Brandon Webb tossed another gem for the Diamondbacks. He is the ace of what is arguably the best starting rotation in MLB.

I’ve been watching the recent protests related to the upcoming Olympics in China with a mixture of amusement and disgust.  No doubt you have seen the Free Tibet folks tossing themselves into the path of Olympic Torch bearing runners to draw attention to their cause.  Unfortunately, this is just the beginning of what could be yet another ugly chapter in Olympic history.  One wonders how the International Olympic Committee could have possibly come to the conclusion that China was a great choice for the Summer Olympics.  How long can it be before we start hearing calls for boycotts of the games until China owns up to its human rights abuses and does the right thing in Tibet?  The American politicians are already lining up on their chosen sides of the issue.  Nancy Pelosi, one of the scariest pols in the U.S. Congress (or anywhere for that matter) recently stated that although the choice of China was a mistake, the United States should not consider boycotting the Olympics.  Word out of the White House is that President Lame Duck, er, um, George Bush, is already considering skipping the Opening Ceremonies at which the Chinese government intended to celebrate its growing stature as a superpower country.  Meanwhile, the IOC is asking governments around the world to stop politicizing the event, and won’t acknowledge that China was a mistake.  I can’t help but get the feeling this is going to get a whole lot uglier as time goes on.  I agree that the US should not boycott the Olympics, but what I would really like to see is the house get cleaned out over at the IOC.  It’s time for some new blood in that organization.  Between the judging and steroid scandals, and this issue with China, don’t you think it’s time the IOC was reorganized?  Even Bud Selig could do a better job.  Well, maybe not.

Speaking of Bud…actually, no, I don’t want to really.  Speaking of baseball…

MLB and the Players Association announced a new agreement on more stringent drug testing.  It’s an incremental step, but they still have not done what needs to be done to put this issue to bed.  The two sides have appeased the U.S. Congress though, which is probably all they set out to accomplish.  The suspensions to Jose Guillen and Jay Gibbons were rescinded as a result of the agreement. 

Chien-Ming Wang doesn’t get much love from the fantasy community because of his low strikeout totals, but he was simply dominant against the Red Sox last night.  He needed just 93 pitches for a complete game, two-hit trashing of the Sox lineup.  Wang hit 95MPH on the gun consistently right up to the last pitch, and he struck out three batters without a walk.  Clay Buchholz was pretty strong as well, though he only lasted six innings, and had three walks to go with his three Ks.

What is wrong with Big Papi?  David Ortiz is mired in a slump like he has never seen before.  He’s just 3 for 39 on the season, and looks totally lost up there.  Some say his knee is still troubling him, but the denizens of talk radio spent the day yesterday scolding him for shooting a commercial in New York on Monday.  Jeez, can’t a guy do what he wants on his day off?  Papi will snap out of it soon.

Do you think Pat Burrell is extra motivated to play well this season, or what?  So far he’s batting .400, with four homeruns and 12 RBI over the first 11 games of his walk year, to lead the Phillies. 

The Diamondbacks have now won their last 7 consecutive games after defeating the Rockies last night by the score of 8-2.  Brandon Webb threw a gem of a game, pitching 8 innings, striking out 6 and walking 1, while holding the Rockies to just 2 runs on 4 hits.  Randy Johnson is scheduled to return on Monday.  The Big Unit doesn’t have to be any better than a number 3 or 4 type pitcher on this team, and they will have a killer rotation. If he is anywhere near as effective as he was last season before he re-injured himself, the Diamondbacks will walk away with the NL West.

The Tigers are really struggling to keep their heads above water, and the injury to Dontrelle Willis last night won’t help any.  Willis hyper-extended his knee when he slipped on the mound just 14 pitched into his start against the White Sox last night.  He came out of the game without retiring anybody.  He was able to put pressure on the leg after the game, so he likely won’t need to go on the DL, which is good news for the Tigers.  They really don’t have anyone who can replace him. 

On a night when Nick Swisher was being given a breather, Ozzie Guillen opted to put Carlos Quentin in the leadoff spot.  He went 1 for 2 with a walk, a run scored, and a RBI.  Quentin has essentially Wally Pipped the injured Jerry Owens, who could end up staying in the minors. 

C.C. Sabathia got spanked around for the third straight start last night, giving up 9 runs on 12 hits in 3 1/3 innings.  Even uglier was the fact that it took Sabathia 91 pitches to get that far into the game.  His ERA is a bloated 11.57.  If you have him on your fantasy team, you have my sympathies.  If you haven’t already benched him, better do it now.  His next two starts are scheduled against Detroit, followed by Kansas City.

Carlos Pena of the Tampa Bay Rays has eight hits this season; five of them are home runs. 

Last night’s Marlins-Astros game in Houston featured eight home runs, six of them by the Marlins.  Roy Oswalt struggled through four innings, giving up four home runs in a game for the first time in his career.  His ERA after three starts is 9.00. 

That’s all for me today folks.  Shake it easy.