1. WHITE SOX: Certainly look poised to
become first repeat champion since 2000 Yanks. Last
week (1)
2. METS: With Zambrano lost for the
season, club trying to land lefties Zito or Willis.
Could happen soon. (2)
3. REDS: Jerry Narron is the
early-season favorite for NL Manager of the Year.
(6)
4. TIGERS: 11-4 road record is
astounding. (5)
5. ASTROS: Avoiding early -season swoon
thanks to Berkman and Ensberg (20 HRs combined). (4)
6. YANKEES: Sometime soon, they're going
on a tear. They're too good not to. (10)
7. RED SOX: Can C Doug Mirabelli make
the difference for Tim Wakefield (1-4)? (8)
8. RANGERS: Streaking club rode Kevin
Mench's new shoes to first place. (17)
9. CARDINALS: Mark Mulder's sore back
creates major concerns. (3)
10. ROCKIES: Suddenly looking over their
shoulder at streaking D'Backs. (7)
11. ATHLETICS: Hanging around long enough
for inevitable 20-win August to mean something. (18)
12. DIAMONDBACKS: RHP Brandon Webb looking
like early All-Star candidate. (22)
13. BREWERS: Need to get Ben Sheets (1-3,
6.64 ERA) back to ace form. (15)
14. INDIANS: Scoring 6.5 runs per game,
but opponents scoring 5.6 runs per game. (10)
15. BLUE JAYS: Josh Towers (0-6 10.59 ERA)
needs help. Now. (13)
16. CUBS: Kerry Wood impressive in
minor-league rehab start; lack of offense becoming
an epidemic. (11)
17. GIANTS: Jason Schmidt's ninth career
shutout gives hope at top of rotation. (14)
18. PADRES: C Josh Bard, dealt from Red
Sox, hopes never to see another knuckleball. (24)
19. PHILLIES: Streaking all the way above
.500, and Jon Lieber finally pitched well in
back-to-back starts. (21)
20. ANGELS: A six-game losing streak was
alarming, but they'll rebound. (12)
21. ORIOLES: Kris Benson, Erik Bedard are
a combined 8-4. (19)
22. BRAVES: Struggles on road (7-13) are
why they're scuffling. (16)
23. TWINS: A 3-12 road record leaves them
looking up at AL Central leaders. (23)
24. DODGERS: Got to start beating the
D'Backs if they're going to contend. (20)
25. MARINERS: Adrian Beltre finally
homered, putting him on pace for six. (26)
26. DEVIL RAYS: Lineup starting to get
healthy, but the bullpen is flat-lining. (25)
27. MARLINS: Do plans for new South
Florida ballpark call for 8,000 capacity? (27)
28. NATIONALS: Nats sold for $450 million?
MLB's 120 million investment looks good. (28)
29. PIRATES: At least Lloyd McClendon
threw bases during his tirades. (30)
30. ROYALS: It's that time of year. GM
Allard Baird on his way out.
(29)
FANTASY CORNER
MARK BUEHRLE, White Sox: One of Chicago's
many aces, he's 16-9 with a 3.70 ERA lifetime
against the Twins (against whom he'll start next
weekend).
TRAVIS HAFNER, Indians: The Tribe's DH is
hitting .339 AVG and is slugging .697 on the season,
so he's already going off. Now consider that on
Monday Cleveland starts a three-game series with the
always-accommodating Royals. Against KC, Hafner will
get to feast on things like Denny Bautista, Jeremy
Affeldt and Scott Elarton (to say nothing of the
bullpen). So expect big numbers from Hafner this
week.
JOE MAUER, JUSTIN MORNEAU, Twins:
Minnesota's two young sluggers are 2-for-25 combined
lifetime against Buehrle. Despite that, Mauer owns
a .329 lifetime average against the White Sox and
his four homers against Chicago are his most against
any team. Morneau, on the other hand, has a .202
lifetime average against the White Sox and only
three homers in 104 at-bats.
AL Extra Bases
"Everyday" Eddie Guardado still is
the Mariners' "closer," according to Manager
Mike Hargrove. It's just that Guardado
(0-2 7.59 ERA, three blown saves) won't be the only
one used in save situations. ... Red Sox LHP
David Wells, who was contemplating
retirement when a bad right knee landed him on the
DL, now hopes to be back pitching by the end of this
month. He underwent injections of joint lubricant,
which seem to be working.
NL Extra Bases
Phillies
pitching prospect Cole Hamels, 22,
could be on the verge of joining the major-league
club. In his first two starts at the Triple-A
level, he went 2-0 with 26 strikeouts while allowing
no runs. ... The Nationals' new ownership group has
not said whether GM Jim Bowden and
Manager Frank Robinson are safe in
their jobs. Bowden has ties to the family. ...
Finally, this attempt at turning the cheek from
Bonds as he answered reporters' questions last week:
"I forgive you every day. I forgive all of you
right now. I pray for all of you. I hope nothing
ever happens to you, and that's the truth. That's
from the bottom of my heart, and one day you'll
believe me."
