Swamigp’s Weblog

Jon Lester dominated, making the most of his first appearance in Yankees Stadium by tossing a complete game shutout in a 7-0 Boston win. This triumph ended a five game losing streak in which the team had a tough time getting both solid pitching and hitting. In this contest they finally found a way to get both, as the offense came alive against Yankee starter Andy Pettitte. As Lester mowed down the Yankees, seemingly with ease, the Red Sox lineup did something New York has had a tough time doing, score runs.

Dustin Pedroia continued to be a hitting machine, starting a quick offensive attack with a single. J.D. Drew followed with a line drive single of his own, leaving Manny Ramirez a chance to drive in the game’s first run. He hit a slow grounder right to Robinson Cano, who started a attempt at a double play by flipping to Derek Jeter for the second out of the inning. Manny Ramirez was hustling down the first base line, which made Jeter’s throw that much difficult. He threw wide of the bag, allowing Pedroia to score and Manny to reach second on the error. Mike Lowell then made Jeter suffer even more for the error, as he laced a rni single to drive in Manny. It gave Jon Lester a cushion even before he went on the mound, and a lead that the Red Sox would actually be able to hold onto.

Lester got into trouble in the bottom of the first by walking the first two batters, but got out of the inning unscathed, striking out both Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi to end the threat. Boston’s offense quickly went back to work against a ineffective Pettitte, scoring two more times in the second frame on a Jacoby Ellsbury two-run double.

That support was more than enough for Lester, who continued his very solid year with this extraordinary performance. His control was very sharp, as he didn’t walk anyone after allowing two straight to start his outing. The Yankees offense mustered only five hits off the left-hander, leading to Joe Girardi, New York’s manager, holding a closed door meeting with his players following the game.

Not only was this a must win for the team to get back on track, it gave the struggling bullpen a night off (it didn’t allow relievers like Delcarmen, Hansen, Aardsma or Okajima to find a way to give up the lead). The night went so well for Boston that Jason Varitek, who has been awful at the plate so far this season (9 for his last 83 and is batting .217 overall), broke out his much maligned slump with a rbi single in the 8th to end the game’s scoring.

Though the offense woke up for the Red Sox, the night belonged to Lester, who was coming off one of his worst outings with the team (he allowed 9 hits and 6 earned runs in 5 innings in the teams’ 11-10 loss to the Astros). His fastball was lively, and his off-speed pitches were used to perfection, contributing to his 8 strikeouts. Not bad for his first trip to Yankees Stadium.

Every baseball team seems to fall into one of these phases during the duration of the season: either a combination good hitting but bad pitching, bad hitting but good pitching or the worst of all, both bad hitting and bad pitching. Boston is in the bad hitting/good pitching stage, evident in their 5 combined runs in the teams’ pivotal two straight losses to the unbelievably good Tampa Rays. The Red Sox have the big name players to muster enough runs to win the majority of the games played: Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, J.D. Drew, Mike Lowell, Kevin Youkilis and others. They just haven’t been able to help the team win consistently.

Ellsbury’s June was a nightmare, as he hit only .245, and only walked three times in the months’ 27 games. As the teams’ lead-off man and table setter, Jacoby needs to find a way to get on base. Since he is struggling mightily at the plate, he needs to be patient as a hitter, therefore taking pitches, and if necessary, walks.  He is only 24 and part of Red Sox bright future, but he needs to be consistent enough to get Boston’s offense on the right page. In May, the former Oregon State standout was what Red Sox fans expected, as he got in base nearly 40% of the time, stole 18 bases and scored 21 runs. In June he got on base at a just a 26% clip; he scored just 13 runs; stole only 8 bases; struck out 20% of the time (20 out of 98 at bats). Every player goes through these types of stretches, but for lead-off man, it is critical for him to get back on track.

Dustin Pedroia was a rookie last year and encountered a horrid slump to start his major league career. He couldn’t hit during the first two months of the season, but the Red Sox stuck with him and it paid off (won rookie of the year; was a pivotal part of the second half of the season and the postseason). Ellsbury should learn from Pedroia’s experience and known that the team has confidence that he will hit himself out of his slump. That’s what Ellsbury should take with him heading out of June and into July. Pedroia hit like crazy in June, batting .356 with 21 runs scored, 36 hits, and only 6 strikeouts. His numbers could have been better in the month, especially in the rbi category (he drove in just nine runs in the month), if he had players like Ellsbury getting on base in front of him. Even without the production from Ellsbury, Pedroia helped relieve the pressure on players behind him like Drew, Lowell, and Youkilis. Now all those three players had to do was hit.

J.D. Drew hit .337 in June, but hit even better before he ended the month 5-31 from the plate. He was proclaimed as a savior early in the month because of his production in the absence of David Ortiz, but went down with the team over the final 10 games (the team went 4-6 in those 10 games). His .161 batting average during that stretch hurt the team considerably. Without his production the teams offense became stagnant.

Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis were very good during the month, batting .351 and .337, respectively, but without players on base their production can only do so much to help the team win. They made the most of it when Pedroia and Drew got on base when they combined for 40 rbi’s (25 of which by Lowell) and 11 homers.

With all of these individual numbers mentioned, it brings up the question: what is consistency? A players’ continuous productivity during a year? Or is it just how much the team wins? The way I see it is that Ellsbury, Pedroia, Drew, Lowell and Youkilis can put up great numbers during the course of a season, but if they don’t amount to the team winning the majority of games played, what point do they make? The main difference between the Red Sox and Rays is that Tampa Bay is doing more to win games. Maybe that is what consistency is.

After spending the first 10 years as an organization in the cellar of the American League East, the Tampa Bay Rays are atop the baseball world. The young Rays are playing well beyond their years, and thanks to a talented core of players with a few veterans thrown in, Tampa Bay has the best record in the majors, at 49-32. The team’s success is wrapped around players like Evan Longoria, their rookie third baseman; Carl Crawford, their speedy spark-plug of a left fielder; and B.J. Upton, their talented, five-tooled center fielder. These players, at the ages of 22, 26, and 23, respectively, have built the franchise not only as a young team, but as a young, good team.

Think of their team this way: Carlos Pena, a power hitter who hit over 40 homers last year, hasn’t been much of a factor this season, Crawford, though producing, hasn’t had the same consistency this year as in past seasons, and Upton, a player that usually possess a good amount of power, only has four homers at this point in the season. With these players not playing as they are expected, the team is still as good as they are. If the team can get these players going, along with the other solid talent they have on their team, this record won’t be an admiration at season’s end.

After just being recognized as a ball-club with young talent and no ability to win, the team now has some lasting success. A veteran like Troy Percival, who is anchoring the closer’s role (18 saves), helps the team in so many other ways than closing out a win. He brings some much needed leadership to a very young team, allowing the team to mature into a contender. Eric Hinske, the teams’ designated hitter, has also provided some guidance as a six year veteran, helping the players around him not only with his bat (a bat that has produced 13 homers).

Evan Longoria, the Rays phenom, has had a very good first year, compiling 15 homers and 47 rbi’s. Despite being 22, he is one of the leaders of the team, which could be a good and bad thing. Though B.J. Upton’s power numbers aren’t there, he is doing so many other things for his team. He has 23 stolen bases, contributing to his 51 runs scored. Carl Crawford has put up similar numbers (.278 8 homers, 44 rbi’s, 53 runs, 20 stolen bases) though they aren’t spectacular, he, like Upton, makes the most of what he gets.

To go along with the flurry of gifted hitters, the Rays also have many talented pitchers that have helped make this season as successful as it has been. No matter how good the teams’ hitting can be, you’ll only go as far as your pitching will take you. What is scary about this team is that they have the pieces to go a long ways, which means a solid pitching staff. Scott Kazmir, the teams’ ace, has been superb after sustaining an injury in the beginning of the season, posting a 7-3 record in 11 starts, with a 2.38 ERA. The rest of their staff is compile of pitchers at the age of 25 or younger but all of them have made significant contributions this season despite the lack of long term experience in the majors (Andy Sonnanstine, 9-3 record, James Shields, 5-5 with a 3.6 ERA, Matt Garza, 6-4, 3.7 ERA, and Edwin Jackson, 4-6 with a 4.3 ERA).

Since the Rays have, at this point, established themselves as one of the best teams in baseball, and since they have a ton of young talent, do they go out and sign a big name player to fill out their ball-club. A player that comes to mind is C.C. Sabathia, the talented Cy Young award winning Indians pitcher who will most likely be put on the market come July if the Indians front office can’t sign him long term. The problem with going after him what the Rays would have to give up. They have a plethora of young pitchers, as previously mentioned, as well as some blossoming hitters that could be enticing to the Indians, but would they want to ruin their chemistry for a star. Baseball analysts such as ESPN’s Buster Olney have said that even with the great young pitchers they now have on their team, they have more on the way. The reason why the Rays are so good now is because they have held onto their youth and have let them mold into the current stars they are now. Why risk losing players like Sonnanstine, Shields, Crawford, Jackson, Upton, Kazmir and Garza, players have helped the team to where they are now, and overpay for a C.C. Sabathia. Even if the Rays were to go after and acquire Sabathia in a trade this season, with their payroll at the minuscule size that it is ($44 million), he would take up half of it, giving the Rays nearly no chance to sign any of their other players long term.

Even with the success the Rays have had during the first 82 games, there is a question that needs answering: how will this small marketed team full of 20-something talented players hold up come September and October, months that have never been important in their franchise’s history?

In the early 1840’s William Overton saw great potential for a piece of land that was called “the clearing,” halfway between Oregon City and Fort Vancouver, but he lacked the funds that were required to file a land claim. He struck a bargain with a partner by the name of Asa Lovejoy, of Boston, Mass.: for 25 cents he would share the 640 acres he had claimed. Overton later sold his part of the claim to Francis W. Pettigrove of Portland Maine. Now both Pettigrove and Lovejoy wanted to name the new city after their respective hometowns, which was to be decided with a coin toss. Pettigrove won in a best two out of three contest. So therefore the city was to be named Portland, forever linking the two cities.

To go along with the naming of Portland, Oregon, there is a more recent link between the two cities. Kevin Pritchard, the Portland Trail Blazers General Manager since the start of the 2007 season, has been very aggressive during his tenure as the leader of the team. His aggressiveness started even as a interim manager of the team in 2005, when he took over of a bad team after the firing of Maurice Cheeks. He spent the remainder of the season as manager evaluating talent, and in that off-season advised then-GM John Nash to select Chris Paul with the 3rd overall selection in that particular upcoming draft, but was overruled by Nash and his partners, as the team eventually traded the pick to the Utah Jazz (which they used to take Deron Williams). In the 2006 off-season, Nash was fired (probably after the team saw Paul win rookie of the year), allowing Pritchard to move on up the ladder. The team not only promoted him to the Assistant GM position, but gave him full control to orchestrate their 2006 draft, a draft in which he was very busy. He traded the teams’ fourth overall selection, Tyrus Thomas, along with Victor Khryapa to the Bulls for the 2nd overall pick, LaMarcus Aldridge, who is now a prominent part of the current team. Pritchard wasn’t done though, as he then traded the 7th overall pick (they traded Sebastian Telfair and Theo Ratliff to Boston for the pick prior to the draft) which they used on Randy Foye to the Timberwolves for Brandon Roy (who won rookie of the year that upcoming season). Both Aldridge and Roy are currently center-pieces for the teams future, and have already gained a lot of notoriety around the league for their outstanding play in their two years in the NBA. In 2007 Steve Patterson was fired, allowing the Blazers to give the reigns to the GM position to Pritchard. He didn’t stop his aggressive play, as he not only picked Greg Oden with the top pick in the 2007 draft, but made two more significant deals. He traded Zach Randolph, who had overstayed his welcome with the team, to the Knicks and acquired James Jones, and the 24th pick in the draft, Rudy Fernandez (who is now going to be another big part of the teams’ future) for cash in a separate deal with the Suns. Every one of these moves have been very good decisions by Pritchard thanks to his aggressiveness and determination to make this team better.

Now the Blazers are the youngest team in the league, and even though their players are immensely talented, that could be a bad thing if the team wants to go deep in the playoffs as soon as next season. The good thing about the lack of experience is that from here on the players will only gain experience with every game they play, especially incoming players like Oden, Jerryd Bayless and Fernandez.

The sports are different, but MLB’s General Managers have the same task: improve the team the way you see fit, and build towards the future. This is where the Portland-Boston connection comes in with Red Sox GM, Theo Epstein. He, like Pritchard, is very aggressive when it comes to making the team better. In the 2003 off-season Boston made a huge run at one of the games best players, Alex Rodriguez. Major League Baseball wouldn’t allow the trade to be completed, but it was his aggressive mindset allowed the trade to be a possibility. His determination to get the players he saw fit continued in 2006 off-season when he spent an obscene amount of money 52 million dollars just to talk to Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, whom they eventually signed for 50+ more million dollars. This is how Pritchard and Epstein are connected. They have the ability to look at every possibility to make their respective teams better whether it be by trade or free agency.

What allows Epstein to be aggressive is the amount of money at is disposal. The Blazers payroll for this past season was $57.6 million dollars compared to $133 million dollars for the Red Sox. The payrolls are drastically different, but so are the yearly salaries for the players in the two sports. Though the roster size is in baseball’s favor, 40-15, the teams go about making moves in similar ways, because of the amount of money each team has available. In spite of the difference in salaries and roster size, both the Blazers and Red Sox have the same opportunities to trade for high paid players, and be aggressive in their own ways, primarily because of the difference between yearly player salaries between sports.

One thing that helps Epstein is that he has a farm system, something Pritchard and the NBA do not. Though having a farm system for the Red Sox is a luxury, it is also tough to maintain.It has produced players such as Jacoby Ellsbury, Justin Masterson, Clay Buccholz, Jon Lester and Jonathan Papelbon, all of whom have played critical roles towards the teams’ success. A farm system for Epstein is the equivilant to draft picks for Pritchard. Some successful players in the minor leagues are trading chips for big name players in baseball, just like some draft picks are trading chips for big name players in basketball. Though Pritchard doesn’t have the advantage of having a minor league team, nonetheless four like Boston, he, and his team, still find a way to make bold trades, like the one recently to acquire Jerryd Bayless.

Pritchard’s agressiveness is shown in the trading of draft picks (they traded all five in this years’ draft) to get the right players for his team while Epstein’s aggressiveness is shown by paying high dollar for players that fit. Though the way they go by being aggressive is different, their primary goal is making their teams better not only for the present, but for the future as well.

The connection between the two cities started with Pettigrove and Lovejoy, but because of the aggressive style of Kevin Pritchard and Theo Epstein in modern time, the link continues.

Steve Detwiler, torn finger ligament and all, collected all 6 rbi’s in a 6-1 victory, as the underdog Fresno State Bulldogs stunned the favored Georgia Bulldogs to capture the College World Series title. Justin Wilson came up big as well, throwing 8 dominating innings, allowing just one run on 5 hits while striking out nine. He blew away hitters with a live fastball and a great assortment of other pitches to hold the mighty Georgia offense down. He finished his outing with 129 pitches under his belt, 86 of which were for strikes as he commanded the strike zone all game long.

As remarkable as Wilson’s performance was, it was Detwiler’s night, as he got the scoring started with the first of his two homers, a 2-run shot that barely cleared the right field fence. That was all the run support that Wilson would need but Detwiler wasn’t done yet as he added a rbi double in the fourth and a three run homer in the 6th. His soon to be surgically repaired finger didn’t seem to affect him much with all the success he had at the plate in one of the most improbable wins in College World Series history. He was jubilant, to say the least, after every big play he made, as he, with a little help from his teammates, carried Fresno State to their first College World Series championship.

The Fresno State Bulldogs staved off elimination six times en route to the title. They had the most losses, 31 this season, for a CWS title winner ever as well as becoming the lowest seed in any collegiate sport to win a NCAA Title. I guess the phrase underdog really does fit these Bulldogs.

Jermaine O’Neal’s tenure with the Indiana Pacers is over as he was traded to the Toronto Raptors for T.J. Ford, the rights to the 17th overall pick, and center Rasho Nesterovic. This is the first big splash of what will be a very exciting and trade-filled NBA Draft. O’Neal has been slowed with injuries the past four seasons, and is currently sporting a left knee bone bruise, which must not have been enough to stop the trade from being completed. He played in just 42 games last season, and averaged 13 points and 6 rebounds, right around his career average of 14 and 7. The upside with O’Neal is that when he has been healthy he has been a dominating power forward in the NBA, and is still young, at 29 with 6 All-Star selections. The trade can’t be fully completed until all players involved pass physicals, which could be a problem for O’Neal.

T.J. Ford has battle with injuries throughout his short career, but his have been a lot more serious than anything O’Neal has encountered. Ford, a 25-year old point guard out of the University of Texas, has suffered spinal cord injuries, most notably when he had to sit out the 2004-05 season after landing awkwardly on his neck in just his 8th pro game with Milwaukee. He has made a name for himself when he has played, using tremendous speed and quickness to garner a lot of notoriety around the league. He is obviously highly coveted to be traded nearly straight up for a veteran like O’Neal. He averaged 12 points and 6 assists last season, but like O’Neal, he struggled to stay on the court this past season, playing in 51 of 82 regular season game. Though he seems fragile at just 6 feet, 165 pounds, he is a savvy point guard with great self control, and a pretty good ability to score.

I like the deal for Indiana, because they needed something, but I don’t quite understand the move from a Toronto point of view. O’Neal doesn’t seem to be the right guy for their type of play, and they have a few capable players with his makeup already, most notably Chris Bosh. Both players are listed at power forward for a reason, because, simply put, they don’t have the right amount of size to play the center position. If Toronto does figure out a way to play both Bosh and O’Neal in harmony, I guess they could make a move past the first round in the Eastern Conference playoffs (where their season ended last year against Orlando), but I still wouldn’t understand their mindset by making the deal.

If the Pacers nab a good player with the 11th pick, and with their newly acquired 17th pick, they could be set for a long time.

Kevin Youkilis was frustrated, like the rest of his teammates. They had continued to leave men on base throughout extra innings, squandering many opportunities to end the game. The Sox first baseman ended the frustration that the entire organization had been feeling the past few days (Schilling done for year, Dice-K rocked, lose first two games against Cards) with his second homer of the game, a two-run round-tripper over the monster, to send Boston to a victory in 13 innings, 5-3.

The game was delayed 55 minutes on the inset, but that didn’t stop both starting pitchers, Joel Piniero for St. Louis and Jon Lester for Boston, from delivering solid outings for their respective teams. Piniero, a former Red Sox pitcher, threw seven sharp innings, but his effort was all for naught. Youkilis’s first homer brought Boston to within a run after St. Louis had gotten two runs of their own in the sixth. Lester, despite giving up two runs, delivered yet another solid performance, and a much needed one for a suddenly inconsistent staff. Though Piniero scattered 7 hits and didn’t walk anyone, he allowed Boston to tie the game in the 8th.

Coco Crisp started off the 8th by knocking out the Cardinals starter with a triple to dead center. Julio Lugo proceeded with a sacrafice fly to tie the game at 2. The Red Sox weren’t done though as they took advantage of a wild Chris Perez. The real fun started when two were out, as Perez suddenly had a tough time finding the strike zone. He allowed a single to Pedroia who then stole second. J.D. Drew walked, the start of Perez’s ineffectiveness. He then proceeded to walk Manny Ramirez, loading the bases for Mike Lowell. The final out of the inning was a tremendously difficult one to get for the 22-year old right-hander as he then threw four striaght balls to Lowell to force in a run, giving the Red Sox the lead.

Jonathan Papelbon came in to close out the ninth as he has done successfully so many times before. One of the league’s top closers couldn’t hold the lead as he allowed a two-out, rbi pinch-hit double to Adam Kennedy to keep the Cardinals alive. Although the hard-throwing righthander has 21 saves, he has blown four, including his debacle in this contest. The Sox offense couldn’t do anything in their half of the ninth, sending the game into extra innings.

The play by both teams was exhilirating in extra innings, with each team having multiple chances to win the game. The Cardinals didn’t take much tiime getting a rally started in the tenth, but left runners on first and second against Sox reliever Hideki Okajima. Jacoby Ellsbury knocked a lead-off double in the bottom of the inning off Kyle McClellan, and it seemed the Red Sox would make quick work of St. Louis in extras. But no. After Dustin Pedroia moved Ellsbury over to third with a sacrifice, J.D. had a chance to end the game with a measly single, but he couldn’t take advantage of the great run scoring opportunity, striking out. Sean Casey ended the threat by flying out, squandering the first of many game ending opportunities that would come in exras. The contest went to the eleventh, an inning in which it seemed like the Cardinals would pull through and score, but again they couldn’t, leaving the bases loaded after Craig Hansen struck out Ryan Ludwick. Boston once again got a runner on to start off an inning, another double, this time by Mike Lowell. Kevin Youklis proceeded by working a walk, only to see the next hitter, Jason Varitek weakly ground into a force-out to the pitcher, Jason Isringhausen who got the lead runner, Lowell at third. Coco Crisp drew a walk of his own to keep the rally going, loading the bases but the chance was squandered as Isringhausen got out of damage by striking out both Alex Cora and Ellsbury. The game continued to the twelfth where the Red Sox finally retired the Cardinals in order, thanks to Hansen’s two strikeouts. Bostons’s offense ruined another perfect opportunity after they got their third straight lead-off double, this one off the bat by Pedroia. J.D. Drew decided he would go back to his form last season and do his best to make an out as he nubbed a weakly hit grounder to the pitcher, who then got Pedroia out an third. Well done Drew. Sean Casey then made sure his team wouldn’t score by grounding into a double play. As if the first 12 innings weren’t enough fun, the thirteenth was the clincher. The Cardinals got a one-out double in the top of the inning by Chris Duncan. Adam Kennedy then lined a single to J.D. Drew that would have tied the game if Duncan wasn’t slow of foot (that description is putting it mildly). Duncan was gunned out by Drew cannon of a arm. He would have had a better chance of scoring if he actually tried to make a hook slide to get around Varitek rather than trying to bowl him over. After all of this excitement throughout the 4 extra innigs, the game was still tied, which was pretty hard to believe. That tied score didn’t hold for long as the Red Sox finally mustered offense that didn’t turn out to be worthless as Mike Lowell singled to setup the game ending bomb by Youkilis.

This game had it all: a comeback by the home team late in regulation, an implosion by a reliever on both sides, multiple extra inning rallies that fell short, a play at the plate, and a game winning homer. All this amounted for a much needed Red Sox win.

Daryl Thompson, another young talented pitcher from a deep Reds farm system, made his major league debut against the New York Yankees. The 22-year-old righty seemed unphased that his first, much anticipated, start came in the historic Yankee Stadium as he threw 5 shutout innings in the Reds eventual 6-0 win. Thompson, who was called up the day before, showed minor control problems, which is usual in a young pitcher’s first start, but held the Yankees down. He got out of a bases loaded no-out jam in the second inning after Alex Rodriguez doubled, Hideki Mastui singled and Jason Giambi walked by striking out Jorge Posada, getting Robinson Cano to foul out and ending the threat by striking out Melky Cabrera, pumping his fist in joy. Except for a few walks thrown in, Thompson pitched extremely well for the next three innings. He left with the score knotted at 0, but his start was deserving of a win as he finished 5 innings allowing 4 hits, 4 walks and the two second inning strikeouts. He mainly blew away hitters with a 95-96 mph fastball, but mixed in his assortment of other pitches; a nice, but a “needs work” curveball, a major league slider, and a pretty good change-up. Though none of his pitches except his fastball are polished they were effective in this particular unforgettable first start.

The Reds offense made the Yankees pay for the second day in a row, collecting four runs in the seventh inning, thanks to a error by New York starter Dan Geise, who has taken the spot of injured ace Chien Ming Wang. After Ken Griffey Jr. started the inning off with a single, Brandon Phillips reached on a poor throw by Giese. Joey Votto moved the runners over to second and third with a ground-out, leaving Adam Dunn with a chance to drive in a pair of runs. He couldn’t as his abysmal season continued with yet another strikeout, his 76 on the year. Edwin Encarnacion wouldn’t let the Yankees get out of the inning unscathed as he ripped a two run single to give the Reds all the runs they would need while knocking Giese out of the game. Jose Veras, who hadn’t allowed a run in his previous 10 outings, made sure that personal streak wouldn’t continue, as he gave up a moon-shot 2 run homer to Corey Patterson. Brandon Phillips ended the scoring for Cincinnati in the eighth with a two run single of his own to plate Griffey and Paul Janish, both of which reaching previously on singles.

No matter what the Reds offense did, the spotlight was on Thompson’s outing. His superb play gives the Reds yet another young pitcher to complement a staff that will certainly turn heads not only the rest of this year, but many years to come. I do hate the Yankees bitterly so forgive me when I say that I am happy that they have had to face Volquez and Thompson, with the way they have pitched in the first two games of the series. Now Yankees good luck figuring out another young fireballer in Johnny Cueto.

Edinson Volquez continued his remarkable season, this time throwing 7 solid innings against the Yankees in a eventual 4-2 win. The Reds finally started to hit after an abysmal offensive performance on a 2-7 recent home-stand. Though the offense only scored 4 runs in this game they consistently got hits off of a fellow surprisingly impressive starter in Mike Mussina. They accounted for 10 hits, all off Moose, and benefited from another remarkable outing by Volquez. Cincinnati only averaged 2 runs a game during their previous nine game home-stand after it seemed like they were going to make a run in the division.

Jolbert Cabrera, their 4th shortstop used so far this season, (the other three Jeff Keppinger, Alex Gonzalez and Jerry Hairston are all on the DL) led the way in this particular contest, collecting 4 hits while driving in two and scoring a run. Joey Votto, one of the Reds many prized young players, started the scoring with a solo homer off Mussina in the second inning. After Volquez gave up a run in the third, the Reds offense went back to work. They scored three times in the fifth, 2 of which came on a two-out two-run double by Cabrera to put Cincy back on top. Kevin Griffey Jr. proceeded with a rbi single to give the Reds all the runs they would need.

Volquez, acquired in the Josh Hamilton trade this past off-season has flourished in his role as the teams’ ace. He will be a all-star in his second season, and rightfully so, as he notched his 10th win of the season. He still leads the majors in strikeouts with 115 and in ERA at 1.71 and could be a candidate for the pitcher’s triple crown by season’s end as he is near the league lead in win. With the stuff that he has, a 96 mph fastball with movement, a devastating slider and a developing curve-ball, he could may well be starting in the all-star game at Yankee Stadium. He sure showed the Yankees what has been terrorizing the National League so far this season, with stuff reminiscent of a young Pedro Martinez, a pitcher the Yankees had seen far too much of during his respective tenure with the Red Sox. Volquez has the same life on his stuff as Pedro did, including nearly the same delivery.

The aforementioned Volquez for Hamilton deal was a very interesting one, but has payed some very good dividends for each team. Josh Hamilton, the Rangers center-fielder, got off to a tremendous start to the season and has not cooled off as of yet, as he is leading the majors in rbi’s with 74, near the league lead in homers with 19, as well as sporting a very good batting average of .316. The Rangers haven’t seemed to been very focused on good starting pitching, but rather on agressive power hitters. Although I don’t quite agree with the Rangers move to trade a young developing pitcher in Volquez after bringing him through the farm system as the teams higher level prospect, with Hamilton’s and the teams’ overall performance so far this season (he could be a starter in the all star game, like Volquez), I can see in some respects why they made the deal. With all of the power hitters the Rangers have, I like the long-term affect with Volquez better. It’s easier to obtain a power hitter, like Hamilton, than a truly dominant pitcher, like Volquez.

Volquez has come along as an ace quite quickly, and he is only 24 years of age, giving them a solid righty for the next decade and beyond. His talent, known or not by the common fan, was certainly showcased as he baffled the Yankees in the first game between the two teams since 1976.

J.D. Drew’s $14 Million Dollar Grand Slam during last years’ Title run put the right fielder into the hearts of Red Sox fans. But his recent stretch has solidified his position as not only another good move by GM Theo Epstein but as a fan favorite. Even with slugger David Ortiz out of the lineup, and on the disabled list, the Red Sox offense hasn’t missed a beat. Sure they are still somewhat inconsistent with their run production from game to game, but what team isn’t. J.D. Drew has been the spark this team needed, as he has done a remarkable job filling Ortiz’s spot in the lineup. He has hit over .400 since Big Papi left the batting order, hammering 9 homers in the process.

Since Ortiz injured his wrist on June 3, Boston has gone 11-4, thanks in large part to Drew’s production. Including J.D.’s 4-5, 4 rbi day in the teams’ most recent victory (a 7-4 win over the Phillies in inter-league play), he has raised his numbers drastically over this current 16-game stretch. He is now his .327 on the year with 13 homers and 43 rbi’s while getting on base at a 43% clip. Thanks to his hot streak he has not only raised his average by 31 points, but made an already potent offense even more so. Once Ortiz gets back and Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis return from their respective hamstring and back injuries, all of which should be pretty soon, the teams play will only get better.