Zambrano Shoots Off His Mouth Once Again

This is basically a yearly event, but once again Carlos Zambrano has one again shot of his mouth against a teammate...

"The problem wasn't Pujols," Zambrano said. "The problem was [Theriot's] at-bat. We should have known better than this. We are playing like a Triple-A team. This is embarrassing. Embarrassing for the team and the owners. Embarrassing for the fans. Embarrassing, that's the word for this team."

"We should know that Ryan Theriot is not a good fastball hitter," Zambrano yelled after turning in the direction of Marmol's then-vacated locker. "We should know that as a team. We should play better here. We stink. That's all I've got to say."

I am actually fine with 90% of what he said. The Cubs do suck, they are playing like a AAA team and he should be pissed (6 straight losses, 11 games out of of 1st place in the NL central). The one thing I have a problem with is calling out a teammate. If you got a problem with something he did you let him know, and you try to correct it. There is no need to go to the media. This shouldn't be shocking though, Zambrano is a fucking moron. Overall though they can't be too mad with the way Zambrano is playing, he is 5-2 on the season with a 3.98 and as long as he doesn't completely explode (which is asking a lot) he shouldn't be suspended.

Peavy Back To The DL

Looks like the White Sox 6 man rotation has finally worked itself out, as Peavy looks to be heading back to the DL (shocking), this time with a strained groin. It's actually too bad, because before his outing against the Tigers he had thrown a gem (CG, 3 hit shutout against the Indians), but this guy can't seem to stay on the field. At least this time it isn't his arm, so it shouldn't be too much of a long term injury.

The guy most thankful for this? Well, that would be Mr. John Danks who really deserves to be riding the pine.

6 Sox, 3 Oakland

John Lackey did the job. It may not be the best line ever, 5.1 innings 3 earned runs, 2ks, but he got the win. I don't think many of us expect a better line than that going forward, but we will take it. John Lackey is our 4th starter, I don't care how much he's paid, as long as he doesn't give up more than 4 runs a start I don't care.

Now for people I like talking about, Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez were responsible for 5 of the 6 runs the Sox scored this afternoon. Crawford hit a 3-run home run into the bullpen in the second inning off of Brett Anderson. Then Adrian Gonzalez hit a 2 run blast into the monster 2 innings later to put the A's away for good. David Ortiz went 3-4 and is amazing, he is now hitting .325 for the season. Salty had a 3-for-4 game of his own with a triple and 2 singles.

But isn't Adrian Gonzalez the best hitter anyone has ever seen in a Sox uniform. Since I never saw Ted play, I guess the comparisons would be Manny and Wade Boggs, and they never were able to do what this guy has done thus far.

We are a game back against the Yankees heading into NY this week.

Ok Dice-K Is Gone, What Now?

As DP reported yesterday Rice-K is gone, so the question is what happens now. Well, the Sox are going to have to hope that Lackey can comeback and be solid. He doesn't have to be great, but solid (ERA under 5 and win 50%), because otherwise the Sox will be filling two spots instead of one.

As for taking Dice-K's spot, for now if will be Wake/Aceves. They can hold on to it for awhile, but I don't see either as a long term solutions for the rest of the season. The guy that is interesting is Felix Doubront. He is finally healthy again and he has a 1.59 ERA and .172 batting average against in five starts for the PawSox.

The only problem I see for Doubront is if Hill is out for the season and the Sox don't find a guy to get lefties out. Dourbount did that pretty well last year against lefties (.189 BA), so they might need him to fill that role. I would rather they find someone else, and see what this kid can do starting, but we will have to wait and see, because the other option other then the 3 I have mentioned it Milwood and none of us feel like dealing with his 82 MPH fastball.

Giants GM Brian Sabean Is A Whiny Bitch

"Why not be hard-nosed?" Sabean told the radio station. "If I never hear from Cousins again or he never plays another game in the big leagues, I think we'll all be happy."

"He chose to be a hero, in my mind, and if that's his flash of fame, that's as good as it's going to get, pal. We'll have a long memory," Sabean told KNBR. "Believe me, we've talked to (former catcher Mike) Matheny about how this game works. You can't be that out-and-out overly aggressive. I'll put it as politically as I can state it: There's no love lost and there shouldn't be (ESPN)."

It sucks you lost one of your best players, but this crying about it has to stop. There isn't anything illegal about what Cousins' did, and to go on and on about this is a joke. One top of that to come out and say you are going to get some on-field revenge is fucking stupid. All this is going to lead to is some suspensions, and if I was the MLB I would fine this guy for making comments like this. The whole MLB is making a big deal out of nothing. Yes, it sucks a very good player got hurt, but shit happens and players get run into all the time and don't get hurt. It was just bad luck..... MOVE ON.

MLB Falling Apart?

It certainly sounds that way...

"On the heels of the Dodgers' and Mets' financial problems, The Los Angeles Times reports that nine of 30 major league teams are carrying debt 10 times more than annual earnings, in violation of MLB rules. The other seven are the Orioles, Cubs, Tigers, Marlins, Phillies, Rangers and Nationals (WEEI)."

If this is true that is a really bad sign. I am really shocked to see the Phillies on that list, because of all their success and a pretty good fan base. What this all boils down to is that baseball has been a mess for a long time. As much as I love the Yankees and Red Sox buying up every great player there is going to come a time when this sport is going to need to fall in line with the rest and get a salary cap, because the cost of these players is just way too much. Sure, baseball isn't as popular, but sports go through cycles and I don't ever see it dying out. Yet, they are going to need to cut down on the massive contracts. There is no reason a player should be making 25+ million a year. Even the low level guys get paid too much. I mean a backup catcher can pull in over $3 million. That's just stupid, and something has to be done. Maybe there needs to be a serious lockout, but one day there will have to be a salary cap of some kind.

Okajima hoping for trade

With Rich Hill out Hideki Okajima would rather not be called up and instead be traded.


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Sorry Oki, but the jig is up. You're stuck here or Japan. If anyone wanted you, you would have been gone by now. You have 0 value at all and are just terrible. I have been trying to defend you, I just can't.

Sit down and shut up.

White Sox Keeping 6 Man Rotation?

"If it ain't broke, don't fix. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen apparently feels that way about his six-man rotation and may keep the unconventional alignment as long as the All-Star break, reports Doug Padilla of ESPNChicago.com.

The White Sox, who completed a three-game sweep in Boston Wednesday, have been using six starters in succession since Jake Peavy returned from the disabled list May 11 (ESPN)."

I (along with most people) thought this would fizzle out by now, but Guillen is a crazy man and seems to like it. There are some benefits of it. It keeps Buehrle from being overused, while being able to slow down the innings on Peavy's duck taped arm. Still, I am shocked they are not knocking Danks out of the rotation, as he is yet to win this year. It will be very interesting to see how long they stick with it, because there are not many teams that put 6 good starting pitchers out there every week.

I still say it's gone within the next week or two.

Dice K Needs Tommy John

Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka has elected to have Tommy John ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow and intends to inform the team of his decision when he meets with club officials this week, according to a baseball source. ESPN

This is huge news for the Red Sox who lost their pitcher to put them over the hump. The thing that sucks the most is that he tried every option before realizing he had to get this done. This may be the last time we ever see Dice K in a Sox uniform as he is a free agent after this year and the recovery time is a little over a year.

Dice K finished his Red Sox career with a 49-30 record with a 4.25 era and 568 Ks. To put that in persecutive that's a lower ERA than Josh Becketts Red Sox career era and a pretty good winning percentage to boot. I'm not going to say that the season is over, but it looks glum with this more than significant loss.

RIP Dice K

7 White Sox, 4 Red Sox

Well we were swept by the White Sox.

Wakefield pitched very well in the beginning of the game, good enough to win. The Sox even had a 3-0 lead early in the game. The wheels started to come off for Wakefield as he gave up 1 in the 4th inning, two in the 5th inning, and 1 more in the sixth. Wake was pulled after the sixth (6 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 1 K), valiant effort.

David Ortiz hit a solo shot in the bottom of the 6th to give Wakefield the no-decision. That was it for the Sox as Chicago put up 3 unanswered runs through the final 3 innings to win this one, 7-4 and pick up the 3 game sweep of Boston. The Red Sox have now lost 4 straight.... gay.

Ortiz and Pedroia were the only ones to pick up multi hit games. Rich Hill left this game in the seventh with a forearm injury to his throwing arm. Looked real bad.

White Sox @ Red Sox Preview

The Red Sox have fallen out of 1st place, and it could get worse as Wakefield goes against Gavin Floyd. Floyd has been impressive against Boston in his career going is 4-0 with a 2.81 ERA in 5 career starts against Boston, and has a 1.69 ERA in his last four. He has lost his last three road outings so hopefully Boston can finally figure him out.

In Wake's last 2 starts he has gone a total of 13 2/3 letting up only 3 ERs. He isn't very good against the White Sox in his career though (7-12 4.93), and I am kind of expecting one of those "bad" Wakefield starts today.

Boston did start crushing the ball at the end of last game, and I think it will be another high scoring affair, but I do think the White Sox are going to get enough out of Floyd to win.

White Sox win 8-7
Player of the Game: Konerko
Game starts at 1:35pm

White Sox @ Red Sox Preview

The Red Sox have lost 2 in a row, and the White Sox seem to have their number winning for the 11th time in 13 matchups against Boston. If only they could have that kind of success against the rest of the MLB, as the Sox are having a terrible year (25-31).

Alfredo Aceves takes the hill for the Red Sox, and he has been a nice surprise. In his two starts this season he has gone a total of 11 innings allowing only 2 runs. You can't ask for much more out of him, and hopefully he can keep it up tonight. On paper the White Sox should have a very good lineup. I still think they are really good even with Dunn being the worst player ever. Aceves could run into trouble as their is a ton of power throughout this lineup.

Phil Humber has been one of the biggest surprised of the season. He is is 2-1 with a 2.16 ERA in his last six starts, and is basically going to take Danks spot in the rotation. I haven't taken him seriously all season, but I am actually very interested to watch him pitch tonight. It's hard to argue with the numbers he has been putting up, but if the Red Sox are hitting on all cylinders it really doesn't matter who is on the mound.

Red Sox win 7-6
Player of the Game: Ortiz
Game starts at 7:10pm

Adam Dunn Is A Bust

There was a lot made of Crawford's struggles, yet a guy that hasn't got hammered as much as he probably should is Adam Dunn. Coming into the year I thought this guy was a lock for 40+ HRs, and we going to make the White Sox offense one of the best in the league. Yet, he hasn't even come close.

As of today Dunn is batting an anemic .181 with only five home runs scattered amongst 69 strikeouts, and it's not like it's getting any better as he 2-for-22 with 11 strikeouts and one home run in his last 7 games. I have been thinking that eventually he would turn it on, but tomorrow is June 1st, and I have seen nothing that makes me think he is going to turn it around.

Maybe it's just being part of the White Sox, as that entire team is just one giant disappointment. Danks is still winless and might be losing his spot in the rotation, the bullpen is horrid, and as of today the White Sox are 8 1/2 games back on the Indians for first place in the AL Central. That's pretty bad for one of the teams I thought would be challenging for best record in the AL. You have to wonder how much longer Guillen will keep his job.

It's Cool To Watch The Transformation Of The Royals

With Aaron Crow taking The Mexicutioner aka Joakim Soria's spot closing games for the Royals, it's real cool watching the youth movement going on in KC. Earlier this year they brought up highly touted prospect Eric Hosmer who has been killing it so far with 5 home runs and 15 rbi in 95 abs, and then they brought up one of their many top pitching prospects Danny Duffy who has been a pleasant surprise and now that Aaron Crow is taking a prominent role in the bullpen the transformation is happening.

Mike Moustakas their 3rd base prospect is waiting in triple A and their stud pitcher Mike Montgomry is their ready down in the minors too. It is real cool to see a team transform this way rather than the Red Sox/ Yankees way of just buying a team. I don't know if this will make the Royals a contender or not, but it's still cool.

7 White Sox, 3 Red Sox

5.2 innings 8 hits 7 runs 1 homer 4 walks and struck out 4, that was Jon Lester's number. I guess he wasn't out of the little funk he was in over the past couple of weeks and now is 7-2 and a 3.94 era.

Paul Konerko was able to establish his dominance against Lester with another hr off of him. For the Sox the lone bright spot would be that Adrian Gonzalez hit a hr to make his total in double digits.

The Red Sox had a tough time with runners in scoring position and didn't have many, as they went 1-for-6 on the evening

Box Score

Red Sox @ Tigers Preview

The Red Sox are probably wishing they could play another day game, since they have scored 28 runs the last two days, but right now it doesn't seem like anything can stop them.

Tonight we get the Wake vs. Rick Porcello. Porcello has had a nice bounce back year so far (4-2 3.08 ERA. He doesn't strikeout a lot of guys, but he makes you swing by being able to nibble. Porcello is 4-0 with a 1.59 ERA in his last six starts, but maybe that's what fires up the Sox. It seems like every time the Sox play a good pitcher (or one that is "hot") they explode.

The Wake has done a good job for the Sox so far. Wakefield is 10-3 with a 3.51 ERA in his last 14 starts versus the Tigers, so hopefully he can keep that up. Wake is a tough guy to project. He could go in and pitch 6 strong innings and the knuckleball will be dancing, or it won't and he could last 2 innings. I'll take the middle ground and say we get 5 innings from Wake allowing 2-3 runs.

Red Sox win 7-5
Player of the Game: Gonzalez
Game starts at 7:05pm

Posey Done For A Long Time

"Buster Posey sustained no knee damage in his collision with the Marlins' Scott Cousins, Giants head trainer Dave Groeschner told reporters, including Al Saracevic of the San Francisco Chronicle, meaning he may be able to return to the Giants this season. It was feared he was out for the season following Wednesday night's scary incident at home plate.

Posey is expected to be out six to eight weeks or longer after suffering a broken fibula and severely strained ligaments in his left ankle. The 2010 Rookie of the Year underwent three MRIs on Thursday to determine the extent of the injury (CBS Sports)."

There were a lot of worries that he destroyed his knee as well, but he was lucky and it's fine. If Posey does return it won't be until very late in the season, so the Giants have started to look around for a replacement catcher. One name that has already come up is Ivan Rodriguez, which seems like the perfect stop gap option.

As for this whole "we need to change the rules to protect catchers"... Shut the fuck up. There doesn't need to be a rule change every time a guy gets hurt.

Red Sox 14 Tigers 1

Boy was I wrong. I thought that Scherzer would be able to slow down the Red Sox offense, instead they lit him up for 7 runs in 2 innings. This game (much the game before) was over before it started.

Ellsbury hit a 3 run HR, and Crawford went 4-5 with 3 RBIs. Speaking of Crawford he is now batting .244, which is just .003 behind Pedroia in batting average. I wonder if a change in the lineup with will happen? I say not yet, but certainly something they will start looking at in a month or so, because right now they are so hot I wouldn't change anything.

Alfredo Aceves was very good once again, which has me thinking if we actually even want Lackey back. Anyways, he was great letting up just 1 runs over 6 innings strikingout out 6 batters.

Boston has won 11 of 13, and are tied for 1st place with the Yankees in the AL East. It's been an incredible turnaround, and if they can figure out their bullpen issues they could be unstoppable.

Guess I'm Not The Only One Worried About Pedroia

A couple days ago I wrote about how I was worried about Pedria (click here for post). Well, apparently I'm not the only one who is worried...

"Gammons also noted that second baseman Dustin Pedroia is "not going to be right all year with that screw in his foot." Pedroia missed a game after spraining his ankle in Monday's loss to the Indians but returned in Wednesday's 14-2 romp with a home run and three RBI.

"It's amazing what he's done considering how often he plays in pain," Gammons said. "His OPS is down about 190 points. His slugging is down from like 490 to 313 going into [Wednesday], but he plays through it. He never complains about it. The great thing about Dustin is he shows up at the park and says, 'If I can't do this, I'll do this [instead] and try to win.' There aren't athletes in too many places like him who show up every day and try to find a way to win. That's what he does (WEEI)."

I know he went off yesterday (who didn't though), but I am concerned about his foot. In the field I haven't really noticed it, but his stats are down across the board at the plate (as Gammons noted). As long as that screw is in his foot agree with Gammons that I don't think he will be a the player we have been seeing the last couple of year.

Pedroia plans to have that screw removed after this season.

Red Sox @ Tigers Preview

The Red Sox needed a laugher and they got one yesterday blowing the doors off the Indians. Boston has been on fire playing .676 baseball since that 2-10 start, as Rob pointed out earlier. Now they head to Detriot.

Wow, can't believe the Sox are playing back-to-back day games. I really love day games and I miss there were more of them. Anyways, it's Aceves vs. Scherzer today. Scherzer has only let up 5 ER over his last 4 starts. On the season he is 6-1 with a 2.98 ERA. In short, the Sox could be in for a long day.

Alfredo Aceves is getting his 2nd start since filling in for Lackey/Dice-K. In his last start he held the Cubs to one run and three hits over five innings, so we really can't complain.

I like Aveces, but I really don't like this matchup. I know the Sox have been beating the best pitchers, but I just don't see it today. Basically I am rooting for rain.

Tigers win 5-3
Player of the Game: Cabrera
Game starts at 1:05pm