The next post is gonna be the start of the new season! Here's to a successful season and a World Championship!
:)
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The next post is gonna be the start of the new season! Here's to a successful season and a World Championship!
:)
April 2
Blue Jays (0-0) @ Red Sox (0-0)
Blue Jays 3 - Red Sox 6
Always good to open the season with a win, especially at home! Clemens pitched well, going six innings and allowing three on six hits while striking out six. The only mistake he made was giving up a bases loaded double to Delgado in the third. Bonds was 0-4 with a walk and an RBI in his Boston debut, and Nomar collected two hits in four at-bats, with an RBI.
WP - Roger Clemens (1-0)
LP - Juan Guzman (0-1)
SV - Rich Garces (1)
HR - Brad Ausmus (1)
April 3
Blue Jays (0-1) @ Red Sox (1-0)
Blue Jays 7 - Red Sox 8
Two in a row to open the season! Radke goes six and allows four runs on six hits, including two homers, but it was just enough to earn the wins. Olerud had a great game, going 3-4 with 4 RBI's. Bonds went hitless again, but walked twice and scored.
WP - Brad Radke (1-0)
LP - Roy Halladay (0-1)
SV - Rich Garces (2)
HR - N/A
April 4
Blue Jays (0-2) @ Red Sox (2-0)
Blue Jays 2 - Red Sox 8
A season-opening sweep of the Jays! Can't complain about that! Suppan pitched a beautiful game, going 7 2/3 innings and allowing only one run on five hits. We were held hitless into the sixth inning by Hentgen, but we exploded for eight runs in the final three innings. Boone and Nixon went back-to-back in the sixth to end the no-hitter, and Bonds got his first Red Sox hit.
WP - Jeff Suppan (1-0)
LP - Pat Hentgen (0-1)
SV - Mike Stanton (1)
HR - Bret Boone (1), Trot Nixon (1)
Thoughts: I certainly can't complain about a season opening sweep now can I! We played very, very well in that series, and the only thing that even made it close was the bullpen giving up runs in the first and second games. Our biggest off-season acquisition, Barry Bonds, struggled in the first series (1-9, .111 BA), but it's only three games and it'd be wise to bet that it doesn't last too long.
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AROUND THE REST OF THE LEAGUE
The New York Yankees win two of their first three games in the National League. Bernie Williams homered twice in the series, and Raines is batting .625 through the first three games. Gooden also threw a complete game shutout in the second game of the series, striking out nine in the process.
Interestingly, the National League West is a combined 1-10. The one win was LA's season opening win over the Expos. Don't think I've ever seen anything quite like that since I've started playing this game.
(I kinda liked doing this with the playoffs this past season, so I think I'm gonna include with probably every update from now on. There will probably be anywhere from 2-6 little notes like this every time.)
April 6
White Sox (3-0) @ Red Sox (3-0)
White Sox 1 - Red Sox 8
Bonds suffered through another poor game, going 0-4 with a walk. Fortunately we got fantastic games out of Nomar and Rondell White, though. Both of them went 3-5 with two RBI's, with Rondell scoring two runs and Nomar scoring one. Moyer threw a gem as well, allowing just one run over 7 1/3 innings on six hits.
WP - Jamie Moyer (1-0)
LP - Wilson Alvarez (0-1)
SV - Stan Belinda (1)
HR - N/A
April 7
White Sox (3-1) @ Red Sox (4-0)
White Sox 1 - Red Sox 3
Never thought I'd start out the season 5-0, that's for damn sure! Clemens threw another gem, going 7 1/3 innings and allowing just one run and striking out five. The big hit of the game came when Jeff Cirillo hit a bases-loaded single to plate Bret Boone and Jeff Olerud.
WP - Roger Clemens (2-0)
LP - Erik Hanson (0-1)
SV - Rich Garces (3)
HR - N/A
April 8
White Sox (3-2) @ Red Sox (5-0)
White Sox 1 - Red Sox 3
Rondell White started things off hot to help us win six in a row to start the season. He ripped a ball in the gap that turned into an inside-the-park home run. Oh, and stop me if you've heard this before, but Radke threw a complete game. In the nine innings he allowed just one run on five hits and one walk, and struck out five.
WP - Brad Radke (2-0)
LP - Kevin Tapani (1-1)
SV - N/A
HR - Rondell White (1)
Thoughts: WOW, SIX AND ZERO! This season literally could not have gotten off to a better start! The only that's keeping me from unbridled excitement over this start is the fact that I've been concerned about the competitive balance in my league, and a 6-0 start doesn't exactly make me feel good about that, haha. At any rate, Bonds is still struggling like hell to get hits, batting just .150 on the season. Luckily he's still drawing walks (he's got six of them, which is twice as many hits as he has) and getting on base. Olerud and Nixon are picking up the slack for him at the moment, as both of them have OPS over 1.000 and five or more RBI's.
NIXON'S SEASON LINE
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OLERUD'S SEASON LINE
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AROUND THE LEAGUE
MARLINS, PADRES, CUBS, AND PIRATES ALL LOCK UP PITCHERS
The Marlins, Padres, Cubs, and Pirates all came to contract extensions with some of their better starting pitchers. Florida signed Kevin Brown to a five-year extension at 3.60 million dollars per season, while Pittsburgh signed Jon Lieber to a three-year extension at 2 million per season. Trachsel resigned with the Cubs for three years at 2.35 million per season, and San Diego signed Joey Hamilton for two years at 1.35 million.
NL EAST ON FIRE
The National League East features three one-loss teams, and the two with more than one loss are both only one game below .500. The Yankees lead the division at 6-1, with the Braves and Phillies sitting a half game back at 5-1, and Florida and Montreal bringing up the rear at 3-4.
RANGERS START SEASON HOT
The Rangers are currently leading the AL West with a record of 6-1, good for 1.5 games over the 4-2 Mariners. A big reason for their hot start is the play of left fielder Juan Gonzalez. Gonzalez is hitting an astounding .467/.529/.967/1.496, and has already hit five homers and driven in 18 runs.
RED SOX STARTERS KEEPING OPPOSING BATTERS AT BAY
The Red Sox have enjoyed unprecedented success from their starters at this early stage of the season. The starters are a combined 6-0 and the highest ERA on the staff is Radke's 3.00. They're enjoying a league best rotation ERA of 2.28, and none of the starters have allowed more than four earned runs in a start this season. They've combined to give up just 11 runs in roughly 33 innings of work.
Probably no updates again this weekend, guys. I'm going home to see my girlfriend this weekend for Valentine's Day.
April 10
Red Sox (6-0) @ Pirates (1-5)
Red Sox 5 - Pirates 13
The Pirates hand us our first loss of the season in rather embarassing fashion. Jeff Suppan actually started this game well, allowing only one hit through the first four innings, but he imploded in the fifth and allowed seven runs in the inning. All told he went 4 2/3 and allowed seven runs on seven. The bullpen didn't fare any better as Mike Stanton and Heathcliff Slocumb combined to go an inning and allow six runs on nine hits. We did get to Denny Neagle for five runs in the first three innings, but Paul Wagner shut us down the rest of the way, pitching six innings of two-hit shutout baseball.
WP - Paul Wagner (1-0)
LP - Jeff Suppan (1-1)
SV - N/A
HR - Bret Boone (2)
April 11
Red Sox (6-1) @ Pirates (2-5)
Red Sox 6 - Pirates 15
Another embarassing loss at the hands of the Pirates. On the bright side Bonds bat seems to be getting started, as he went 3-5 with two runs and his first home run of the season. On the negative side, basically everything else. We had plenty of scoring opportunities (we had 12 hits and drew five walks) but failed to capitalize on them, and the pitchers got throttled.
WP - Esteban Loaiza (1-2)
LP - Jamie Moyer (1-1)
SV - N/A
HR - John Olerud (1), Barry Bonds (1), Nomar Garciaparra (1)
April 12
Red Sox (6-2) @ Pirates (3-5)
Red Sox 4 - Pirates 9
Well there goes the 6-0 start I suppose. The pitchers got taken out behind the woodshed again, Clemens allowed four earned (and one unearned) runs in three innings, and the bullpen allowed four in the final six innings. Zane Smith pitched decently, only four runs over seven innings, but we had trouble getting the big hit again as we collected ten hits in the game.
WP - Zane Smith (2-0)
LP - Roger Clemens (2-1)
SV - Francisco Cordova (1)
HR - N/A
Thoughts: Our hot start got turned around about as quickly as it got started. The Pirates really took us out behind the woodshed in this series, outscoring us approximately 35-15. It was largely due to poor play by the rotation. One positive we can take away from the series is that Bonds is starting to hit like he's capable of. In the series he was 6-11 with five runs, a double, his first homer of the season, two RBI's, and two walks. He raised his season line to .290/.436/.419/.855.
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AROUND THE LEAGUE
BLUE JAYS AGREE TO MASSIVE DEAL WITH DELGADOThe Blue Jays agreed to a huge contract with their young star slugger Carlos Delgado. The deal is good for five years (through 2001) at 4.9 million dollars per season. The contract ties Delgado for the highest salary in baseball with White Sox first baseman Frank Thomas.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/8...enhunter1q.jpgPadres left fielder Rickey Henderson recently reached a significant milestone in his career, collecting hit #2,500. Henderson is already a sure-fire Hall-of-Famer, but if he's able to play a couple more seasons at a serviceable level he's got a really solid shot at 3,000 career hits.
FUTURE HALL-OF-FAMER HENDERSON REACHES HIT MILESTONE
April 13
Red Sox (6-3) @ Orioles (3-6)
Red Sox 8 - Orioles 5
Brad Radke helps us get off the schenid by throwing seven solid innings of four run baseball. Olerud and Bonds got the job done at the plate. Olerud went 2-5 with a homer and three RBI's, and Bonds went 1-3 with two walks, a homer, and three runs.
WP - Brad Radke (3-0)
LP - David Wells (2-1)
SV - Rich Garces (4)
HR - John Olerud (2), Barry Bonds (2)
April 14
Red Sox (7-3) @ Orioles (3-7)
Red Sox 3 - Orioles 5
Jeff Suppan started the game well again, but imploded in the last inning and allowed the winning runs to score. All told he went 6 1/3, allowed four earned runs (five total) on six hits. Scott Erickson did a very good job of keeping our bats quiet, allowing just three runs over seven innings on six hits and two walks.
WP - Scott Erickson (1-0)
LP - Jeff Suppan (1-2)
SV - Arthur Rhodes (1)
HR - N/A
April 15
Red Sox (7-4) @ Orioles (4-7)
Red Sox 11 - Orioles 3
The offense really came to play in this game. The only player who didn't get at least one hit was Bonds, and even he walked twice and scored one. Nomar went 4-5 with a double and a homer, and we also got homers from Jeff Cirillo, Bret Boone, Barry Larkin, and Rondell White. Moyer also had a good start, going seven innings and allowing only two runs while striking out seven.
WP - Jamie Moyer (2-1)HTML Code:BOSTON ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
B. Larkin (SS) 6 2 0 2 1 2 1 0 .191
R. White (CF) 6 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 .340
N. Garciaparra (DH) 5 4 0 1 1 2 0 0 .340
B. Bonds (LF) 4 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 .238
J. Olerud (1B) 5 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 .409
B. Boone (2B) 4 2 1 2 1 1 2 0 .273
T. Nixon (RF) 5 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 .308
J. Cirillo (3B) 4 1 1 2 1 2 0 0 .333
B. Ausmus (C) 5 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 .190
TOTALS 44 16 5 11 5 10 8 0
2B: B. Boone (4), B. Larkin (3), N. Garciaparra (2)
HR: B. Boone (3), J. Cirillo (1), B. Larkin (1), R. White (2), N. Garciaparra (2)
HBP: N. Garciaparra
BOSTON ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
J. Moyer 7.0 7 2 1 2 2 7 119 4.42
S. Belinda 2.0 1 0 0 1 0 3 37 2.45
TOTALS 9.0 8 2 1 3 2 10 156
LP - Sidney Ponson (0-2)
SV - N/A
HR - Bret Boone (3), Jeff Cirillo (1), Barry Larkin (1), Rondell White (2), Nomar Garciaparra (2)
Thoughts: We're 8-4, and yet we're still sitting two games back of the Indians. Oh the joys of playing in the same division as that formidable line-up. We'll have a chance to make up some ground on them soon, however; we're playing them for three games in Cleveland from the 24th-26th of April. Before then we've got six home games, three against the Jays and three against the Mets.
Just when I think Bonds is starting to hit, he proves me wrong. He was only 1-11 in the series against the Orioles. Fortunately he's still getting his walks, though. He walked four times against the Orioles and now has 12 on the season. Once he starts to hit like he's capable of our lineup is going to be very, very formidable.
In the mean time, the combination of Nomar, Rondell, and Olerud are getting the job done. They've combined for six homers, 31 RBI's, and a line of .363/.423/.559/.982.
RONDELL WHITE
NOMAR GARCIAPARRA
JOHN OLERUD
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AROUND THE LEAGUE
JUAN GONE CONTINUING TORRID PACE
A few days ago I wrote about how Gonzalez was hitting a baseball with the authority that Robocop exerts on criminals. Well he hasn't stopped hitting like that. He's hitting .397/.453/.862 with nine homers and 26 RBI's in only 13 games. That means he's averaging nearly a homer per game and two RBI's a game, which in my opinion is rather unpredecented. Obviously he can't keep it up like this all season, but it'll be interesting to see if he just completely falls off the face of the earth, or if he's able to keep up an MVP level performance. His Rangers still lead the AL West by 1/2 game over the Mariners.
EASTERN DIVISIONS SHAPING UP STRONG
If things continue as they have the first two weeks of the season, we will have two very intriguing and fun season long playoff races in the AL and NL Eastern divisions. The AL East is currently led by the AL-best Cleveland Indians at 10-2, but the Red Sox aren't far behind at 8-4, and neither are the Blue Jays at 7-6. The NL East is even more exciting, with all the teams having a .500 or better record currently. The Yankees lead the division at 11-2, Atlanta is just behind them at 9-4, and Philly, Montreal, and Florida bring up the read at 8-5, 8-6, and 7-7 respectively.
April 17
Blue Jays (7-6) @ Red Sox (8-4)
Blue Jays 1 - Red Sox 7
Woody Williams practically handed this game to us on a silver platter. In just five innings of work he gave up 10 hits, three homers, three walks, and seven runs to us. The Barry's were the biggest contributors at the plate. Larkin went 4-5 with a grand slam and a steal, while Bonds went 1-3 with a walk and a two run homer. Clemens did his part too, pitching seven innings of one-run ball.
WP - Roger Clemens (3-1)
LP - Woody Williams (2-1)
SV - N/A
HR - Bret Boone (4), Barry Larkin (2), Barry Bonds (3)
April 18
Blue Jays (7-7) @ Red Sox (9-4)
Blue Jays 1 - Red Sox 14
Radke gave us one of his characteristically long, strong starts. He threw a complete game and allowed just one run, which was on a Carlos Delgado solo homer in the 4th, and struck out six. He threw only 89 pitches in this complete game! We really went nuts offensively too. Rondell went 3-5 with two homers and five RBI's, Bonds went 2-4 with two RBI's, and Olerud went 1-4 with a three run homer.
WP - Brad Radke (4-0)HTML Code:BOSTON ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
B. Larkin (SS) 4 1 1 3 0 0 1 0 .250
R. White (CF) 5 3 0 3 2 5 1 0 .333
N. Garciaparra (DH) 3 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 .350
B. Bonds (LF) 4 2 1 2 0 2 1 0 .265
J. Olerud (1B) 4 1 1 2 1 3 2 0 .385
B. Boone (2B) 5 2 0 0 0 2 3 0 .283
T. Nixon (RF) 5 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 .354
J. Cirillo (3B) 5 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .298
B. Ausmus (C) 4 3 0 2 0 0 1 0 .224
TOTALS 39 16 4 14 3 14 12 0
2B: B. Bonds (2)
HR: J. Olerud (3), R. White 2 (4)
HBP: N. Garciaparra
BOSTON ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
B. Radke 9.0 4 1 1 1 1 6 89 2.90
TOTALS 9.0 4 1 1 1 1 6 89
LP - Juan Guzman (0-3)
SV - N/A
HR - John Olerud (3), Rondell White 2 (4)
April 19
Blue Jays (7-8) @ Red Sox (10-4)
Blue Jays 6 - Red Sox 10
Some spotty defense nearly cost us this game. A Jeff Cirillo error with two outs on the board led to three runs, as well as Jeff Suppan being pulled after just 3 2/3 innings. Fortunately the bullpen settled in and kept us in the game long enough for the offense to let us win it. Everyone who came to bat in this game got a hit, including Bonds going 3-5 with three runs and an RBI, raising his batting average to .296. Olerud, Boone, and Nixon all drove in two runs.
WP - Mike Maddux (1-0)HTML Code:BOSTON ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
B. Larkin (SS) 5 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 .246
R. White (CF) 5 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 .338
N. Garciaparra (DH) 5 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 .338
B. Bonds (LF) 5 3 0 3 0 1 1 0 .296
J. Olerud (1B) 4 3 0 1 0 2 0 0 .411
B. Boone (2B) 3 2 0 2 0 2 0 0 .304
T. Nixon (RF) 4 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 .346
J. Cirillo (3B) 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .300
B. Ausmus (C) 3 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 .231
TOTALS 37 15 2 10 0 9 3 0
2B: B. Boone (5), B. Larkin (5), B. Bonds (3), R. White (3), T. Nixon (4)
GIDP: T. Nixon
BOSTON ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
J. Suppan 3.2 7 0 1 6 3 3 65 6.04
H. Slocumb 0.0 1 1 0 0 0 0 9 9.64
B. Shouse 2.1 1 0 0 0 0 1 24 0.00
M. Maddux 2.0 0 1 0 0 0 2 32 10.38
R. Garces 1.0 1 1 0 0 0 2 24 1.42
TOTALS 9.0 10 3 1 6 3 8 154
LP - Tim Crabtree (1-1)
SV - N/A
HR - N/A
Thoughts: Our sweep over the Blue Jays pulls us into a two-way tie for first place in the East with the Indians. Hopefully we can beat the Mets up like we did the Blue Jays. That shouldn't be too hard considering the Mets are 3-13 and have a team ERA of 5.33, but if we can do that we might be able to take the lead from the Indians, and hopefully we'll play well head-to-head and put a nice gap between us in the standings.
Bonds may actually be starting to hit now. His season line stands at .296/.441/.519/.960, and in his last ten games he's hitting .378/.500/.703/1.203. If nothing else we can depend on him to get on base via walks. He's currently tied with California's Jim Edmonds for the league lead in times walked with 14.
Brad Radke is looking like an early Cy Young candidate. He's 4-0 with an ERA of 2.90. He's walked only six and struck out 23 in a league leading 31 innings pitched. He also ranks in the top ten in the American League in opposing batting average, opposing OPS, and opposing on-base percentage.
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AROUND THE LEAGUE
Nothing interesting to report about, so I'll just show you the full league standings.
One thing of note, and a couple questions for my loyal readers.
These "AROUND THE LEAGUE" things I've started doing with every update are probably gonna replace the Monthly Updates I was doing. I pretty much key in on the things I would with the monthly updates, and there's no point in me repeating myself and posting it twice. The things from the monthly update I will still be doing are the Clemens and Nomar update, and the team stats/leaders update. I also may still do the league leaders because I don't talk about that too much. But no more standings, transactions, milestones, etc. for monthly updates.
First question: Do you like the new addition to the regular updates? The new addition being the aforementioned "AROUND THE LEAGUE" part.
Second question: What things do you think I can/should improve on? For example, would you like me to key in on Nomar and Clemens a little more? Am I posting too frequently? Things like that.
Third question: What do you think of my writing/writing style? Is it too predictable or anything like that, for example?
Fourth question: Do you think I went through the off season too quickly? Also, did you think the trades I made were unfair, or do you think I made too many of them?
#1: Yes, the league updates are nice to see.
#2: Yes, the theme of the dynasty is to profile Nomar and Clemens. So as nice as the league updates are, if they're going to take away from hearing about Nomar/Clemens, then it's not worth it. I would think standings/big happenings would suffice in that department.
#3: No, nothing bad about the writing, but the whole Valentine's and going home to the woman was kind of predictable ;)
#4: Yes, I actually thought you went WAY too fast. I like taking the off-season slow and really profiling what my team is doing. As soon as the off-season ends, what's your team looking to add/subtract this winter? If you run a Rule V Draft, what were the results? How about a Top 10 Prospects list or something of that nature? And etc...
I think you're doing fine. The only problem I have is that mostly all of your pictures come up as Red Xs
Thanks for the criticisms. Now let me address them.Quote:
Originally Posted by mattynokes
1. Okay, good I'm glad people are liking them
2. This is something I'm having a hard time with. I know I should focus more on Clemens and Nomar, but I'm having a somewhat difficult time figuring out exactly how to do so. Any suggestions in that department are more than appreciated.
EDIT: Actually, just came up with an idea in regards to this one. I'll make a post about it very shortly.
3. Haha, I meant predictability in regards to the writing, but whatever :p. The only reason I've had time to write on this at all this weekend is because the woman is sick and so we haven't spent as much time together as we normally would.
4. I kinda thought I went too fast too, but I didn't know what else to do. I did do the add/subtract thing, but beyond that I wasn't sure where to go. Those are some good ideas that implement in the future though. The top prospects and Rule V thing that is. I've also been trying to find this old winterball program I remember having in the first online league I played in three or four years ago. But I haven't had any luck.
I don't think there's anything I can do about that for you, sounds like it's probably something to do with your browser or something :-\. Unless someone else is having similar difficulties. If so, please let me know so I can get to the root of the problem.Quote:
Originally Posted by rockiesfan4ever
I NEED YOUR HELP!
I don't think I'm focusing on the focal points of this dynasty enough (the focal points being Nomar and Clemens), and I need your help with that! What I want to do is do a sort of mailbag/interview/questionnaire thing directed at the main characters, Nomar and Clemens, and that's where you, my readers, come in. I want the majority of these questions to come from you. I'll ask questions of my own occasionally, but I think it would be much better if they came from you! Obviously I'll be writing the answers, and I'll be writing it from the perspective as if I were one of them. It'd be like if you were a journalist interviewing them at a post-game news conference or in the club house before or after a game. I'd like to do this on a regular basis, but it depends on the volume of questions I receive so it'll probably be fairly random.
Anyways, just PM the questions you want to ask Nomar and/or Clemens to me. Or you can even get on AIM and IM me and I'll make a note of what the question was and who asked it and then at the next "press conference" it'll be included!
Oh, and by the way, feel free to submit any number of questions at a time.Quote:
Originally Posted by YEAH DAAAAWG
Just thought I'd throw out some example questions too ;).
EX:
What do you think your team needs are?
What would you like to see the front office address in the draft?
What do you think of the way you've been playing of late?
What do you think of your chances in the postseason?
etc.
Also, I've decided that this is going to take the personage of a Press Conference type environment. So you guys will essentially be reporters asking these questions to the players after a game, so you'll need names for your reporters. You can either come up with them on your own, or I'll make something up. For example, RF4E submitted a question already and the name I'd probably use for him would be something like Rocky F. Evers IV.
April 20
Mets (3-13) @ Red Sox (11-4)
Mets 1 - Red Sox 2
This game featured quite the pitching duel between two unlikely guys. On our side Moyer went eight innings and gave up just one run on three hits, struck out nine, and didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning. As for them, Paul Byrd also went eight innings, for the complete game, and allowed just two runs on eight hits and struck out six. Nomar had an RBI in spite of going hitless, while Bret Boone went 2-4 with an RBI and Bonds and Larkin scored the runs.
WP - Jamie Moyer (3-1)
LP - Paul Byrd (0-3)
SV - Rich Garces (5)
HR - N/A
April 21
Mets (3-14) @ Red Sox (12-4)
Mets 3 - Red Sox 6
Clemens put in a solid seven innings to earn his fourth win of the season. Over those seven innings he allowed three runs on six hits and a walk, and struck out four batters. Nomar went hitless (again), but scored a run. The rest of the offense had his back, too. Rondell went 3-5 with two runs and Bonds went 1-3 with a two-RBI single and two walks
WP - Roger Clemens (4-1)
LP - Cory Lidle (0-4)
SV - Rich Garces (6)
HR - N/A
April 22
Mets (3-15) @ Red Sox (13-4)
Mets 6 - Red Sox 5
Ahhh, just a couple runs from a(nother) sweep! We were able to get to Rick Reed early (4 ER in 3 2/3 innings), but the bullpen really shut us down, especially the guy who got the win. Mark Fyhrie went 3 1/3 PERFECT innings. Nomar had a good game at the plate, going 3-5 with a run scored, but it was for naught.
WP - Mark Fyhrie (1-0)
LP - Mike Stanton (0-1)
SV - John Franco (1)
HR - John Olerud (4)
Thoughts: We're still tied for first at 13-5 going into our series with the Indians. We're pretty evenly matched right now. We're both 7-3 in our last ten games and we've both got our #3/#4/#5 guys going in the series (potentially #3/#4/#1 because we both have an off day right before the series). One major difference, though, is how we've been winning. We've been doing it with hitting, as we've got a team line of .307/.378/.478/.856 to their .263/.339/.433/.772. They've been doing with pitching as they've got a team ERA of 3.09 to our 4.27.
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AROUND THE LEAGUE
NL EAST, AL WEST FEATURING TIGHT RACES
The NL East and AL West are shaping up to be the two most exciting divisions in baseball this season. In the AL West the Mariners recently took the lead over from the Rangers and are 12-6, but even now the Rangers are only 1.5 back at 11-8, and due to going 7-3 in their last ten games the Rockies have thrown their hat in the ring and also sit 1.5 back at 11-8 with the Rangers. And in the NL East we have the Braves and Yankees tied at an MLB best 14-5, and the Phillies are just 1.5 back at 13-7.
TIM BELK HITS FOR CYCLE
An unlikely fellow here. Belk is rated at just 63/65, but somehow managed to get on the field for the Reds long enough to hit for the cycle. Belk even did it the natural way, singling in the first, doubling in the second, tripling in the fifth, and homering in the seventh.
OAKLAND MULLING OPTIONS WITH #1 PICK
With the Amateur Draft just about six weeks away the A's are mulling the options they have with the #1 pick. Potential targets have reportedly been young lefty Johan Santana, righty Brandon Webb, third basemen Garrett Atkins, and center fielder Cory Sullivan.