Category: MLB General

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MLB General

MLB Cost Index for Mon June 5 2006

[The MLB Cost Index is a calculation of the amount each team pays for a win and the efficiency of the payroll that the GM has put together.]

Once the darlings and “great chance to repeat” team of baseball, the White Sox have fallen on rough times. 3-7 in their last ten has dropped them a few slots in the Cost Index. Of course, you’d still rather be a White Sox fan than a Cubs fan when it comes to payroll efficiency.. and recent championships.

** all $ are in millions.

Rank (Pv) Team 2006 Payroll GP Wins YTD Payroll Cost/Win
1 (1) Marlins $15.0 54 20 $5.00 $0.25
2 (2) Rockies $41.1 56 27 $14.22 $0.53
3 (3) Devil Rays $35.4 57 23 $12.46 $0.54
4 (4) D’backs $59.2 56 34 $20.47 $0.60
5 (5) Reds $59.5 56 32 $20.56 $0.64
6 (9) Pirates $40.2 57 21 $14.16 $0.67
7 (7) Indians $56.8 56 28 $19.63 $0.70
8 (10) Rangers $65.5 56 30 $22.63 $0.75
9 (6) Brewers $56.8 57 26 $19.98 $0.77
10 (8) Tigers $82.3 57 37 $28.96 $0.78
11 (11) Blue Jays $71.9 55 31 $24.42 $0.79
12 (13) Padres $69.7 56 30 $24.10 $0.80
13 (14) A’s $62.3 57 27 $21.93 $0.81
14 (12) Cardinals $88.4 56 35 $30.57 $0.87
15 (15) Twins $63.8 56 25 $22.06 $0.88
16 (17) Nationals $63.3 57 25 $22.26 $0.89
17 (18) Orioles $72.6 57 26 $25.54 $0.98
18 (19) Mets $100.9 55 33 $34.26 $1.04
19 (16) White Sox $102.9 56 34 $35.56 $1.05
20 (20) Phillies $88.3 56 29 $30.51 $1.05
21 (23) Giants $90.9 56 29 $31.41 $1.08
22 (21) Dodgers $99.2 57 32 $34.90 $1.09
23 (25) Royals $47.3 54 14 $15.76 $1.13
24 (22) Braves $92.5 57 28 $32.53 $1.16
25 (24) Astros $92.6 57 27 $32.56 $1.21
26 (26) Red Sox $120.1 54 33 $40.03 $1.21
27 (27) Mariners $88.3 58 25 $31.62 $1.26
28 (28) Angels $103.6 56 25 $35.82 $1.43
29 (29) Cubs $94.8 55 22 $32.20 $1.46
30 (30) Yankees $198.7 55 33 $67.45 $2.04

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MLB General

The Full Count: Pujols on the DL


1. No more 73?: Because of Albert Pujols’ torrid pace, many predicted that he would break the all-time homerun or RBI records, or at least have a monster season. He still might have the latter, but the first two are out of the question as he was put on the 15-day DL. Pujols suffered an injury to his right oblique during Saturday’s game against the Cubs. There is much question as to exactly how long he will be out, however. The Cardinals medical staff apparently told Pujols that he will only be out for the fifteen days that he is on the disabled list. However, another one of the team’s doctors said the injury could sideline him for six weeks, which would last until the All-Star break. Pujols will undergo an MRI exam today that will give a more accurate picture of how serious this injury is.

2. Another game, another near-no-hitter: Chris Young of the Padres is becoming one of the brightest young pitchers in the majors. After one-hitting the Rockies last Tuesday, he allowed two hits to the Pirates on Sunday. Young didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning, becoming only the second pitcher since 2000 to begin consecutive starts with 5+ innings of no-hit ball. With his 16 straight shutout innings, Young has lowered his ERA by almost a point to 3.39. San Diego needed his outstanding performance, as they only scored one run of their own (a Brian Giles RBI single). At 30-26, the Padres are in third place in the NL West, while the Pirates are last as usual in the Central.

3. They’re beatable: Back when they were 31-15, nobody thought the White Sox could do anything wrong. But, after last night’s 10-2 loss to the Rangers, they have lost five of their last six games. Mark Teixeira performed well for Texas, going 4-5 with 4 runs batted in. Teixeira has vastly underperformed this year after last year’s spectacular 43 homers and 144 RBIs, with only 6 and 30 so far. For the White Sox, Mark Buehrle got lit up, allowing 6 runs in 7 innings. Jim Thome was out of the lineup for the third straight game with a groin injury, but he hopes to start today, when the Sox take on the Tigers in a pivotal series. The Rangers took two of three from the White Sox and lead the AL West at 30-26.

4. New powerplant built in Phoenix: The Arizona Diamondbacks are on fire offensively, scoring 28 runs in a four-game sweep of the Braves over the weekend. The D-Backs hit four homers on Saturday night, then hit four more on Sunday. Arizona’s 9-3 win on Sunday was powered by Damion Easley once again, who homered and drove in 3 the day after hitting 3 homers and 7 RBIs. Tony Clark hit two out, including a homer off Braves starter Jorge Sosa that gave him 4 blasts in 5 career at-bats against Sosa. The Braves actually had narrowed the gap 5-3 going into the ninth inning, but reliever Chris Reitsma was blasted for four runs in the final inning. Reitsma has been a major part of the Braves’ bullpen problems this year, with a horrendous 7.20 ERA. The D-Backs have sole control of the division lead with 34-22 record, while the Braves fell below .500 after the sweep.

5. The best thing going on in Washington: While the Nationals suck, they do have one player that is blowing up the National League. That would be Alfonso Soriano, who hit 2 homers and drove in 5 against the Brewers yesterday. The one-man show gave the Nats an 8-4 win, and lifted Soriano’s season totals even more. He now has 21 homeruns, 43 RBIs, and 13 steals on the year. His .312 batting average, .364 on-base percentage, and .628 slugging would all mark career highs if they hold. Most impressively, he has 11 homers and is hitting .319 at pitcher’s palace RFK Stadium. We bet the Rangers wish they hadn’t traded him now, or just imagine how dominant they would be in the AL West.

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MLB General

Pedro Gomez is free!

Lost in all the Barry Bonds 715 hoopla is the fact that the long suffering Pedro Gomez has been freed by his corporate dark lord ESPN from his daily Bonds beat. For two years, Pedro has been forced to cover the biggest jerk in sports. But now that Bonds on Bonds is a complete failure and ESPN is no longer following Bonds’ every at bat with as much fervor, Pedro has been set free.

Gomez, who’s had to stick to Bonds closer than the stench of skank does to Paris Hilton, said his relationship with Bonds was “very hot and cold” and that Bonds has “a prickly personality”.


Was Bonds openly disrespectful toward him? “I think so,” Gomez said. “At Dodger Stadium this year, I asked, `Are you not speaking because you don’t want to, or your lawyer has advised you not to?’

To which Bonds responded: “Pedro, you’re weird. You have issues.”

Recalling the exchange, Gomez said, “I had to bite my tongue. The thing I wanted to say was, `I have issues?!?’ But you can’t become the story.”

All this week, we’ve been told that Barry Bonds is a new guy and he’s starting to enjoy the game much more and appreciates what God has given him. Good ol’ smiling Barry. He loves the fans, he really does. Don’t you believe it for a second. “Prickly personality?” We would just go with prick.

Links:
[Miami Herald]: On Sports Media

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MLB General

MLB Power Rankings Roundup for Fri Jun 2 2006

Don’t look now but the Braves are making a move and are now in the top 10 in half of the sites we survey. With the Mets playing lights out in clutch situations, it’s going to be hard for the Braves to win a 15th consecutive division title but don’t count them out yet.

Here are you Power Rankings by major sites this week.

Rank Sportscolumn ESPN FoxSports Sportsline USA Today TSN.ca
1 White Sox Cardinals Yankees White Sox White Sox Tigers
2 Tigers White Sox Tigers Tigers Tigers Dodgers
3 Cardinals Mets White Sox Red Sox Cardinals White Sox
4 Mets Yankees Diamondbacks Cardinals Red Sox Mets
5 Red Sox Tigers Dodgers Mets Mets Cardinals
6 Yankees Blue Jays Cardinals Yankees Yankees Yankees
7 Blue Jays Red Sox Mets Blue Jays Blue Jays Red Sox
8 Diamondbacks Diamondbacks Red Sox Dodgers Diamondbacks Blue Jays
9 Dodgers Dodgers Blue Jays Rangers Dodgers Rockies
10 Reds Braves Braves Braves Red Rangers
11-30 more more more more more more

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MLB General

The Full Count: Is it too early to talk playoffs?

1. One will miss out: Out of the following four teams, one will not make the playoffs in the AL: the Tigers, White Sox, Yankees, or Red Sox. Each of these teams has at least 31 wins, and all are significantly better than the AL West-leading Rangers. It’s very early to speculate, but our money will go to the Detroit Tigers as of now. They only have four wins against playoff-caliber teams, and three of those are against those Rangers. We’ll see how it plays out, but no matter what, one of these teams will be complaining by the year’s end.

3. Eye of the Tiger: After dropping three games in a row to the Yankees, the Detroit Tigers weren’t going to let another game just slip by. Trailing 6-5 heading into the ninth inning, the Tigers scored two runs off Yankees reliever Kyle Farnsworth to win the game. Why wasn’t Mariano Rivera in there, you might ask? He injured his back before the game putting on his cleats, making usual setup man Farnsworth the closer. Earlier in the game, Tigers starter Justin Verlander pitched his worst start of the year, allowing 6 runs in 5 innings, including a homerun to Jason Giambi. The Tigers are now up 2.5 on the White Sox in the AL Central. The Yankees fell a half game behind Boston, who had an off day.

3. Who’s #1?: Before last night’s start against the Cleveland Indians, there was no question about who the best starter in the AL was this year–Jose Contreras. He was 5-0 and had never allowed more than 4 runs in a start–until yesterday, when the Indians gouged him for 6 runs in 5 innings pitched. But that was just half of the Indians’ scoring in their crazy 12-8 victory. Though Cleveland trailed 8-7 heading into the seventh inning, Ronnie Belliard and Ben Broussard homeruns helped them get the win. Belliard had 4 RBIs on the night, while Broussard went 4-5 and Grady Sizemore drove in two. The White Sox lost despite three Jim Thome RBIs and two homers and five driven in by Jermaine Dye. (By the way, the answer to the question would be Mike Mussina, who has a 2.42 ERA and 7 wins.)

4. Simply offensive: Coming into last night’s game against the Braves, the Diamondbacks hadn’t scored in 24 innings, which resulted mainly from no runs in 13 innings on Wednesday. They finally got on the scoreboard in the eighth, with a two-run single. The Braves answered next inning with Andruw Jones’ 14th homerun of the year, but it wasn’t enough and the D-Backs prevailed 2-1. Arizona starter Juan Cruz had the best start of his career, pitching 7 shutout innings. The Braves’ Horacio Ramirez was charged with the loss, though both of his runs allowed were unearned. The D-Backs are still clinging to a slight division lead over the LA Dodgers.

5. The DL’s favorite team: The Dodgers, despite being second in the NL West, have probably had some of the worst luck of any MLB team this season. Jeff Kent was placed on the disabled list Thursday, becoming one of many Dodgers who have missed time this season. Shotrtstop Cesar Izturis hasn’t played this season, and neither has stud closer Eric Gagne (though he was taken off the DL yesterday). Nomar Garciaparra and Kenny Lofton are among the other Dodgers who have missed time this season. In other DL news, Tigers starter Mike Maroth will have elbow surgery, though there hasn’t been an announcement of how much time he will miss.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Roger Clemens makes up his mind

1. He’s coming back: After denying contacting the Astros on Tuesday, Roger Clemens signed a huge contract with the team yesterday. The deal would be worth an outrageous $22,000,022 over the whole season, but because Clemens won’t be coming back until June 22 at best, he’ll get a prorated portion that comes out to over $12 million. Not bad for a 43-year-old entering his 23rd major league season. But before Clemens can join the major league roster, he’ll have to make at least 3 minor league starts. The first will be with single-A Lexington, where his son Koby plays. Then he’ll start with the Double and Triple-A Astros teams, and then make his return as early as June 22.

2. Happy to be a Royal: Not many people in the world of baseball want to be a Kansas City Royal, as the team has absolutely no hope for about the next decade or so. But former Atlanta assistant Dayton Moore is, as he will be replacing fired Allard Baird as Royals GM. Moore said he is “looking forward to joining the team and becoming part of the Kansas City community.” Whatever. He has a lot of work to do, as the Royals have been the worst team in the majors for two years running now. Through their first 50 games they are 13-37.

3. Duel of the Year: Anybody who didn’t think that the Pedro Martinez-Brandon Webb matchup wouldn’t live up to the hype was proved wrong on Wednesday night. Neither pitcher allowed a run in a game that didn’t see a score until the 13th inning. Webb pitched seven innings and allowed just four hits and one walk. His scoreless inning streak is now at 25 after two complete-game shutouts last week. But Pedro was even better, going eight innings, striking out eight, and allowing five hits. No runs were put on the board in regulation, but in extras the Mets’ Endy Chavez won the game on a bloop single. The Diamondbacks took the hard loss and are virtually tied with the Dodgers for their division lead. The Mets lead the NL East by 4.5 over the Braves.

4. Carrying his team: Jason Bay, playing in Pittsburgh where he never gets any media attention, is having a flat-out spectacular season. Last night he hit another homerun in the Pirates’ 6-1 win over the Brewers. He finished May with 12 homers and 35 RBIs on the month, which makes up most of his 17 and 46 on the year. Bay has also hit .302 and has been one of the only positives on a 19-34 team that altogether lacks pitching. If Bay ever gets traded to a contender, he will become an absolute superstar.

5. Are they really the best?: The Tigers have played some bad competition for the majority of this season, which diminishes their 35-18 record. But now that they will begin to face some playoff-caliber teams, we’ll see if they’re for real. Well, so far in their murderous upcoming stretch they’ve proved the doubters right, as they are down 3-0 in their series against the Yankees. Last night they lost 6-1 to New York, who featured a complete-game shutout from Mike Mussina. Alex Rodriguez got three hits and drove in two for the Yankees, who are still tied with the Red Sox for the division lead. Meanwhile, the Tigers are still leading the White Sox in their division, though they probably won’t be after facing Boston, Toronto, and new rival Chicago in their next three series.

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The Full Count: Waiting on the Rocket

1. Still waiting: After reports that Roger Clemens was once again going to become an Astro, the deal is not officially done yet. Clemens’ agent, Randy Hendricks, denied even speaking with the Astros but said Clemens is “very close with a final decision.” Of course, this means that he probably has spoken with them and they’re likely very close to a deal. But nothing is official yet. The Astros do need the powerhouse pitcher as soon as they can get him–they’re 27-26. St. Louis, who they beat last year in the NLCS, leads the NL Central by 6.5 over them. Clemens won the Cy Young in 2004 and came very close in 2005.

2. Power surge: The Red Sox’s Josh Beckett had been excellent so far this season, but he was no match for the Blue Jays offense on Tuesday. Both of Toronto’s big power hitters, Troy Glaus and Vernon Wells, had huge games. Wells highlighted the effort with 3 homeruns, two of them coming off Beckett. Glaus added two of his own, increasing his total to a team-high 17. Wells (15) became the third player this year to have a three-homer game, joining Albert Pujols and Alfonso Soriano. Beckett gave his worst effort of the year, allowing 7 runs and 4 homers in less than five innings. Toronto starter Gustavo Chacin allowed no runs in five innings, upping his record to 6-1. Closer BJ Ryan picked up his 12th save, and his ERA stands at an incredible .69.

3. An 11-inning blowout: It’s not often a game goes into extras and still results in a one-sided victory. But that happened in the Yankees-Tigers game yesterday, with the game tied at 6 going into extras but the Yankees emerging 11-6 victors. New York scored five runs in the 11th, including Jason Giambi’s first homer since May 10. Giambi started the scoring with a solo shot, his 13th of the year, and three singles scored the other runs. Mariano Rivera pitched a season-high three innings, allowing no runs in the process. For the Tigers, Ivan Rodriguez drove in three runs and fell a homer short of the cycle. The Yankees win combined with the Red Sox loss results in a tie for the AL East lead.

4. Reversal of fortune: The Rockies shut out the Padres 5-0 on Monday, but on Tuesday it went the other way. Padres starter Chris Young, in his best effort of the season, allowed no runs in 8 innings and took a no-hitter into the eighth. Young’s effort for the first no-no in Padres history was ended when Brad Hawpe hit a leadoff double, but the Padres still won 2-0. Trevor Hoffman came on for the save, his 10th in 10 tries. Both teams now have identical 27-25 records.

5. At last: After a 5-0 April, Greg Maddux had been waiting all of May for another win. Though he wasn’t perfect last night, allowing three runs in 5.1, he was able to get the W as the Cubs topped the Reds 8-3. Jacque Jones hit his eighth homerun of the year and drove in 4 Cubs runners. Maddux (6-4, 1-4 in May) is now tied with Nolan Ryan and Don Sutton on the career wins list with 324. Cincinnati is still in second in the NL Central division.

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MLB General

MLB Cost Index for Tues May 30 2006

The biggest losers this week are the A’s, who continue their awful play by losing to the Royals. The A’s have dropped to 14th in the Cost Index. That $62.3M payroll doesn’t help if it’s sitting on the DL the whole season.

** all $ are in millions.

Rank (Pv) Team 2006 Payroll GP Wins YTD Payroll Cost/Win
1 (1) Marlins $15.0 49 16 $4.54 $0.28
2 (2) Rockies $41.1 51 27 $12.95 $0.48
3 (3) Devil Rays $35.4 51 21 $11.15 $0.53
4 (5) D’backs $59.2 50 29 $18.28 $0.63
5 (4) Reds $59.5 51 28 $18.73 $0.67
6 (6) Brewers $56.8 51 26 $17.88 $0.69
7 (7) Indians $56.8 50 24 $17.53 $0.73
8 (9) Tigers $82.3 51 35 $25.91 $0.74
9 (10) Pirates $40.2 51 17 $12.67 $0.75
10 (11) Rangers $65.5 51 27 $20.61 $0.76
11 (14) Blue Jays $71.9 50 28 $22.20 $0.79
12 (13) Cardinals $88.4 51 33 $27.84 $0.84
13 (12) Padres $69.7 51 26 $21.95 $0.84
14 (8) A’s $62.3 51 23 $19.62 $0.85
15 (15) Twins $63.8 50 23 $19.69 $0.86
16 (16) White Sox $102.9 50 33 $31.75 $0.96
17 (22) Nationals $63.3 52 21 $20.31 $0.97
18 (17) Orioles $72.6 51 23 $22.85 $0.99
19 (19) Mets $100.9 50 31 $31.14 $1.00
20 (18) Phillies $88.3 50 26 $27.24 $1.05
21 (23) Dodgers $99.2 51 29 $31.22 $1.08
22 (24) Braves $92.5 51 27 $29.11 $1.08
23 (21) Giants $90.9 51 26 $28.60 $1.10
24 (20) Astros $92.6 52 26 $29.71 $1.14
25 (25) Royals $47.3 49 12 $14.30 $1.19
26 (26) Red Sox $120.1 49 30 $36.33 $1.21
27 (27) Mariners $88.3 53 22 $28.90 $1.31
28 (29) Angels $103.6 51 22 $32.62 $1.48
29 (28) Cubs $94.8 50 19 $29.27 $1.54
30 (30) Yankees $198.7 49 29 $60.09 $2.07

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MLB General

Full Count for Tues May 30 2006: Prodigal son

1. Make yourself at home: Jim Thome, playing in his second series at Jacobs Field since he used to be an Indian, gave fans a flashback to the past on Memorial Day. Thome, who hit 334 homers in his career as an Indian, hit two out on Monday, giving him 20 on the year. His two two-run shots increased his RBI total to 49, and he leads the AL in both power categories. Thome was just a part of the White Sox’s 11-0 smashing of the Indians, as Paul Konerko also homered and Javier Vasquez pitched 2-hit ball through 6 innings. The shutout was the third of the year for the Indians, who are second in the majors in scoring. The White Sox improved to 33-17, but they are still 1.5 back of the Tigers.

2. Most Important Player: Albert Pujols proved once again on Monday how valuable he has been to the Cardinals and their best-in-NL 33-18 record. With the Cardinals down 1-0 in the seventh and Astros starter Roy Oswalt out of the game, Pujols jacked his 25th homerun on the season. The three-run shot provided the Cards with their only runs of the game and showcased once again how valuable this player is. The Cardinals pitchers were efficient as usual–Jason Marquis improved to 7-4 and Jason Isringhausen got his NL-leading 17th save. The Astros–who have met the Cardinals in each of the last two NLCS–fell to 26-26 on the year.

3. Guess who’s back: Randy Johnson has struggled hugely this year for the Yankees, with no quality starts since April 23. On Monday, he showed that he can still pitch well, shutting out the Tigers in 6 innings pitched. It was the first time this year that Johnson hadn’t allowed a run, and the first time this month that he has allowed less than 4 runs. The Yankees rode Johnson to a 4-0 victory over the Tigers, who still have the major league’s best record. Detroit was held to 2 hits on the day, and this was their second loss in a row after winning 15 of 16. Meanwhile, the Yankees have won 3 in a row but they still trail the Red Sox by a game.

4. The Rockies are pitching well: That’s not a sentence you hear very often, but it was true on Monday. Jason Jennings, who’s ERA hasn’t been under 5 since his 2002 Rookie of the Year campaign, shut out the Padres. Jennings allowed only 2 hits in a complete game effort, and he was supported well by the Rockies offense. Matt Holliday hit his 12th homerun, and surprising Brad Hawpe hit his 11th. The Rockies are in third place now in the jam-packed NL West, while the Padres are just a game back of them yet tied for last. Arizona and Los Angeles are virtually tied for the division lead.

5. DL Time: 2005 AL Cy Young winner Bartolo Colon had been on the DL for more than a month now, and he is about to be joined by last year’s NL winner Chris Carpenter. Carpenter, who is on pace for numbers similar to last year’s stellar season, has had shoulder problems. He will go on the 15-day disabled list and will be replaced in the rotation by promising prospect Anthony Reyes. But the news is much worse for the Blue Jays’ AJ Burnett. He was transferred from the 15-day DL to the 60-day, which means he can’t come back until June 21. Burnett, after signing a huge contract this offseason, has only seen two starts in a Toronto uniform. However, Dodgers fans should be happy, as Eric Gagne made his final rehab start yesterday. Gagne, the record-breaking closer, earned a save for AAA Las Vegas. He is expected to be back this Thursday to fortify to Dodgers’ bullpen.

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Full Count for Mon May 29 2006: The HRs ESPN didn’t cover this weekend

1. Game of the Year: Possibly the most entertaining game of the season took place on Sunday when the Atlanta Braves faced the Chicago Cubs. The Braves set a club record with 8 team homeruns, including two by both Edgar Renteria and Adam LaRoache. They scored six runs in the first two innings to knock out first time Cubs starter Jae Ryu. Braves starter John Smoltz lasted six innings, but he gave up six runs as well. The Braves were leading 12-8 going into the 9th inning, but when Chris Reitsma is in the game it’s never over. He allowed 3 hits and 2 runs in the inning, in addition to two runs allowed by Lance Cormier. The game went to extras, where an error by Aramis Ramirez in the 11th cost the Cubs the game. Ramirez was under the infield popup, but was unable to make the grab, resulting in Ryan Langerhans making it to second. Marcus Giles drove him in, and the Braves won this battle to sweep the series. Braves reliever Oscar Villarreal won the game to improve to 7-0 on the year, and if he keeps this marvelous pace he will become the first 20-win reliever in history. The Braves have now overtaken the Phillies in the NL East, and are now only 3.5 back of the Mets for the division lead.

2. The power surge continues: The homers weren’t reserved for Wrigley Field alone yesterday. Petco Park, widely believed to be the most pitcher-friendly park in the majors, was the site of 3 of the longest 4 homeruns in its history. Though Jake Peavy and Mark Mulder were pitching for San Diego and St. Louis, this was anything but a pitcher’s duel. Mulder gave up eight runs, and Peavy six as the offenses dominated. San Diego’s Mark Bellhorn hit a 438-foot shot, believed to be the longest in park history. Albert Pujols became #2 with a 436 foot blast, his 24th of the season. And one of Josh Bard’s two homers tied the previous Petco record of 434 feet. The Padres won the game 10-8, and are in a three-way tie for 3rd in the NL West division.

3. New York State of Mind: Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez has seen his share of major league teams in recent years. He has bounced around from the Yankees to the White Sox to the Diamondbacks, and now he’s with the Mets. In his first start with the team he pitched five innings and allowed three runs, but that was good enough for the victory against the atrocious Marlins. Carlos Beltran helped power the Mets offense with his 14th homerun. Beltran has been on fire recently and has hit 10 round trippers in May alone. The Mets won 7-3 to achieve their 30th victory of the season, while the Marlins have half of that total.

4. No one cares about 715: Barry Bonds finally hit his 715th homerun yesterday against Colorado, but nobody outside of San Francisco really cared. The serious overhype of Bonds by ESPN in addition to his completely untrustworthy, self-serving personality contributed to 715 becoming just another story. This is completely unlike Hank Aaron’s 715, as most sports fans can remember where they were when Hank broke the record. But every sports fan has tired out of the Bonds story, as he has taken more than a week to hit each of his last two homers. Outside of the 42,935 people that packed AT&T Park yesterday, true baseball fans care more about other stories than Barry Bonds’ homerun total. So now Bonds is 40 behind Hank Aaron’s 755, but can he break that? Unless he goes to an AL team where he can DH, the answer to that question is no.

5. Let’s go to extras: The unanticipated Houston-Pittsburgh series ended up giving us two very entertaining games. Saturday’s matchup went an incredible 18 innings, and Sunday’s contest went to extras too. Down 4-0 in the 9th, the Astros rallied to tie the game. Then, in the 10th, Preston Wilson finally ended the game and the series with an RBI single. The combined time of these last two games was 8 hours and 54 minutes.