Preview/Prediction

As the Philadelphia Phillies roll into Atlanta for a three-game set against the Braves, they are set to see Tim Hudson on Friday night.  This is the Tim Hudson whose competitive advantage these days seems to rely on hitting the other team's players and attempting to shorten their season. 

He is especially prone to doing this when playing teams that compete in his division.  And since the Phillies have owned this division for the past four years, their players have the biggest bulls-eye for Hudson.

Chicago White Sox pitcher Edwin Jackson dominated the Tampa Bay Rays Thursday, allowing just one run on four hits and one walk while fanning 13.

After two starts this season, the 27-year-old is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 12.9 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9.

The Oakland Athletics and Minnesota Twins enter this weekend's three-game series with identical 2-4 records. Both teams are currently tied for last in their respective divisions (the A's are tied with Seattle and Minnesota is tied with Detroit).

The Athletics salvaged one game of their three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday afternoon with a 2-1 victory behind a solid pitching performance by Trevor Cahill.

The Texas Rangers have looked unstoppable while sweeping the Boston Red Sox under the mat in opening weekend. People were still skeptical and said the bottom half of the Rangers rotation consisting of Derek Holland and Alexi Ogando would falter. The duo stunned everyone and had arguably better outings than C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis.

The 2011 Boston Red Sox were supposed to bring balance to the Force, not destroy it. Sadly after a 0-5 start, people are beginning to doubt whether or not this team is the powerhouse that ESPN spent all winter screaming about. Luckily it’s only April, there is still a lot of baseball left to be played. The Sox need help though, help that only one man can provide.

Charlie Sheen

That’s right. When you are losing, who better to turn to than a man who knows all about winning? Duh.

The Texas Rangers are jumping out of the gate quickly in this early 2011 MLB season. But the question is, will they be in the running down the stretch?

It's only six games into the season, but the Texas Rangers look like repeaters for at least the American League pennant. Part of the reason is that they are 6-0 over those games. The other reason is who they won the games against.

The Rangers started with a sweep of the Boston Red Sox, early favorites to win the American League East. A strong offense just blew apart the Red Sox rotation, with Ranger scores of 12, nine and five runs in three games.

The Colorado Rockies completed a two-game sweep of their division rival Los Angeles Dodgers Wednesday afternoon to take a half-game lead in the NL West over the San Diego Padres.

Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki hit a two-run shot in the fourth and first baseman Todd Helton added a solo bomb to right field, driving in three combined runs. Tulowitzki now has two homers in as many nights, while Helton's home run was his first of the year.

The Seattle Mariners need to learn from their mistakes as they prepare for their 2011 home opener.  After being swept by the Texas Rangers, they sit at 2-4 and in third place in the AL West, which is shaping up to be a difficult division.

Last year in the early parts of the season, the Orioles were in a bad position. 

Kevin Millwood was brought in, but it didn't seem like the solution for the next couple of years.

Mike Gonzalez, who was signed to close games, struggled since the first game and went down with a injury.

Nick Markakis seemed to be slowly declining, while Brian Roberts would miss around 100 games due to a foot injury.

Adam Jones was mightily struggling.