Elijah Dukes' Knee Is Dead, Dawg

Considering that Elijah Dukes is only 24 years old and hasn't even played a full season's worth of games in the big leagues, he's already had quite a career. Unfortunately, just about everything Dukes is known for has occured off the field or after games. We're all more than familiar with his text messaging habits, and we also know that Elijah has a problem with his manager from time to time (seriously, just click on his tag and see all the fun he's had).

Lately, though, Elijah has been getting talked about more for the way he's hitting with the Nationals. After getting off to a very slow start to the season, Dukes hit .292 with four homers and 15 RBI in June. He has carried that play into the first week of July as well, as he's currently hitting .368 with two homers and three runs driven in this month. That's why it's such a shame that Dukes hurt his knee making a catch on Saturday...

Continue reading at FanHouse

Dmitri Young Has a Happy Ending

Nationals first baseman Dmitri Young hasn't had the chance to see much playing time this season. He's only made two plate appearances this season thanks to the presence of Nick Johnson, and more importantly, a very bad back he's had this season. In fact, his back had gotten so bad recently, that the Nationals actually contacted the Mayo Clinic in hopes of finding a second opinion on it.

Still, no matter where they turned, nothing they did improved the condition of Young's back. That is, until they sent him to the team's massage therapist...

Continue reading at FanHouse

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

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.

Morning Wood - The Mets Choke

Florida Marlins 8 New York Mets 1

Things seemed to be in the Mets favor. After blowing their lead in the NL East, the Phillies lost on Saturday to let the Mets back into a tie, and it all came down to Sunday. The Mets had a future Hall of Famer going to the mound in their biggest game of the year, surely he'd answer the challenge!!! Tom Glavine answered, all right. He lasted a third of an inning and gave up seven runs. "It's something that's going to take a while for us to get over," said Glavine, pitching for maybe the last time in his major league career. Somewhere, Panger is laughing hysterically.

Philadelphia Phillies 6 Washington Nationals 1

The Phillies on the other hand, went out and did exactly what they were supposed to do, and they are your NL East champions. Jamie Moyer allowed only one run in 5.1 innings, and the Philly bullpen held it down from there as the Phillies became the first team in MLB history to overcome a 7.5 game deficit in 17 games. "There's only one more celebration to try and go for now and that's the whole thing," Ryan Howard said.

Cincinnati Reds 8 Chicago Cubs 4

Don't know anything about the game because I didn't watch it.

Detroit Tigers 13 Chicago White Sox 3

The White Sox went out in style, but hey, they finished in fourth place. So really, they're all winners.

Elsewhere...

AL

• DRays 8 Blue Jays 5
• Yankees 10 Orioles 4
• Twins 3 Red Sox 2
• Indians 4 Royals 2
• A's 3 Angels 2
• Mariners 4 Angels 2

NL

• Cardinals 6 Pirates 5
• Brewers 11 Padres 6
• Astros 3 Braves 0
• Rockies 4 DBacks 3
• Giants 11 Dodgers 2

Morning Wood - 756

Washington Nationals 8 San Francisco Giants 6

Our long national nightmare is over. Barry Bonds has finally surpassed Hank Aaron, and is now the most prolific home run hitter in the history of the game. Congratulations, Barry. Now sit back and watch how everybody stops hating you as they realize the record is broken and the world did not actually implode.

Cleveland Indians 2 Chicago White Sox 1

Last night, Jake Westbrook looked like the Jake Westbrook I'm used to seeing, and the White Sox had no chance. He pitched 8 innings and allowed only 2 hits, as he retired 23 of 24 batters after the first inning. When Joe Borowski came in to finish it in the 9th inning, you could practically hear a sigh of relief come from the Sox dugout, but A.J. Pierzynski hit a soft liner to second with Jerry Owens on third to end the game. Also, Steve Stone in the booth? Awesome. Absolutely awesome.

Houston Astros 5 Chicago Cubs 2

The Cubs have now lost five of their last six games, but the Brewers keep losing as well so they're still only a game out of first place. The Astros used a four-run 6th inning to take the lead from the Cubs, and they never gave it back as the offense continued to struggle without Alfonso Soriano. "Any time you lose a guy like that, there's going to be some affect on your team," reliever Kerry Wood said. "Even if it doesn't affect you on the field, mindset-wise it's going to bother you. You hate to see a guy like that go out. Hopefully he'll be back real soon." Really, Kerry? Are you sure it's the effect of losing a guy like Soriano? You sure it's not from adding somebody to the roster?

Elsewhere...

AL

• Mariners 10 Orioles 3
• Tigers 9 DRays 6
• Yankees 9 Blue Jays 2
• Royals 5 Twins 1
• Rangers 8 Athletics 6
• Angels 10 Red Sox 4

NL

• Phillies 11 Marlins 1
• Reds 4 Dodgers 0
• Braves 7 Mets 3
• Padres 4 Cardinals 0
• Rockies 11 Brewers 4
• Pirates 8 DBacks 3

Morning Wood - Standing Still

Houston Astros 2 Chicago Cubs 1

The Cubs were used and abused by the great Wandy Rodriguez last night. Rodriguez struck out 9 Cubs during his eight innings, and allowed only one run as the Astros beat the Cubs in extra innings. Eric Munson only had one at bat for the Astros, but his RBI single in the bottom of the 10th gave the Astros the win and the Cubs their second straight loss. "It's tough to lose a game that way," Chicago reliever Michael Wuertz said. "I threw him a slider and he hit it. I threw the same pitch at 3-1. It just ended up being too fine. That's what happens when you fall behind in the count as well."

Colorado Rockies 6 Milwaukee Brewers 2

Luckily for the Cubs, the Brewers don't want to win the division either. The Rockies put up six runs on Claudio Vargas in the first two innings and just held the Brewers at bay the rest of the night. Brad Hawpe and Matt Holliday both homered for Colorado. The Brewers have now lost 10 of their last 14 games. "Our attitude remains fine," said Geoff Jenkins, who went 2-for-3 for the Brewers. "We've lost some tough games the last couple of weeks, but we're still right there in the thick of things."

San Francisco Giants 3 Washington Nationals 2

Barry Bonds didn't homer and now the Nationals get to spend another night on national television. Nobody wins!

Elsewhere...

AL

• Yankees 5 Blue Jays 4
• Tigers 6 DRays 4
• Indians 4 Twins 0
• A's 9 Rangers 7
• Angels 4 Red Sox 2

NL

• Cardinals 10 Padres 5

Morning Wood - The Cubs Are Gaining

Chicago Cubs 4 Washington Nationals 2

Mike Fontenot's run scoring single in the seventh inning broke the two all tie and would prove to be the game winner for the Cubs. It helped Fontenot break an 0-for-16 slump. "I've been a little passive at times," Fontenot said. "Today, I was a little more aggressive. I haven't had a hit in a couple of games, but I still felt pretty good at the plate." They've now won 11 of their last 13 games, and guess what? They're within 4.5 games of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Chicago White Sox 11 Baltimore Orioles 6

Tadahito Iguchi led the way for the White Sox as they were able to manage a series split with the Orioles on Thursday night. Gooch had three hits: a double, a triple, and a home run. He also did something I couldn't do. In the 8th inning he came to the plate just a single shy of the cycle, and the Sox had a 6-run lead. After working the count to 3-2, Tadahito passed on a shoulder high fastball to take the walk. Me? I'm swinging at anything on that pitch trying to get the single. "It's kind of unfortunate, I didn't get a single in the last at-bat, but I'm just glad with the way I swung the bat," Iguchi said through an interpreter. Jermaine Dye also got his first his since returning when he blasted a three-run homer in the first.

Elsewhere...

AL

• Tigers 12 Indians 3
• Yankees 7 Twins 6
• Red Sox 15 DRays 4
• Angels 5 Rangers 2
• A's 3 Mariners 2

NL

• Pirates 6 Brewers 3
• Marlins 3 Padres 2
• Reds 6 Giants 3
• Cardinals 3 DBacks 2
• Mets 6 Astros 2
• Braves 8 Dodgers 6

Morning Wood - Jose, Can You See

Baltimore Orioles 9 Chicago White Sox 6

One word: ugly. Aw, what the hell, I'm a chick, I can never say just one word. Jose Contreras sucked. Needing 105 pitches just to get through just five innings, he gave up six runs and eight hits. Now he faces the harsh reality of his third straight loss and a 5-10 season. ''I never remember being like this,'' Contreras said. ''I've never lost 10 games. I've never been under .500 in my life. Pitch like this much more, Jose, and you'll have lots of time to remember.

Washington Nationals 6 Chicago Cubs 0

Rich Hill is so competitive. He went on the mound last night yelling, "Jose Contreras will not steal my thunder!" and proceeded to allow six runs and 10 hits in six innings to one of the worst-hitting teams in baseball. Hill's lost five of his last six decisions, is winless in his last five outings and has a 5.20 ERA over his last 11 starts. Sorry, Rich, but you're gonna have to work a little harder to catch up with Jose, who's 6.84 in his last eight starts. Don't give up, we know you can do it!

Elsewhere...

AL

• Boston 7 Tampa 5
• Minnesota 6 New York 2
• Seattle 4 Kansas City 0
• Toronto 10 Oakland 3
• Texas 4 Los Angeles 2
• Detroit 6 Cleveland 4

NL

• St. Louis 5 Arizona 4
• San Fransisco 9 Cincinnati 5
• Colorado 17? New York 7
• Philadephia 8 Houston 3
• San Diego 1 Florida 0
• Pittsburth 5 Milwaukee 3
• Atlanta 5 Los Angeles 2

Morning Wood - Thanks For The Memories

Baltimore Orioles 7 Chicago White Sox 6

There was such a nice feeling throughout US Cellular last night. Mark Buehrle was having a typical Buehrle performance, the offense was knocking out three two-run homers, everything was going swell! Then the bullpen came in. Whatever the bullpen had with them on the road trip that made them reliable for a week was apparently left on the team charter. After Buehrle left with two runners on and two outs in the 8th, Ryan Bukvich came in and allowed the two runners to score before Boone Logan came in and put out the fire. The Sox went into the 9th with a 6-5 lead, and the Orioles were 0-38 this season when trailing going into the 9th inning. They're 1-38 now. "I think this is the biggest comeback for this club this year," Orioles interim manager Dave Trembley said. "It's probably one of the better wins I've ever been involved in. It's great for our team." That's cuz it's the only comeback, Dave.

Chicago Cubs 7 Washington Nationals 2

The Cubs scored seven runs against the Nationals in the first four innings, and then just put it on cruise control. Alfonso Soriano returned to Washington for the first time since he joined the Cubs this offseason, and had a couple of hits, a run, an RBI, and a stolen base. "It's a little weird," said Soriano, who had 46 home runs and stole 41 bases for Washington last year. "But I try to do my job and do the best I can for my team. I feel very good, so that's what matters." Ted Lilly went seven innings and only allowed three hits and a run as the Cubs improved to 9-1 over their last ten games.

Elsewhere...

AL

• Yankees 5 Twins 1
• Red Sox 7 Rangers 3
• Indians 10 DRays 2
• Royals 3 Mariners 2
• Blue Jays 11 Athletics 7

NL

• Brewers 10 Pirates 3
• Astros 7 Phillies 5
• Cardinals 11 DBacks 3
• Rockies 6 Mets 2
• Padres 3 Marlins 1
• Dodgers 8 Braves 2

Morning Wood - Well, I'll Be

Chicago White Sox 10 Florida Marlins 6

I should quit on the White Sox more often, they seem to take it personally. The Sox had 13 hits, and scored 10 runs for only the third time this season to beat the Marlins. Things seemed to be different in the first inning when Jermaine Dye made a diving catch in right field. We've all seen him make those catches before, but not this season. This season he was always just a step short of making the play. Then three innings later, he did it again, but this time going the other way. Of course, he aggravated a quad injury and had to leave the game as a precautionary measure. He should be back in the lineup tonight. "Two great ones. That was the fuel of the game," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said. "He saved a couple of runs. Maybe the game would have gone a different way."

Detroit Tigers 9 Washington Nationals 8

The Tigers almost pulled off a White Sox impression last night in Washington. They built a 9-1 lead after five innings, but the Nationals made a late charge. Four runs in the 6th inning made it 9-5, and then they scored three more runs in the bottom of the 9th off Todd Jones but couldn't complete the comeback. "My job is to get outs, and I got them," said Jones, who has 17 saves in 21 opportunities but a 5.86 ERA. "You guys can laugh and make fun of the ERA all you want. But when that rubber hits the road, it goes through me and that's the way I want it."

Cleveland Indians 10 Philadelphia Phillies 1

The difference between the Indians and White Sox? Where do I start? Anyway, last week Cole Hamels shut down the White Sox offense. Last night the Indians scored six runs against him, and had him out of the game after five innings. Cliff Lee on the other hand shut down the NL's most potent offense, and went seven innings allowing only one run. "I didn't do my job there for a while," said Lee, who missed all of April after getting hurt early in spring training. "But now I'm starting to get where I want to be. Hopefully, I can carry this over and keep it rolling." The only bad news for the Indians is that Casey Blake didn't get a hit, ending his 26-game hit streak.

Elsewhere...

• Angels 10 Astros 9
• A's 6 Reds 1
• Braves 9 Red Sox 4
• Mets 8 Twins 1
• Brewers 5 Giants 4
• Royals 5 Cardinals 3
• DRays 10 DBacks 2

Morning Wood - Cubs Let One Go In New York

New York Mets 5 Chicago Cubs 4

Things were looking pretty good for the Cubs early. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first two innings, and they had Jason Marquis on the mound. Then Marquis started pitching like a lost puppy, and the Mets got all Michael Vick on him and started kicking them around. It didn't get really ugly until the ninth inning when Michael Wuertz walked three straight Mets, the last of which brought home the winning run. "It was just a terrible performance on my part. You just can't walk guys like that," Wuertz said. I'm glad he finally learned that, cuz it's an important life lesson.

Washington Nationals 2 Atlanta Braves 1

What in the world is going on here? The Nationals - the Nationals - have won four games in a row. Four wins in a month is good for this team. Jason Bergmann kept the Braves hitless through seven innings until he finally gave up a lead-off homer to Brian McCann to start the 8th inning. It didn't matter though, because Bergmann and the Natty bullpen were able to hold on. "It wasn't like it was a big deal," Bergmann said. "You try to limit the number of hits you give up. If it's zero, it's fine. I wasn't going for the no-hitter at all." Also, John Smoltz had to leave with a hand injury in the seventh inning after tagging out Austin Kearns.

Boston Red Sox 7 Detroit Tigers 1

Jim Leyland had a lot to say about Daisuke Matsuzaka before Monday's game in Boston, but once the first pitch was thrown, Dice-K did all the talking. He pitched his first complete game in the Majors, dominating the Tigers throughout. "I didn't see any reason to take him out," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said after Matsuzaka's first complete game since he had 13 in Japan last season. "He was better at the end than he was at the beginning." The win also gave the Red Sox the best record in baseball at 26-11.

Elsewhere...

AL

• Angels 7 Rangers 2
• Blue Jays 5 Orioles 3
• Royals 2 A's 1

NL

• Phillies 8 Brewers 6
• Pirates 7 Marlins 0
• Padres 7 Reds 1
• Cardinals 8 Dodgers 4
  

Morning Wood - Kicked In The Nuts

Pittsburgh Pirates 4 Chicago Cubs 3 15inn.

Jack Wilson hit a sacrifice fly in the 9th inning off of Ryan Dempster to tie the game up at 3, and then did the whole thing over again in the 15th inning off of Neal Cotts to bring in what would end up being the winning run. Wilson was 0-for-6 on the day with an error, but he was able to move past it after the game. "I think it was by far the worst game of my career and it ended up being two nice sac flies to tie the game and end the game," Wilson said. The Pirates victory ended the Cubs win streak. The Cubs actually used everybody on the roster in this game, and are now 1-4 in extra innings this season.

Minnesota Twins 7 Chicago White Sox 4 10inn.

You can take away Joe Mauer and Johan Santana, but they're still those same pain in the ass Minnesota Twins. On Tuesday it was the AL MVP nobody's ever heard of who did the damage for the Twinkies. Justin Morneau started the scoring with a line drive home run to center field that I don't think ever got more than ten feet off the ground. The Sox bounced back though with a Joe Crede home run to tie the game, and then a 3-run sixth inning to give the Sox a 4-1 lead. Unfortunately, the bullpen ruined Javier Vazquez' strong outing by allowing the Twins to tie the game in the 8th inning. Then in the 10th, Justin Morneau took a shoulder high fastball and redirected it to the seats above the right field baggy.

Milwaukee Brewers 6 Washington Nationals 4

Before the game the Brewers were shoving their fingers up the asses of their fans, and then after the first pitch they shoved something slightly larger up the ass of the Washington Nationals. Prince Fielder and JJ Hardy both homered for the Brewers who improved to 23-10 on the season. Are the Brewers going to be this season's answer to the '05 White Sox and '06 Tigers? It's still too early to tell, but from what I've seen of them so far, I wouldn't count 'em out just yet.

Elsewhere...

AL

• Orioles 8 DRays 3
• Tigers 9 Mariners 7
• Yankees 8 Rangers 2
• Red Sox 9 Blue Jays 2
• A's 6 Royals 1
• Indians 5 Angels 1

NL

• Marlins 6 Dodgers 5
• Astros 7 Reds 6
• Braves 3 Padres 2
• Cardinals 4 Rockies 1
• DBacks 3 Phillies 2
• Mets 4 Giants 1
  

Morning Wood - The Cubs Emerge

Chicago Cubs 4 Washington Nationals 3

The Cubs are over .500! Let it be heard from the mountaintops! The funny thing is, they're winning now even though they're playing the same way they have all season. The difference is, they're scoring runs. Let's look at yesterday's game. The Cubs get an excellent start from Angel Guzman, and then the bullpen blows the game. Same old story, but this time Ryan Theriot tied the game in the 9th inning, and Daryl Ward won it with a single in the 10th. Before it was said and done, the Cubs used seven pitchers on the mound, and one on the basepaths (Jason Marquis pinch-ran) to get this win.

Chicago White Sox 4 Los Angeles Angels 3

A.J. Pierzynski wins games on his day off. That's what happens when you boo him. Pierzynski came off the bench to pinch hit in the 8th inning on Sunday with the Sox trailing 3-1 and then roped a Scot Shields fastball into the right field seats to tie the game at 3. Then in the 10th inning, his bloop single brought home Ryan Sweeney to give the Sox a 4-3 lead, and their second straight win in Anaheim.

New York Yankees 5 Seattle Mariners 0

The only thing that happened in this game that anybody's talking about is Roger Clemens' announcement he'd be returning to the New York Yankees. Gee, Roger, how sweet of you. And to do it for only $4.5 million a month to boot! That's right, Clemens will be getting $28 million this season. Even A-Rod thinks that's ridiculous. People are wrong about Roger, he is loyal. Very loyal. Just not to his family or any baseball teams. He's loyal to the mighty dollar.

Elsewhere...

AL

• Indians 9 Orioles 6
• A's 5 Devil Rays 3
• Tigers 13 Royals 4
• Red Sox 4 Twins 3
• Rangers 3 Blue Jays 2

NL

• Braves 6 Dodgers 4
• Padres 3 Marlins 1
• Brewers 6 Pirates 4
• Cardinals 3 Astros 1
• Reds 9 Rockies 3
• DBacks 3 Mets 1
• Phillies 8 Giants 5
  

Morning Wood - Five Hundred Ball, Baby!

Chicago Cubs 5 Washington Nationals 3

Three in row and seven out of eight brings the Cubbies to 14-14 on the season. The Cubs took advantage of a Nationals pitching effort that was so craptastic, Cincinnati mayor Mark Mallory might have fared better. Highlight of the game: The National's reliever Levale Speigner not only gave up three walks Saturday, but all three were with the bases loaded. And the best part, one of the walks was to Cubs starting pitcher Rich Hill. Congratulations on your first first major league RBI, Rich! "It's one of those bad days," Speigner said. "You start off like that and then you start trying to force things. It just gets worse." I think you've earned a superlative, Levale: you were the worst.

Chicago White Sox 6, Los Angeles Angels 3

You can lift the suicide watch on Jon Garland. He finally got his first win in six starts. "I didn't even realize he had no wins because he's been pitching so well. And at this point, we needed it because we lost five games in a row," shortstop Alex Cintron said. Cintron did his part to get the job done early - thanks in part to a double by him, the Sox were ahead 3-0 by the second inning - and White Sox bats came out again late with three more runs in the 6th and 9th innings. But it still felt uncertain, like the Sox were walking a tightrope and could go splat at any moment. Maybe it's the just way they've played the last few weeks that had me on edge. Bottom line, their hitting and pitching were in sync for the first time in a long time. Let's hope it's the first of many.

Elsewhere....

AL

• Minnesota 2 Boston 1
• New York 8 Seattle 1
• Tampa 3 Oakland 2
• Baltimore 8 Cleveland 2
• Texas 11 Tornto 4
• Detroit 7 Kansas 5

NL

• Los Angeles 6 Atlanta 3
• Houston 13 St. Louis 0
• San Diego 7 Florida 6
• San Franciso Gigantes 9 Philadelphia 4
• Colorado 9 Cincinnati 7
• Milwaukee 6 Pittsburgh 3
• New York 6 Arizona 2

Morning Wood - I Hate Baseball

Chicago Cubs 6 Washington Nationals 4

That's it! The Cubs will be getting top billing here on Foul Balls until I decide the White Sox are worthy of my attention. Don't get me wrong, I'm not changing allegiances or anything, I just want the Sox to know how far I'm willing to go to help turn things around. Carlos Zambrano fell behind 4-0 in the first inning but when you have Alfonso Soriano finally start hitting and Derrek Lee hitting .422, you can come back from those deficits, and that's just what the Cubs did. Good for them. I remember the Sox doing that a lot earlier this season. Feels like years ago. God, the Sox suck right now.

Los Angeles Angels 5 Chicago White Sox 1

The Sox fell behind 4-0 early in this game too, but they can't hit. Seriously. There were two innings in a row that the Sox led off with runners on first and second with no outs, and they only managed one god damn run during that span, and it wasn't even one of the first two runners on who scored!! It was Tadahito Iguchi who just finished grounding into a double play coming home on Jermaine Dye's double. I'm not panicking or anything, but we're over a month into the season. The weather is warmer. When the hell are the bats going to wake up? August?

Seattle Mariners 15 New York Yankees 11

In keeping with the theme of falling behind early, the Mariners fell behind 5-0 in the first inning in New York. Unlike the Sox they scored 15 runs in response, and they needed just about all of them. The Mariners used an 8-run fifth inning to get the job done, and the bottom four hitters in their lineup went 9-for-18 with 10 RBI's.

Elsewhere...

AL

• Orioles 3 Indians 2
• A's 5 DRays 2
• Rangers 7 Blue Jays 1
• Tigers 6 Royals 3
• Red Sox 2 Twins 0

NL

• Marlins 5 Padres 4
• Rockies 6 Reds 5
• Braves 4 Dodgers 0
• Brewers 10 Pirates 0
• Cardinals 3 Astros 2
• Mets 5 DBacks 3
• Giants 6 Phillies 2
  

Morning Wood - Carl Crawford Had A Giant Brain Fart

Minnesota Twins 3 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 2

It's not often you can get Joe Nathan in trouble, but the D-Rays of all teams had him in it Thursday night. Nathan came on in the 9th inning with the game tied at 2. He started the inning by giving up a single to Ben Zobrist. Carl Crawford came to the dish and then ripped a ball into right field, an easy double. Well, except Carl Crawford is really fast, and he does not care for your doubles! Crawford kept his head down and went for three. There was just one itsy-bitsy problem. Ben Zobrist was held up at third base. So now the Twins have Zobrist in a run down between third and the plate, it sucks for Tampa, but not all hope is lost...yet. That's when Carl Crawford got Paris Hilton dumb. After he reached third base all he had to do was stand there while the Twins chased down Zobrist. For some reason Crawford started running back to second base, and by running I mean lightly jogging. Joe Mauer then tagged out Zobrist and fired to second to get Crawford by a mile. A 9-4-5-2-6 double play. Oh, and then Justin Morneau led off the bottom of the 9th inning with a walk-off home run that could have easily been caught by Carl Crawford had he not mis-timed his jump. I don't wanna throw allegations out there, but um, I hope Crawford is on the take.

Cleveland Indians 4 Los Angeles Angels 2

Travis Hafner treats baseballs with disdain!! Their smooth white surface and red stitches stir a fire that resides deep inside his belly. That's why Hafner took a Scot Shields fastball in the 8th inning and blasted it about 800 feet onto the right field concourse. Seriously, if Miller Park didn't have those big windows there the thing would have landed at Lambeau Field. It was Pronk's first home run of the season and it helped the Indians say goodbye to Milwaukee in style. You know what it didn't do? It didn't fill the hole in Pronk's soul, no sir. Pronk will kill again, and he will keep on killing until he finds inner peace. Or a really cute teddy bear.

Washington Nationals 2 Atlanta Braves 0

Not only did the Nationals beat the team with the best record in baseball, they shut them out. When I heard the news of this I immediately went outside to see if the sky was falling. At first I thought it was, but then I realized that I was looking at the ground and had tripped over a rock. Which, when you think about it, is probably how the Atlanta Braves feel right about now.

Elsewhere...

AL

• Orioles 2 Royals 1
• Tigers 5 Blue Jays 4

NL

• Mets 5 Phillies 3
  

Morning Wood - White Sox Return The Favor

Chicago White Sox 6 Oakland Athletics 3

The White Sox got another strong outing from their starting pitcher. Mark Buerhle gave up three runs, all in the first inning. After that, he shut the Oakland offense down, lasting seven innings. Trailing the entire game, the Sox put five runs on the board in the final two innings against the Athletics bullpen to avenge Bobby Jenks' blown save on Tuesday. It's the teams first series victory in Oakland since I was a gleam in my father's eye.

Detroit Tigers 4 Baltimore Orioles 1 12inn

There wasn't a run scored in this game until the 12th inning when Craig Monroe hit a grand slam that won the game for Detroit. Justin Verlander went seven shutout innings to bring his season total to thirteen innings without allowing a run, and the poor bastard still doesn't have a win.

Atlanta Braves 8 Washington Nationals 3

The Braves finished their sweep of the Nationals and are now 7-1 on the season. That's their best start since 1995. The Nats meanwhile have lost 6 straight games and are now 1-8. So they're a game better than what I figured they would be right now. A fun meaningless fact about the Nationals? They've yet to score a run in the first three innings of a game this season. The last team to go this long without doing that was the 1931 Reds, and I remember that Reds team. Believe me when I tell you they sucked hard. But not as hard as the Nationals suck right now.

Elsewhere...

AL

• Mariners 3 Red Sox 0
  
• Angels 4 Indians 1
• Blue Jays 7 Royals 4
• Devil Rays 6 Rangers 5
• Twins 5 Yankees 1

NL

• Brewers 3 Marlins 2
• Brewers 5 Marlins 2
  
• Cardinals 3 Pirates 2
• Phillies 5 Mets 2
• Reds 3 DBacks 2
• Padres 4 Giants 0
• Dodgers 3 Rockies 0
  

Morning Wood-Return of the Tomahawk Chop

Atlanta Braves 3 New York Mets 2

Sure, it's only the first week of the season but the Atlanta Braves have sent a message to their NL East counterparts. Just about everyone has picked the Phillies and Mets to win the division, and the Braves just went 5-1 against both teams. Kyle Davies pitched 6.2 strong innings for Atlanta as they beat the Mets for the second time in as many days. "The Braves always come to play tough," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "But I'm not concentrating much on the Braves. We have to worry about ourselves. They always play right. You don't waste much time worrying about them."

Arizona Diamondbacks 3 Washington Nationals 1

Thank God I don't live in Washington DC. If I had to root for the Nationals, I probably wouldn't be a baseball fan. The Nats are 1-6, but despite that win they are yet to start an inning with a lead this season. I would say they suck, but it seems like an insult to a proud word such as "suck." Livan Hernandez had a no-hitter going through six innings, but if you no-hit the Nationals, does it really count?

Baltimore Orioles 6 New York Yankees 4

The Yankees could be in serious trouble here. They were a A-Rod walk-off grand slam away from being swept at home by the Orioles. Erik Bedard had a tough first inning, but after that he shut down the potent Yankees lineup. Meanwhile, the Yankees starters continue to blow. I think they have an ERA somewhere around 400 right now. (It's actually 9.97)

Elsewhere...

AL

• Blue Jays 6 Devil Rays 3
• Twins 3 White Sox 1
• Tigers 3 Royals 2
• Athletics 2 Angels 1
• Red Sox 3 Rangers 2

NL

• Marlins 6 Phillies 4
• Pirates 6 Reds 3
• Brewers 9 Cubs 4
• Cardinals 10 Astros 1
• Padres 2 Rockies 1
• Dodgers 10 Giants 4