David Price will be going for his fourth-consecutive win at the Rogers Centre Wednesday night, but his dominance against the Toronto Blue Jays may be curbed by his current hiccups.
Price looked ugly in his last start against the Boston Red Sox, a 12-2 massacre that chased him after three innings. He gave up three runs on four hits in the shortest outing of his career. Continue reading
The Miami Marlins are finally coming back around, putting together a string of firsts for the season. Now, its time to get down to the real business of climbing back into the NL East race with the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals.
Miami won back-to-back home games in its new park for the first time, thanks to Hanley Ramirez’s three-run bomb. Closer Heath Bell also got his first save of the year, and manager Ozzie Guillen managed his first game since his suspension for negative comments about Cuban president Fidel Castro. Continue reading
The New York Mets probably wouldn’t have hated it if a meteor halted baseball after the first week of the season. What a relief it must have been to start the year with four straight wins, distracting from the messy off-season they had this winter.
No meteor, though. Tears.
Since their 4-0 start, the Mets have lost two-straight, including a drubbing by the Washington Nationals Thursday night. New York only scored two runs combined over the last two days. Continue reading
So much for a slow start.
After dropping three of their first four games, the Colorado Rockies went bonkers for 17 runs in a landslide against the San Francisco Giants Wednesday night. And they did it against their division rivals’ ace Tim Lincecum. The All-Star right hander only lasted 2 1/3 innings, coughing up six runs to raise his ERA to 12.91 on the year. It was the shortest outing of his career.
”A lot of pitches thrown in 2 1-3,” Lincecum told the Associated Press. ”Just sloppy baseball for me. Not really executing pitches, missing a lot, and it’s going to hurt you, especially in this park.” Continue reading
Roy Halladay fixes a lot of problems.
Just when the Philadelphia Phillies seemed like they were headed for a mini-slide to start the season, the All-Star righty partied Wednesday night, going seven innings with three strikeouts.
It’s the kind of performance that reminds us that the Phillies will never truly slump this year with the best rotation in the National League. Continue reading
Heading into the season, one of the biggest question marks for the Texas Rangers was their bullpen. Specifically in the closer role where Joe Nathan took over for Neftali Feliz.
And after just six games, things haven’t cleared up a bit.
Not after Wednesday night, anyway, after Nathan surrendered three runs in the ninth inning to the Seattle Mariners, blowing his second save of the season. It spoiled what was another stellar night on the mound by a Rangers’ starter. Continue reading
When Albert Pujols signed with the Los Angeles Angels this offseason, a lot of attention was directed towards the back end of his 10-year contract, when his production will sure dip.
But after one week of baseball, it’s his current performance that’s concerning. The All-Star first baseman has yet to live up to his billing in this young season, batting just 3-for-14 with zero homers in his first four games with the club. Tuesday he went hitless in four at-bats.
What’s worse is he and teammate Vernon Wells, two of the team’s highest-paid players, are a combined 5-for-28. Continue reading
So much for that riveting entrance we saw last week by the Miami Marlins.
Their player introductions, and tour of Marlins Park turned out to essentially be the only thing the team has going for it.
Since last Wednesday’s season opener, the Marlins have been mired by a slow start and now controversy from new manager Ozzie Guillen.
Guillen’s comments criticizing Cuban President Fidel Castro resulted in a five-game suspension and a difficult press conference to watch. So what now? Continue reading
The last time Neftali Feliz toed the rubber, things went…well, ugh.
The All-Star closer returns to the mound Tuesday night against the Seattle Mariners in hopes that his switch to starter goes a little smoother.
The Texas Rangers are favored, according to Bovada’s MLB Betting Odds, by 1 1/2 runs with a 9 1/2 run total. The Rangers are actually expected to win by 1 or 2 runs, according to the site’s MLB Prop Betting page after starting the year 3-1 after putting up 16 runs over their last two games. Continue reading
The New York Yankees, Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox hit more home runs last year than any other team and were the only one’s to crack 200. It’s no wonder all three teams are heavy favorites to win the World Series in MLB Betting Odds.
As valuable as pitching is, there is no more valued asset than pure, raw power that can change the game in an instant. We saw that this winter when teams spent big to acquire more power to their lineups. The Los Angeles Angels inked Albert Pujols and his 445 career dingers to a massive contract in December. A month later, Prince Fielder stunned everyone by signing with his father’s alma mater, the Detroit Tigers. Continue reading