Papi down!

Baltimore Orioles

With the bases chock full of Orioles, young Adam Jones, traded for Érik Bédard in the off-season, took the plate against one of the better relief pitchers in the American League, Boston’s Hideki Okajima. Jones rode Okajima to a 3-1 count, a favorite among Major League hitters. What Jones did next with nothing short of awesome! Adam Jones delivered the crushing blow to the Red Sox, a hard shot to the center field wall of Camden Yards, clearing the bases and eventually leading the Orioles to a 6-3 win over the Red Sox.

Boston Red Sox

With the news of Curt Schilling, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Clay Buchholz, comes the new of David Ortiz. He learned yesterday that he would not be in baseball, indefinitely. This is absolutely horrible news for Red Sox Nation. Ortiz, diagnosed with tendon sheath damage will need to have his wrist immobile for a month to find out if the injury will heal on its own or if he is bound for off-season surgery for the second year in a row. In my opinion, this is very bad news, indeed. Although Manny Ramirez is getting hot, the team really did not have a true five-hole hitter in the line-up. The likelihood is that we will see more of Sean Casey as both Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis have shown that they wear down as the season progresses.

In other Sox news, young Justin Masterson takes the mound tonight to battle the division-leading Tampa Bay Rays (I realize how awkward that comes of the tongue!). The Red Sox face a tough young pitcher in Matt Garza (4-1) and a batting line-up that can beat you with the long ball, on the base paths, and with the best defense in baseball.

Chicago White Sox

Over the past several days I have seen more articles calling for the head of Ozzie Guillen than I have seen in his short tenure as the Chicago White Sox’s manager. I find this extremely amusing as he has continued to keep his team in first place despite the inability of his players to string together any significant ways of winning since the beginning of the 2007 season. Yet, here I am, writing about the call for his job. Who are you going to supplant him with and will do anything more with the staff that exists today? After reading an article in the Chicago Sun-Times, I was baffled by the statement of the writer, “And you go nowhere near U.S. Cellular Field. Not because you hate the White Sox, but because Ozzie Guillen works there.”

Cleveland Indians

After their amazing scoreless inning streak, the Cleveland Indians have seen their pitchers start breaking down. Tribe’s Jake Westbrook is heading to the disabled list again. Although they have not announced who is starting, it appears that minor-league pitcher and supposed phenom, Jeremy Sowers, will likely get the call. Sowers has struggled with command since his initial call-up two years ago. I am unsure if it is mental or physical, but as a young pitcher in an organization that is likely to lose their star pitcher, C.C. Sabathia, it is time to put on the big boy shoes and get it done.

For Sowers’ sake, I hope that Casey Blake puts his lucky socks back on and tries to pick up where he left off last night, with two home runs and seven runs batted in, making the lost offense of the Indians come alive once again.

Detroit Tigers

Do not look now, but there are suggestions that there will be a Dontrelle Willis sighting in Oakland. Willis will return to his hometown to join the starting rotation again. The problem manager Jim Leyland had was finding time for Willis in the bullpen, ultimately leading to his decision to go with a six-man rotation. Ironically, the guy who replaced Dontrelle Willis in the rotation, Armando Galarraga, will actually be in the relief role when Willis gets his chance to start.

There have been a lot of questions about the decisions of Leyland in recent weeks. One question that I found interesting was why the team is not starting Marcus Thames in left field. I find this question interesting because the Tigers continue to move Carlos Guillen around the field as if he still has the range that he had when starting a shortstop. With Thames, he will not hit for average, but with major pop in the bat, he could be doing a lot more than what he is doing now… riding the pine.

New York Yankees

I would be remiss if I did not counter the Red Sox bad news with what little positive news coming out of New York (AL or NL). Joba Chamberlain moves from the setup man to the man to be counted on in the starting rotation. Chamberlain left the team earlier this week, to arrive early in Minnesota for his highly anticipated first start tonight. In my opinion, this is a move of desperation. I say this because I believe the organization would much rather use him as the one-two punch with Mariano Rivera and not rely on the unreliable Kyle Farnsworth who has demonstrated “Gagné-like” meltdowns since Chamberlain’s departure from the bullpen.

Mariano Rivera has been one of the only bright spots for the New York Yankees pitching situation and the league recognized this by awarding him the AL Player of the Week. Securing three saves, striking out seven, and issuing the first two walks he has given for the season, Rivera beat out the likes of Tamp Bay starting pitcher Scott Kazmir and Texas Rangers’ Josh Hamilton.

Tampa Bay Rays

Adding to the notoriety that is 2008 Tampa Bay Rays’ season, Scott Kazmir added another accolade to the team. Kazmir was named the American League Pitcher of the Month, a first for a Tampa Bay player. There is no doubt that he is finally coming into his own, pitching six starts and registering a 5-1 record with an impressive 1.22 earned run average in the process.