Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the Red Sox probably did not sleep well Tuesday night.
Boston held a nine-run lead in Baltimore with nine outs to go. Then the Orioles exploded for five runs on seven hits in the seventh inning and five runs on six hits in the eighth, handing Jonathan Papelbon his second blown save of the season. When George Sherrill struck out Jason Bay with two on in the top of the ninth, it finished off a wild 11-10 victory for the O's.
[Said Orioles manager Dave Trembley:] "It was the shootout at the OK Corral except it was Camden Yards."
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the Doctor is in again. Toronto ace Roy Halladay (aka "Doc") returned from a two-week stint on the disabled list and pitched credibly, but lost 4-1 to Tampa Bay. Halladay, who had been out with a sore groin, gave up two runs in six innings.
"It wasn't too bad," Halladay said. "Location there in the second and third inning was kind of hit and miss a little bit. For the most part I felt pretty good with everything."
Halladay lost for the first time since April 21. He is 10-2 with a 2.56 ERA. If you're looking ahead, Halladay -- and Giants ace Tim Lincecum, who pitched a gem on Monday -- would both be on perfect rest to start the All-Star Game.
It's always nice to know how secure a closer's job is and who's next in line if somebody loses their 9th inning job. The Closer Report will give you that info. And if that wasn't good enough, we'll rank the closers from top to bottom.
As you'll see, Heath Bell has taken over the top spot on this edition of The Closer Report. A few big-name, top-of-the-charts closers from years past have fallen off quite a bit. How weird is it to see Brad Lidge near the bottom of the closer rankings and Joe Nathan stuck in the middle?
NEW YORK -- It still seems weird, if you can remember back before it all changed -- back before "Cowboy Up" and Aaron Boone and the Idiots and the Bloody Sock and all that went down between the Yankees and the Red Sox right around the middle part of this decade. If you can remember back that far, it feels weird that the Red Sox have become the model franchise and the Yankees are just yapping at their heels, trying their best to become everything their rivals already are.
But then you watch a game like the one they played Monday night at Yankee Stadium and you realize that's exactly what's going on here. The Yankees spent the night whining about the umpires, accusing the Sox of stealing signs, committing errors and passed balls and walking everybody in sight. The Red Sox spent it winning the game. And as they so often do these days, they outclassed the Yankees in almost every possible way.
It's always nice to know how secure a closer's job is and who's next in line if somebody loses their 9th inning job. Each week The Closer Report will give you that information. And if that wasn't good enough we'll rank the closers from top to bottom.
Here's an interesting statistic. Somewhere between 30 percent and 40 percent of the closers who are listed as the the team's official closer will not be in that role by the end of the season. It's the case every year. Whether a closer loses his job due to injury or just plain can't get the job done, you're going to learn that you can find saves on the waiver wire throughout the season. You just have to know where to look.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the Royals are fortunate to be 2-3, since they have been outscored by Toronto's Marco Scutaro and Florida's Emilio Bonafacio. Those two players have touched home plate nine times; Kansas City has scored eight runs total, batting .198 as a team. Billy Butler is 1-for-17 with seven strikeouts, David DeJesus is 4-for-21 with six strikeouts, Coco Crisp has a .211 average, Alex Gordon is batting .133, and Miguel Olivo and Mike Jacobs are at .214. Crisp leads the club with three RBI.
Oh, and sore hips forced Jose Guillen to the DL and Gordon out of yesterday's game.
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Red Sox are still trying to figure out what they've got in Brad Penny, this All-Star turned No. 5 starter.
Catcher Jason Varitek, who caught all 86 of Penny's pitches in his Boston debut on Saturday, and manager Terry Francona both said they are feeling out Penny. Even after his six innings, he still seems like an unknown, albeit a promising one.
"We're still trying to figure out who he is, to learn him," Varitek said. "He's done a good job to get his work in and be where is at right now."
Throughout the Major Leagues this week teams have had all sorts of ceremonies to commemorate Opening Day. In Philadelphia they raised their new World Series banner and had a ring ceremony, and in Boston they had the Red Sox players enter the playing field through the stands at Fenway Park.
Not being one to ever keep his thoughts to himself, Papelbon has a new web-only interview he does on Boston's Comcast SportsNet, and he used the inaugural episode to complain about the dangers of walking and mingling with his fans.
Dan Haren has been awful this spring. Adam Jones is raking, as is Chris Shelton. Michael Bourn has been a completely worthless hitter. Of the above players, two have stat-lines that matter, and two have ones that don't.
You see, judging spring training stat-lines in fantasy baseball can be helpful, but you don't want to get too caught up in it. After all, the games are meaningless. Most established veterans are just going through the motions in attempt to get their body ready for the real season. For them, the stat-lines are meaningless. Thus, I don't care that Haren has sucked thus far. I'd still draft him with confidence.
Let's take a deeper look at a when they matter, when they don't, and why.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
Starting Five
NEW YORK -- It still seems weird, if you can remember back before it all changed -- back before "Cowboy Up" and Aaron Boone and the Idiots and the Bloody Sock and all that went down between the Yankees and the Red Sox right around the middle part of this decade. If you can remember back that far, it feels weird that the Red Sox have become the model franchise and the Yankees are just yapping at their heels, trying their best to become everything their rivals already are.
It's always nice to know how secure a closer's job is and who's next in line if somebody loses their 9th inning job. Each week 
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Red Sox are still trying to figure out what they've got in 
Throughout the Major Leagues this week teams have had all sorts of ceremonies to commemorate Opening Day. In Philadelphia they raised their new World Series banner and had a ring ceremony, and in Boston they had the Red Sox players enter the playing field through the stands at Fenway Park.
