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3. Squeezed in Toronto: Life is not great as the Blue Jays remain in last place, but winning three this weekend over the suddenly slumping Chicago White Sox (losers of five in a row) at least puts things into perspective.
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That perspective is: Despite the speculation on manager John Gibbons' job status, that recent streak of losing eight of nine wasn't as grim as it appeared. The Jays, behind ace Roy Halladay, Shaun Marcum, Dustin McGowan and Jesse Litsch, were pitching ridiculously well to be losing that regularly. During the stretch, the Jays lost games 2-1 (Kansas City) and 1-0 and 2-1 (Boston). Halladay, in fact, threw four consecutive complete games -- and the Jays lost three of them.
During that stretch, through last Thursday's trip finale in Boston, the Jays had combined to go 12-for-110 (.109) with runners in scoring position. Even Rance Mulliniks could have done better than that.
4. Metrodome magic: Look who's in first place in the AL Central by 1 1/2 games after laying a three-game sweep on the inconsistent Detroit Tigers. Minnesota overcame a 6-0 deficit during Sunday's wild game -- a game which, by the way, Twins closer Joe Nathan scooped up his 11th save in 11 opportunities after signing a four-year, $47 million extension in late March. Yep, and some folks thought general manager Bill Smith should wave the white flag, trade Nathan and concede 2008. It's why Smith succeeded Terry Ryan as GM, and those folks didn't.
5. The Yankees: So Phil Hughes has a fractured rib, needs glasses, is 0-4 and has a 9.00 ERA. Not only that, he chews with his mouth open, too.
6. Max Scherzer on deck Monday: The Diamondbacks can't wait to see what Scherzer, their No. 1 pick in 2006, does in his first big-league start Monday night against Philadelphia. Especially after he debuted in relief last week by retiring all 13 Houston Astros he faced, fanning seven of them while throwing 35 strikes in 47 pitches. In 23 Triple-A innings this season, Scherzer struck out 38 hitters and walked only three.
7. Josh Hamilton: Did you see the Texas center fielder's running, sprinting, lunging catch to end Oakland's threat in the seventh with Eddie Guardado on the mound Friday night? Oh ... my ... goodness. Proof positive that the guy can do a little more than just hit. Look for it on the local highlight show in your neighborhood soon. They'll be re-playing it all summer.
8. Here come the Dodgers: No, really. They won eight in a row before Sunday to emerge as that speck in Arizona's rear-view mirror. Hey, at least something now is in Arizona's rear-view mirror. And All-Star catcher Russell Martin even played third base the other day. Loved it, too. "A treat," Martin said. Manager Joe Torre, who knows from his own experience catching, simply called it "a mental day off."
Mental or physical, it's about time somebody started taking care of Martin. Leave it to him, he'll play every day. But the guy caught 145 games last season, and played in 151, and even if he was only 24, there was a reason why he looked and played tired down the stretch in 2007.
9. Julio Franco actually retires: Get out! Seems like only yesterday when Franco was breaking into the big leagues ... and Steve Carlton was pitching for that Phillies team, Pete Rose was playing first base, Montreal's Al Oliver was winning the NL batting title (.331), the Mets' Dave Kingman was leading the NL in homers (37), Atlanta's Phil Niekro was leading the NL in pitchers' won-loss percentage (.810). ...
10. Cat in the Hat Team of the Week: As if San Diego, with baseball's worst record, isn't struggling enough, things aren't exactly all green eggs and ham for the Padres' minor-league clubs, either.
Lake Elsinore, the Padres' Class A affiliate, had planned a Dr. Seuss night on Friday until Dr. Seuss Enterprises delivered a cease-and-desist letter, with several demands attached (including payment of a $1,000 one-time licensing fee and a $4,000 security deposit to use official Dr. Seuss character costumes). The Storm was ordered not to use any non-licensed Dr. Seuss costumes.
So what the heck was a minor-league affiliate to do? Why, cancel the promotion completely, with regrets. In the form of a rhyme:
"The Padres affiliate, the Lake Elsinore Storm
"Tried to put on a promotion that wasn't the Norm
"We called it Dr. Seuss Night on our website
"But something about that didn't seem right
"Dr. Seuss Enterprises didn't see it as funny
"They said we could do it but we didn't have the money
"They didn't appreciate our publicity ploys
"So we have to inform all the sad girls and boys
"Through the face of it all we thought we'd persist
"Until we were served with a cease and desist
"The theme has been cancelled but the game will go on
"Perhaps it wouldn't matter if we were in Taiwan."
