Post by A's on Dec 2, 2011 13:51:30 GMT -5
Extremes shine in parity
Set 2 -- 12/2/11
Seems logical, if you do something best you should expect to separate from the pack, but so far it's a leeg of parity. Seven teams are jockeying for position over .500, the usual doormats are instead slugging it out and staying in the hunt with the big dogs. But the Padres and Orioles sit on top at 7-2 thanks to giving up the least runs allowed and leading the league in HR. The Padres pitching is simply dominating while the O's somehow don't cough up the long ball and wipe out baserunners with timely double plays. Meanwhile, the Giants have given up 62 runs in 9 games but boast a 6-3 record thanks to also mashing 62 runs. It remains to be seen if any of these sprinters out of the gate has the lasting power to still be around after the season-long marathon.
AMERICAN
Orioles (7-2) -- The fairytale continues as the O's opened the set with Halladay and Ogando shutting down the Cubs, 4-2, and won two more before finally acquiescing to the Dodgers first win of the season. CJ Wilson leads the league with a 0.60 ERA despite 9 walks in 15 IP. Brett Myers (2-0) outdueled Mat Latos in a 2-1 nail-biter. The pitching staff gives up hits and walks but keeps the ball in the park -- Romero is the only pitcher on the roster to allow a HR so far -- and they put the ball in play to the modern day Tinkers-Evers-Chance DP combo of Andrus-Sanchez-Morse. Jose Bautista cooled a bit off his Ruthian pace with just 2 more HR, and still leads the league in homers (7), runs (11) and RBI (15).
White Sox (5-4) -- Just when it appeared the champs might break out they only managed a 2-2 set. First they polished off the Dodgers 3-0 behind a 2-hit, 10K masterpiece from Chacin (2-0). Then they exploded for 9 runs over the Yankees. But a blown save by Billy "Social Security" Wagner in game 3 opened the door to the Pale Hose dropping their last 2 games. Kevin Youkilis is carrying the offense by himself, and other than the Jhoulys magic, the Sox just haven't warmed up yet.
Red Sox (5-4) -- As if on purpose, the sim's biggest critic continues to watch Josh Johnson (18.69 ERA) get pounded as the LoSox dropped their first game to the Yankees, 8-3. But then they knocked off another top rival to stay positive in the wins column, taking the series against the Cubs behind strong pitching and defense. Glenn Dickey's knuckler befuddled the Cubs, 10-1. First-round pick Travis Wood improved to 2-0. Tough luck Dallas Braden pitched well again only to watch a Cubs' special "within the computer" 18-inning loss prevent the sweep. The Red Sox remain #1 in team defense and their relievers are steller, especially Kuo (8.1 IP, 2H, 0 BB, 0.00 ERA).
Cubs (5-4) -- The struggling Cubs are finding creative ways to stay north of .500 despite a minus-7 run margin. After dropping three in a row, Jair Francoise Jurggens (yes, that's his real middle name, as if you could hate him any more) pitched 10 innings in the 18-inning win to salvage the set. The wonder twins Andrew Bailey and Brian Wilson combined for 8 IP of shutout ball. Still, the pitching overall is having it rough. Even Ian Kennedy got smacked around, while Bud Norris' ERA remains in double-digits. The bats have chilled as well, with just Nick Markakis and Victor Martinez keeping the Cubs competitive.
Yankees (4-5) -- The Yankees threw in their bid in to stay relevant this season with a strong 3 win set, including 2 of 3 over the White Sox. They opened strong over the Red Sox, 8-3, behind Jered Weaver before squeaking out a 9-8 victory over the other Sox. In the next game Matt Holliday homered in the 9th off Wagner to tie it then smacked the walk-off homer in the 11th. Gio Gonzalez (2-0) closed out the set with a dominating 6-2 victory. Aside from Holliday's individual heroics, Ryan Zimmerman is carrying the lineup.
Dodgers (1-8) -- It took nine tries but the Dodgers finally hit a home run and coincidentally finally won a game. It was Felix Pie who took a piece out of his former team, going 3-4 with a HR and 3 RBI. Country Joe Blanton went 8 strong and the Dodgers won comfortably, 6-1. Overall though, the Dodgers simply can't score, managing less than 3 runs five times in nine games, which is a shame since the team ERA is under 4.00.
NATIONAL
Padres (7-2) -- A win over the Rockies and a three-game sweep of the Dbacks pushed the Padres win streak to 6 and counting. The Pads are impressing with a team ERA under 3.00, more than a half run better than anyone else. Neftali Feliz finally gave up two runs, but the other four relievers are still perfect. They're also tied with the Orioles for tops in team HR, but unlike the O's are spreading it around among Miguel Montero (3 HR), Adrian Gonzalez (3) and Carl Crawford (2). There's a little smoke & mirrors going on with 4 of their 7 wins being by just 1-run, but hey, the Padres will enjoy it while it lasts.
Pirates (6-3) -- Two quick losses seemed to put an end to the Pirates uppity start, but then they closed out the set with two more wins. The bad news was an extra-innings loss when Tim Stuffer surrendered a walk-off homer to Buster Posey in the 17th. But the next game, the Bucs pounded unlikely (and illegal) Rockies starter Ryan Perry and won 10-7. The Pirates then roared back in the finale with 5 runs against Rafael Betancourt in the 8th inning to win 9-6. Mark Ellis (.441) continues to populate the batting leaders lists along with his other HOF teammates as they are #2 in team batting.
Giants (6-3) -- The Giants won three more behind the motto, "win big or die big". In their wins they scored 6, 11, and 6 runs respectively, and in their loss gave up 15 runs. They even enjoyed a 9th inning walkoff win over the Nationals thanks to a 2-run shot by Paul "Not a 1-year Wonder?" Konerko off Mike Adams. No Giants pitcher has better than a 3.00 ERA, but that doesn't matter much when only 3 batters on the entire roster are hitting under .295. Carlos Gonzalez continues to destroy a 1.228 OPS, and Wilson Betemit is justifying his #6 overall pick with a 1.111 OPS.
Rockies (4-5) -- Aside from pulling out an extra-innings win over the Pirates there was little joy in the mountains. The Rockies pitching that got off to such a nice start took a step backwards in losses by scores of 7-10 and 6-9. Clay Buchholz missed a start due to injury which was not accounted for lineup-wise, forcing reliever Ryan Perry into a doomed start. The Rocks depleted bullpen hopes to catch its breath soon, but the last-place hitting certainly isn't cooperating. Buster Posey is the only batter worth noting, but he should be injured soon.
Nationals (3-6) -- The Nationals surrendered the Dbacks first win of the year then lost two of three to the Giants. The shocker of the early season might be the Nats 1-3 mark in 1-run games after their 18-6 last year. The other shocker might be that Chris Johnson is making a bid for the triple crown, batting .429 with 3 HR and 11 RBI. Yes, Hanley Ramirez is batting .083, but the rest of the team is scoring in bunches. It's just too bad so far the team can't pitch or catch.
Diamondbacks (1-8) -- This sure doesn't look much like the team that missed the playoffs by just one game last year. The Dbacks have only led once this season going into the 8th inning -- and lost that game, too. On the bright side, they're off the schneid and #9 overall pick Jose Tabata (.421 avg) is living up to his billing.
Set 2 -- 12/2/11
Seems logical, if you do something best you should expect to separate from the pack, but so far it's a leeg of parity. Seven teams are jockeying for position over .500, the usual doormats are instead slugging it out and staying in the hunt with the big dogs. But the Padres and Orioles sit on top at 7-2 thanks to giving up the least runs allowed and leading the league in HR. The Padres pitching is simply dominating while the O's somehow don't cough up the long ball and wipe out baserunners with timely double plays. Meanwhile, the Giants have given up 62 runs in 9 games but boast a 6-3 record thanks to also mashing 62 runs. It remains to be seen if any of these sprinters out of the gate has the lasting power to still be around after the season-long marathon.
AMERICAN
Orioles (7-2) -- The fairytale continues as the O's opened the set with Halladay and Ogando shutting down the Cubs, 4-2, and won two more before finally acquiescing to the Dodgers first win of the season. CJ Wilson leads the league with a 0.60 ERA despite 9 walks in 15 IP. Brett Myers (2-0) outdueled Mat Latos in a 2-1 nail-biter. The pitching staff gives up hits and walks but keeps the ball in the park -- Romero is the only pitcher on the roster to allow a HR so far -- and they put the ball in play to the modern day Tinkers-Evers-Chance DP combo of Andrus-Sanchez-Morse. Jose Bautista cooled a bit off his Ruthian pace with just 2 more HR, and still leads the league in homers (7), runs (11) and RBI (15).
White Sox (5-4) -- Just when it appeared the champs might break out they only managed a 2-2 set. First they polished off the Dodgers 3-0 behind a 2-hit, 10K masterpiece from Chacin (2-0). Then they exploded for 9 runs over the Yankees. But a blown save by Billy "Social Security" Wagner in game 3 opened the door to the Pale Hose dropping their last 2 games. Kevin Youkilis is carrying the offense by himself, and other than the Jhoulys magic, the Sox just haven't warmed up yet.
Red Sox (5-4) -- As if on purpose, the sim's biggest critic continues to watch Josh Johnson (18.69 ERA) get pounded as the LoSox dropped their first game to the Yankees, 8-3. But then they knocked off another top rival to stay positive in the wins column, taking the series against the Cubs behind strong pitching and defense. Glenn Dickey's knuckler befuddled the Cubs, 10-1. First-round pick Travis Wood improved to 2-0. Tough luck Dallas Braden pitched well again only to watch a Cubs' special "within the computer" 18-inning loss prevent the sweep. The Red Sox remain #1 in team defense and their relievers are steller, especially Kuo (8.1 IP, 2H, 0 BB, 0.00 ERA).
Cubs (5-4) -- The struggling Cubs are finding creative ways to stay north of .500 despite a minus-7 run margin. After dropping three in a row, Jair Francoise Jurggens (yes, that's his real middle name, as if you could hate him any more) pitched 10 innings in the 18-inning win to salvage the set. The wonder twins Andrew Bailey and Brian Wilson combined for 8 IP of shutout ball. Still, the pitching overall is having it rough. Even Ian Kennedy got smacked around, while Bud Norris' ERA remains in double-digits. The bats have chilled as well, with just Nick Markakis and Victor Martinez keeping the Cubs competitive.
Yankees (4-5) -- The Yankees threw in their bid in to stay relevant this season with a strong 3 win set, including 2 of 3 over the White Sox. They opened strong over the Red Sox, 8-3, behind Jered Weaver before squeaking out a 9-8 victory over the other Sox. In the next game Matt Holliday homered in the 9th off Wagner to tie it then smacked the walk-off homer in the 11th. Gio Gonzalez (2-0) closed out the set with a dominating 6-2 victory. Aside from Holliday's individual heroics, Ryan Zimmerman is carrying the lineup.
Dodgers (1-8) -- It took nine tries but the Dodgers finally hit a home run and coincidentally finally won a game. It was Felix Pie who took a piece out of his former team, going 3-4 with a HR and 3 RBI. Country Joe Blanton went 8 strong and the Dodgers won comfortably, 6-1. Overall though, the Dodgers simply can't score, managing less than 3 runs five times in nine games, which is a shame since the team ERA is under 4.00.
NATIONAL
Padres (7-2) -- A win over the Rockies and a three-game sweep of the Dbacks pushed the Padres win streak to 6 and counting. The Pads are impressing with a team ERA under 3.00, more than a half run better than anyone else. Neftali Feliz finally gave up two runs, but the other four relievers are still perfect. They're also tied with the Orioles for tops in team HR, but unlike the O's are spreading it around among Miguel Montero (3 HR), Adrian Gonzalez (3) and Carl Crawford (2). There's a little smoke & mirrors going on with 4 of their 7 wins being by just 1-run, but hey, the Padres will enjoy it while it lasts.
Pirates (6-3) -- Two quick losses seemed to put an end to the Pirates uppity start, but then they closed out the set with two more wins. The bad news was an extra-innings loss when Tim Stuffer surrendered a walk-off homer to Buster Posey in the 17th. But the next game, the Bucs pounded unlikely (and illegal) Rockies starter Ryan Perry and won 10-7. The Pirates then roared back in the finale with 5 runs against Rafael Betancourt in the 8th inning to win 9-6. Mark Ellis (.441) continues to populate the batting leaders lists along with his other HOF teammates as they are #2 in team batting.
Giants (6-3) -- The Giants won three more behind the motto, "win big or die big". In their wins they scored 6, 11, and 6 runs respectively, and in their loss gave up 15 runs. They even enjoyed a 9th inning walkoff win over the Nationals thanks to a 2-run shot by Paul "Not a 1-year Wonder?" Konerko off Mike Adams. No Giants pitcher has better than a 3.00 ERA, but that doesn't matter much when only 3 batters on the entire roster are hitting under .295. Carlos Gonzalez continues to destroy a 1.228 OPS, and Wilson Betemit is justifying his #6 overall pick with a 1.111 OPS.
Rockies (4-5) -- Aside from pulling out an extra-innings win over the Pirates there was little joy in the mountains. The Rockies pitching that got off to such a nice start took a step backwards in losses by scores of 7-10 and 6-9. Clay Buchholz missed a start due to injury which was not accounted for lineup-wise, forcing reliever Ryan Perry into a doomed start. The Rocks depleted bullpen hopes to catch its breath soon, but the last-place hitting certainly isn't cooperating. Buster Posey is the only batter worth noting, but he should be injured soon.
Nationals (3-6) -- The Nationals surrendered the Dbacks first win of the year then lost two of three to the Giants. The shocker of the early season might be the Nats 1-3 mark in 1-run games after their 18-6 last year. The other shocker might be that Chris Johnson is making a bid for the triple crown, batting .429 with 3 HR and 11 RBI. Yes, Hanley Ramirez is batting .083, but the rest of the team is scoring in bunches. It's just too bad so far the team can't pitch or catch.
Diamondbacks (1-8) -- This sure doesn't look much like the team that missed the playoffs by just one game last year. The Dbacks have only led once this season going into the 8th inning -- and lost that game, too. On the bright side, they're off the schneid and #9 overall pick Jose Tabata (.421 avg) is living up to his billing.