Oakland's latest ace, Dana Eveland.

Boston Red Sox

Today is going to be a big day for the Red Sox line-up, as David Ortiz’ cast will come off for an evaluation on his torn tendon in his left wrist. Although the pain is gone, it plays no bearing on the doctor’s decision. Even if they conclude that a rehabilitation of the wrist can occur without surgery, he may likely still have to wear the cast for a few more days, depending on the strength of the wrist and the amount of healing that has occurred to date.

In other Red Sox news, it appears that Coco Crisp ready to play. It took the incumbent Jacoby Ellsbury’s rise to Sox Nation popularity to motivate him, but it appears to be working. Ellsbury went 3-for-5 with one RBI, two runs scored, and he sports a .289 batting average. Not to be outdone, Crisp was 2-for-4 with four runs batted in and a run, batting .256. Both had home runs; Crisp struck out three times while Ellsbury did not. With Manny Ramirez sidelined last night, it is good to know that the Sox still have J.D. Drew, Ellsbury, and Crisp to rely on.

Speaking of Jacoby Ellsbury… Ellsbury just broke the rookie record for most stolen bases, amassing 33 stolen bases in 63 games. He has stolen a base in 15% of his at bats, or one stolen base every 6.6 games played.

Detroit Tigers

Is it all finally falling in line? With the pitching, including their ace Justin Verlander and Nate Robertson are both on the rebound, have helped the Tigers’ put together a six-game winning streak. Now the team is expecting the return of bullpen arm and possible closer, Fernando Rodney to return from the disabled list. The team sent reliever Aquilino Lopez to their Toledo-based minor league team to make room for Rodney.

In addition, the team expects right-hander Joel Zumaya to return this Friday. This is even better news, knowing that they are not going to be the end-all, be-all, but it should certainly be a welcome “relief”.

Kansas City Royals

There is no doubt that there is talent in Kansas City. There also should not be any doubt that this team is enjoying the interleague play. Gil Meche finally notched a win as the Royals beat up on the Arizona Diamondbacks, 8-3. To add to the hype of this team; it appears that David DeJesús, hot as of late, continued to play an integral part in the Royals’ success as he crushed a fourth-inning grand slam that was set up by none other than Meche himself.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Yes, the team’s name is long and in my opinion, ridiculous, but so is the team’s ability to keep winning despite the injuries that they have sustained so far this season (Vladimir Guerrero, Erick Aybar, Howie Kendrick, Garrett Anderson, John Lackey, to name a few that have been injured.).

With Joe Saunders spinning a scoreless gem for seven and a third innings and Casey Kotchman slamming home the game-winning run, it appears that this team is going to be a force to be reckoned with all season long and will keep the Athletics on their proverbial toes.

Joe Saunders joins Cleveland’s Cliff Lee and New York’s Mike Mussina atop the American League division leaders with his tenth win of the season. With the pitching staff firmly situated and the closer role absolutely being dominated by Francisco Rodriguez, it is up to the team to get healthy prior to wearing out their pitching staff, if they want to go deep into the playoffs.

New York Yankees

If you are a Yankee fan, you are definitely in mourning. The news rifled across the New York media that Yankees’ ace Chien-Ming Wang‘s season is in on the shelf for now and could be for the rest of the season. Wang reported to team trainers that he felt a pop in his foot as he was rounding third base in the Yankees’ 13-0 romp of the Houston Astros. If there is one thing I am sure of, a pop in the ankle is a sure sign of ligament damage. How badly is yet to be determined, but in all likelihood, his season has been put on the shelf for a few months… possibly the season.

Look for the Yankees to make a trade prior to the All Star break, where most deals are done. The easiest name to throw out there has been there since the end of last season. C. C. Sabathia. That however is not where the team is limited as they have several young arms, primarily Philip Hughes and Ian Kennedy, who they have all but given up on, would likely fetch a fairly strong arm. With teams like the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians in need of a shake-up, I would start there. In addition, teams like the Los Angeles Angels, who have several potential starters on their roster, could make a move.

Oakland Athletics

The Battle of the Bay is complete and the Oakland Athletics walk a way with a complete sweep of the San Francisco Giants. With solid pitching performances, timely hitting, and even better base running, the A’s simply outplayed the Giants on their turf.

On Friday, Greg Smith pitched through five innings, striking out four, all while surrendering only one run. Rich Harden spun a gem Saturday, pitching through six innings, striking out nine and not surrendering a run in the process. Then the newest A’s pitching phenom, Dana Eveland, rounded out the weekend by going six strong innings, striking out five and surrendering only one run. In each case, the starting pitcher handed it to Oakland’s relief staff who mowed down the competition to close each game out soundly. With Huston Street trying to retain the closer’s role as Santiago Casilla makes his way back from the disabled list. The team has also received a boost from an unlikely source as Keith Foulke has been fairing well in his return to the Bay Area.