Marty Lurie Talks San Francisco Giants Baseball
//

AL West Gets Early Wake Up Call


After winning three of four games on Tuesday night, the AL West was swept on Wednesday.

Detroit can hit and did so against Bartolo Colon who continues his disturbing pattern set last season when he would inexplicably lose games that you would think he had in the bag. It ended up costing the White Sox a shot at the division crown.

Anaheim can withstand injuries because of its depth, but with David Eckstein out, Garret Anderson on the DL, and Vladimir Guerrero hurting, they are not as scary with the bat.

Today Jarrod Washburn faces Nate Robertson in a battle of lefties. Washburn hasn’t gone past five innings yet in any start, so the bullpen better be ready. Scott Shields and Frankie Rodriguez will see some action today for sure. Robertson has a live arm, so this is a good test for the rookie.

The A’s are reliving playoff nightmares this week in NY. It will take sometime for this new group of Athletics to get their feet on the ground in Yankee Stadium.

Barry Zito was rocked in his last start and unless he has his good curveball, the Yankees will tee off on him as the Angels did. Zito likes to pitch in NY, but his stuff has been less than stellar so far.

Kevin Brown keeps the ball down and will be tough on the A’s who are hurting for middle infielders these days. Someone needs to surprise the Yanks today such as Mark Kotsay or Erubiel Durazo because you can’t put the onus on Eric Chavez and Jermaine Dye to lift this offense on a daily basis.

Click below for more!The Giants may be better off with Edgardo Alfonzo at second base and Pedro Feliz at third on an everyday basis because these two can play and hit if used properly. Ray Durham was never in shape and his leg injuries occur like an overage softball player’s would at a Sunday picnic.

AJ Pierzynski has yet to hit a ball hard this season. Unbelievable, even his singles are bloop hits.

The Giants are in need of some well pitched games because Michael Tucker and the two hitters named above will get on base around Barry Bonds. The offense will come around with Alfonzo and Feliz leading the way.

The Braves hardly look like the 100 win team of a year ago. Not having Chipper Jones in the lineup or Javy Lopez, Vinny Castilla, or Gary Sheffield makes this bunch an 85 win team. The only thing that can change this is Bobby Cox who is smart enough to teach this new group how to play good baseball. I just don’t see it happening this season.

The Rangers throw Chan Ho Park at the Royals and Dennys Reyes. Runs should score today in KC. Mike MacDougall settled right in last night saving the game for KC.

The Mariners let one get away last night in Baltimore. When they hold the opposition to one run through eight innings, it should be enough to win. Joel Piniero has been torched in Camden Yards in his previous starts so we’ll see if he has anything tonight. Eric Dubose throws slow curves, maybe the Mariner bats will be patient enough to hit him. Seems unlikely the way Seattle has been going, but one can hope that today is the day they break loose.

Richie Sexson’s shoulder injury didn’t look too good. Without him in the lineup you can forget the Diamondbacks for awhile. How about Matt Mantei? Any takers? Steve Finley three homers again, quite a player.

Red Sox are quietly gaining confidence in the East. Byung Hyun Kim is back today and gets the Devil Rays first. Kim has never impressed me as a starter so maybe the DRays will knock him around.

Matt Mantei to Cleveland where he will fit in beautifully with the Tribe’s bullpen. Now that’s a trade waiting to happen.

Andy Pettite back today in the sunshine in Pittsburgh. Former Yankee David Wells gets to memerize the Expos tonight in Petco.

Will Kevin Millwood show up today to complete the sweep in St. Louis? Chris Carpenter seems healthy, but the Cards are not clicking on all cylinders just yet. I love the Phillies bullpen which is set up with Tim Worrell and Billy Wagner today.

How about the Brewers? Ned Yost is a very upbeat manager and his success is no surprise. The trade with Arizona has made this team a major league team instead of a AAA squad. Now if they only had some pitching.

Whose bullpen is the worst? Cleveland, Cincinnati, or Arizona? I’m sticking with Cleveland.

Jae Seo and Jeff Weaver, the Mets will get some hits tonight. Mike Cameron was completely overmatched by Eric Gagne last night at the end of the game with two runners on base, but who isn’t? By the way, Gagne took a wicked shot off his leg in the ninth last night, let’s see if he answers the bell today.

The ghosts are partying in Yankee Stadium after taking the first three weeks off.

0 comments

There are no comments yet...

Kick things off by filling out the form below.

You must log in to post a comment.