10B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2008
COMMENTARY
MLB brings surprises, good and bad
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tampa Bay Rays' Evan Longoria, right, is congratulated by teammate Eric Hinske after his seventh inning home run in a 3-0 win over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday in St. Petersburg, Fl. The Rays may pull together a winning season.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Detroit Tigers' Kenny Rogers delivers a pitch against the New York Yankees in the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday at Yankee Stadium in New York. The Tigers looked like all-stars at the beginning of the season, but have not lived up to that potential.
After barely a month, the major leagues are in full swing
This is the greatest time of year for all of you baseball fans out there who spend hours each night watching your hometown team on www.mlb.tb. College basketball season is over, the weather is starting to warm up and baseball season is fully underway. The Major League Baseball season is barely a month old, but there have been several surprises so far in 2008. Here's a look at some of them.
THE BAD
Detroit Tigers - On paper, the Tigers looked like they were going to walk into the World Series as the best team in baseball. But a 2-10 start, including a three-game sweep by the Royals to start the season, has the Tigers trying to figure out what's going wrong. They are playing better of late but still sit in last place in the American League Central standings. The Tigers pitching staff, which added Ace Dontrell Willis from the Marlins in the off-season, has an ERA of 4.99, which ranks 28th out of 30 teams.
Barry Zito – After signing a seven year, $126-million contract before the 2007 season, Zito has turned into one of the worst pitchers in baseball. Zito is 0-5 with a 7.53 ERA this season and has been sent to the bullpen with a fastball that is barely hitting 84 miles per hour. Most of his contract was back-loaded so the Giants still owe Zito $116 million over the next five and a half years. That's a large chunk of change for a Cy Young Award winner ... but for a relief pitcher? General manager Billy Beane sure knows what he is doing in Oakland.
THE GOOD
Tampa Bay Rays – For a franchise that has never had a winning season, a winning April may be the sign of things to come for the now just Tampa Bay 'Rays'. The Devil is gone from the name and the Rays are playing like a team who might stay in the race for most of the season. After being bad for so many years, the Rays' top draft picks are finally starting to make an impact on the big league club. Evan Longoria, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford and last year's comeback player of the year Carlos Pena lead a young team that has fans including season ticket holder Dick Vitale excited about the upcoming summer of Rays baseball. And the team's best pitcher, Scott Kazmit, comes off the disabled list to make his first start of the season on Sunday.
St. Louis Cardinals – After losing Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds and David Eckstein to trades and free agency, most thought the Cardinals would be one of the worst teams in the national league. But with the third best ERA in baseball, the Cardinals are perched atop the NL Central standings with a starting staff that nobody has heard of including Todd Wellermeyer, Braden Looper, Kyle Loshe and Joel Piniero, who make up four-fifths of the Cardinals starting rotation. But when you have Albert Pujols, the best player in baseball, you always have a chance to win no matter who you have on your team.
》 MLB
Edited by Samuel Lamb
ASSOCIATED PRESS
St. Louis Cardinals' Skip Schumaker, left, scores on a single by teammate Aaron Miles as Cincinnati Reds catcher David Ross, right, attempts the tag during the third inning of a baseball game Wednesday in St. Louis. Schumaker was called safe by home plate umpire Jim Wolf, center.
Cardinals surge past Reds with 5-2 victory
BY R.B. FALLSTROM ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. LOUIS — Braden Looper worked six solid innings and Rick Ankiel had three hits and two RBIs, helping the St. Louis Cardinals hand Aaron Harang another tough luck loss with a 5-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday.
Aaron Miles had a pair of RBI singles and Jason Isringhausen earned his ninth save in 11 chances for the surprising Cardinals, who won a franchise-record 18 games the first month of the season. Last year's team needed 43 games to win No. 18, and the total surpassed the previous best set in 2000 and 2006.
A heavy early home schedule helped the Cardinals, who are 12-6 at 3-year-old Busch Stadium. They took two of three from the Reds and have won four of five overall.
The opening mouth also has been a good one for Looper (4-1), who allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings while throwing a career-high 114 pitches. Looper,
who moved to the rotation last year after a long career as a closer and setup man, is 7-2 with a 2.88 in 11 career first-month starts.
Ankiel was 8-for-13 with a homer and five RBIs in the series and has the go-ahead RBI in six of St. Louis' victories.
Harang (1-4) has worked at least six innings in each of his seven starts and has little to show for his 2.98 ERA because the Reds have totaled 23 runs in his outnings. He allowed three runs on seven hits in six innings.
Edwin Encarnacion hit his team-leading seventh home run for the Reds, who are 3-5 since Walt Jocketty was named general manager. Jocketty was the Cardinals' GM for 13 seasons prior to this year.
Encarnacion homered for the first time in seven games leading off the second. Left fielder Chris Duncan just missed a leaping attempt in the corner as the ball went slightly under his glove and bounced off the top of the wall. Joey Votto followed with a double and scored on Ryan Freel's two-out infield hit.
How else would you know I'm a KU fan?
The Cardinals needed a wild pitch by Harang to score a run in the second on three hits and a walk, then took a 3-2 lead in the third with four straight hits, including RBI singles by Miles and Ankiel. Skip Schumaker was safe on a close play at the plate on Miles' single, ducking under catcher David Ross' sweeping tag as he slid.
RBI singles by Miles and Ankiel off Kent Mercker made it 5-2 in the seventh.