AL East

My reputation proceeds me. I'm a certified Homer. Born and bred Red Sox Red. I am to the Red Sox what Heartbeat of the Bronx is to the Yankees. "My Sox" can do no wrong, and I'm quite certain that HB feels the same about "his Bombers".

It should come as no surprise, then, that after Czar Steinbrenner III backed up Daddy's ship full of Franklins this winter and effectively monopolized the free agent market, that I waxed poetic about the flawed way this is to build a championship.

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The Mariners started off the 2009 red-hot and gave us all a glimmer of false playoff hope when they were a top the AL West at one point with a 15-10 record. We seemed to forget this was a team that was supposed to be in a full-blown rebuilding mode.

GAME SUMMARY

• Final Score: Detroit 3, Orioles 0
• WP: Edwin Jackson (5-3): 8 innings, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 R, 7 K, 101 pitches
• LP: Jason Berken (1-1): 7 innings, 4 H, 2 BB, 1 ER, 2 K
• SV: Fernando Rodney (10)
• HR: Curtis Granderson (13)

Edwin Jackson threw his best game of the season and Fernando Rodney finished off the Orioles as the Tigers hurled a shutout in beating the Baltimore Orioles, 3-0.

Another week and another batch of Hot 8 players are making a splash. Last week's list featured David Price, who picked up his first win in dominating fashion on Saturday. Ross Detwiler, who won his first two starts after being called to the big leagues and Jake Fox who finally got the call up from Iowa and has gone 3-4 all as a pinch hitter. Not to mention Sean Rodriguez who is about to be called up by the Angels any day now...dammit! I am not supposed to let that one slip, my bad!

Date: May 31, 2009

Time: 1:35pm

Teams: Detroit Tigers at Baltimore Orioles

Park: Camden Yards

Weather: 77 and sunny

Starting Pitchers: Edwin Jackson (4-3, 2.58)  Jason Berken (1-0, 3.60)

Records: Detroit (27-21)  Baltimore (23-27)

Last 10 Games: Detroit (5-5)  Baltimore (7-3)

My Two Cents

A few months ago, I wrote an article naming 10 players I believe could be in the remaining 103 names affiliated with the A-Rod steroids controversy.

Much to the chagrin of Red Sox fans, one of the names listed was Red Sox DH David Ortiz.

The article was written Feb. 10, and since then Ortiz has done nothing but confirm any suspicions that his better years are in the past.

The Baltimore Orioles have been one of the most disappointing organizations in baseball.

With eleven striaght losing seasons, the O's have been at the bottom of the cellar of the AL East for over a decade, facing beatdowns to the Yankees and Red Sox.

There hasn't been much to talk about in this decade beside these long woes.

All the hearts broke when Cal Ripken retired, who was virtually the last piece to Baltimore's success.

Peter Angelos, current Orioles owner, has been one of the more unpredictable ones in the years.