1. How bout them Reds?: Has anyone noticed how good the Cincinnati Reds have been this season? After winning last night they improved to 26-19 on the year, one of the best records in the National League. The Reds victory came as it usually does–through excellent hitting. Adam Dunn’s 16th homer and Griffey’s 3-run shot highlighted an 15-run barrage against the Milwaukee Brewers. Reds starter Bronson Arroyo, who leads the NL in ERA, pitched well again. He only allowed one run, decreasing his earned run average to a stellar 2.29. Meanwhile, the Brewers are just one game above .500 after being in second place for a while in the Central.
2. The Other Series: After a series with the Mets that was more exciting than 24’s finale, the Yankees series against the Red Sox just seems like any other rivalry. Obviously it will still be pretty intense, though last night’s 9-5 Red Sox blowout wasn’t the usual battle we expect from these two teams. The Sox won behind Curt Shilling, who picked up his seventh win of the season and no. 199 on his career. Shilling allowed just one run through 8 innings, though reliever Keith Foulke nearly ruined the game. Foulke allowed 4 Yankees runs in the 9th, including back-to-back homeruns by Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada. A-Rod’s homer proved once again that he is masterful at going yard in pointless, blowout situations. For the Red Sox offense, it was the usual suspects. Manny Ramirez homered and had 3 RBIs, while David Ortiz drove in three runs of his own. The Red Sox lead in the AL East increased to 2 games after the win.
3. Glory Days: Frank Thomas had an excellent career for the Chicago White Sox before moving on to Oakland for this season. But in his first return to Chicago, he provided fans with a remembrance of the past. Thomas hit two homeruns for the A’s, but they still couldn’t take down the mighty White Sox. While Oakland had a 4-0 lead after Thomas’ second homer, the bullpen couldn’t hold it. The game eventually went to extras, where Pablo Ozuna’s bunt single scored the winning run for Chicago. But this contest was all about Frank Thomas, who now has an impressive 9 homers and 22 RBIs on the year despite an awful .195 batting average. Thomas is actually on pace for 39 and 96 in the power categories, which would be an unprecedented stat line if his average also holds. Meanwhile, the White Sox are still a game back of the Tigers in the Central.
4. Outlasted: Jake Peavy pitched about as good as any pitcher could in a loss. He pitched 7 innings of two-run ball, which seems just average, but he also had 16 strikeouts. Every inning Peavy pitched produced at least two K’s, including two innings in which he struck out the side. He completely dominated Atlanta expect for one pitch, that Ryan Langerhans took out of the park. The Braves ended up winning 3-1, leaving both teams with a 23-22 record.
5. Who is worse?: Which team is the worst in the majors? The question usually is easy enough to answer, though this year is rather tough to decide between the Kansas City Royals and the Florida Marlins. Last week we likely would have said Florida because of their pedestrian payroll, awful attendance, and terrible play on the field. But this week the title goes to Kansas City, who has lost 10 games in a row after suffering an 8-0 blowout to Detroit yesterday. They rank last in the majors in most major categories, including team ERA and runs scored. Also, at 10-32, the Royals have the worst record in the MLB. Even more embarrassing, they have a third the win total of the division-leading Tigers. Now that’s bad.
