AL East

Remember a couple of months ago when Stephen Strasburg was ready to advance to the majors? The anticipation was as high as ever before. Nationals Stadium was sold out within hours of the announced date of his debut. It seemed as though the world of the Washington Nationals was waiting for the future to thrust upon them.

As Ric Flair used to say “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, that is just not going to happen. Woooooooo!!!”

There was no way the Tampa Bay Rays could be fooled three times in one season, could they? First it was Dallas Braden. Then it was Edwin Jackson.

J.P. Arencibia may have surprised most baseball fans on Saturday by hitting his first Major League pitch over the fence and then homering again in the sixth inning for the Toronto Blue Jays. However, the Blue Jays organization has been expecting this kind of power from Arencibia due to his power production in the minors this season.

In my opinion, the Boston Red Sox suffered the death blow to their season when they learned on Friday that first baseman Kevin Youkilis would be out for the season. It’s going to be really hard to lose someone of Youkilis’ caliber and still try to make up five or six games on the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays in the competitive American League East.

Right now, the team playing the best baseball in the AL East Division is without a doubt the Toronto Blue Jays.

In the last week the Blue Jays won series against the two best teams in baseball; first they were in New York winning two of three against the Yankees, then headed home and pounded on the Tampa Bay Rays.

By now this is a broken record in Toronto, the ball club plays well, but is always missing that something to make it into the post-season.

Mythbusters: Lance Berkman w/ two strikes

FOX broadcaster Tim McCarver took it upon himself to call Lance Berkman a “good two strike hitter” after he walked against Red Sox starting pitcher John Lackey. The stats, however, show that Berkman is not a bad two strike hitter, but certainly not a good two strike hitter.

Berkman with two-strikes (career): .193 BA

Ortiz’s AB

The Boston Red Sox disabled list is long, but even crippled, this is a darn good ball club.

Winning the first game against the Yankees proves the Red Sox are still in the mix in the AL East.

Boston’s starting rotation is now all active and healthy, and they are ridiculously good.

Red Sox ace Josh Beckett's being back is huge because his passion and fiery attitude demand a lot of respect. Clearly, Beckett is the leader of the staff and his absence was apparent.

Rays manager Joe Maddon has been called unorthodox, outspoken, diligent, eccentric, eclectic, sociable, optimistic, passionate and wise. No one thought of him as a spokesman for a new stadium, but he changed that thinking after the Rays' 8-6 loss to the Twins Thursday afternoon.

Right after the game, Maddon talked about the catwalk's affect on the game as to why the Rays need a new stadium. Jason Kubel's popup fell on the A-Ring catwalk of the stadium, which meant it was a hit, and it led the Twins to score the go-ahead run in the ninth inning.

With the news that Kevin Youkilis is out for the season for the Boston Red Sox, baseball pundits have deemed this series a do or die series for the Sox against the rival New York Yankees this weekend.

Here is the lineup the Red Sox used on Wednesday:

Ellsbury CF, Scutaro SS, Ortiz DH, Martinez C, Drew RF, Beltre 3B, Lowell 1B, Kalish LF, Hall 2B

If that lineup seems a little bit out of the ordinary, you are right. However, abnormal batting orders have not been out of the ordinary for the Red Sox this season. They have used 94 different batting orders this season, compared to 74 for the division rival Yankees.