On Deck: Hello, Mr. Blanton

Dear Joe Blanton,

Hello there and welcome to your new home, the city of Philadelphia. It's a wonderful place to live, and I can't tell you how excited we are to have you as the newest member of the Philadelphia Phillies. I hope you enjoyed your flight to New York with your new teammates and got to know them pretty well, they'll be looking to you for support tonight.

Now, I don't want to put any added pressure on you, as I'm sure pitching on a new team is stressful enough, but tonight's game is rather important. You see, Joe, tonight we're playing our division rivals the New York Mets. They don't like us much. Something about us making up seven games in the standings last September and winning the division...

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On Deck: Your Move, Philadelphia

So in the last 48 hours the Milwaukee Brewers have added CC Sabathia to their rotation, and the Chicago Cubs picked up Rich Harden to add to theirs. All the Phillies have managed to do in during that span was lose two games in the standings.

The Phillies have now lost four in a row, and unfortunately for them their losing streak directly coincides with a four-game win streak by the New York Mets. Now both the Mets and Marlins sit only a game and a half behind the Phillies. So the pressure is on the Phillies to add an arm of their own to the rotation.

If you look around the National League right now, things aren't set up too well for Philadelphia...

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On Deck: The Mets Are Still Alive

I understand why Mets fans are upset with their team, after all, the sting of last season's collapse in the final weeks is still pretty fresh in their memories. Then there's the fact they have a $138 million payroll, and the team has been hovering around .500 during 2008. What I don't get is that when you talk to a Mets fan about the team, they talk about the team as if they're dead and buried.

You guys do realize you're only 3.5 games out of first place, don't you? There are still 74 games left in your season, which is plenty of time to make up such a small deficit. This is something you should be well aware of after watching the Phillies overcome a larger gap in an even shorter amount of time...

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Brad Lidge Has a New Deal

I'm guessing a lot of you are like me in that as soon as you hear the name Brad Lidge, you immediately think about Albert Pujols hitting a ball about 750 feet off of him in the 2005 NLCS. Of course, I also think about the walk-off that Scott Podsednik hit off of him in game two of the World Series about a week after that as well. The Pujols one sticks out more though because it's not often that we get to see a man's spirit crushed on national television.

After that home run, Brad just wasn't the same for the Astros, he'd been ruined. So when the Astros sent him to Philadelphia this offseason, I thought it would be a nice change for Brad. I had no idea the change in scenery would affect him as much as it has though. A 2-0 record with a 0.77 ERA and 19 saves in 19 chances, yeah, the Phillies will take that. In fact, they'll take three more years of it...

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Is Pat Gillick Headed Back to Seattle

We're only halfway through the 2008 season, and already the Seattle Mariners have undergone quite a few changes. First and foremost this year, they went from being a team that was supposed to contend for a divisional title or playoff appearance to being the worst team in baseball.

As is often the case when your horrible, people start to lose their jobs, and that's exactly what happened to general manager Bill Bavasi and manager John McLaren. Still, there's another change on the horizon in Seattle, as controlling owner Hiroshi Yamauchi (the former president of Nintendo) is rumored to be trying to sell off his stake in the team...

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On Deck: Royals Consider Switching Leagues

Remember earlier this season when the Diamondbacks started out the season something ridiculous like 20-1, Chase Utley had around 14 home runs in the first week of April, and everyone was saying that the National League had finally caught up to, and passed, the American League as the class of baseball?

You aren't hearing much about that anymore now that interleague play has started are you? That's because the AL is kicking the NL's butt so far this season. Only three teams in the American League have a losing record against the senior circuit right now (Toronto, Cleveland, Cincinnati) while only four National League teams (New York, Atlanta, Colorado, Cincinnati) have a winning record against the AL.

The biggest kick in the stomach for the National League? The Royals are 11-3 against them so far this season. The same Royals team that's 24-40 against it's own league. All of which means that if the Royals haven't contacted Bud Selig and asked about switching leagues yet, they should seriously consider it.

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On Deck: Chicago's Civil War

You know how when you're watching a game on television, whether it's football, baseball, or anything, and the game is being played by two rival teams that the announcer tells you to "throw their records out the window!" You know what I'm talking about? I hate that. That's one of the stupidest things that announcers can say.

Why should we throw the records out the window? I mean, if one of the teams is 12-1 and the other is 2-10 I don't care how long they've been rivals, I'm pretty sure that 12-1 team is going to steamroll the other one. So no, I will not throw that record out the window.

Now this afternoon, for the first time ever, the White Sox and Cubs will be meeting head-to-head in the regular season while both are currently holding down first place in their division. Still, the two teams are moving in opposite directions right now. The White Sox just scored 37 runs in a three-game sweep of the Pirates, and the Cubs are limping home after losing three in a row for the first time this season down in Tampa.

Of course, when these two teams meet, it doesn't matter who is playing well and who isn't. In fact, you can throw their records right out the window (son of a...)!

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Morning Wood

Philadelphia Phillies 8 Boston Red Sox 2

The Phillies set the tone early in this game when Jimmy Rollins hit his 28th career lead-off home run, and a couple of batters later Ryan Howard hit a two-run shot to spot the Phils an early 3-0 lead.

Neither were done for the night.

Howard would homer again in the 3rd inning, and the entire city of Philadelphia is lucky to still be standing after the big man rumbled around the bases for a triple in the 6th inning. Rollins would single home another two runs in the 6th. As for Howard, it's the fourth time he's had 4 RBIs or more in the last eight games, and since he's on my fantasy team I'd like to see that production continue.

Cole Hamels made sure that those runs would stand up, as he allowed only two runs (on back-to-back homers from Dustin Pedroia and J.D. Drew in the 5th) and seven hits in 7 innings. In yesterday's On Deck I said this game was a potential World Series preview, and apparently Cole reads On Deck and thinks I'm some sort of God.

"I believe we're destined to play each other in the World Series," Hamels said. "We can compete with them any day of the week."

San Francisco Giants 8 Detroit Tigers 6

Ha! It never fails! Whenever I feature a team in the On Deck that's on a winning streak, that team always loses. I've gone mad with power!

The Giants used a five-run 8th inning to comeback and end Detroit's win-streak, with the big blow being a three-run homer by John Bowker (who I'd never heard of before last night) off of Fernando Rodney who was making his first appearance of the year for the Tigers.

"I knew I hit it good but I didn't know if it would go over," Bowker said. "It was pretty cool."

As for the Tigers, Justin Verlander struck out seven in six innings and allowed only two runs, but was bitten by his bullpen once again. Also, Marcus Thames homered off of Tim Lincecum twice and has now homered in his last four games. Even more remarkable: Thames' last seven hits have all been home runs.

NL

• Braves 7 Rockies 1

MLB

• Mets 9 Angels 6
  
• Marlins 6 Mariners 1

On Deck: Here Come the Tigers

It's been a very odd year for the Detroit Tigers. After getting off to a horrible start this season, there have been times when they seem to be getting their act together and then suddenly they're horrible again in the blink of an eye. As Joe Morgan would probably say if you asked him about it, "I'm friends with Gary Sheffield." "They're consistently inconsistent."

Still, after sweeping the division-leading Chicago White Sox last week, I asked the question if this was the start of the Tigers turnaround. Was it a sign of things to come?

Well, the Tigers didn't stop there as they followed that sweep with another one against the Dodgers this weekend, and they've now won six in a row to creep back into the race.

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On Deck: All Ur Baseball R Belong 2 Chicago

It's been a pretty crazy couple of weeks to be a sports fan in Chicago, what with Cedric Benson's never-ending quest to drive every type of vehicle ever created while drunk (next week: Cedric attempts to ride a unicycle while drinking an entire bottle of Grey Goose!), and of course, the fiasco that has been the Bulls off-season (no wonder Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley are spending so much time talking about how much better a player the other one is).

Thankfully for Chicagoans, there's baseball. It's not often in June that Chicago can call itself the home of two first place teams, but that's exactly what's happening right now as the Cubs have the best record in baseball and the White Sox are currently riding a seven-game win streak to move 6.5 games in front of the Twins in the AL Central.

Will anything be able to stop the runaway train that is Chicago baseball right now, or are we destined for an all-Chicago World Series?

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On Deck: Homer's Back

You can't blame the Reds for trying to strike while the iron is hot, especially given the way that Jay Bruce has lit the world up since making his debut with the big league ball club last week, and they'll hope that success carries over to the pitcher's mound as well. Today the Reds will be handing the ball to Homer Bailey as they just called him up from Louisville and they're hoping he'll do a lot better in his second tour of duty.

Bailey was supposed to be Edinson Volquez when the Reds brought him up last season, and though he showed some signs of why the Reds are so high on him, his first season in the Majors wasn't that great.

He'll look to get his career started this afternoon against one of the most potent offenses in all of baseball.

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On Deck: The Cubs Hit the Road

For the first time since 1908, the Chicago Cubs have the best record in baseball on June 2nd. You know what else the Cubs haven't done since 1908? Yep, they haven't won a World Series. I'm pretty sure that this is a sign that the 100-year wait is finally going to come to an end.

Don't worry about the fact that even though they've won seven in a row, they've yet to experience an injury to a starting pitcher the last two seasons (how long can that last?), and they currently have a run differential of freaking +92 on the season, they're still only 2.5 games up on the St. Louis Cardinals.

That World Series is theirs.

Unless, of course, the league forces them to play games on the road in the postseason.

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On Deck: Florida's Last Stand?

The Florida Marlins have been one of the biggest surprises in baseball this season, as the team that has a payroll that's smaller than some player's individual salaries, and traded away it's two cornerstone players in the offseason, has somehow managed to finish the first third of the season on top of the NL East.

It's a position that was supposed to be held by the Phillies, Mets, or the Braves, but to this point, the Marlins just haven't been willing to relinquish their spot. Unfortunately for the fighting fish, today could be the day where it all comes to an end...

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On Deck: Lackey's Backey

While most of the world knows John Lackey as our very own Pat Lackey's older, harder-throwing, better-smelling, and much smarter estranged brother, he's better known in southern California as the ace of the Angels pitching staff (Pat , on the other hand, was turned down by the Angels when he applied to become the new rally monkey).

Lackey won 19 games for the Angels last season, and helped lead them to another AL West division crown, but he hasn't been available to the team at all this season. Of course, his absence hasn't done much to keep the Angels out of first place...

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On Deck: Webb's Gems

If I were a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, I'd probably just skip the trip to Chase Field and go straight to the airport to catch my flight to San Francisco. I mean, Brandon Webb is starting for the Diamondbacks this afternoon, so you already know you're going to lose, why waste your time?

Webb has won his first seven starts of the season, which makes him 7-0, and has an ERA of 2.49 while doing so. Now he's looking to get off to the fastest start ever by an Arizona pitcher, as he's already tied Randy Johnson's mark with his first seven starts. The Big Unit accomplished his feat in 2000, and then went on to win the second of the four straight Cy Youngs he won for the DBacks.

On Deck: Skipper, I Cannot Lose a Game

Who the hell needs John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar? It's a question that many Angels fans have probably been asking themselves a bit the last few weeks. I mean, those two were only the two best starters on the Angels staff last year, winning a combined 37 games.

Who needs those 37 wins when you have Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana? Those two have pitched back-to-back all season long, and neither have bothered to try losing a game yet. Yesterday Saunders improved to 6-0 on the year with a win over the Orioles, and today Ervin will try to join his teammate at 6-0...

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Morning Wood

Chicago White Sox 11 Detroit Tigers 0

I feel sorry for my FanHouse colleague Matt Watson, because since he's the only Tigers fan I really know, he's subjected to my endless barrage of text messages making fun of him all the time. Rest assured I sent plenty his way on Sunday. Paul Konerko and Joe Crede each hit grand slams, as the Sox destroyed the Tigers for the second straight day. Javier Vazquez followed up Gavin Floyd's near no-hitter on Saturday with another shutout for the Sox, as they outscored Detroit 18-0 the last two days. As for the Tigers, they're now 2-10 and I want to be the first person to finally come out and say they aren't going to the playoffs this season. Everyone keeps saying "Well, it's still early. They'll bounce back." Yeah, they're gonna bounce back. They aren't going to lose 83% of their games for the rest of the season, but they aren't going to the playoffs. Write it down!

Chicago Cubs 6 Philadelphia Phillies 5 10 inn

Even on his days off Carlos Zambrano helps the Cubs win. His ground ball in the 10th inning brought home Ronny Cedeno with what turned out to be the winning run. Of course, it wasn't as much Carlos' heroics as it was Chase Utley's error on what should have been an easy double play, but I don't think Cubs fans feel any worse about it. Derrek Lee continued his torrid hitting, going 3-for-5 and driving in 2 runs as he's just about singlehandedly carrying this team on offense right now.

AL

• Indians 7 A's 1
• Rays 6 Orioles 2
• Royals 5 Twins 1
• Jays 5 Rangers 4 10 inn
• Angels 10 Mariners 5
• Red Sox 8 Yankees 5

NL

• Brewers 9 Mets 7
• Nats 5 Braves 4
• Pirates 9 Reds 1
• Astros 5 Marlins 1
• Giants 7 Cardinals 4
• Padres 1 Dodgers 0
• Rockies 13 DBacks 5

Morning Wood

Boston Red Sox 5 Detroit Tigers 0

You know, at FanHouse, while I'm not specifically told by anyone that I can't rip on the Tigers anytime I choose, I generally try to remain as objective about any team I cover not named the White Sox as I can be. Here? Well I give myself no restrictions. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (breath) HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH MY GOD THEY SUCK! The Tigers are now 0-7 on the season, and obviously, I'm loving every second of it. Dice-K pitched 6.2 scoreless innings, though he wasn't anywhere near perfect, walking three Tigers, and Kevin Youkilis drove in two runs to propel Boston to the victory. The Tigers offense only managed 5 hits, and were shutout for the second time in this young season. After 7 games Detroit is hitting only .234 and have scored 15 runs. In other words, this year's Tigers are last year's White Sox.

Baltimore Orioles 8 Texas Rangers 1

While the Tigers are surprising everyone with their horrible start to the season, the Orioles are surprising everyone for the right reasons. They won their sixth straight game on Tuesday night to improve to 6-1 on the season, and still sit atop the AL East. Aubrey Huff had four hits and drove in four runs to lead the O's offense, and Brian Burress pitched 6+ innings of seven hit ball to shut down the Rangers lineup. "We've already had more fun than at any time last year," Huff said.

Philadelphia Phillies 5 New York Mets 2

Tell me if this story sounds familiar to you at all. The Mets had a late lead on the Phillies, but then collapsed down the stretch and let the Phillies pass them by. It's how the 2007 season ended for the Mets last season, and it's exactly how their last home opener in Shea Stadium went on Tuesday afternoon. The Phillies scored 5 runs in the 7th and 8th innings to notch their 9th straight victory over the Mets and get to 4-4 on the season. "There's none of us in here going, geez, the Phillies are coming to town, we're probably going to lose," Mets closer Billy Wagner said. "I think all of us are tired of hearing the Phils have our number. The Phils don't have our number. We shoot ourselves in the foot every time we go out there." So what you're saying is, the Phils have your number? Got it.

AL

• Royals 5 Yankees 2
• A's 9 Blue Jays 8
• Mariners 6 Rays 5
• Indians 4 Angels 3

NL

• Brewers 3 Reds 2 10 Inn.
• Cardinals 5 Astros 3
• Rockies 4 Braves 3
• DBacks 10 Dodgers 5

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!

I don't know if it's the eyepatch, the fact I think he may be drunk, or the parrot, but I'm not sure I want to buy beer from this guy. I don't care how thirsty or sober I am, the guy terrifies me. And I just know he talks to that parrot like it's people.

Seriously, this guy probably just walks around the streets of Philadelphia having conversations with the parrot, who I'm guessing is named Mr. Crackers, about how they're going to take over the world. Then Mr. Crackers tells him to burn things, and the vendor does it, because if he's stupid enough to walk around with the thing taped to his head he's stupid enough to listen to it.

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Foul Balls MLB Preview: NL East

As the end of spring training draws near, I figure it's about time I got off my ass and started with the Foul Balls 2008 season previews. Each day I'll preview a separate division followed by individual previews for the White Sox and Cubs. Expect expert analysis bad jokes.

Today we look at the National League East, which is actually one of the more competitive divisions in baseball.

2007 Finish

1. Philadelphia Phillies 89-73
2. New York Mets 88-74
3. Atlanta Braves 84-78
4. Washington Nationals 73-89
5. Florida Marlins 71-91

2008 Predictions

1. New York Mets - It was pretty fun watching the Mets monumental collapse at the end of last season, as they choked their division lead away over the final month. This year, I think they hold on, but it's a risky pick. I mean, this team is old. It's already showing this spring as they've had to deal with injuries to Carlos Delgado and Moises Alou. The big reason I'm picking the Mets though is Johan Santana who I feel is going to be the second coming of Sandy Koufax in the National League. Speaking of Koufax, if he were pitching for the Mets this season, he'd only be the 3rd oldest guy in the rotation. INTERESTING FACT: Ironically, right fielder Ryan Church is an atheist.
2. Philadelphia Phillies - In 2006, Ryan Howard won the NL MVP. In 2007, it was Jimmy Rollins' turn. You have to figure that means Chase Utley will be winning it this year, but it's still not going to be good enough for the Phillies to win the division this season. You see, the Phillies are about to fall victim to the curse of Aaron Rowand. From everything I've been told, teams can only win their division when they have Rowand on the team thanks to his hustle and reckless play. I don't care how many So Taguchis you sign. INTERESTING FACT: Phillies pitcher Brett Myers only beats his wife because she deserves it.
3. Atlanta Braves - After 14 straight division titles, the Braves have come up short to the Phillies and Mets the past two seasons. I don't see things being much different this year, even with the return of Tom Glavine. The trio of Glavine, John Smoltz, and Tim Hudson is a nice one, but it's only a matter of time before Mike Hampton gets run over by a bus while he's on the pitcher's mound. There's also the annual trip to the disabled list for Chipper Jones to look forward to. INTERESTING FACT: The Braves are the only team in baseball history to be managed by a man that's been dead for 5 years.
4. Florida Marlins - I know the Marlins traded their two best players to the Tigers during the offseason, but that probably just means they're going to win the World Series this season. That's usually the way things have worked down in Miami. The Marlins are very young and therefore, they're probably going to be pretty exciting to watch. They might draw 7,000 a game this season! INTERESTING FACT: The real reason 40-year old Luis Gonzalez signed with the Marlins? He's a pedophile.
5. Washington Nationals - The Nats are probably going to be one of the more interesting teams to follow this season, but it won't be for anything that's happening on the field. How many underage girls will Paul Lo Duca seduce now that he's in the Beltway? Can Dmitri Young become the first 300-pound baseball player? Will Elijah Dukes finally subscribe to a cellular service that allows unlimited texting? How many albums will Lastings Milledge's latest rap opus sell? Does anybody have a clue who the hell these starting pitchers are? Oh, and there's the new stadium too. INTERESTING FACT: Nationals manager Manny Acta has a shrine to Barry Manilow in his home.

Foul Balls All-Division Team

• Brian McCann-ATL-C
• Ryan Howard-PHI-1B
• Chase Utley-PHI-2B
• David Wright-NYM-3B
• Jose Reyes-NYM-SS
• Pat Burrell-PHI-LF
• Carlos Beltran-NYM-CF
• Jeff Francouer-ATL-RF
• Johan Santana-NYM-SP
• Chad Cordero-WAS-CP

Youngsters to Watch

• Yunel Escobar-ATL-SS
• Elijah Dukes-WAS-OF
• Lastings Milledge-WAS-OF
• Kyle Kendrick-PHI-SP
• Cameron Maybin-FLA-OF
• Andrew Miller-FLA-SP

Guys Who Will Disappoint

• Tom Glavine-ATL-SP
• Paul Lo Duca-WAS-C
• Carlos Delgado-NYM-1B
• Geoff Jenkins-PHI-OF
• Brad Lidge-PHI-CP

Tomorrow we'll look at the AL West.