Humber perfect game and Red Sox woes highlight American League storyline
As a Twins follower, I must admit, I’m not a massive fan of Philip Humber. He was meant to be one of the two main pieces of the trade that sent Johan Santana to the Mets after the 2007 season, but he, like Carlos Gomez, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra, were nothing short of failures in the Twin Cities. A 6.10 ERA in 13 appearances out of the bullpen in two seasons was hardly a fair swap for a two time Cy Young winner. So, it was somewhat bewildering as I followed Humber’s quest for perfection on Saturday night, a quest that was ultimately successful after he struck out Brendan Ryan to complete the 21st perfect game in Major League history. It was a truly remarkable performance from the 29 year old, who struck out nine and reduced his early season ERA to a paltry 0.63.
Unsurprisingly, that was the highlight of the week for the White Sox, who themselves were no-hit last season by Francisco Liriano of the Twins. Chicago started their week off in less than ideal fashion, as they gave up homers to Adam Jones and Nolan Reimold of the Orioles in the 9th inning to allow the game to enter extra innings, where Matt Wieters nailed a grand slam to ultimately clinch a 10-4 triumph for the O’s in a game that they really had no business winning. They went on to lose three of the four games in that series, although a bright spot was the batting of catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who went 7-of-11 with five RBIs and two walks during the series. They were able, however, to get the series disappointment out of their systems quickly as they swept the Mariners in convincing fashion. Prior to Humber’s perfecto, Adam Dunn, so lambasted last season, notched two homers and five RBIs in a 7-3 victory on Friday night, while the seldom used Kosuke Fukudome starred on Sunday, notching two RBIs to complete the sweep.
Elsewhere in the Central division, the Tigers have somewhat slipped since they raced out to a 5-1 start. They started the week off by claiming a three game sweep of the Royals, with Verlander making amends for his ninth inning collapse in the loss to Tampa Bay his previous start by getting a bases loaded ground-out in the 9th to clinch an opening game 3-2 victory. Jose Valverde notched a couple of saves in the other two games before his team headed home to square off in an enticing early season battle with the red hot Rangers. Texas won the first game in convincing fashion, with Hamilton and Beltre being the only position players not to record at least two hits, and Yu Darvish beginning to look more like the Yu Darvish we all expected to see, while a Friday rain-out meant a glorious Saturday double-header. Tigers starter Rick Porcello gave up ten hits and eight earned runs in just 1.0 innings as his team conceded ten runs in back-to-back games, before Justin Verlander, as always, steadied the ship in the night cap, a 3-2 Tigers win thanks to six scoreless frames from the reigning AL Cy Young winner and a two run single from Ramon Santiago. A 3-2 Rangers victory, in 11 innings, on Sunday saw the Tigers fall to 10-6.
Meanwhile, the Indians are not far behind. Cleveland claimed a winning week, going 4-2 with a pair of series victories on the west coast against the Mariners and Athletics, improving their early season record to 8-6. On Tuesday, they fought back from Justin Masterson’s 3.2 innings, eight earned runs display to claim a 9-8 win, before notching a pair of runs in the ninth inning in game three to claim a 2-1 victory.
As for the Twins and Royals, well, the least said the better. While a 3-4 record on away trips to the Bronx and St. Petersburg may not be seen as a massive disappointment, the fact that the Twins gave up fewer than four runs in just one of those games is certainly a worry. A series split against the Yankees was highlighted by a two home run performance by Justin Morneau in game three, while on back-to-back occasions the Twins scored four runs in the top of the first, only to give three of them right back in the bottom. Josh Willingham hit a bases clearing double in game one against the Rays before his team was befuddled by Shields and Price as they lost the series.
The Royals, however, have appeared to revert to the Royals of the early 90s. The winless streak was stretched to ten games following an 0-6 week that included being swept by the Tigers and Blue Jays. Although the fact that five of those six defeats were by two runs or less suggest that a better located pitch here and there and an odd bloop single and the 3-12 Royals are not, in actual fact, are not that far off being a decent outfit.
In the West, the Rangers have far and away been the most impressive side this season, in the American League at least. Solid pitching displays, coupled with a fierce batting line-up that includes the likes of Mike Napoli, Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz, have seen the two time defending AL Champions open up a 5.5 game division lead already. They opened the week up with an 18-3 laugher at Fenway Park, hitting six home runs (Mike Napoli leading the way with a pair), while they went 7-for-14 with runners in scoring position. Napoli hit a long ball a day later as the Rangers, behind a decent outing from Derek Holland, swept the two game series, before taking three of four in Detroit, limiting the potent Tigers line-up to just three runs a game, while hitting double figures themselves twice.
Seattle and Oakland continue to be inconsistent, although the A’s have certainly had the better week, taking three of four from the Angels, before falling to a series defeat in Cleveland. having lost 6-0 in game one against their division rivals, thanks to sterling effort from Jered Weaver and Kendrys Morales notching his first homer since breaking his leg celebrating a walk-off grand slam, the A’s took the next three, giving up just five runs in the process. Bartolo Colon continues to be a success, as he pitched a scoreless 8.0 innings in game three, and even threw a remarkable 38 consecutive strikes at one point, as the A’s won 6-0. The series loss to the Indians shows, however, that they lack consistency both with the bat and ball. Their sole win of the series, a 5-1 triumph on Saturday was highlighted by a first win of the season for Tyson Ross, who pitched 6.0 innings, giving up just one run on his 25th birthday.
The Mariners, meanwhile, seem to be struck with the same ailments as the last couple of years, as a lack of run scoring saw them go 1-5 this week. Even so, the one game where they were able to score more than four runs, they lost 9-8 to the Indians. Their lone win of the week was a 4-1 win over Cleveland on Wednesday. Chone FIggins hitting a lead-off homer to get things started. They were then swept by the White Sox, a series highlighted by the perfect game thrown by Philip Humber. In the other two games, however, the Seattle starting pitching was less than stellar, with Hector Noesi and Kevin Millwood giving up 11 runs in 6.2 innings.
While the Mariners may be struggling, the Angels must be scratching their heads. After spending more than $300 million in the off-season to improve an already decent roster, the boys from Anaheim sit fully seven games behind Texas with a 6-10 record. After losing three of four to Oakland, they rescued their week somewhat by clinching a series win over the Baltimore Orioles that included back-to-back 6-3 victories, behind some decent pitching and timely hitting, neither of which are particularly bad traits to have as a team. While the likes of Weaver and Wilson are, as expected, performing well with the ball, you would have got long odds on Maicer Izturis and Mike Trumbo being the two hottest hitters in the early part of the season. Albert Pujols, fully 16 games into his Angels career has yet to hit a home run, while only collecting four RBIs.
If you think the Angels are struggling, then spare a thought for the Red Sox. If you can stop laughing at them, that is. Prior to the season, I mentioned that getting off to a good early start was crucial, as Bobby Valentine was hardly the popular choice to replace Terry Francona in the hot seat. How does 4-10 sound? Or a combined 34.20 ERA from the two big bullpen signings, Alfredo Aceves and Mike Melancon? Or a public chastising for All-Star infielder Kevin Youkilis from Bobby V? I could go on and on. The fact that the highlight of a week that included a Fenway centenary celebration was actually the postponement of the Sunday night game against the Yankees pretty much says all you need to know about the week from hell for Boston.
The Sox lost all five games they played, conceding 46 runs in the process, including an 18-3 reverse against the Rangers, and a total Beantown meltdown against the Yankees, conceding seven runs in both the seventh and eighth inning in game two, eventually turning a 9-0 lead into a 15-9 loss. In those two games in question, the bullpen gave up 24 runs in 10 innings. One feels that something drastic has to change for the Red Sox to turn things.
Elsewhere in the East, the Orioles are in the unfamiliar position of being half a game out of first place, currently sharing a 9-7 record with the Tampa Bay Rays, while the Yankees and Blue Jays sit at 9-6.
The Orioles went 4-3 on the week, on the back of strong offensive displays from the likes of Adam Jones and Nolan Reimold, while Nick Markakis came out of a slump to knock in all three of his teams runs on Sunday to defeat the Angels in 10 innings. One catalyst of the Orioles surprise start, however, must surely be the unlikely Robert Andino, who is hitting .316 and providing key hits on several occasions.
The Blue Jays and Rays met each other in Toronto for a three game series, with the Rays losing the first 7-3, before scoring 21 runs in the next two games, unsurprisingly winning both. Luke Scott was the man to knock in the most runs, with six, while six different Rays went long. While the Blue Jays then went on to sweep the lowly Royals, the Rays were made to fight hard in taking two of three against the Twins at home. Game three of that series involved a strange situation where ex-NBA star Matt Geiger was ‘relocated’ after doing his best Steve Bartman impression, interfering with Rays first baseman Carlos Pena on a foul ball.
And that leaves the New York Yankees. Having somewhat stumbled in the early part of the season, their offence exploded in the six games they played this week against the Twins and Red Sox, notching 44 runs and 15 home runs, highlighted by Curtis Granderson’s hat-trick against the Twins and a five bomb display in a 6-2 victory over the Red Sox on the day that they celebrated the 100th anniversary of the baseball cathedral that is Fenway Park.
While the Yankees seem to be on a role, it’s difficult to see past the Texas Rangers at this early stage of the season. As if by magic, the two teams meet up for a three game set in Arlington starting Monday. It’s sure to be a good ‘un.
