| Rk |
Team |
Overall W-L
|
Week W-L
|
Hit List Factor
|
|
Comment |
1
|
Indians |
24-13
|
2-2
|
.596
|
|
Singin' in the Rain: GM Chris Antonetti's plan bears fruit as the Indians stay atop the AL Hit List during a week in which they only play four games due to consecutive rainouts. A pair of 5-4 victories bookend the quartet: each features a home run by Michael Brantley, now batting .298/.372/.412 while playing mostly center field. The pitching remains uncertain, as it can't hold opponents to fewer than four runs in any game. |
2
|
Yankees |
20-18
|
1-5
|
.577
|
|
With Home Games Like These, Who Needs Away Games? The Yankees get swept at home by the Red Sox, allowing the latter to claw within a single game of them in the standings. Jorge Posada pulls himself from a lineup that would have seen him batting ninth, but quickly apologizes and takes a walk off the bench the next day. For Posada, like the Yankees, expect bounceback: his unseemly .165 batting average comes with a more robust 13 percent walk rate and .184 slugging percentage. A home rivalry series in which the Yankees pencil in both Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia is an unpredictable barometer. |
3
|
Rays |
23-17
|
3-3
|
.569
|
|
Tampa Bay Lightning: The Rays take a series from the list-leading Indians just prior to dropping one to the list-trailing Orioles. At two games, their AL East lead is large as it has been all season. Since dropping eight of their first nine, the Rays are 22-9. With Evan Longoria (four XBH on the week) back in the lineup—and the star of a new Astroturf-style viral video—the Rays are clearly over their early woes. The mystery remains: why haven't they had better attendance or TV numbers? |
4
|
Red Sox |
20-20
|
4-2
|
.552
|
|
Now Cooking With Gas: The Red Sox put their noses on .500 for the first time since, well, Opening Day. They are still underwater in run differential (173-179), but with fancy starts from Josh Beckett (6.0 4 0 0 2 9) and, well, Josh Beckett (7.0 6 0 0 1 5) the Red Sox at least have an ace. What they don't have is an answer to the John Lackey (6.2 9 9 9 5 1) nine-car pile up. Adrian Gonzalez remains the catalyst on offense, as he hits five home runs on the week, giving him eight in May after just one in April. |
5
|
Angels |
22-19
|
2-4
|
.550
|
|
LAA LAA Land: The Angels drop two out of three to the Rangers, now just a half game back in the standings. Dan Haren is the stopper yet again (7.2 6 2 2 0 5), while Joel Pineiro's return continues apace (7.2 8 2 2 1 5). The rest is mostly forgettable, beyond the odd box-score oddity (see Tyler Chatwood's 6.1 8 1 1 3 0). The bullpen is largely to blame for the team's faltering week, as they blow another two games. Erick Aybar does his best to provide breathing room: he's up to .351/.370/.491 with ten stolen bases. |
6
|
Tigers |
22-18
|
5-0
|
.547
|
|
Nothing Short of an Act of God: The only force strong enough to stop the Tigers is rain, as they're now riding a seven-game winning streak; it pleasantly offsets their losing streak of the same length from two weeks ago. A rainout gives the team a free day of rest for Jose Valverde, who saves three straight going into Sunday and now sports 20 strikeouts and a 1.50 ERA in his 18 innings. Jhonny Peralta is the highlight of the offense—he's in the midst of a 10-game hit streak in which he's hit .441/.500/.882 and raised his OPS nearly 200 points. |
7
|
Rangers |
21-19
|
3-2
|
.537
|
|
All-DL Outfield: A box score ghost is reborn, as Chris Davis makes consecutive starts and hits a home run and a game winning RBI in the second of the two. The entire opening day outfield is now on the DL, as Julio Borbon joins Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz on the shelf. The Alexi Ogando experiment continues to reward creative thinking (6.1 5 1 1 1 5): the converted reliever now sports a robust 3.2 K/BB ratio that is better than his mark in the bullpen last year. |
8
|
Athletics |
20-20
|
2-3
|
.531
|
|
Unearned: The Athletics live and die with Trevor Cahill, and his two starts demonstrate the promise (7.0 5 1 1 1 7) and the frustration (7.0 10 4 2 2 1) of the young hurler. The difference might appear to be lousy defense, as the A's rank 23rd in PADE so far this year. Cahill's unearned runs, however, result from his own throwing error, suggesting he may have found a second reliable way to post an ERA considerably lower than RA (besides, you know, just being a ground ball pitcher). Daric Barton boasts an above-average on-base percentage (.331) despite a Mendoza-line-flirting batting average (.213). |
9
|
Blue Jays |
20-20
|
5-1
|
.531
|
|
Literally Anywhere but Middle-In: Pitchers continue to throw inside fastballs to Jose Bautista, he has a three-home-run game, dog bites man. Most surprising is that one homer is to opposite field. Winners of five straight, the Jays get a fine pitching performance from Ricky Romero (8.2 4 0 0 3 8) but rely mostly on their bats: the team puts up nine runs or more three times on the week. Yunel Escobar (10-21 with six walks) sets the table well for the big bats. |
10
|
Royals |
20-19
|
2-3
|
.499
|
|
Hosmeric Epic: A young Eric Hosmer leads the Royals to a series win over the Yankees with home runs on consecutive nights, but the team squanders its three-game lead on the ghost car of .500 by dropping two to the resurgent Tigers. What strange fate it would be for the team's new young hero to be stuck in a season not of abject failure but of thoroughgoing mediocrity. Hosmer's fatal flaw may be his inability to pitch, as the Royals bring a Luke Hochevar (6.0 7 3 3 3 3) to a Justin Verlander fight. In case other rookies are introduced in the next week, Ned Yost wants to be on record as antiprotectionist. |
11
|
White Sox |
17-24
|
4-2
|
.477
|
|
Massage Therapy: Jake Peavy returns to the struggling White Sox and gives credit to his massage therapist for his relatively smooth return from shoulder injury. His first start back isn't flawless (6.0 7 4 4 0 4 in 87 pitches), but it proves enough for the White Sox offense, which otherwise struggles (just 3.7 runs per game). |
12
|
Orioles |
19-20
|
5-1
|
.468
|
|
Signs of Life: J.J. Hardy returns from the DL and gets right to work, capped by a four-RBI game out of the nine-hole. Nick Markakis looks alive and kicking too, as he chips in a home run to bring his season OPS (.657) to its highest mark in a month. The team's pitchers are locked in a duel to one-up each other, as Brad Bergesen (9.0 4 0 0 1 5) matches Zach Britton's phenomenal effort (9.0 3 0 0 0 5). The former may, in part, be motivated by a desire to remain in the rotation once Brian Matusz returns from the DL. Despite the promise, the team still has a negative-20 run differential. |
13
|
Mariners |
16-23
|
0-4
|
.448
|
|
We Hardly Knew Him: Milton Bradley leaves Seattle as much of an enigma as he entered. His departure marks an end of Mariner patience with his particular aesthetic, but it does not mark an end to Mariner offensive futility. The team's Tuesday loss in Baltimore represents just the seventh time all year the M's have scored six runs. With bats like those and Brandon League (now sporting a 7.31 ERA) blowing saves on consecutive nights, there isn't much room for error from the starters. |
14
|
Twins |
12-26
|
0-6
|
.328
|
|
Unmitigated: There is no sugar coating. The Twins' third-order record is 7-30, good for a .193 win percentage. An 11-3 drubbing in Toronto runs the losing streak to eight games; the team is now 12.5 games out of first place. It is May. It takes more than just bullpen changes to turn a ship this lousy around. To add a deeper dimension to the sadness, fans come to grips with the announcement Harmon Killebrew's cancer has progressed beyond the help of modern medicine. The Killer played on some bad Twins teams, but not many. |
