Who knew?
1. The Tigers, dominant?: The Detroit Tigers have been one of the worst teams in the majors for a while now. Their 43-119 record in 2003 was an absolute disaster to say the least. But in 2006, the Tigers have been one of the best teams in baseball. They have a 16-9 record, the second highest win total in the major leagues. And their dominance of the Minnesota Twins was hard to believe. In the Tigers’ three-game sweep of the Twins, the combined score was 33-1, one of the 5 highest margins in the past fifty years. They completed the sweep with a 6-0 victory on Sunday, in which Kenny Rogers (4-2) continued his quiet yet effective season. The other games in the series were won 9-0 and 18-1 by Detroit, who faces the Twins two more times in the next three weeks.
2. More than a blown save: We’ve seen a lot of horrendous bullpen play this year. Usual ace closers such as Brad Lidge, Francisco Cordero, and Eddie Guadardo have each blown multiple saves. But in the Dodgers’ 10-inning loss to the Padres, the bullpen had a memorably bad outing. Los Angeles was up 5-0 in the ninth with reliever Lance Carter in, but he was blasted for 3 runs without recording an out. Danys Baez, the usual closer, was put in next but allowed two runs to send the game to extras. Baez had been a reliable closer until this point for the Dodgers, as he had a 0.00 ERA coming into the game. But he blew the save, and in the 10th inning Mark Bellhorn recorded a game-winning single to end the game. The Dodgers would have swept the Padres had they won, but thanks to the relief pitching they fell to 12-13 on the year.
3. Shilling, a loser?: Coming into Sunday’s game against the Devil Rays, Curt Shilling had had a perfect season. He was 4-0, looking to become only the third Boston pitcher ever to win 5 games in April. But the Devil Rays brought out one of their best efforts of the season to defeat Shilling and the Sox 5-4. Shilling allowed 3 runs in 6 innings, far from awful but still his worse outing of the year. He was outplayed by Scott Kazmir, who struck out 10 and allowed 2 in 7 innings. With a 5-2 lead entering the 9th, Tampa was barely able to hold on to their lead as their bullpen almost blew it. The Rays are now 11-14, still last on the AL East but only three games of the Red Sox, who are still the division leaders.
4. Victory at last: The Atlanta Braves were glad to be winners again on Sunday, avoiding their second series sweep in a row (which would be their first such streak since 1985). They defeated the Mets 8-5, and Jeff Francoeur recorded 5 RBIs and a home run for the Braves. The Mets (16-8) have never swept the Braves at Turner Field since 1996. They are 22-52 all-time at the stadium. The Braves finished April 10-14, although they seem to always have a losing record in the first few months. The Mets look to end the Braves’ remarkable streak of 14 straight division titles.
5. Ridiculous on pace numbers from April: If the season continued exactly like it has:
1. Albert Pujols would finish the season with 91 homers and 207 RBIs.
2. Jonathan Papelbon would record 68 saves without allowing a run.
3. Pedro Martinez would have a 32-0 record.
4. Miguel Tejada would break the all-time batting average record with .422.
5. Barry Bonds would have a .547 on base percentage despite a .277 batting average.
