1. Bailed on by his best friends: Barry Bonds is probably more widely hated than any other athlete. But even he didn’t know it could get this bad–his best friend, ESPN, cancelled his reality show “Bonds on Bonds.” Producer Mike Tolin said it’s about performance. “If Barry was hitting homeruns at Albert Pujols’ pace, then we would continue. Also, there is some fan fatigue.” The latter has been caused by more Bonds-related material on ESPN than any human being could possibly handle. Every Bonds at-bat is aired live on the network, and on nearly every edition of “Sportscenter” there is talk about Barry. By the way, for the few people out there who actually watch the show, it might come back during the All-Star break or for a regular season wrap-up.
2. Fading in May: Greg Maddux was magnificent in his first five starts, starting out the year 5-0 with 1.35 ERA. But in his last five starts he has looked like the 40-year-old he is, going 0-4 and increasing his ERA to a pedestrian 4.28. One of those poor starts came last night against the Marlins, when Maddux allowed 6 runs in as many innings. Miguel Cabrera did most of the damage, going 2-2 with a 3-run homer and RBI double. The 9-3 victory by the Marlins completed a sweep of the Cubs, who should definitely be embarrassed. By the way, last night’s game drew only 7720 people to Dolphin Stadium. Please move this team or build a new stadium, Marlins owners. This is as bad as the Devil Rays a couple years back.
3. C stands for Complete: CC Sabathia started out the year on the DL, but Indians fans are clearly glad to have him back. Last night the ace won again in complete game fashion over the reeling Twins. It was his second straight complete game, and he is 4-1 with a 1.52 ERA. The Indians offense also excelled against Minnesota, crushing 11 runs off of Brad Radke and others. Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez each drove in 2 runs, and Casey Blake led them all with 4 RBIs. Though the Indians are way out of the AL Central lead, at least they are back to .500 on the year.
4. Back in action: Last year Andruw Jones was the MLB home run champion with 51, though this year he has semi-struggled in that department. In fact, Jones hadn’t homered since May 3 until last night, when he hit two blasts off of Padres starter Chris Young. Edgar Renteria also went yard for Atlanta, who beat the Padres 10-6 to move into a tie for second in the NL East. San Diego, though their record (24-23) is identical to Atlanta’s, is tied for last in the surprisingly tough NL West.
5. The Wright Stuff: David Wright is on a tear for the New York Mets, who beat the struggling Phillies 5-4 last night. Wright homered for his third straight game and drove in two. Carlos Beltran also hit it out, for his 13th time of the season. First time Mets pitcher Alay Soler allowed three first-inning runs but then settled down, shutting out the Phils over the next five innings. The Mets improved to 28-17 on the year, five games ahead of both the Phillies and Braves.
