1. A Grim Goodbye: Jason Grimsley, who has pitched 17 major league seasons, now finds his career over after the huge drug bust yesterday. Grimsley was released by the Diamondbacks a day after authorities searched his home and found evidence of drug use. Grimsley’s admitted drug use includes human growth hormone, amphetamines, and steroids. While the MLB bans all three, they don’t test for HGH, which according to Grimsley is widely used across the MLB. You need a blood test to find evidence of HGH, while the MLB only uses a urine test. We think it’s time to do both.
2. Tied up: Anyone who expected the Reds and the Cardinals to be tied 59 games into the season would have been thought crazy before the year started. But now, that is just where the teams stand after a dominant Reds sweep. They won the series by a combined score of 22-11, including a 7-4 win last night. Ryan Freel had two hits and two runs, Felipe Lopez stole his first base in almost a month, and Rich Aurilia went 4-5 with 5 RBIs. St. Louis starter Sidney Ponson had his worst start of the year with 5 runs allowed in five innings pitched. The Cardinals lost despite 2 RBIs and 2 hits each by Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen. Rolen’s average on the year now stands at an impressive .343. Both teams face weak divisional opponents in their upcoming series; the Cardinals play the Brewers while the Reds try to take first place outright against the Cubs.
3. We’re here: The White Sox have been trying to catch up to the division-leading Tigers for almost a month, and now they have finally arrived. The Sox won last night 4-3, an identical score to the night before. Jim Thome and the red-hot Jermaine Dye each homered for the Sox, while Game 1 hero Alex Cintron stole 2 bases and drove in a run. Starter Jose Contreras, after his worst start of the season, pitched well and earned the victory. Tigers starter Justin Verlander pitched his second straight bad start, allowing all four Sox runs in a loss. The Tigers only lead by a half-game over Chicago now, with a slight 37-22 to 36-22 advantage. But with a win tonight the White Sox can take the outright division lead for the first time in a long time.
4. Coming back: While the LA Angels still stand at last place in the AL West, they have been playing better recently and have won 6 out of 9 games. Last night they defeated the Devil Rays 6-2, and will look for a series sweep tonight. Though MVP candidate Vladimir Guerrero went 0-5, the Angels offense still put up 2 homers and 6 runs. Stud 23-year-old Jered Weaver continued his dominance and earned his third straight victory, allowing 2 runs in six innings. Carl Crawford homered for the Devil Rays, but it simply wasn’t enough for the victory in front of the 9,517 fans at Tropicana Field. The Angels stand at 27-32, improved considering they were once 21-29, but they are still 5.5 out in the West.
5. What happened to him?: Remember when Pirates starter Olivier Perez was dominant? In 2004 Perez had a 2.98 ERA and allowed a .207 average against. This year he has a 7.18 ERA and .308 average against, both among the worst totals in the majors. Last night he was torn apart in a loss to the Rockies, allowing 9 runs in only two innings. Colorado starter Josh Fogg did not do much better in a crazy game, as he allowed 8 runs of his own. But the Rockies still won 16-9, in one of the majors’ highest scoring games of the year. The Rockies had 4 players with multi-RBI games, and 5 who had multi-hit games. They scored in six of the eight innings that they hit in as well. However, both teams are still in last place in their respective divisions.
