No no-no for Jered, despite the no hits.

Boston Red Sox

Apparently, not all are Red Sox fans. Although General Manager Theo Epstein refused to comment, the news is that a Baltimore-native who is believed to be living in Memphis, TN has sent a threatening letter to the Boston Red Sox organization. The letter’s contents have not been disclosed other than to state that it was racially motivated, referencing African-American and Latin players. Two names were specifically mentioned. Those players have been informed of the threat and the Red Sox are sending their top security officials to accompany the players to Tampa Bay where they face the Rays for the first time since their well-documented brawl.

In other news, despite hitting a solo home run against the Houston Astros, Manny Ramirez is batting a very unimpressive .110 over the past two weeks. For all those naysayers out there, it is time to insert your foot into your mouth as starting right fielder J.D. Drew has been the lightning rod in the batting line-up since the departure of David Ortiz. Losing two out of three in Houston, the Red Sox have fallen in the divisional lead to the Tampa Bay Rays, setting up yet another battle for first place amongst the division.

It also appears that Jacoby Ellsbury may have hit a true freshman slump as he has finally seen some wearing down of both his body and his batting average. Like Dustin Pedroia, the slumping Ellsbury is expected to regain momentum; however, it appears that the team will rely more heavily on the revived Coco Crisp to level off some of the fatigue that Ellsbury has fallen prey to.

In other “Manny being Manny” news, apparently he REALLY wanted sixteen tickets for yesterday’s game. In news similar to former Astros’ pitcher Shawn Chacon, it appears that Ramirez felt the need to physically respond to the news that he was not going to have sixteen tickets available to him… on the day of the game. He has formally apologized, but I have the feeling that we will not come to the same, potentially career-ending news that Chacon received late last week.

Chicago White Sox

As should have been expected, the Chicago drama that is the White Sox versus the Cubs became even more dramatic when the White Sox returned the favor to the Cubs by sweeping them on their own court. Having the pleasure of listening to the game on the radio as I drove across the southeastern states yesterday, I can say that there are good days to be Mark Buehrle and there are bad ones. Yesterday, however, was a good one. With seven strong innings and three home runs to support him, Buehrle earned the victory, a 5-1 victory, and accomplished something at U.S. Cellular field that the Sox have never done before; swept the Cubs.

To add to the drama, although lived through a radio announcer, was the Lou Pinella ejection over what was a bad call. To all but the first base umpire, it appeared as though Joe Crede did not hold up on a 0-2 pitch.

To add to the misery of the Cubs, who are seven games below .500 on road games, Aramis Ramirez, who crushed four homeruns against the Sox at Wrigley field, went 0-13 in the series and could do nothing with the non-stop barrage of fastballs pounding him on the inside.

The White Sox need to ride this “high” and keep it rolling as the Detroit Tigers (8-2) and the Minnesota Twins (9-1) have been on a tear over the past ten games.

Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers, amidst gaining several players off the disabled list, including relief pitchers Joel Zumaya, Fernando Rodney, and designated hitter Gary Sheffield, learned that they would be without perennial All-Star outfielder Magglio Ordonez. Ordonez’s pulled oblique could not come at a worst time. With the team finally surfacing above .500, with the best record in baseball in the last month, the team must now move forward, substituting Matt Joyce from their Triple-A affiliate for a 30-100-100 bat. Expect Clete Thomas to see most of the playing time in right field with Joyce serving as a backup.

Shockingly enough, the team is only five games out of the divisional lead. With three and a half-game lead separating the Twins and the Tigers, this week’s match-up should make for some must watch-TV.

With the Twins’ relying on timely hitting and the Tigers’ relying on power, the bullpens are ultimately going to determine the difference. The one-two-three punch of Rodney, Zumaya, and closer Todd Jones should be able to hold their own and the Tigers’ bats coming alive, the Tigers should be able to close the gap to a half game and make the American League Central the talk of the week.

Los Angeles Angels

Adding to the history books, along with the longest baseball team in Major League history (or close enough to mention), the team accomplished something that is simply unbelievable. They lost a game while no-hitting their opponent.

In just the fifth game in a century, the Angels no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers and still lost. Matt Kemp reached first base on pitcher Jered Weaver’s fielding error. Using his speed, he then stole second. He reached third base on catcher Jeff Mathis’ throwing error, eventually reaching home on a Blake Dewitt sacrifice fly. Technically, this was not a “no-hitter” as the Dodgers did not bring a batter to the plate in the ninth inning. However, you still have to admit that it is a wild year in baseball when a team can pitch as well as the Angels did and still lose without surrendering a hit.

When you add that the Angels only plated one run in a three-game series with the Dodgers, it is apparent that although injuries are common for the team, it is time to bring the bats to match what the pitchers are doing. When hitting, the Angels are one of the most exciting teams in baseball.

The team does have middle-infielder Erick Aybar back and John Lackey is back to his old antics, striking out eight and going eight-plus innings to notch a 1-0 win in the series ending game, saving some face for the Angels’ faithful.

Minnesota Twins

It takes more than timely hitting to win ball games and Kevin Slowey definitely showed us how to do it, outdueling Milwaukee Brewers’ ace Ben Sheets to a 5-0 victory. Slowey, after speaking to veteran pitcher Livan Hernandez, was determined not to miss his spots, focusing on accurate pitches when going above the table. He did more than that, three-hitting the Brewers and showing that he is a force to reckon with when he has his game face on.

The team did receive some bad news as right fielder and oft-injured Michael Cuddyer heads to the disabled list, yet again. This time, it is due to a torn ligament in his left index finger. Although unsure when exactly it happened, he did say that for the past few days, he has fought through it but finally succumbed to the pain during a swing on Friday night. For Cuddyer, this is his second index finger injury this year, earlier dislocating his right index finger on a headfirst slide. The team has called up Denard Span from their Triple-A affiliate, Rochester.

Cuddyer has played a major role in the heart of the line-up during the teams’ 10-game win streak and his bat will be missed as the Twins’ face the equally red-hot Detroit Tigers, early this week. Expect Jason Kubel and Craig Monroe to platoon the right field position in Cuddyer’s absence.

Seattle Mariners

As if it could get any worse for Mariner fans, the news that starters, Felix Hernandez and Miguel Batista are hurt has to…well…hurt. Although not hurt enough to visit the disabled list, it does mean that the bullpen will see its fair share of work over the coming weeks. For a team that could not produce enough runs to put numbers in the win column, it is even more likely that the team will see an even further decline in winning percentage as it taxes the arms in the bullpen to draw out some wins.

Never has a “bullpen-by-committee” ever really worked but that is exactly what the team will be doing when it heads into tonight’s game against Roy Halladay and the Toronto Blue Jays. It is not going to get any easier from here, folks!

There is some good news for Seattle fans; they did sweep the San Diego Padres. Considering where the Padres are this season, this is not something monumental; however, when you are struggling through poor plate presence and injuries up and down your pitching rotation, you have to draw positives from wherever you can get them.