MLB

Right now the Red Sox are the hottest team in baseball. They have won nine straight games against the likes of the Yankees, Twins, Athletics, and Orioles. I know they do this every year when they start the season off cold then they get hot through the middle of the season then they get cold in July. I think this year they might just stay hot throughout the whole season.

There's a beast playing center field for the Mets this April. Not sure who this guy is, but the announcers keep telling me it's Carlos Beltran. Can't say I'd recognize him if they didn't say so.

Beltran, in his first few years with the Mets, has had a propensity for getting off to a slow start. This usually sparks the calls to talk radio that Beltran isn't any good, that he's soft, that his mole is dragging him down, yada, yada, yada.

Two games versus the Boston Red Sox in April does not mean anything.

As far as I am concerned, without Alex Rodriguez and the struggles of our number two starter Chien-Ming Wang, I am satisfied with a 9-8 start heading into Sunday.

Watching the last two games has been tough, because both games the Yankees could have easily won and they let them get away.

The positives I am seeing aren't outweighing the negative, but it is close.

Robinson Cano is hitting .366 and tearing the cover off the ball, adding two home runs and five RBI in yesterdays loss.

The Padres ran into a buzzsaw by the name of Zach Duke on Saturday night. The Pirates' left hander was absolutely dominant, pitching eight and one-third innings and giving up just one run as the Pirates beat the San Diego Padres 10-1.

The Padres don't need another injury, but that's exactly what they'll have to deal with after Shawn Hill was pulled Saturday night after just two innings with soreness in his right biceps muscle. Manager Bud Black says Hill will likely be headed to the disabled list, joining fellow starters Walter Silva and Cha Seung Baek.

Make that five out of six series that the D'Backs have lost, so far, to start the season.  After falling 5-1 to the Giants Friday and 5-3 on Saturday, the D’backs assured themselves of another losing series.

The story seems to be more of the same.  Here is my top ten list of reasons why the D'Backs are not winning.

Team (Current Record|Last Week's Ranking)

1. Toronto Blue Jays (13-6|4)—The Blue Jays sit atop the hardest division in baseball. They lead the MLB in hits (200), runs (118), and RBI (111). They also lead the American League in batting average (.298) and on-base percentage (.372). The pitching staff leads the MLB in strikeouts (147) and leads the American League in batting average against (.230).

Neither A.J. Burnett, nor Josh Beckett impressed.  Ian Kinsler and Torii Hunter continue to slug.  Prince Fielder may have finally broken out.  Let’s take a look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games.

Tampa Bay vs. Oakland

So three weeks ago, the season opened with the Braves knocking down the Phillies in impressive style, a little against expectations too. Strange word that, expectations. What does it actually mean?

What is the most probable outcome? What we are sure of more than anything else to be the case?

Something like that.

Every year, everyone has baseball expectations. Who'll win, lose, be the best, the worst. And you know the best thing about these expectations? The thing that really makes baseball exciting, interesting and madly intriguing?

If hitting is contagious, the Cubs have a clean bill of health.

In its last four games, Chicago has scored 0, 1, 3, and 2 runs. Not surprisingly, those totals have added up to a four-game losing streak.

It’s been hard to watch, and the end to this offensive ineptitude doesn’t appear near. Obviously, injuries to Aramis Ramirez and Milton Bradley hurt the lineup, but there are seven other batters responsible for hitting the ball, too.