourth career start to be your stopper, but that’s what he’s got to be today. I think he’s capable.

What a pitch

Bobby Abreu is the only Phillies hitter with more RBI than opposing pitchers have vs. Philly. Abreu has 7 RBI. Opposing pitchers are 6 of 17 (.353) with 5 RBI against the Phils.

Overall, the No. 8 and No. 9 batters in opposing lineups are hitting .395 vs. Phillies pitching.

The Phils are hitting .160 with runners in scoring position.

Record crowd goes home sad

The Tigers lost their home opener 5-3 to the defending world champs, but it was good to know there’s a buzz in Motown over the team. A Comerica record 44,179 attended yesterday and Jim Leyland got the loudest ovation during introductions.

Jeremy Bonderman pitched well, but gave up two homers. I think Leyland said afterward something like -- good game, bad result. Jim Thome hit one of the homers for Chicago. It won’t be long before Phillies fans are screaming about his trade.

Tigers are off today, then finish up the series against the White Sox on Wednesday and Thursday. It would be good to take those two, particularly with Robertson and Maroth pitching. And the Tigers need to make some noise against the big boys. Last year, they lost 14 of 19 against Chicago.

Leyland cautioned about getting too high off the 5-0 start, so I’m sure he’ll be keeping things upbeat now so things don’t get too low off two straight defeats.

Chris Shelton was the AL Player of the Week after getting 14 hits, including 5 homers, and nine RBI. He had a 1.458 slugging percentage and .615 OBA. Curtis Granderson called them “Nintendo-type numbers.”

By the way, which of these guys should be Pudge?

What a Relief!

The O's snapped a 4 game losing streak last night with a 6-3 victory over the Devil Rays in Tampa Bay. Eric Bedard had a good start for the O's (7 IP, 4H, 0 R, 2BB, 5 K) to earn his 2nd win in as many starts.

Chris Ray, the O's young closer, earned his 2nd save in as many opportunities. Tim Byrdak started the ninth for the Orioles with a 6-1 lead and promptly surrendered a base hit and a home run. Ray was immediately brought in to close the game. He faced 4 batters, surrendering a base hit and striking out the side. Ray has 43 2/3 IP in the Majors with 46 K and a 1.21 WHIP. In his two save opportunities this April, he's faced 7 batters and recorded 6 outs (2 ground balls, 1 popup, 3 Ks). He's got a wild delivery and somehow throws strikes. It's a lot of fun to watch.

The O's catch a break tonight as Tampa Bay's scheduled starter, O's nemesis Mark Hendrickson, has been placed on the DL.

Who am I?

There are 26 players to have gotten 3,000 hits. I'm 27th on the list, the guy who leads the non-3,000-hit club.

I hit better than .300 in 13 of the 15 seasons in which I played at least 100 games. The other two years I hit .295 and .297. My career average was .322. Only once did I strike out more than 26 times in a season. I also was 1-1 with a complete game and career 2.52 ERA in 9 pitching appearances.

When you've given up, you can look here for the answer.

Mets Week One in review: Fun with small sample sizes

From the "Things We Already Knew" department...

David Wright is good. The Mets' young third baseman picked up right where he left off last year. After finishing 19th in National League MVP voting in his first full year in the majors, Wright is apparently interested in climbing up the list. He's hitting .474/.478/.895 and leading the team with 9 RBI. Those averages may come down in time. Then again, they may not.

The Marlins stink. Surprisingly, they have scored as many runs as they've allowed so far this season. Unsurprisingly, they've still lost four out of five games. They have some good young talent that could turn into a dangerous team a couple of years from now. Right now, they could probably beat just about any AAA team. Probably.

From the "Things We Should Pretend Not To Be Concerned About" department...

Pedro Martinez is not Pedro Martinez yet. After a greatly abbreviated Spring Training, Pedro started the season with a rough five-run outing that included five walks and three hit batsmen over six innings. Given how little time he had to prepare for the season due to his injured toe, there's no reason to be alarmed yet. But it sure would be nice if the 2005 Pedro showed up soon.

Billy Wagner isn't quite Billy Wagner, either. The Mets' closer also missed a bit of time in the Spring, and his velocity has been noticeably sub-Wagnerian thus far. The fact that he has as many walks and as many home runs as strikeouts through three outings totaling three innings is not comforting. Still, at least he's not Jorge Julio.

And yet...

The Mets are 4-1. They're alone in first place. They're the only team in the division above .500. And they get to play the Nationals three more times starting tomorrow. Things could be worse.

Home at last

Jeremy Bonderman goes to the hill this afternoon as the Tigers finally get to play at home. Oddly, Bonderman's stats over the past two seasons were better on the road than in spacious Comerica. You'd think he'd dominate there. Maybe this year.

Some things to like from the Tigers 5-1 start, their best since 1985, other than simply the 5-1 start.

* It was all on the road.

* It was without closer Todd Jones.

* No errors.

* Young guns Justin Verlander, 23, and Joel Zumaya, 21, came out firing.

* Chris Shelton smacked the ball all over creation. Shelton had triples in consecutive at-bats the other night in Texas. Previously, he had three triples in his career, all at Comerica.

One reason for concern. Teams are hitting better than .300 against Rogers, Robertson and Maroth. Robertson was hit hard during spring training, too. Might become a problem if the Tigers' bats cool.

This Bud's for you...

In his first start for the St. Louis Cardinals, Sydney Ponson earned no decision throwing 5 innings, giving up 7 hits, 3 earned runs and 0 walks. That's zero walks. Zero.

I believe I'll have some Budweiser delivered to the O's clubhouse c/o Leo Mazzone.

O's Solid in Pursuit of Major League Crown

Entering today's game leading the Major Leagues in Bases on Balls, the Baltimore Orioles pitching staff delivered 6 more BBs in another league leading performance against the Boston Red Sox. Staff ace Rodrigo Lopez got off to a shaky start, delivering a mere 1 BB through the first 5 innings. After craftily walking 3 in the 6th, however, Lopez left no doubt as to why he is Baltimore's Number One.

Relievers John Halama and Tim Byrdak tacked on 1 BB apiece to complete a solid day's work for O's pitching.

The Pittsburgh Pirates, who started the day trailing Baltimore by 1 BB, could only muster 3 BBs in 9 innings of work.

Orioles owner Peter Angelos had this to say regarding the O's pitching performance thus far, "It's very encouraging to see that we can widen our lead, even on a day when we only use 3 pitchers."

It was 20 years ago today

Dwight Gooden opened the Mets' world championship season with a complete game, 6-hit, 4-2 win at Pittsburgh.

Some of us remember it fondly, even though we're not Mets or Pirates fans. The Pirates threatened in the ninth, but Gooden stayed out there firing away and shut down the Bucs. I remember Johnny Ray -- already with two hits and an RBI -- coming to the plate in the inning, the crowd going crazy, and the organist playing "When Johnny Comes Marching Home." He didn't.

Hard to believe there was a time when baseball started so "late" in April. And that there were organists.

We missed the only homer of the game, R.J. Reynold's lead-off blast in the first off Gooden, but heard the roar of the crowd as we walked from the car toward Three Rivers Stadium. I can still hear that roar. You knew it was a home run.

Rick Reuschel got the loss. Gooden struck out six. The game took 2:24 to play.

Sadly, Sammy "The Egyptian Boy Wonder" Khalifa was hitless.

As they say, you can look it up.

Phils postponed! Phils postponed!

That's as good as a win for the Broad Street Bummers.

There's still time for the Phils to turn things around. A four-game losing streak in the middle of the season doesn't seem as bad as one to start the season. Especially a year that many thought would be different for Philly.

One thing I've hated is the bottom of the Phillies order. Bell and Lieberthal were rally killers last year and there's no speed ahead of them.

Here's what should be done. Rollins bats leadoff followed by Nunez, who hit .352 in 105 AB in the No. 2 slot last year. Abreu, Burrell and Howard follow. Utley bats sixth. Utley hit .343 in 105 AB in that spot last season. Rowand, who is a good No. 2 hitter, bats seventh, where he also has had success in the past.

Having Utley and Rowand together in those spots gives you a chance to manufacture some runs. Interestingly, Rowand has really flourished the last two years hitting in the No. 5 and No. 6 spots. Against lefties, I'd switch Howard and Rowand in the lineup.

Of course, none of that matters if the stating pitching doesn't come around.

Tigers, Tigers burning bright

The Tigers are the only remaining unbeaten in the AL. As I read in the Free Press, they haven't made an error yet, their starters have issued just one walk and they've hit a ML record 16 homers in their first four games.

Plus, Detroit is hitting .327 as a team. Baseball is a simple game. You throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball.

Another note from the Free Press: The Tigers have ensured they will open the season with a winning mult-city road trip for the first time since -- 1984.

Cabrera the Embarassment

Daniel Cabrera has solved his problem of only throwing strikes to right handed hitters. Now he doesn't throw strikes to any hitters.

Cabrera's line in his start against the Red Sox last night reads 1 1/3 IP, 3H, 7 BB, 7 ER throwing 60 pitches- 22 for strikes. Several of those strikes were balls that Red Sox hitters helped him out on.

It is time for the Orioles to recognize that the American League is one of the two Major Leagues and that their pitchers must be Major League pitchers. Cabrera has not thrown strikes for a year and a half. Send Cabrera down now. Do not give him another start in the Majors until he proves he can throw strikes.

Hey!

Would someone please let the Phillies know the season has started?

I hate to be pessimistic so early, but the bugaboos of last season have returned. Namely, Lieberthal, Bell and bullpen. Oh well, at least there's Ryan Howard.

They did the mash

If the Tigers are going to blast seven homers a game and average 9 runs, Stanley and I might be able to form the back part of the rotation.

Nice to see Maggs go yard twice. Chris Shelton certainly looks good too. Shelton's OPS is a mere 2.406.

The Tigers 15 HR in their first three games is a ML record. No team has ever hit more than 10 in the first three games of a season. As one Detroit scribe wrote, “... at this rate, the Detroit Tigers will hit 810 home runs. And Chris Shelton will hit 216. And the Tigers will never lose.”

Jim Leyland believes a good lineup is one that can be effective 1-9 or if you flipped it 9-1. Detroit doesn’t have any top stud, but they’ve got guys that can hit 1-9 and a lineup that easily could be turned 9-1 and be just as good.

You wouldn’t think twice if you saw Inge, Guillen, Monroe hitting 1-2-3 or 9-8-7. Same thing with Granderson, Polanco and Pudge.

The Tigers blasted six homers off knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, tying a ML record. Don’t throw knucklers against the Tigers. They hit six off Tim Wakefield in 2004.

A Royal butt kicking

It won’t be long before they start construction on a Jim Leyland statue for Comerica. I’d say 162-0 is unrealistic, but maybe 120 wins are within reach.

OK, so that’s a little overboard. After pummeling the Royals, this is where we start to see what kind of season the Tigers could have. Rogers and Bonderman did what was expected/hoped. Now, it’s up to Robertson, Maroth and Verlander to give us an idea whether a winning season is a realistic goal.

Detroit needed to take two from KC. Good teams, playoff contenders, generally take care of business against the weaker squads. This is even more important with the unbalanced schedule. Last year, though, the Tigers were 10-9 against the Royals. Since the start of 2003, the Royals have a 34-23 edge. So this wasn’t a gimme.

Love the potential for the Granderson, Polanco, Pudge top of the order. Imagine if Maggs starts to hit like the old days. Could be lots o’ runs. Yesterday, the top three went 11-for-15 with 9 runs, 7 RBI and two dingers.

Now comes a four-game set in Texas. Kenny Rogers faces his old mates on Sunday. Two former Phils, Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla, will toss for the Rangers over the weekend.

O's take two

With a 16-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays last night in Camden Yards the Baltimore Orioles are 2-0 for the first time since 1997.

Team	Start	Finish
1997 Orioles	2-0	1st
2006 Orioles	2-0	4th

Opener in KC is OK

The Tigers couldn't have asked for a much better opener. Jim Leyland gets a win in his debut as manager and Kenny Rogers looks sharp in his debut as staff ace. Plus Chris Shelton blasts two homers to show why Carlos Pena is no longer around.

Detroit has now won three openers in a row, beating KC the last two.

I like Leyland's decision to bring in flamethrowing 21-year-old Joel Zumaya yesterday, even though it was a one-run game and Zumaya is untested. Leyland figured, correctly, that Zumaya's 100-mph heat combined with the late-afternoon shadows would create problems for the Royals. Zumaya tossed two innings of scoreless relief, striking out three.

Tigers play in KC again Wednesday. It's important for Bonderman to throw a good game and establish that the top of the rotation will be a tough 1-2 punch. Plus, the Tigers need to take advantage of weaker teams, like KC, if they want to contend for a playoff spot.

O's win opener (me so happy...)

Rodrigo Lopez collected an Opening Day victory over the Devil Rays yesterday. Lopez threw 7 innings giving up 7 hits, 6 runs (5 earned) and 1 walk on 90 pitches. It was by no measure a "good" start. It was, however, a good "bad start". Considering the number of bad starts the O's rotation might reasonably be expected to turn in, credit Lopez for showing the way to pitch poorly.

Yesterday was the first time I'd ever seen Ramon Hernandez (O's catcher acquired from San Diego via free agency in the offseason) play. He's been described as one of the "premiere" backstops in the Major Leagues. He looked it in yesterday's game. He has a cannon. An accurate cannon. Given the Orioles pitching staffs' weakness in holding runners close, he has a shot a the record for "runners caught stealing" in a season. I don't know if they even keep such a statistic (I couldn't find it).

The Orioles homered 4 times on Opening Day for the first time since 1982.

Team	W	L	Finish
1982 Orioles	94	68	2nd
2006 Orioles	1	0	4th

Luis Matos became the first Oriole since Frank Robinson ('69, '70) to homer on consecutive Opening Days.

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	AVG
Robinson	2808	10006	1829	2943	528	72	586	1812	.294
Matos	440	1473	198	383	75	8	29	136	.260

Rodrigo can be proud! (Me so sad....)

Rodrigo Lopez has been named Orioles Opening Day starter for 2006. This is Rodrigo's 3rd Opening Day start for the O's in the last 4 years. With this start, Lopez will join exclusive company in Baltimore's record books. Just four other Orioles -- Steve Barber, Dave McNally, Jim Palmer and Mike Mussina -- have pitched as many as three Opening Day games for the O's. Palmer and Mussina are tied for the most with six each, and McNally worked five openers as Baltimore's ace.

Pitcher	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP
Barber	121	106	3.36	466	272	59	21	1999
McNally	184	119	3.24	424	396	120	33	2730
Palmer	268	152	2.86	558	521	211	53	3948
Mussina	224	127	3.64	443	443	56	23	3013
Lopez	51	43	4.56	137	118	5	2	748.1