1.
CARDINALS: Pujols gives St. Louis a chance to
run away in the division. Last week (4)
2.
RED SOX: Schilling, Beckett prove they can be
dominant duo at the top of a rotation. (3)
3.
INDIANS: Losing C.C Sabathia (stomach muscle
strain) is a huge blow to the rotation. (8)
4.
ATHLETICS: Pitching depth and defense can
overcome Zito's occasional bad outing. (2)
5.
WHITE SOX: Team had two HRs in first 100
at-bats, both by Jim Thome. (5)
6.
BRAVES: Rough start for Jeff Francoeur
(1-for-16) offset by fast start for Edgar Renteria
(7-for-17). (6)
7.
BREWERS: Five straight come-from-behind wins to
start the season. (17)
8.
TIGERS: Power to spare with 16 homers in first
four games, including seven Thursday. (18)
9.
ANGELS: Things are so good the team capped its
season-ticket sales at 31,000. (9)
10.
TWINS: How long will they stay at the bottom of
AL Central? (7)
11.
METS: Yikes, Mets fans. Pedro wasn't trying to
hit Jose Guillen twice. (10)
12.
ASTROS: Roy Oswalt got his NL Cy Young campaign
off to a good start. (11)
13.
YANKEES: First game looked great, what's
happenend since? (1)
14.
BLUE JAYS: Looks like no sophomore jinx for
second-year rookie LHP Gustavo Chacin. (12)
15.
GIANTS: Losing LHP Noah Lowry, closer Armando
Benitez not a good beginning. (13)
16.
MARINERS: Ichiro in the .350s already; he'll
stay there, but team won't stay in first. (16)
17.
ORIOLES: Smallest crowds in Camden Yards mark
bottoming out of Angelos era. (20)
18. PADRES: Shoulder surgery for Ryan Klesko
means opportunity for Adrian Gonzalez. (21)
19. DODGERS: Grady Little should've taken Pedro
out of that game against the Yankees. (15)
20.
RANGERS: Good glove in CF with Lance Nix;
0-for-12 is a problem, though. (14)
21.
REDS: One week in, Ken Griffey still not on DL.
That's something, anyway. (24)
22.
DIAMONDBACKS: El Duque, Webb, Batista off to
good starts. Hmmm.... (27)
23.
CUBS: Big news on the North Side, Kerry Wood
threw batting practice. (23)
24.
NATIONALS: The Alfonso Soriano LF experiment
already is looking like a bust. (22)
25.
DEVIL RAYS: LHP Mark Hendrickson's AL Cy Young
campaign starts with shutout of O's. (25)
26.
ROCKIES: Opening season with franchise-high
seven players on the DL didn't help. (29)
27.
ROYALS: This says it all: Emil Brown is still
Kansas City's best all-around player. (28)
28.
PHILLIES: Rollins' streak ended at 38, but
losing streak reached four out of the gate. (19)
29.
MARLINS: Dontrelle Willis, Sergio Mitre
combined to allow no runs in 11 innings. (30)
30.
PIRATES: Ah, well. That's still some ballpark
they have there in Pittsburgh. (26)
FANTASY CORNER
FREDDY GARCIA, White Sox: Scheduled to start
Monday against the Tigers and during the weekend against
Toronto. In the past three seasons, he's 8-2 with a
3.19 ERA against Detroit and 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA against
the Blue Jays.
DANYS BAEZ, Dodgers: It's not surprising that
the former Rays closer already has emerged in that role
for his new team. If you drafted Eric Gagne (elbow
surgery, out six to eight weeks) and didn't pick up Baez
as a backup, get him now and pencil in 40 saves.
JONATHAN PAPELBON, Red Sox: With a 95-mph
fastball and confidence to spare, Papelbon earned his
teammates' confidence with his first major-league save
this week against Texas. Although Manager Terry
Francona won't say so, it looks as if Papelbon has
supplanted RHP Keith Foulke as Boston's closer.
(Micah
Kushner is a Mass Communications student at the
University of South Florida in Tampa. A regular
contributor to
Outsports.com, this is
Micah's second year providing his MLB expertise.
He is a member of the Tampa Mojo, which participate in
the Suncoast Softball League.Also, he is a huge Chicago
Cubs fan. After graduation, he plans on pursuing a
career in Sports Broadcasting.)
April 9,
2006
