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The Full Count: The most offensive team in the game…


1. Powerhouse: Two years ago, it would have been laughable to think the Tigers’ offense would soon be the best in baseball. Now, that is the reality–and no one else is even close. The Tigers piled on a season-high 15 runs and 21 hits against the Mets–all without their best hitter in the lineup. Magglio Ordonez didn’t play, but it didn’t matter as Detroit roughed up Tom Glavine for 9 earned runs and 11 hits. Gary Sheffield continued to dominate with a 4-5, two RBI outing. Brandon Inge knocked in five RBIs, Ivan Rodriguez had three hits and three runs, and Placido Polanco went 3-6 to increase his average to .348. The 15-7 win over the Mets sent the Tigers to 1.5 games behind Cleveland, while New York dropped to 3-7 its last ten games. The Tigers now have 374 runs this year–a whopping 32 more than the next-best team, the Yankees. They also lead the MLB in hits, batting average, slugging, and OPS. Last year the Tigers were carried by their starting pitching. This year, they are winning because they can flat-out mash.

2. The Yankees are Back: The Yankees’ season may have seemed over when they were 14.5 back in the division. But now they have new life, thanks to a 6-game winning streak as well as recent struggles by the Red Sox. The Yanks started off interleague play with a sweep of the Pirates, including a 13-6 win on Sunday. Alex Rodriguez, who hit two homers, drove in five runs, and scored four times, is now back to his April self. Bobby Abreu went 4-4 with 4 runs and is on a ten-game hitting streak that has raised his average 44 points. Overall, the Yankees outscored the Pirates 27-13 on the series. Their next two series are against tougher teams, the Diamondbacks and the Mets, but both are at home. The Red Sox are still 9.5 games ahead, but they are only 4-6 in June compared with the Yankees’ 8-2 mark. This race could get much more competitive as the year goes on.

3. Early Ejection, Late Win: The first inning of the Cubs-Braves game featured plenty of controversy. The Cubs’ starting pitcher, Ted Lilly, was ejected in the first after hitting Edgar Renteria with a pitch. It didn’t look like he was intentionally throwing at him, but the umpire was convinced. Both dugouts cleared but there was no fighting between the teams. Renteria then elbowed Cubs second baseman Mike Fontenot when he came in with a hard popup slide on a steal attempt. Renteria was not punished for this action, however, even though it seemed much more intentional than Lilly’s pitch. Anyway, the Cubs were able to take the lead, 4-2, through seven innings despite having to overwork their bullpen. But then in the eighth, the Braves scored three runs off Ryan Dempster to pull ahead and eventually win 5-4. It would be interesting to see what would happen if these two teams played again, but their season series is over. The Braves moved up to just 2.5 games behind the Mets.

Players of the Day: CC Sabathia, Indians: 9 innings, three hits, no runs, 6 strikeouts. Aaron Harang, Reds: 7 innings, three hits, no runs, 10 strikeouts. The Reds and Indians had one of the best pitcher’s duels this season, with a 0-0 tie through the first 11 innings. The Reds won in the 12th off Alex Gonzalez’s RBI single.

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The Full Count: Curt Schilling knows what he’s doing



What could have been

1. No No-No: Curt Schilling was so close to a no-hitter against Oakland, but he just couldn’t make one final out. Schilling was near-perfect through 8.2 innings, with only one baserunner reaching on an error by Julio Lugo. But when it came time to get his name added to the history books, Schilling shook off his catcher like Nuke LaLoosh and allowed a single to Shannon Stewart. He still pitched a great game, with no runs or walks allowed and just the one hit. He also gave the Red Sox a much-needed win after four straight losses. David Ortiz homered in the first inning for the Red Sox’s only run of the game. They will face the Diamondbacks next in an unusual interleague matchup, while the A’s will take on cross-bay rival San Francisco.

2. Break out the Brooms: The Phillies may be a contender after completing an unlikely sweep of the New York Mets on the road. After winning the first two games of the series 4-2, the Phils won 6-3 in extra innings on Thursday. The Mets had three straight solo homers in the sixth inning by Carlos Delgado, David Wright and Paul Lo Duca, which turned out to be their only runs of the game. The Phillies tied it up in the ninth thanks to Pat Burrell’s homerun, then won it in the tenth with three runs. The pitching matchup between Cole Hamels and John Maine was excellent, as both pitchers threw seven strong innings. However, it was the Mets’ bullpen that failed them in this contest. The Phillies are just five games back of New York now, closer than they’ve been most of the season. The Marlins have also been streaky lately and are 6.5 back themselves.

3. The League’s Worst Starting Rotation: Many teams around the league have pitching problems, but none of them even approach the crappiness of the Rangers’ starters. Everybody in their rotation has an ERA above 6.00. Robinson Tejada has been the `best’ with a 6.28 ERA and 1.55 WHIP. The others have struggled even more. Brandon McCarthy (6.35 ERA), Vicente Padilla (6.45), Kameron Loe (7.40), and Kevin Millwood (7.57) have all wasted an above-average offense and bullpen. Yesterday it was Loe who got shelled, with nine runs allowed in less than three innings to the Tigers. Detroit’s major-league leading offense feasted on Texas during their series, with 25 runs in three games. The Rangers are one of those teams that just needs to rebuild from the ground up.

Player of the Day: Rich Hill, Cubs: 8 innings, three hits, one run, 11 strikeouts in a win over the Braves.

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The Full Count: Congratulations to Trevor Hoffman


1. The 500 Club: The 500 homerun club has twenty members (and counting), but the 500 save club just got its first member. Trevor Hoffman, one of the more underrated players in major league history, saved his 500th career game on Wednesday. Hoffman broke the career saves record last year, passing Lee Smith and his 478 saves. His mark compared with Smith’s is the statistical equivalent of 790 homeruns or 6000 strikeouts, but it of course is considered less prestigious and will receive very little attention after today. Hoffman closed out a 5-2 win over the Dodgers, which included a solid start by Greg Maddux as the Padres moved to 1.5 games ahead of Los Angeles. Next up for 500 saves is Mariano Rivera, who is 81 away but has played two fewer years than Hoffman.

2. The Cardinals are back: For the first time this season, the Cardinals are playing like a team that has won the division for three straight years. They’ve won six of their last seven games to move within five games of the once-dominant Brewers. On Wednesday the Cardinals topped the Brewers as Albert Pujols hit a key two-run homerun. Pujols has four homers and eight RBIs in his last eight games. Closer Jason Isringhausen, who sealed the deal for his 14th save of the year, is having a surprisingly good season. Isringhausen has a 1.50 ERA and 0.83 WHIP, unusually great numbers for the closer of a disappointing team. The Cardinals aren’t a playoff-caliber team, but they might make it to October if no one else in their division can.

3. Bat over mouth: Gary Sheffield’s racial comments have gone unpunished by the Tigers or the MLB. Maybe that’s because he’s one of the more dominant sluggers in the game, as he proved Wednesday with a great performance. Sheffield hit two homers to give him 15 on the year, and drove in five runs as the Tigers walloped the Rangers 10-0. It’s no wonder the team hasn’t done anything about his comments, which insulted both black and Latin players. Anyway, the Tigers’ win put them within 2.5 of Cleveland, who lost to Kansas City. Justin Verlander followed up a poor start last week with seven shutout innings and a win. Magglio Ordonez went 2-4 with an RBI and is now the AL leader in batting average in addition to RBIs. With .362 and 54 in those categories, Ordonez has been the best hitter in the majors by a mile.

Player of the Day: Chien-Ming Wang, Yankees: Complete game, five hits, one earned run in a 5-1 win over the White Sox. By the way, Roger Clemens will join Wang on the Yankees’ staff when he makes his debut this Saturday.

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The Full Count: Pitching rules the day


1. Duel for the Division: The NL West division lead was at stake when the Dodgers and Padres faced off on Tuesday. The game turned into a pitcher’s duel as Chris Young and Jason Schmidt combined for 13 scoreless innings and four hits allowed. Young has now allowed just five earned runs in his last 47 innings. The first and only run of this contest came in the eighth, when pinch-hitter Russell Branyan of the Padres was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on a Marcus Giles single. San Diego’s win sent them a half-game above the Dodgers, though Arizona is still tied with them atop the division. Schmidt’s start for Los Angeles was his first in almost two months, and he came back better than ever.

2. Defense beats Offense: A good pitching staff usually gets the better of a good lineup, as the A’s-Red Sox series has proved once again. For the two nights in a row, Oakland won thanks to fantastic starts by Dan Haren and Lenny DiNardo. DiNardo, who was cut by the Red Sox last year and recently moved from the bullpen, shut out the Red Sox through six innings on Tuesday. He walked six batters, but only gave up two hits in Oakland’s 2-0 win. The A’s now have a capable array of barely-known starters in Haren, DiNardo, Chad Gaudin, Joe Kennedy, and Joe Blanton. Their 3.28 staff ERA is second in the majors only to San Diego’s ridiculous 2.89 mark. For the Red Sox, Dice-K lost despite allowing two runs on seven innings and 129 pitches.

3. Home Field Advantage: Two of the majors’ best teams are fueled by absolute dominance at home. The Indians and Angels have by far the two best home records in the majors, at 20-6 and 24-8 respectively. Both won on Tuesday at home behind complete game performances from their aces. The Indians couldn’t get much offense against the Royals, but they won 1-0 thanks to CC Sabathia‘s shutout. Sabathia improved to 9-1, joining John Lackey as the only pitchers with nine wins this year. The Angels beat the Twins again, this time 5-1, after Kelvim Escobar’s second complete game this year. Escobar has been a breakout star for the Angels, with a 7-3 record and 2.76 ERA. Both of these teams lead their divisions, the Indians by 3.5 games over Detroit and the Angels by 5.5 over Seattle.

Player of the Day: Chase Utley, Phillies: 3-4, HR (11), 3 RBIs in a 4-2 win over the Mets. Utley hit a go-ahead homerun in the 11th as the Phils improved to .500.

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The Full Count: Hey Ducks fans, don’t forget about the Angels


1. Joining the Elite: The Los Angeles Angels have absolutely dominated lately. They’ve quietly become one of the best teams in baseball, and they continued a four-game winning streak on Monday by pounding the Twins 16-3. The Angels had one of the best offensive performances of the year with 23 hits and two innings with five or more runs. Gary Matthews went 4-5 with 5 RBIs and Orlando Cabrera went 4-5 with 4 runs as seven different players had two or more hits. Jered Weaver also had one of his best starts of the year, with seven innings and one run allowed. Meanwhile, the Twins got little offense except for a Torii Hunter homerun, and their pitching was atrocious. Boof Bonser gave up 12 hits and 6 runs, while reliever Jason Miller had one of the worst pitching lines of the season. Miller recorded only one out while allowing 7 hits and 8 runs. The Angels’ rout improved their record to 37-22, tied with the Red Sox for most wins in baseball. With a deep pitching staff and overachieving hitters, this team could be tough to beat come October.

2. No Lou Needed: The Cubs were without manager Lou Piniella, who is serving a four-game suspension for his ridiculous outburst on Saturday against the Braves. However, they didn’t need Lou, as the Cubs cruised past the Brewers 7-2. Alfonso Soriano went 5-5 with a homer and three RBIs. His batting average has gone from .291 to .316 in two days. Jason Marquis pitched well for the first time in four starts. The Brewers, however, continued their recent turn for the worse in the loss. Besides Prince Fielder’s 20th homer of the season, they were unable to do anything on offense. The Cardinals and Cubs have climbed to within six games of the Brewers, who once were dominating the division.

3. The best pitcher you’ve never heard of: Though he plays in the black hole otherwise known as Tampa, James Shields deserves more attention. The breakout stud is 5-0 despite playing for a last-place team, an incredible achievement. Shields is 3-0 with a 2.42 ERA and .202 opponent’s average in his last eight starts, and his success continued against the Royals on Monday. Shields pitched seven-plus innings with four hits, two runs, and one walk allowed. Though Scott Kazmir has struggled and Tampa’s other three starters have been worse than awful, Shields and a resurgent offense give the team some hope.

Player of the Day: Alfonso Soriano, Cubs: 5-5, HR (7), 3 RBIs in a 7-2 win over the Brewers.

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The Full Count: Yankees get a baby step


1. Boo Me Now: Alex Rodriguez was ridiculed by the Red Sox fans every at-bat over the weekend. On Sunday, he made them shut up by hitting what proved to be a game-winning homer in a 6-5 victory for the Yankees. A-Rod hit a solo shot off Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth, his league-leading 20th big fly of the year. The win gave the Yankees a series victory over Boston, but they are still 12.5 games back and just one game out of last place. The projected pitcher’s duel between Andy Pettitte and Josh Beckett did not occur, as both aces did not pitch their best. Both teams have one more series before starting Interleague play later this week.

2. West Coast Showdown: The weekend did nothing to separate the top teams in the NL West. The Diamondbacks, Padres, and Dodgers remain tied in the league’s most heated divisional battle. The streaky D-backs have won 9 of their last 10 games, including two of three from the Mets over the weekend. Doug Davis pitched 7 2/3 excellent innings in a 4-1 win on Sunday. The Padres won as well, with David Wells picking up the win and Josh Bard driving in four runs. The Dodgers rallied in the seventh and eighth innings to beat the Pirates 5-4. According to ESPN.com, the Dodgers are 27-0 when leading after eight innings. This is a testament to the outstanding play of closer Takashi Saito, who is 16-16 on save chances and has a 1.50 ERA. All three of these teams have an overachieving offense, solid bullpen, and a capable array of starters. Though the NL West race usually doesn’t get much attention, it should this year.

3. MVP Resurgence: The last two National League MVPs, Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols, were very disappointing early on this year. However, both have picked it up in the last week or so, and they will likely return to superstardom as the year goes on. On Sunday, Howard hit his fourth homer in nine games since returning from the DL. He was one of four Phillies to go deep in a crazy 9-8 win over the Giants. Though he is still hitting just .224, Howard is still on pace for 38 homers and 133 RBIs on the year. Pujols, meanwhile, hit two homers to help the Cardinals win 8-6. He had his fifth multi-hit game in his last ten games. Neither Pujols nor Howard are atop the leaderboards like they were last year, but expect that to change very soon.

Player of the Day: Gary Sheffield, Tigers: 2-4, HR (13), 3 runs. Sheffield’s April struggles are now a distant memory thanks to 11 homers and 24 RBIs since May 2.

Stat of the Day: Giants phenom Tim Lincecum has a 9.00 ERA in two starts against the Phillies this year. In his other four starts he is 2-0 with a 2.17 ERA.

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The Full Count: Halladay is dominating again


1. Return to Dominance: Roy Halladay hadn’t pitched since May 10, and he hadn’t pitched like himself since April 30. It didn’t take him long to return to his usual form. Halladay shut out the White Sox in seven innings, allowing six hits and no walks. He struck out seven on the last day of a horrible May for Halladay. In April, he was one of the early Cy Young favorites in the AL. But in May, he allowed 17 combined runs in his first two starts and then underwent an appendectomy that cost him three weeks. Mark Buehrle of the White Sox pitched eight strong innings himself, but he gave up two solo homers to Frank Thomas and Aaron Hill.

2. Still Rollin’: Everything about the Mets, from their starters to their lineup, is clicking right now. On Thursday, Orlando Hernandez delivered a great start in what has been a surprising season for him. El Duque allowed two runs in seven innings, lowering his ERA to 2.20. He is one of three Mets starters with an ERA below 2.80, which is quite unexpected for a staff that came into the year with numerous question marks. Billy Wagner converted his 31st straight save, his 13th on the year. Wagner is one of the more underrated closers in the majors with a 1.57 ERA and 0.96 WHIP. He has been unhittable for the last decade. Though Carlos Beltran struggled in May on offense, David Wright and Carlos Delgado broke out of their April slumps and Jose Reyes continued to be a steal machine (29 and counting). Right now, the Mets are clearly the favorite in the National League, which lacks another truly dominant team at this point.

3. Remember this guy?: Ever since breaking the single-season hits record in 2004, Ichiro has been virtually silent. This year he has returned to being a great contact hitter, with a .336 average and a 230-hit pace. He finished May with a 24-game hit streak that raised his average 76 points. He hasn’t slowed down, either, with 14 steals on the year. On Thursday, Ichiro carried the Mariners by going 3-5 with two RBIs. If he keeps hitting like he is now, Ichiro will definitely start to gain back the attention he lost after two below-average seasons for him.

Player of the Month: Prince Fielder, Brewers: Milwaukee may have slowed down towards the end of the month, but its best player continued to dominate. Fielder had four straight games with a homer to close the month. He led all major-leaguers with 13 homers in May and was tied for first with 28 RBIs. His slugging percentage was .755, which raised his season total to a league-leading .641. Fielder’s breakout is reminiscent of Ryan Howard‘s last year, when Howard hit 13 and 35 in May.

Pitcher of the Month: Jake Peavy, Padres: Many pitchers slowed down in May after dominating in April, but Peavy was not one of them. He went 4-0 with a miniscule 0.79 ERA and 39 strikeouts on the month. Peavy allowed no earned runs in three of his five starts, and the Padres won every time he took the mound in May. He is clearly the National League’s Cy Young favorite at this point in the year.

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The Full Count: Diamondbacks are hot again


1. The League’s Hottest Team: The Arizona Diamondbacks have had an up-and-down season, alternating between winning and losing streaks. Right now, they’re on an MLB-high 7 game winning streak after sweeping the Astros and Phillies. Randy Johnson was dazzling on Wednesday as they finished off the Phils. The Big Unit pitched 6 innings, gave up one hit and no runs, and won for his third straight start. In May, Johnson put up a 2.93 ERA and 41 strikeouts. He’s part of an excellent Diamondbacks rotation that includes four pitchers with below a 3.90 ERA. Also, Jose Valverde has proved to be a capable closer, with a league-leading 19 saves in 21 chances. Between the D-Backs, the Dodgers, and the Padres, the NL West has one of the more underrated division races going on right now. Those three teams are separated by just a game.

2. The League’s Coldest Team: The Houston Astros, one of my preseason favorites in the NL Central, have suddenly become the third-worst team in the National League. They have dropped ten straight games, including two in a row at home to the league-worst Reds. Their problems are numerous: Lance Berkman isn’t hitting well, they lack an above-average starter besides Roy Oswalt, and three of their regulars have an OPS below .700. In almost every offensive category, the Astros rank in the bottom five in the MLB. Their only bright spot has been Carlos Lee, who has proved worthy of his contract with a .313 average and 46 RBIs. This team still has potential to be a contender in the weak NL Central, but time is running out.

3. Almost Unbeatable: Oakland’s Dan Haren is not undefeated, but he should be. The breakout ace has allowed three or fewer earned runs in all of his starts this season, good for an AL-leading 1.64 ERA. He also leads the league in WHIP and has won six decisions in a row. On Wednesday Haren dominated the Rangers, going 8 innings with one run allowed. Rich Harden was supposed to be the A’s ace this year, but he’s hurt once again. That spot has been filled admirably by Haren, who has come a long way since his 14-13 record and 4.12 ERA in 2006. The A’s are sitting at .500 now, but if they go on another second-half run, Haren will get the attention he deserves.

Player of the Day: Tie between Erik Bedard, Orioles; Derek Lowe, Dodgers; and Chris Young, Padres: Combined 22 innings, 0 runs, 17 strikeouts; each of them picked up the win.

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The Full Count: Josh Beckett cannot lose


1. Still Undefeated: It appears a trip to the DL didn’t affect Josh Beckett. The ace came back as good as ever in a 4-2 win over Cleveland. Beckett threw seven innings, allowing three hits and two runs. He improved to 8-0 on the year, and is one of only three remaining undefeated starters (Jeremy Bonderman and James Shields are the other two). As the Red Sox won their fifth straight game, the Yankees lost their fifth in a row. Boston’s 14.5 game division lead appears now to be insurmountable.

2. Home Sweet Home: Ervin Santana of the Angels has been one of the most puzzling pitchers in the majors this season. At home, he is the ace many expect him to be, with a 4-1 record and 2.12 ERA. But on the road, he has been horrendous: 0-5 with a 9.30 ERA. Thankfully for the Angels, Santana was pitching at home on Tuesday, and he dominated as expected. With seven innings and one run allowed, he allowed the Angels to win easily 4-1. The division-leading Angels might want to consider something unusual to address their problem with Santana: bench him on the road. They have enough starters to make this work.

3. Dominant Delgado: Carlos Delgado was awful in April, with a .188 average and just one homer. But recently, he’s showed signs that he will return to his power-hitting form. After two homers and five RBIs on Saturday, Delgado was even better on Monday. He almost single-handedly beat the Giants, with a two-run shot in the fourth inning and a walk-off solo homer in the 12th. In his last seven games, Delgado has raised his average forty points in addition to the power surge. This game was a pitcher’s duel for a while, with Tim Lincecum and Oliver Perez each throwing seven innings, striking out eight, and allowing three runs. Closer Armando Benitez allowed the winning runs, giving him a loss in two straight appearances. The Mets have won four in a row to extend their lead to a season-high five games over Atlanta.

Player of the Day: Gary Sheffield, Tigers: 3-6, 2 homers (12), 5 RBIs in a 14-2 win over the Devil Rays. The Tigers out-hit the D-Rays 22-4 as all eleven players with a plate appearance got a hit. Sheffield has 5 homers in his last 10 games.

Walk Off: Justin Morneau received much criticism and appeared on many worst-ever MVP lists after winning the award last year. This year, he’s proved he was worthy and is one of a few majors candidates for the MVP right now. Morneau has played in all the Twins’ games and has 16 homers and 43 RBIs. He’s on pace for numbers that would surpass his 2006 season in nearly every category. In games that Morneau has homered in, the Twins are 9-3, which shows how valuable he is to their lineup. As of now, my AL MVP leaders look like this:

1) Magglio Ordonez, Tigers
2) Vladimir Guerrero, Angels
3) Morneau, Twins
4) David Ortiz, Red Sox
5) Alex Rodriguez, Yankees

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MLB General

The Full Count: Brewers exposed!


1. From Hot to Cold: The Brewers got off to a 24-10 start by beating teams within their terrible division, the NL Central. Since they started playing teams with winning records, the Brewers have slipped to a 4-13 mark. On Monday the Braves beat them in Milwaukee 2-1. Andruw Jones homered for his second straight game, while Chuck James pitched well for the win. James struck out 8 and gave up one run in six innings. The only run he allowed was a Prince Fielder solo homerun. Fielder now ranks first in the NL in homeruns with 16 on the year. But that was the only positive for the Brewers offense, which wasted a great start by Chris Capuano in the loss. After the series with Atlanta is finished, the Brewers will face Florida and Chicago at home before starting three straight Interleague road series.

2. No Chance for a Comeback: It doesn’t matter when Roger Clemens is coming back. The New York Yankees are officially out of the AL East divisional race. New York has dropped four games in a row, and they’re currently tied with the Devil Rays for last place. They lost on Monday to the Blue Jays, even though Toronto’s pitcher came into the game with an 0-2 record and a 7.17 ERA. Dustin McGowan pitched a 7-plus inning gem, surrendering just two runs and five hits while striking out seven. Meanwhile, Yankees rookie Matt DeSalvo was ousted in the fifth inning, and the bullpen broke down as well in the 7-2 loss. The Yankees are 13.5 games back of the league’s best team, the 35-15 Boston Red Sox. The Sox have cruised to four victories in a row and have allowed the fewest runs in the American League.

3. No Chance for a Repeat: Even though they play in a terrible division, the St. Louis Cardinals’ season is likely over. The 2006 World Series Champions have scored the fewest runs in the majors, and their starting pitchers have a combined 12-25 record. After losing again on Monday, Kip Wells (2-9) now has the most losses of any pitcher in the majors. Wells, who has a 6.20 ERA and is on pace for 29 losses, gave up six runs and 11 hits to the Rockies. Colorado’s Jeff Francis held the Cardinals scoreless through seven innings in the 6-2 win. The Cardinals swept the Pirates last week, but they lost a series to the Nationals over the weekend and are in fifth place at 20-28. The Rockies are still in last, but they have won 6 in a row.

Player of the Day: Kyle Lohse, Reds: Complete game shutout, no walks in a 4-0 win over Pittsburgh.