Morning Wood

Chicago White Sox 4 Los Angeles Angels 3

While it was pretty weird to see Jon Garland pitching in a different uniform, and doing so against the White Sox, it didn't take long to get over it. It was the same Jon Garland Sox fans saw for a while, he got into some trouble early, but then settled into a groove. Garland gave up 7 hits and walked 4 during his six innings, but he worked his way out of jams.

Or the White Sox offense let him out, I guess it depends on your view. Yeah, Garland wasn't the only familiar looking aspect to last night's game. All three Angels runs came via mistakes by the White Sox defense. Carlos Quentin, Orlando Cabrera, and Joe Crede all let a pop up drop between them in the first that led to two Angels runs, and Crede's error in the seventh allowed a third run to cross the plate and tie the game.

Fortunately, A.J. Pierzynski is hitting, and he hit his second double of the night to lead off the ninth. Carlos Quentin then got him over to third with a deep fly ball, and after Jermaine Dye popped up for the second out, the White Sox actually got a clutch hit. Jim Thome picked up his first hit of the four-game series, and first career hit off of Francisco Rodriguez to bring A.J. home. Bobby Jenks would take care of it from there, pitching a perfect ninth to get the save.

Chicago Cubs 4 San Diego Padres 0

Okay, so if Ryan Dempster is going to keep pitching like he did yesterday afternoon, I may have to start taking him seriously (and it's hard to take a man who thinks he's a ninja seriously). He had a pretty good effort out there on Thursday, you know, for a Canadian.

Dempster struck out a career-high 12 in 8.1 shutout innings, and feeling as though that wasn't enough, he also singled home the first run in a four-run fifth inning that provided all the scoring. Oddly enough, Ryan had his best performance against the man he called his mentor, Greg Maddux.

"He's probably the greatest teammate I ever had," said Dempster, teammates with Maddux during 2½ seasons in Chicago. "Just his ability to truly go out to the mound and take it one pitch at a time, no matter what the situation, what inning it is, how many people are on base, what the score is. Just keep trying to execute pitches. That's what I've been trying to do. He really took that to its fullest."

Speaking of Maddux, if this turns out to be his last start in Wrigley Field, it's safe to say he's not going to remember it very long. Greg lasted only 4.1 innings, allowing all four runs and eleven hits.

AL

• Indians 4 A's 2
• Jays 3 Twins 2
• Royals 8 Tigers 4
• Rays 5 Yankees 2

NL

• Dodgers 7 Brewers 2
• Nats 1 Mets 0
• Pirates 11 Cardinals 5
• Astros 8 Giants 7
• Phillies 5 Braves 0
• DBacks 8 Rockies 5

Morning Wood

Chicago White Sox 6 Los Angeles Angels 1

You may remember a few weeks ago when Ozzie Guillen had that little rant in Toronto towards the fans and media of Chicago. In between the f-bombs, Ozzie criticized fans for telling him that he should jumble the lineup. We were basically assholes for this.

Well, Ozzie finally made some big changes to the lineup last night, and whaddya know! It worked! A.J. Pierzynski moved up to second in the lineup, Carlos Quentin hit third, and Jim Thome and Paul Konerko were both moved down to fifth and sixth respectively.

The lineup change worked perfectly in the 8th inning, as Juan Uribe led the inning off with a single, Orlando Cabrera singled behind him, A.J. was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Carlos Quentin emptied them with a grand slam. See what happens when you put all the guys that actually are hitting next to each other in a lineup?

"You hit where you hit and you move on. I mean, you can't really try to overthink it," Pierzynski said. "The two hole is probably the highest I've ever hit. It's something different. Ozzie shook it up and it worked, so I'm sure we'll probably have the same one tomorrow."

As for Quentin, he's awesome. He now leads the American League in home runs (10) and RBI (34). Everytime he does something good, I feel bad for the way I spent all offseason ripping on him.

Chicago Cubs 8 San Diego Padres 5

Both Ted Lilly and Alfonso Soriano are heating up for the Cubs. Soriano homered again last night, leading off the game for the second straight night with a homer, and Ted Lilly struck out eleven Padres to pick up his third straight win.

It's the second start in a row for Lilly in which he got his strikeout total into double digits, the first time the soft-tossing lefty has done that in his career.

"I don't think I just stand out there and try to throw fastballs by guys," said Lilly. "I have to mix my pitches and change speeds and locate the ball and things like that. And at times, when I got my curveball going, I'm going to get some strikeouts on it. But I'm not going to say I'm a power pitcher."

The Cubs took it to Jake Peavy, knocking him out after only four innings, and putting things away in the fifth inning on a two-run blast from Geovany Soto.

AL

• Mariners 4 Rangers 3
• Orioles 6 Red Sox 3
• Indians 2 A's 1
• Yankees 2 Rays 1
• Royals 2 Tigers 0
• Jays 6 Twins 5

NL

• Braves 8 Phillies 6
• Reds 7 Marlins 6
• Nats 5 Mets 3
• Dodgers 6 Brewers 4
• Cardinals 5 Pirates 1
• DBacks 4 Rockies 3
• Astros 6 Giants 3

Morning Wood

Los Angeles Angels 2 Chicago White Sox 0

This 10-game west coast trip started out so well, but after winning the first two games of the trip, the Sox have now lost three in a row. Last night was basically a repeat performance of any of the six games from the last road trip, as the Sox were only able to manage one hit against Jered Weaver, and only three overall.

The same Jered Weaver who had a 7.02 ERA in his last six starts. I'm sure the Sox are happy to have helped him break out of it. First the pink beards, and now this, these guys are so charitable!

"I just went out there and tried to pitch like the old Jered, and it came out all right," Weaver said. "It was just adjustments with mechanics in the bullpen between starts. Me and [pitching coach Mike] Butcher were able to clean some stuff up."

The Angels couldn't get to John Danks, either, but they were able to get to the Sox bullpen as both Octavio Dotel and Matt Thornton gave up a run in the 7th inning.

San Diego Padres 4 Chicago Cubs 3

Whereas the White Sox were kind enough to help Jered Weaver get back on track, he'd only been struggling for his last six starts. The Cubs, who seem to be doing everything better than the Sox these days, helped a guy win his first game in three years on Tuesday.

Shawn Estes-whom I thought was dead-picked up the 100th victory of his career, and his first since 2005 by holding the Cubs to three runs in 5.1 innings. Khalil Greene provided the big blow for San Diego, hitting a three-run homer to cap a four-run fourth inning out in the rain.

"I didn't think I was going to make it back last year. I was going through a lot of pain in my elbow again," said Estes. "I came into spring training having to deal with the mental side of pitching again and having to make a team and having to swallow my pride a little bit and going back to Triple-A to get things right."

If there was any good news for the Cubs, it was that Alfonso Soriano stayed hot, as he led the game off with another home run.

AL

• Orioles 5 Red Sox 4
• Indians 4 A's 0
• Rays 2 Yankees 1
• Rangers 5 Mariners 2
• Royals 3 Tigers 2
• Jays 5 Twins 3

NL

• Phillies 5 Braves 4
• Reds 5 Marlins 3
• Mets 6 Nats 3
• Brewers 5 Dodgers 3
• Pirates 8 Cardinals 4
• DBacks 8 Rockies 4
• Giants 4 Astros 2

Morning Wood

Chicago Cubs 12 San Diego Padres 3

Man, the Cubs better sign Jim Edmonds as soon as possible, because they really need that left-handed bat (currently hitting .178/.265/.233) in the lineup on Monday night. I mean, that offense is strugggggling.

Alfonso Soriano homered again, all of a sudden nobody's complaining about him, and the Cubs blew up for 11 runs in the fifth and sixth innings to give Carlos Zambrano more support than he would need.

"I think we have a very good lineup, very balanced," said Alfonso Soriano, who homered in the fifth and is 7-for-14 during the Cubs' four-game winning streak. "Be more aggressive and, at the same time, selective at home plate. That's what I try to do because I know when I swing at a strike, I know that I hit the ball very hard."

That's four in a row, and with the Cardinals loss, the Cubs are back in first place. Get your World Series tickets now.

Los Angeles Angels 10 Chicago White Sox 7

Mark Buehrle continued to struggle, giving up six runs in 5.2 innings and dropping to 1-5 this season. To be fair, he didn't get much help from his defense, particularly, Juan Uribe.

Uribe blew what would have been two double plays when he bobbled the ball both times, thereby undoing any good karma he had for driving two runs in during the 2nd inning. Maybe the team will float a rumor around tomorrow that Uribe's about to get released, it seemed to work pretty well the first time.

Overall it was just an odd game, as any ball that was hit hard seemed to result in an out or double play. Save for Vladimir Guerrero's homer and A.J.'s two doubles. There were 28 hits in this game, and I swear 25 of them were on broken bats or infield singles. Yet the two teams still managed to score 17 runs. Go figure.

AL

• Indians 3 Jays 0 GM1
• Jays 3 Indians 0 GM2
• Twins 7 Red Sox 3
• Rays 7 Yankees 1
• Rangers 13 Mariners 12

NL

• Pirates 5 Braves 0 GM1
• Braves 8 Pirates 1 GM2
• Reds 8 Marlins 7
• Nats 10 Mets 4
• Brewers 8 Cardinals 3
• Astros 7 Giants 3

Morning Wood

Seattle Mariners 6 Chicago White Sox 3

Now that was the Gavin Floyd I know. Gavin's been having a terrific season for the White Sox so far, but he looked a lot like the guy I was expecting to see this season on Sunday afternoon. Floyd lasted only 3.2 innings and gave up five runs.

Still, in spite of Gavin's performance, the Sox had their chances in this game. Blowing opportunity after opportunity to push more runs across the plate. "We let [Miguel Batista] get off the hook," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said. "We only scored two when we had a chance to score more. He struck out big people making good pitches to get out of a jam and then all of a sudden he started to pitch better."

Orlando Cabrera did go 4-for-5 for the Sox, as they compiled 11 hits, but left 13 runners on base.

Chicago Cubs 6 Arizona Diamondbacks 4

Daryle Ward finally got a pinch-hit this season, as his two-run double in the 8th inning provided the winning runs for the Cubs as they finished a three-game sweep of the Diamondbacks this weekend.

"I love the game of baseball," Ward said. "It's something I knew that I was going to do when I was about 3 years old."

Of course, I doubt this does much to soothe the soul of Cubs players who remember being swept out of the first round of the playoffs by these same Diamondbacks. Also, while this was a very big series for the Cubs, don't go getting too carried away with yourselves.

Arizona is a good team, but they aren't as good as everyone seems to think. It's seldom brought up that while they're 17-5 against the NL West, they're now only 6-10 against the NL Central and East.

AL

• Rays 8 Angels 5
• Royals 4 Orioles 0
• A's 12 Rangers 6
• Twins 9 Red Sox 8

NL

• Mets 8 Reds 3
• Marlins 5 Nats 4
• Brewers 5 Cardinals 3
• Padres 6 Rockies 1
• Giants 4 Phillies 3
• Astros 8 Dodgers 5

Morning Wood

Chicago White Sox 6 Minnesota Twins 2

While I'm glad that the White Sox finally won another series, and an important one, I'm still waiting for the offense to really show up. The Sox did show signs of life on Thursday afternoon, as Jermaine Dye and Juan Uribe both went deep in the 5th inning to quickly answer Minnesota's two runs in the top half, and take a 3-2 lead. For Dye it was his third homer in this series, and fourth in his last six games.

Still, the Sox could have put a lot more than 6 runs on the board as the offense did waste some chances. They had runners on second and third with no outs in the 6th inning, and didn't score a run as Paul Konerko grounded out, Nick Swisher struck out (one of the three on the day for Dirty Thirty), and Joe Crede popped out.

Had it not been for Uribe's hustle in the 9th, they probably wouldn't have gotten any runs after loading the bases with only 1 out. Toby Hall grounded to third, and Uribe hustled from first to take out Brendan Harris and let Jermaine Dye score. Then the Twins gave the Sox another after Alexei Ramirez reached on a throwing error.

Carlos Quentin also drove in his team-leading 25th RBI, and thank God Kenny Williams was smarter than me when it came to him. He's the only guy who hasn't been struggling since he got into the lineup.

The pitching was as good as it has been all season, as John Danks allowed only two runs, but couldn't go any longer than five innings. On the bright side, it gave the bullpen a chance to pitch with a lead to protect for once, and they didn't disappoint. Octavio Dotel struck out five batters in a row in his 2 innings, and Scott Linebrink combined with Bobby Jenks to pitch a hitless 8th and 9th.

Arizona Diamondbacks 8 Philadelphia Phillies 3

In the On Deck yesterday, I kind of said the Phillies should just skip their game against Arizona because they weren't going to beat Brandon Webb anyway. I didn't actually mean it, and it pissed off some, but for the most part it looks like they listened. Webb improved to 8-0 on the season with a complete game. It's Webb's first complete game of the season, though he wasn't exactly dominant. He did give up the three runs, and he only struck out four, but he didn't walk anybody either.

AL

• Yankees 6 Indians 3
• Red Sox 5 Tigers 1
• Rays 8 Jays 3
• Orioles 4 Royals 1
• Rangers 5 Mariners 0
  

NL

• Pirates 5 Giants 4
• Braves 5 Padres 4
• Rockies 9 Cardinals 3
• Marlins 7 Brewers 2
• Nats 8 Astros 3

Morning Wood

Minnesota Twins 13 Chicago White Sox 1

I'll bet you're glad you waited through that nearly two-hour rain delay for this one, aren't you? I know Carlos Gomez was. Gomez led off the game with a home run, and then went on to complete the cycle in descending order. He's the first Twin to do so since one of my favorites, Kirby Puckett, back in 1986.

Now don't be fooled by the score, just because the Sox lost this game by twelve, that doesn't mean it wasn't close. If you take out the 6th and 9th innings, we only lose 2-0. Yep, we were that close to a pitcher's duel.

Livan Hernandez did his part, going the full 9 innings, and only giving up one run on a harmless solo shot by Jermaine Dye in the 9th.

Cincinnati Reds 9 Chicago Cubs 0

Look, Wednesday was just a crappy day to be a baseball fan in Chicago. The Cubs got it started before noon by tossing batting practice to the Reds, and the Reds showed their appreciation by knocking out 7 home runs.

Three of them belonged to Joey Votto, who, if given the chance to play the Cubs 162 times a year, would already have a wing built for him in the Hall of Fame. The rookie has now played five games against the north siders, and he's hitting .408 with 5 homers and 11 RBI. In 22 at bats. The kid has 7 home runs and 18 RBI on the season.

Jon Lieber gave up four of the home runs, and gave them all up in the 2nd inning, as his first start in place of Rich Hill did not exactly go well.

Edinson Volquez struck out 10 Cubs in 7 shutout innings to improve to 5-1 on the season, but did walk six batters, which kept him from a complete game.

AL

• A's 6 Orioles 5
• Indians 3 Yankees 0
• Tigers 10 Red Sox 9
• Raptors 6 Rays 2
• Royals 9 Angels 4
• Rangers 2 Mariners 0

NL

• Mets 12 Dodgers 1
• Braves 5 Padres 2
• Pirates 3 Giants 1
• Marlins 6 Brewers 2
• Astros 4 Nats 3
• Rockies 4 Cardinals 3
• Phillies 5 DBacks 4

Morning Wood

Chicago White Sox 7 Minnesota Twins 1

Poor Gavin Floyd. First it was Edgar Renteria breaking up a Floyd no-hitter after 7.1 innings on April 12, and last night it was Joe Mauer doubling into the left-center gap to break up Gavin's no-hit bit after 8.1 innings last night. Try as he might, Nick Swisher just couldn't get there. "I wasn't really looking at the ball and then I turned back and I saw Swish and Carlos coming after it. Swish made a great effort -- you know, Superman." Let's look at the bright side though, the way the White Sox had been playing the last two weeks, I wouldn't have been surprised if Gavin did throw a no-hitter, and the Sox lost anyway. Thankfully the offense returned, for one night at least, as the Sox put more points on the board last night than they did during four games in Toronto. So I guess that means blow-up dolls take 48 hours to have an effect.

Chicago Cubs 3 Cincinnati Reds 0

Gavin Floyd wasn't the only Chicago pitcher to have a strong night. While Carlos Zambrano gave up three more hits than Floyd, he gave up one less run, as he shutout the Reds for 8 innings and helped the Cubs break out of a little slump as well. "Every team passes through some slumps," Zambrano said. "That's normal. We're doing the right things, but we've kind of slowed down. We need to put everything together." Kerry Wood celebrated the 10-year anniversary of his 20 strikeout performance by actually converting a save for once.

AL

• Red Sox 5 Tigers 0
• Indians 5 Yankees 3
• Rays 5 Blue Jays 4
• Angels 5 Royals 3
• A's 4 Orioles 2
• Rangers 10 Mariners 1

NL

• Braves 5 Padres 3
• Pirates 12 Giants 6
• Marlins 3 Brewers 0
• Astros 6 Nats 5
• Cardinals 6 Rockies 5
• DBacks 6 Phillies 4
• Dodgers 5 Mets 4

Morning Wood

Toronto Blue Jays 1 Chicago White Sox 0

Here's all you really need to know about this game. In the 3rd inning, the White Sox put runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out after a Juan Uribe single, and a Toby Hall double. Then the top of the lineup came to the plate, and the White Sox weren't able to manage a single run in the inning. Of course, a lot of that was Uribe's fault, as he should have scored on Orlando Cabrera's single to short, but instead stayed at third. Even though the shortstop was David Eckstein, and Eckstein generally needs a cut-off man to get the throw to first from deep in the hole. Then, in the 9th inning, Jays closer B.J. Ryan walked the bases loaded with one out, but Pablo Ozuna hit a weak ground ball back to Ryan that resulted in the wonderful 1-2-3 game-ending double play. All Javier Vazquez did for the Sox was pitch 8 innings, allowing only the one run, and striking out nine. Oh, and picking up the loss. The only good thing about this game was the tall blonde beer girl serving the fans behind home plate at the Rogers Centre. You, my darling, are the reason God invented HD television. I love you. If you're reading this, send me an email at tomfornelli@yahoo.com. Seriously, I don't care if you're Canadian.

Cincinnati Reds 5 Chicago Cubs 3

Do you see what happens when the Cubs don't score 19 runs everytime Ryan Dempster starts a game? His dream of having an undefeated season comes to an end. Dempster went 6 innings, and gave up 5 runs, but not a single one of them was earned thanks to a couple of errors by Mike Fontenot and Mark DeRosa. They did have a chance though, as Derrek Lee had a chance with the bases loaded and two outs in the 9th, but grounded out to first to end the game.

Los Angeles Angels 4 Kansas City Royals 0

I featured him in my On Deck yesterday, and I'd like to take this chance to thank Ervin Santana for making me look incredibly smart. Santana pitched a complete game shutout against the Royals, striking out nine along the way. The win improved his record to 6-0 after finishing last season 7-14. "He got a little frustrated last year because he was going out there at times without the tools he needed to do what he's doing now," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. "He needed to work on his delivery and get back into his game. When he's out there on the mound and he has his mechanics together, it's a great combination. He got a little frustrated last year." You gotta feel bad for Brett Tomko, who pitched seven shutout innings himself, but got no support from his teammates.

AL

• Red Sox 6 Tigers 3
• Mariners 7 Rangers 3
• Athletics 2 Orioles 1 10 inn
  

NL

• Cardinals 6 Rockies 5
• Phillies 11 DBacks 4
• Dodgers 5 Mets 1

Morning Wood

Toronto Blue Jays 4 Chicago White Sox 3

You know, I could just blame this loss on a missed call in the third inning if I wanted to. If I wanted to, I could tell you that after the Jays put runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out, David Eckstein hit a grounder to short. As Orlando Cabrera fielded the ball, Alex Rios ran into him as he was trying to get back to 2nd base, and Cabrera tagged him on the knee before throwing Eckstein out at first. Though what should have been two outs was only called as one as Dale Scott called Rios safe at second since he never saw the tag. Scott Rolen then lined out to Joe Crede for what should have been the 3rd out of the inning, but was only the 2nd. Then Matt Stairs doubled in the two runs, and Vernon Wells knocked him in with a single. So the Blue Jays got three runs they never should have had. I could tell you all about that if I wanted to, but really, it wouldn't changed the fact that the White Sox just suck right now, and probably aren't going to get any better.

St. Louis Cardinals 5 Chicago Cubs 3

In Albert Pujols' entire career, he'd never had much success against Cubs starter Jason Marquis. After going 0-2 in his first two at-bats on Sunday, Pujols was hitting only .250 against Marquis in 16 at bats, and had never even had an extra-base hit. Unfortunately, no matter how much success you've had against Albert, he's going to get you eventually, and he did just that in his 17th attempt against Marquis. Pujols lined a double down the third-base line in the 4th inning that gave the Cardinals a 4-2 lead and provided St. Louis with the only cushion they'd need as they took two of three from the Cubs this weekend. "I fell behind in the count too many times," Marquis said. "And I let the one guy in the lineup beat me that I shouldn't have."

Minnesota Twins 7 Detroit Tigers 6

Seriously, when will we learn? When!? Every damn season everybody says that this is the year the Twins finally just won't be able to hang in the AL Central. Then, they usually win the division or at least contend. Well, this year you figured after losing both Johan Santana and Torii Hunter, you could finally put that nail in the Minnesota coffin. Instead they come back from 6-0 deficits in the first inning to beat the Tigers, and are now in 1st place in the division. What the hell? "I think that's huge for our pitching staff, to show that we're still going to go out there and try to put up runs for 'em," Mauer said.

AL

• Royals 2 Indians 0
• Yankees 8 Mariners 2
• Red Sox 7 Rays 3
• Angels 6 Orioles 5
• Athletics 3 Rangers 1

NL

• Marlins 10 Padres 3
• Braves 14 Reds 7
• Nationals 5 Pirates 2
• Phillies 6 Giants 5
• Astros 8 Brewers 6
• Rockies 7 Dodgers 2
• Mets 5 DBacks 2

Morning Wood

Milwaukee Brewers 4 Chicago Cubs 3

Don't worry, Cub fans, even eventual World Series champions blow leads from time to time. Hell, Kerry Wood blows them 43% of the time. The Brewers rallied for three runs in the 9th inning off of Wood to hand him his third blown save in seven chances, and more importantly, pull within a game of the unstoppable force that is Chicago Cubs baseball. Ryan Braun did most of the damage for Milwaukee, hitting a solo homer in the 6th inning, and then knocking in two more runs with a bases loaded double in the aforementioned 9th inning. "It doesn't get any better than that, especially rivalry atmosphere and having a chance to quiet the fans down a little bit. This is the type of game that we wouldn't have necessarily won last year," Braun said. "I think having gone through the experience and knowing how to control our emotions in a situation like that helped." Of course, of equal importance was a double hit by Gabe Kapler before Braun came up, that Alfonso Soriano probably could have caught in his first game back from the disabled list. It also led to one of Lou's first blowups of 2008, when he was asked if he ever considered moving Reed Johnson to left in place of Soriano late in the game. "You damn right I thought about it," an agitated Piniella said. "You think I'm stupid or something? Goddarnnit." Now get off of my lawn!

Detroit Tigers 8 New York Yankees 4

For the first time since 1966, the Detroit Tigers are leaving Yankee Stadium with a three-game sweep. Miguel Cabrera had the biggest night for the Tigers, going deep once, tripling, and driving in three runs. Magglio Ordonez also contributed with three hits and drove in a couple of runs as well. "We've got a long way to go, but we are playing better," said Jim Leyland, whose star-studded team opened 0-7. "I don't think we're over the hump yet." Don't worry, the way the White Sox are going, it won't be much longer until you are.

Cleveland Indians 3 Seattle Mariners 2 11 inn

The Indians tried to give this game away, but somehow, someway they managed to pull it together long enough to get a victory. After an error by Casey Blake in the 9th inning allowed the Mariners to tie the game at 1-1, Seattle took the lead in the 10th with a home run by Richie Sexson, but the Indians answered with a run of their own in the bottom half. Then in the 11th inning, Asdrubal Cabrera hit a walk-off shot to seal the deal. "It was like pulling teeth," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "If we had done a better job earlier, we'd have never been in that situation."

AL

• Rays 4 Orioles 2
• Rangers 2 Royals 1
• Blue Jays 3 Red Sox 0
• A's 15 Angels 8

NL

• Dodgers 5 Marlins 3
• Phillies 3 Padres 2
• Nats 3 Pirates 2

Morning Wood

Chicago Cubs 19 Milwaukee Brewers 5

The Cubs played some video game baseball on Wednesday night, as just about everybody wearing the home whites had a strong day at the plate. Geovany Soto had the strongest, as he hit two three-run blasts and drove in 6 runs (though you probably could have done that math on your own, couldn't you?), but he wasn't alone. Aramis Ramirez and Ronny Cedeno both drove in three runs apiece as well. It's the highest amount of runs the Cubs have scored since they beat the Dodgers 20-1 back in 2001, and it also give them 17 wins in the month of April, which is a club record. So you Cubs fans should just start ordering those World Series tickets now.

Minnesota Twins 4 Chicago White Sox 3

So what's the over/under on how many days the White Sox have left in first place? I know it's nice that we're finishing April on top of the division, but I really don't think that we're going to be there much longer. Our offense has gone stagnant, and once again we've become entirely too dependent on the home run. There's just no way I should be as bored as I am watching a first place team, yet as I'm watching Sox games over the last week, I just keep waiting for the game to end. I'm not really sure what that means, but it's the truth.

Arizona Diamondbacks 8 Houston Astros 7

Why don't the Diamondbacks just figure out a way to put Micah Owings in the lineup everyday? I mean, I don't care if he's one of their starting pitchers, he's also one of the best hitters on the team. Owings hit a solo shot while pinch hitting in the 6th inning to tie the game and complete Arizona's comeback from an early four-run deficit, as they then went on to take the lead and become the first team in baseball to 20 wins this season. "I've been blessed to be able to swing it," Owings said, "so every time I get in the box I do my best to help this team." Seriously, in the history of baseball, there are only four players who have a higher career OPS than Owings' 1.044 (minimum of 75 at bats): Barry Bonds, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, and Babe Ruth. I know they all sucked, but that 1.044 is still pretty damn impressive.

AL

• Rays 8 Orioles 1
• Red Sox 2 Jays 1
• Indians 8 Mariners 3
• Tigers 6 Yankees 2
• Rangers 11 Royals 9
• Angels 6 A's 1

NL

• Pirates 13 Mets 1
• Cardinals 5 Reds 2
• Giants 3 Rockies 2
• Nats 3 Braves 2
• Padres 4 Phillies 2
• Dodgers 13 Marlins 1

Morning Wood

Minnesota Twins 3 Chicago White Sox 1

For the last week or so the White Sox offense that started the 2008 season so well has started to look a lot like the 2007 version. Boof Bonser went seven strong innings for the Twins, scattering six hits and striking out eight, with his only mistake being a rolling curve ball that Joe Crede planted into the left field seats. "That was probably the first time since the start of the season that I've had it going," Bonser said of his curveball. "Last year I had it going good. But my first four or five games I have not had it like I did tonight." The Twins got all the runs they'd need on a two-run blast by Jason Kubel, as Gavin Floyd pitched pretty well, but got no support at all.

Milwaukee Brewers 10 Chicago Cubs 7

The Cubs probably wish that Ben Sheets and Mike Cameron would have waited a few more days to return. Cameron had three hits including a two-run single that broke the game open in the seventh, and helped the Brewers survive a shaky performance from Ben Sheets in his return to the mound. Sheets walked seven, so the Cubs had plenty of chances to score, but they left 12 runners on and couldn't capitalize on enough chances to get the win. But the good news is that Alfonso Soriano comes back on Thursday, and he'll be hitting lead-off again! Oh wait, that's bad news. Sorry, Cubs fans.

AL

• Orioles 7 Rays 4
• Red Sox 1 Blue Jays 0
• Mariners 7 Indians 2
• Tigers 6 Yankees 4
• Royals 9 Rangers 5
• Angels 2 A's 0

NL

• Phillies 7 Padres 4
• Nationals 6 Braves 3
• Mets 5 Pirates 4 11 inn
• Dodgers 7 Marlins 6
• Cardinals 7 Reds 2
• Astros 6 DBacks 4
• Rockies 3 Giants 2

Morning Wood

Chicago White Sox 2 Baltimore Orioles 2 Suspended

Wanna know how to piss me off? Here's a good way! Well, have a White Sox game scheduled to start at 1PM, but then give it a nice two hour rain delay so that by the time the game starts, I have to leave to go to work. Then let me go work my eight hour shift to come home and watch the game I recorded when I get home. Then let me sit there for two hours watching the game ONLY TO SUSPEND THE FUCKING THING IN THE 12TH INNING. That will usually do the trick. Another way to piss me off? Have Brian Anderson try to lay down a suicide squeeze with Carlos Quentin on third and only one out in the 10th inning. Real smart there Oz. Got the infield drawn in, and all you need is a fly ball, but you want Brian to execute a suicide squeeze. Whereas if you just let him swing away, the game is probably over. Have you not paid attention to your team the last two years? What makes you think anybody not named Pablo Ozuna can lay down a bunt?

Oakland Athletics 14 Los Angeles Angels 2

The Athletics just continue to surprise. The team that was supposed to be one of the worst in baseball as they begin a total overhaul of the club is now the proud owner of the best record in the American League after beating down division rival Los Angeles on Monday. Frank Thomas had three hits off of his former teammate Jon Garland, including his first triple in six years. That's right, Frank Thomas tripled, and they still finished the game in under six hours. "That was priceless," winning pitcher Chad Gaudin said of Thomas' 12th career triple. "I played with the guy in '06, and I don't think I saw him beat out a ball -- much less go from home to third on a triple. It's uplifting. He told me a couple of days ago, 'I can run now.' And I said, 'Really.' And I'm thinking to myself, in 15 years, all of a sudden you can run now? And sure enough, he can run."

Arizona Diamondbacks 5 Houston Astros 3

While the Athletics have the best record in the American League, the team with the best record in baseball added another victory to their total on Monday, as the DBacks and Dan Haren took care of the Astros. Haren went 7.2 innings and allowed only five hits, while knocking in a run with a double to help his own cause. And all this coming off of a flu. "The flu's been going around the whole team and I had it early in the year," he said. "It was really bad. I lost weight and everything, but I'm finally getting back into my normal routine."

AL

• Yankees 5 Indians 2

NL

• Reds 4 Cardinals 3
• Giants 4 Rockies 0

Morning Wood

Chicago White Sox 6 Baltimore Orioles 1

As is normally the case, Paul Konerko is having a pretty craptastic April. So far in the first month of the season he only has 17 hits, but thankfully, he makes those hits count as he's gotten 18 RBI with them. Paulie homered twice on Sunday and provided Jose Contreras with all the runs he'd need, as the 95-year old Cuban had another strong outing on Sunday. "I've been feeling pretty good going back a few games," Konerko said. "But sometimes the results don't come out. ... I'm not concentrating on hitting home runs. Those will come in the summer months. But any ones you pick up early are good."

Washington Nationals 2 Chicago Cubs 0

Do you see what happens when you start talking about winning the World Series in April? You lose two of three to the Nationals. Some guy I never heard of named John Lannan dominated the Cubs all afternoon, as he allowed only 4 hits during 7 innings. It actually extended Lannan's scoreless streak to 19 innings, so maybe he's actually kinda good. As is normally the case, Lou Piniella shared his infinite wisdom after the game. "We didn't score many runs," Chicago manager Lou Piniella said. "When you don't score many runs, it really increases the other team's chances of winning -- and that's exactly what happened here." So that's how baseball works. I had no idea!

AL

• Yankees 1 Indians 0
• Rays 3 Red Sox 0
• Rangers 10 Twins 0
• Jays 5 Royals 2
• A's 4 Mariners 2
• Angels 6 Tigers 2

NL

• Mets 6 Braves 3
• Pirates 5 Phillies 1
• Marlins 3 Brewers 2 10 inn
• Cardinals 5 Astros 1
• DBacks 2 Padres 1
• Reds 10 Giants 1
• Dodgers 3 Rockies 2 10 inn

Morning Wood

Chicago White Sox 7 New York Yankees 6

Neither rain nor Joba Chamberlin could stop Joey Clutch from making his appointed grounders. Crede, who is playing "I'm gonna be a free agent soon" ball this season (and the only player on the team to sport a soul patch that doesn't look like the business end of a cheap lap dance), hit a walk-off single in the ninth, preventing a three-game sweep by the Yankees. "It always seems like [Crede] makes something happen," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Those guys are about that. We were only one shot away, even though [the Yankees] tied the game. We score a lot or we don't score that many. That's the fun thing about this club." (Yeah, Ozzie, not scoring that many runs... fun fun fun!) The win was dampened by a groin injury to Juan Uribe, who had to leave the game in the 6th inning and is scratched for Sunday. Meanwhile, Jim Thome hit his 513th career home run, moving him into sole possession of 19th place on the all-time list ahead of Mr. Cub himself, Ernie Banks.

Colorado Rockies 4 Chicago Cubs 2

Rockies' Aaron Cook pitched eight innings - and Brian Fuentes got his first save in ten months - to snap a six-game win streak by the North Siders. It's not like the Cubs lacked opportunities. Down 2-1 in the eighth, they loaded the bases with no outs but could only produce one run to tie. Then in the bottom of the eighth, what should have been a double play to end the inning was muffed by shortstop Ryan Theriot, who overshot second base, giving the Rockies the go-ahead run. "Yeah, you're trying to rush it," Theriot said. "If you don't turn it, they score. You're trying to do it pretty quick. But you have to catch the ball first and see what happens." You got your answer, Ryan: shit happens.

AL

• Detroit 8 Texas 2
• Los Angeles 7 Red Sox 5
• Oakland 11 Minnesota 2
• Cleveland 9 Kansas City 6,
• Cleveland 2, Kansas City 0
• Tampa Bay 5 Toronto 3
• Baltimore 8 Seattle 7

NL

• Houston 5 Cincinnati 3
• Philadelphia 3 Milwaukee 1
• Atlanta 7 Florida 4
• St. Louis 6 Pittsburgh 2
• Washington 10 New York 5
• San Francisco 1 San Diego 0
• Arizona 6 Los Angeles 4

Morning Wood

Chicago Cubs 7 Colorado Rockies 6 10 inn

They did it! By God, they did it! With their extra inning victory over the Rockies on Wednesday night, the Cubs became only the second franchise in baseball history to reach the milestone of 10,000 victories. That means they get, well, they don't get anything for it actually. Maybe a t-shirt? A commemorative plate? I don't know. I mean, do they even deserve anything for it? The majority of the players on the team right now haven't even been around for 100 of those 10,000 wins, so to give them a prize hardly seems fair to everybody else who has played for the franchise in it's history. So I guess in hindsight, this really isn't a big deal at all, is it? Sorry for wasting your time.

New York Yankees 6 Chicago White Sox 4

This game pissed me off. Mike Mussina has sucked ass for the last year, but he looked like the Mike Mussina of old on Wednesday night, picking up the 252nd win of his career to pass Bob Gibson on the all time list. And he did it all with two freaking pitches. Two pitches. One of which is an 85MPH fastball, and yet he still made the White Sox look absolutely lost at the plate all night. I mean, it couldn't really be that hard to figure him out, could it? Ignore the big, slow breaking curveball, and crush the fastball. Nobody else in MLB seems to have had any trouble with this concept, yet there we were flailing away like Amy Winehouse suffering heroin withdrawal.

Detroit Tigers 19 Texas Rangers 6

Have the Tigers bats finally woken up, or is the Rangers pitching just that bad? I'm guessing the answer lies somewhere in between. After the Rangers jumped out to an early 5-0 lead on the Tigers, Detroit responded with a 5-run 2nd inning, and then later an 11-run 6th inning. Yep, that's right, and 11-run inning. Earlier in the season Detroit wasn't even scoring 11 runs a week. "I think it was a combination of real good hitting and a couple of bad pitches for their team," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "But the biggest thing was walks." The Rangers walked 10 Tigers, and for good measure, beaned another two batters. So maybe it was the Rangers pitching. At least, I'm hoping it was the Rangers pitching.

AL

• Angels 6 Red Sox 4
• Rays 5 Jays 3
• A's 3 Twins 0
• Orioles 3 Mariners 2

NL

• Marlins 7 Braves 2
• Pirates 7 Cardinals 4
• Astros 9 Reds 3
• Mets 7 Nats 2
• Brewers 5 Phillies 4
• Giants 3 Padres 2 13 inn
• Dodgers 8 DBacks 3

Morning Wood

Chicago Cubs 8 New York Mets 1

Well maybe I shouldn't get on Ronny Cedeno for talking World Series already, I mean, if he's going to keep hitting grand slams and driving in 5 runs a game, maybe they will get there (though it should be mentioned that Cedeno did manage to leave 7 runners on base as well). Ted Lilly also got his first win of the season, as he lasted 6 innings and gave up only one run. Though the 4 walks are still something he needs to work on. "You hear guys talking, whether they went 0-for-4 or whatever the case was, they're talking about us winning games," said Lilly. "That made it a little bit easier for me to swallow given the fact that I was going out there and not giving us quality outings. We were winning games that I wasn't pitching. That made my load a little bit easier to bear." The Cubs have now won 13 of their last 16.

New York Yankees 9 Chicago White Sox 5

Well, the Yankees didn't have Alex Rodriguez on Tuesday night, but that didn't stop them from slamming the White Sox. After Jose Contreras pitched a strong 6.1 innings, he walked Morgan Ensberg and gave up a bloop single to Melky Cabrera. The bullpen then came in, and they didn't do their job. Johnny Damon got an infield single to load the bases, and though Octavio Dotel struck out Derek Jeter, he followed that up by allowing a grand slam to Bobby Abreu. The Sox had a chance in their half of the 7th, loading the bases themselves, but Joba Chamberlain struck out Carlos Quentin and after walking Joe Crede, he got Juan Uribe to pop up to end the threat.

Cleveland Indians 15 Kansas City Royals 1

And C.C. Sabathia is finally on the board, as the Indians exploded for 15 runs on what was the American League's best pitching staff (numbers wise) going into the night. Though, it's not as if C.C. needed all that support, as he didnt' allow a single run in his 6 innings of work. "It definitely feels good to have a start like this," said Sabathia. "I just want to keep going out and keep building off this." Gil Meche, on the other hand, continued to struggle this season, allowing 8 runs in 3.1 innings of work. Casey Blake had quite the night as well, going 4-for-4 with a home run, two doubles, and 6 runs batted in.

AL

• Red Sox 7 Angels 6
• Tigers 10 Rangers 2
• Rays 6 Jays 4
• Twins 5 A's 4
• Mariners 4 Orioles 2

NL

• Brewers 9 Cardinals 8 12 inn
• Nats 6 Braves 0
• Pirates 3 Marlins 2
• Reds 8 Dodgers 1
• Astros 11 Padres 7
• Phillies 8 Rockies 6
• DBacks 5 Giants 4

Morning Wood

Chicago Cubs 7 New York Mets 1

It's very rare that your humble Foul Balls editor takes a trip inside the walls of Wrigley Field, but as you can see from the picture I took with my cell phone last night, I had some gooooood seats. And they were free to boot. (Thank you, Budweiser.) It was from those seats that Silvio and I got to see Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run homer, Ronny Cedeno hit a two-run single, and Felix Pie break it open with a three-run homer to propel the Cubs to another victory. I also got to stare at third base coach Mike Quade's ass a lot, and that was nice. Of course, Carlos Zambrano didn't have a bad night either, going seven innings and allowing only one run.

St. Louis Cardinals 4 Milwaukee Brewers 3

While at the Cubs game last night, I did take time out to watch Aramis Ramirez to see if he was doing any scoreboard watching since he's already so concerned with what the Cardinals and Brewers are up to this season. I never saw him look once, but if he had, he would have seen that the Cubs didn't gain any ground on the Cardinals in the NL Central as they beat the Brewers on Monday night. Skip Shumaker hit the go-ahead single for the Cardinals in the 9th inning off of Derrick Turnbow, and the Cardinals got their 10th win in their last 12 games against the Brewers. "I was fortunate enough to get the barrel on it," said Schumaker, who uncharacteristically showed emotion at second base. "It was just a little clap to the hands, I think. I don't try to show too emotion on the field. Yeah, I was happy."

AL

• Red Sox 8 Rangers 3
• Tigers 5 Jays 1

NL

• Braves 7 Nats 3
• Marlins 10 Pirates 4
• Dodgers 9 Reds 3
• Astros 10 Padres 3
• Phillies 9 Rockies 5
• DBacks 4 Giants 2

Morning Wood

Chicago White Sox 6 Tampa Bay Rays 0

I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier, but halfway through the Sox victory on Sunday I realized that John Danks' performance had been preordained. I mean, his last name is Danks, and it was 4-20. It's as though Ozzie had planned the whole thing. Danks lasted 7 innings without giving up a run, and now hasn't given up a run in his last 14.2 innings of work. "My goal is just not to be the guy I was last year," Danks said. "Last year I felt like I was the guy when someone would ask who's pitching and they would say me, it was kind of like 'Well, let me strap it on today, we've got to score.' I want to be the guy that the team knows that when I go out there we're going to hold them to three runs or less and I'm going to give them a chance to win." Jim Thome also hit the 519th homer of his career, tying him with Eddie Matthews for 19th all time.

Chicago Cubs 13 Pittsburgh Pirates 8

The Cubs brought their bats with them to the park on Sunday, pounding out 13 runs on 18 hits and destroying the Pirates. Aramis Ramirez went 4-for-5 with a homer and 4 RBI, and Ryan Theriot went 4-for-5 as well with 2 RBI. In fact, every Cubs starter had a hit. "I felt pretty good," said Ramirez, who raised his average from .234 to .275. "I can't say I'm right where I want to be because I only had [one] good day." Ryan Dempster wasn't exactly great, allowing 3 runs in 5 innings, but every Cub pitcher allowed at least one run. Which won't matter as long as they score 13 runs a game. Which they won't. So I guess it'll probably matter at some point.

AL

• Jays 5 Tigers 3
• Yankees 7 Orioles 1
• Red Sox 6 Rangers 5
• Twins 2 Indians 1 10 inn
• Mariners 4 Angels 2
• A's 7 Royals 1

NL