After Monday's 6-3 win over the Indians that kept the Twins hanging on the edge of the AL Central division race, Ron Gardenhire began his post-game press conference by announcing that first baseman Justin Morneau is done for the season because of a stress fracture in his back. Short of an injury to Joe Mauer, this was the worst news the Twins could receive at this point in the season.
The Twins sit at exactly .500, 5 1/2 games behind Detroit for first place in the Central. With just 18 games remaining, a comeback would have been a tall task even with Morneau in the lineup. Without him and his 30 homers, 100 RBIs, and .878 OPS, it seems nearly impossible.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That in a little over 24 hours the Rangers went from in the hunt for the AL wild card to hanging on by a thread. Texas split a doubleheader with the Mariners Sunday and dropped two of three to Seattle over the weekend.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox -- the team the Rangers are chasing -- swept the reeling Rays, who have now lost 11 straight, including taking both games of a day-night doubleheader at Fenway Park.
Boston doubled its lead in the race -- from two games to four -- with 20 games remaining for each team.
Colorado downed Cincinnati 5-1 with a five-run third inning and six scoreless innings from its bullpen after starter Jose Contreras suffered a strained quadriceps running to first base.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
It must be nice being a Phillies pitcher.
The Philly sluggers put 12 runs on the board in yesterday's game against the Diamond- backs, giving them a total of 25 runs scored in the three-game sweep. Joe Blanton went eight innings and allowed three runs, which is going to be enough to earn a W on most nights when you're on the same team as these hitters. The team has now won eight of their last nine games and look to be the favorites to repeat as NL champions.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... Jamie Moyer can still win games.
Moyer bristled when the Phillies demoted him to the bullpen in favor of Pedro Martinez, and when a rain delay Tuesday forced Martinez from his start against the Diamondbacks, Moyer took over when play resumed in the fourth inning for his first outing since the decision.
He went the rest of the way, allowing two hits and striking out five in six scoreless innings and earning his first relief win since May 15, 1996, for the Red Sox. (That day he worked two innings in relief of Tom Gordon.)
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Sure, he gave up a home run to Joey Votto on Sunday, but that's about all the Cincinnati Reds got facing the Cubs' Rich Harden.
For Harden this was his third consecutive start where he showed the potential of being a front-line ace. He struck out eight in only six innings and that home run was the only hit and only run he allowed the Reds in route to earning his seventh win.
Over his last three starts Harden has struck out 21 while walking only two batters in 19 innings. His ERA over this time is 0.47 and he has two wins to show for great pitching.
This is the first time in 2009 Harden has put together this kind of run. He's been able, on a number of occasions, to put two good starts together, but never three as he seems to get shelled every time he's about to take that next step towards becoming the solid number one guy the Cubs desperately need him to be.
MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.
Big ups to Prez for taking the PR reigns over while I was off last week. But we're back in the saddle, fresh out of the All-Star break and ready to incite you with our rankings. Also, I should point out that this is, relatively speaking, the "home stretch." Where even the most minuscule of mini-streaks can change a team's fate. Or something like that. Anyway, let's go to the list, where we'll find out if an attack on Jack Nicholson by the Phanatic and the addition of Petey was enough to vault the Phillies into the top spot of the Week 16 MLB Power Rankings. Cue drumroll.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
No, I didn't lose a bet to Matt Snyder (although he is running roughshod over our fantasy league right now) and he hasn't stolen my log in information to write favorable posts about the Chicago Cubs. I feel it's just necessary to expound a bit about what's been happening on the north side lately.
The Cubs won their second game in a row and made it back to .500 on Thursday. They did so with a scoring barrage led by Derrek Lee. If Lee's two home runs on Thursday weren't enough foreshadowing for a breakout, imagine that we're only two games into July and Lee already has three homers and nine RBI. He had six homers and 20 RBI in June. Is Lee a 30-home run player again?
MLB Power Rankings:Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.
It's a funny thing, sometimes, to see how Power Rankings shape up over the course of the season. Just like when we started the year, there are a number of teams from one particular division sitting atop the rankings. Of course, there are plenty of surprises -- WHERE DID THE FREAKING GIANTS AND ROCKIES COME FROM?? -- and some other interesting stuff, like the fact that the Mets and Cubs just haven't been that good, which we discussed on the inaugural BaseCast recently.
After Monday's 6-3 win over the Indians that kept the Twins hanging on the edge of the AL Central division race, Ron Gardenhire began his post-game press conference by announcing that first baseman Justin Morneau is done for the season because of a stress fracture in his back. Short of an injury to Joe Mauer, this was the worst news the Twins could receive at this point in the season. 
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
