Opinion

After tonight's game against the Cleveland Indians, the Oakland Athletics will be 16 games into the season, putting Oakland only 34 games away from Manny Ramirez's return to Major League Baseball.

It was 9-0 in the fifth inning.

Everything was looking in favor of the Red Sox on Saturday after they had chased Freddy Garcia in the second inning and forced Joe Girardi to go to the bullpen.

The "it was" phrase is a common phrase uttered a lot in Boston.

Like, it was 3-2 in the 1986 World Series. And it was 5-2 in the eighth inning of the 2003 ALCS.

On Saturday, it was 9-0 Red Sox heading into the sixth inning.

Philip Humber joined a very exclusive club on Saturday when he threw a perfect game against the Seattle Mariners.

We're still checking as to whether or not a perfect game against the Mariners actually counts as a real perfect game, but it was an impressive feat nonetheless and serves as Humber's second solid start of the season.

Voting for the 2012 MLB All-Star Game is underway.  There is nobody more deserving of making the trip to Kansas City for the midsummer classic than Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp. 

The Atlanta Braves are one of the hottest teams in baseball right now, having won nine of their last 10 games.

And, they've done it with a combination of pitching and hitting.

With their recent success, and the early-season questions of needing to acquire another outfielder to take the place of Martin Prado, I'm wondering if it's best for the Braves to stand pat with their lineup.

The Chicago Cubs poured it on the Reds 6-1 today as their bats finally came alive to end their losing streak at six.

Paul Maholm earned his first victory in a Cubs uniform, and the Cubs were finally able to prosper with runners in scoring position.

Here is what we learned from this Cubs win.

I'm not going to lie, I'm writing this in a state that is inadvisable for writing. As Virginia Woolf illustrates in her essay about writing called "A Room of One's Own", there is a clear distinction between writing in the "red light of emotion" versus "the white light of truth" and that distinction does not advise the former. Well, after watching game after game without my current favorite player starting, I'll admit right off the bat, I'm freakin' pissed.

The absence of Drew Storen at the end of ballgames is beginning to weigh on the Washington Nationals.

One of the more interesting headlines of the Mariners offseason was the switch of Ichiro from the leadoff role to the No. 3 spot in the lineup.  It was a decision that broke 10 years of tradition.

With that move, Chone Figgins became the new leadoff man, and Dustin Ackley remained in the No. 2 spot.

But with all the experimenting going on in the Mariners lineup, would it make sense to try Ackley hitting third and Ichiro second?

It seems as though Theo Epstein has finally found a suitor for struggling veteran outfielder, Marlon Byrd. Reported by ESPN Chicago, Byrd is apparently shipping up to Boston.