I'm a little late on this but it was great to see the reception Burrell got yesterday when they handed out the rings (who would have guessed that about 4 years ago).

Same with the reception for Adam Eaton!

Francisco Cordero blows away the Mets with 3 K's in the 9th. Nice to see, as he had an AWFUL spring.

Not sure if I should be excited about the Reds potential offense, or if the Mets should be concerned by the number of walks they handed out in this series. Very close, enjoyable series, all 3 games could've gone either way.

Carpenter, 7 IP, 1 H..

Bases loaded, Pujols due up next and they send Molina home on a short pop fly... :banghead:

Minnesota is going to run away with the Central. I swear all these teams are just terrible.

Honestly- what about Minnesota makes you say "Ooh- that team is better than mediocre"?

EDIT:And that question is for anyone. I've never quite gotten the infatuation they're getting with the press this season. Liriano is nice, of course, but he's coming off an injury. Anyone else from 2-5 in that rotation do anything for you? Similarly, the middle of their lineup is good but there's a lot of crap there.

SI

Nothing.

It's the other four make me look at Minnesota and say this average team is better then these terrible teams.

Minnesota has the pitching, who else does?

To expand ..

Cleveland needs a repeat from Cliff Lee, and the rest of their starters to be solid, plus Hafner to be healthy.

White Sox have some arms, but they need a repeat from Gavin Floyd, plus Carlos Quentin to deliever again.

Detroit has a question mark with every pitcher.

KC has Meche, Soria, Grenkie, but still a lot of blah, and will be relying on kids within a month.

Minnesota has a bunch of guys who throw strikes, and a D that makes plays. They'll be consistent, the others I don't think will.

Dear White Sox:

Please figure out to hit the fucking ball, kthx.

3 great pitching performances by Gil, Zack, and Hiram. And now... it's Sir Sidney and Horacio Ramirez to start against the Yankees. Oof...

SI

Only two teams undefeated.

I think we can safely assume a Rangers/Marlins World Series at this point.

But what about the ratings? It will be the W0RST wORLD SeRIES EVAR!!!! ;)

SI

Thats just Perez.

In my 30+ years of watching baseball he is by far the most frustrating pitcher I have ever watched.

Unfortunately, their offense blows giant chunks.

Miguel Cabrera Grand Slam. 424 foot bomb. He is 10/16 with 3 HR and 8 RBI three + games in.

Nothing like a Kris Benson start to bring the Rangers' good feelings about the beginning of the season to a screeching halt.

My fantasy team once again thanks him ;)

SI

Cabrera doubles in 2 more runs. Unreal.

And I continue to relish in the fact I was going to trade him for David Wright and the guy I was trading with wanted Justin Morneau instead of Cabrera.

Yeah that is just absurd.

I love having Miggy Cabrera on my squad. I will love it even more when I get ARod back.

Heh, Derek Lowe looks like he's channeling Greg Maddux or something. 4 strikeouts in the first couple of innings.

3-1 Braves, 6 k's by Lowe through 3.1 ... and a downpour ensues.

Nice job by the grounds crew though, tarp in place in roughly 90 seconds after the signal to pull 'em.

edit to add: And now we get a Cheers re-run during the rain delay. It's Carla-returns-to-find-Frasier-in-bed-with-Rebecca episode.:popcorn:

All this talking up of the Marlins, and now Derek Lowe.. Come on guys.. They're playing the Nationals. :)

Lowe actually looked better against the Phillies though.

You have to forgive me, there hasn't been much to enjoy watching with the Braves in a couple of years.

Need to do a little work with the lights at Turner Field.

Earlier a simple pop up dropped between Zimmerman & Guzman a good 15 feet from either of them. Now Matt Diaz apparently lost one in the lights to turn out number one into a leadoff double (and the tying run) in the ninth.

Gonzalez was bailed out there, one more out please.

Alas, not to be :(

edit: Kelly Johnson the hero with a single to right in the bottom of the 10th, just a couple of minutes short of 6 hours after the first pitch.

Giving up 14 hits and 7 walks to the Nationals is a bit much but a win is a win.

You have to forgive me, the best record the Nationals have had is 81-81 :)

Good tribute to Adenhart at the game last night for the Angels, and then they went out and beat the Red Sox. That's a good way to get the healing started.

Pujols is a BEAST. Two HR's today and 7 RBI.

Fun game with the Sox yesterday. Lots of back and forth.

Came down to a surprisingly shaky Papelbon in the ninth. He allowed an inning opening jack to Torii to start the inning and then loaded the bases up with two outs. Proceeded to throw 11 pitches to Howie K, with the first two going for no-swing called strikes, and then Kendrick fouling off eight straight in a great matchup a pitcher with terrific stuff and control versus a hitter with a great eye and bat control. Kendrick finally drove a sharp liner to right, but Baldelli was well placed to slide over and catch it to end the game.

P.S. Sciosc, you are undeniably one of the, if not the best, managers in the game, but if you have a guy on your team who not once, but twice, in one game, swings his bat, cracks the ball hard and then immediately flips his bat to the ground to start his HR trot before the ball even reaches its peak in the air, okay, really, you need to start that guy more than two freakin' times in a week, especially when your team is notorious for not being power rich. His name is Mike Napoli, go introduce yourself.

Oh, the Sox were up two, so after Hunter's dinger, Angels were down just a run when the bases loaded battle between Kendrick and Paps happened.

To be fair to Scioscia, Napoli is coming off an injury, and missed most of Spring Training. So they are easing him back into the lineup.

If the Extra Innings free preview is still going on, anyone who has it should put on Mets-Marlins for Santana/Josh Johnson. Santana gave up 2 unearned runs on a Murphy error, has 8 Ks through 3.2, and Johnson has retired 12 in a row following Reyes reaching on an error to start the game.

It's on TBS as well.

Even better.

Matt Diaz with a double on a ground ball up the middle. The Nationals should have considered acquiring a centerfielder in the offseason.

Dukes would be in RF but the Nats are trying to raise Kerns' trade value by showing everyone how bad he is.

In the American League, we have something called the DH. ;)

Napoli is as worthy of an at bat or two there as Rivera at this point.

Phenomenal pitching matchup in the Marlins, Mets game. Santana struck out 13 in 7 innings, but his day is done as the Mets come to bat with him due up 4th. Wasn't for Murphy dropping a routine flyball, it would be 0-0, but the Marlins are up 2-0 in the 8th. This Josh Johnson kid for the Marlins sure can bring it, still hitting 96 in the 8th.

Kevin Millwood spins a gem. 7 IP shutout, then the Rangers go to the pen and the Tigs score 4 runs to tie it up 4-4. Elvus Andrus made an awful play trying to get two when he could've taken an easy one on a soft liner. He tried catching it off his shoe tops and throwing out Everett at first but it went under his glove. Then Polanco doubles to make it 4-2. Magglio K, Miggy IBB and a Guillen 2 run double got it to 4-4, with runners on 2nd and 3rd and 1 out.

And Brandon Inge knocks in two to make it 6-4. He lead off this inning with a HR to start the comeback.

I've always assumed that a shoulder injury affects swinging the bat too :D

I think the Rangers bullpen needs to be "DetoxRox'd", or "fired"

Inge...seems like every time his name is mentioned, Tigers fans go into a fit of despair, but he just seems to be a gamer. I always stop short of picking him up in fantasy leagues because of this even though he hits 20+ homeruns every year, is usually eligible at 2-3 different positions, and seems to find his way onto the field.

Am I missing something?

mmmm angels v. red sox easter game - one of these teams will end the day at .500 !!!

He is a career .237 hitter. He has pop but up until this year he has been adament to never change his swing. He finally admitted he was being a baby and is taking advice.

He is the most polarizing figure in Detroit sports, even ahead of Osgood.

He was upset when we got Pudge and he lost his Catching job, and when we got Miggy and he lost his 3B job.

He has amazing range and routinely makes spectacular plays but also makes routine plays a chore considering how much talent he has.

If he just shut his mouth and played I'd be fine with him, but he thinks he is better then he is.

So far this year has been a bit of strange one for Inge so far. He's a career 85 OPS+ hitter, with a career .302 OBP. When he's a Catcher that's not as bad (though it is pretty bad) as would be for a 3B.

In comparison, the first week of the season (not counting this game), he has a 213 OPS+ and an OBP of .440 (to go with a SLG of .789).

So... it can't last.