2. Tampa Bay Rays (54-34) – Rays still keeping pace with the first place Yankees, but pace can run out if the Yankees Teixeira and A-Rod get hot in the second half.

3. Texas Rangers (50-38) – They beat Tampa Bay 2 out of 3 in June, so they do belong here.

4. Boston Red Sox (51-37; Previous: 2) – Injuries to Dustin Pedroia, Clay Buchholz, Josh Beckett, Victor Martinez  and Jacoby Ellsbury will hurt the Red Sox chances in the second half. The big question mark is when will Dice K will show consistency.

5. Detroit Tigers (48-38) – They have a possible Triple Crown player in Cabrera and are only one back in the central. The White Sox winning streak will reverse itself in a matter of days.

6. Chicago White Sox (49-38; Previous: 16) – A nine game winning streak seems odd for this team and their knucklehead manager, Ozzie. It’s just a matter of time before the Tigers are back in first. Sorry southsiders, have fun while it lasts.

7. Los Angeles Dodgers (49-39) – Once the dominate team in the west is now playing second fiddle. The Angels, who had just two All-Stars (Torii Hunter and Jered Weaver), trail the Rangers by 4 1/2 games.

8. Minnesota Twins (46-42) – Mauer power outage continues and with Morneau on the DL, this team needs someone to step up in a big way. They may fall short this year. At least they have a new stadium.

9. Toronto Blue Jays (44-45) – Our friends in the north were playing well in April and part of May, but reality stepped in and they are heading southward in the standings and for good reason. There leading batter Fred Lewis is batting .276. This is why their ranked 27^th in team batting average.

10. Oakland Athletics (43-46) – No power out west. Kurt Suzuki is the only A’s player in double digits, with 10 homers. They don’t have one player batting over .300.

11. Kansas City Royals (39-49) – Still not a bad record for a team with no names and a low budget. At least they’re better than three other teams in the AL. You can’t blame Zack Greinke who still has a decent ERA at 3.71.

12. Seattle Mariners (35-53) – They were supposed to contend having the best one-two punch in their rotation, but that changed and now they’re a one arm bandit after trading Cliff Lee.

13. Cleveland Indians (34-54) – Same old Indians. You have to feel bad for Cleveland fans this year after Lebron left to sign with the Heat.

14. Baltimore Orioles (29-59) – They suck, point blank. This team needs some major changes top to bottom. It’s the same old story for the cellar dwellers

How do you rank the American League?

Dice K was limited to 12 starts last year due to injury which still seems to resonate with his performance this year. He has only pitched 17 innings thus far in 2010, all due to being on the DL. You would think that a player at his age would be more agile.

Dice K at best, has been average so far. The argument can be made that the Red Sox would not have won the 2007 World Series without Matsuzaka, and that’s priceless, but mostly it has seemed like they haven’t gotten their money’s worth. Would you pay $100 million to a player for a World Series win? I doubt if the Red Sox were thinking along these lines, but they still won because of Dice K.

May 11 RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka was brilliant, allowing only three hits and no walks in seven sparkling innings in a 6-1 win over Toronto. Matsuzaka also struck out nine, his highest total since April 1, 2008.

On November 14, the Boston Red Sox won the bidding rights to Matsuzaka with a bid of $51 million, outbidding the Texas Rangers, New York Mets, and New York Yankees. The Red Sox also paid $53 million over 6 years on top of the $51 million.

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Dice-K The Next Carl Pavano?

His 27 strikeouts have come in 73 at-bats. This is not same player that most pitchers feared for so many years. It’s just not David Ortiz style of baseball.

The Red Sox have to get more production out of the DH spot or they will find themselves looking up at the Yankees and Rays all year. They could go after 36 year old Jermaine Dye who is still looking for an employer. Jermaine batted .250 with 27 HRs and 81 RBI last year and could be a better option than Ortiz.

If the Red Sox were to sign Dye, he would not be available for at least a month while he gets into baseball shape.

It sure will seem different in baseball not seeing Ortiz on the Red Sox. I remember when Manny left; it took a little time getting used to.

Red Sox nation embraced Big Papi and will never, ever, lose that love for the player they’ve adored for so many years. It will be a tough day when he is released.

Cameron’s replacement? Outfielder Josh Reddick will be called up from Triple-A Pawtucket to take his place. This is not a good replacement player, and for good reason. Josh can’t hit at this level and after 59 major league at bats he is batting .169. He does have two home runs to his credit.

Along with Cameron, left fielder Jacoby Ellsbury has also been out, missing the last seven games as he recovers from bruised left ribs. He doesn’t appear close to coming back.

The Red Sox will need angels in the outfield in order to keep them in contention in the east. This is just bad luck and the Red Sox will need more help in the outfield with Ellsbury and Cameron on the DL.

What’s next? David Ortiz Retires?

Image from - sodahead.com

How sweep it is for the Tampa Bay Rays who took all four games in the series against the slumping Red Sox. The latest victory, a huge slap in the face as John Lackey (1-1) allowed eight runs and nine hits in only 3 1-3 innings. He didn’t get much help from the Boston defense, either, with all three outfielders – Hermida, Hall and J.D. Drew – misplaying a ball into an extra base or making an error early in the game.

“It was an opportunity to do that,” Lackey said of a chance to end the slide. “It obviously wasn’t good.”

Red Sox CF Mike Cameron was a late scratch because he had similar symptoms to last week when he missed two games to pass a kidney stone.

David Ortiz continues to fall going 0-3 and his average sinks to .158. Oh Papi say it isn’t so, will the Red Sox get back to their winning ways? I am sure this is just a bump in the road for the Red Sox, but some thing better change soon.

One bright spot – J. Hermida homered to deep right and also recorded an assist in the field.

Where are all the Red Sox fans now? I think some are hiding in alley ways or buying Yankees memorabilia.

David Ortiz is batting .154 and has no home runs and only two RBI after 7 games. He was benched yesterday against the Twins and Francisco Liriano which didn’t make any difference as the Red Sox got blanked 8-0.

The man on a tear is Dustin Pedroia who is batting .405 and leads the team in home runs and RBI. The Red Sox lineup is one of the best in baseball, but they need Ortiz, Martinez, Drew and Cameron to pick up the pace.

The Red Sox lost two out of three against the Twins this week and now will face the tough Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. The Red Sox need to make a statement in this series and also need help from the fore mentioned four.

Tonight’s match up

TB: W. Davis (0-1, 6.00)
BOS: J. Beckett (1-0, 6.17)

Davis didn’t fair well in his last outing against the Red Sox giving up 8 runs in 2.2 innings pitched. The Red Sox should win the opener easily.

The first Twins home game will be played outside, that’s right, say it – outside. Jon Lester and Carl Pavano are set to start the new era of the Twins.

The Metrodome was truly a home field advantage with friendly bounces on the turf, lost fly balls by bewildered opponents, and that roof-amplified roar of the crowd.

Those advantages from the old stadium are all gone, but I am sure Target Field will create some new advantages for the Twins.

“Home-field advantage is sleeping in your own bed and driving to your park 81 times,” first baseman Justin Morneau said. “That’s kind of what you get used to.”

The lineup is loaded with reigning American League MVP Joe Mauer, Morneau (the 2006 MVP), Cuddyer (who hit 32 home runs last year) and Thome (who has 564 career home runs.)

Prediction?

Twins 7, Red Sox 4

Joe West might be struggling with a little weight issue which in turn can cause major fatigue to the legs when umpiring a game that long. Joe West is obese and just look at his large double chin that resembles a Walrus. The guy is way out of shape to be in baseball period!

I am not trying to put the blame totally on Joe, the Yankees and Red Sox do take there time between pitches. They to need to pick up the pace, but to call two of the biggest franchises in sports a disgrace, is going a bit to far.

My advise to Joe, talk to the managers before the game and make sure they keep the pace of the game within reason or under three hours. What happens if it’s a high scoring game Joe? There’s nothing you can do about that.

Eat a salad and move on Joe West!

David Ortiz

Last season, Ortiz had one homer, 21 RBIs and a .188 batting average in his first 49 games. Then from June 6 to the end of the regular season, he led the AL with 27 homers, tied for the league lead with 78 RBIs and hit .266. But he finished at .238, and his 28 homers and 99 RBIs were the second fewest in his first seven seasons with Boston.

David Ortiz lost his cool just two hitless games into the season. Ortiz will remain in the Red Sox lineup Wednesday night.

After Boston lost 6-4 Tuesday night against the Yankees, Ortiz initially declined to talk with reporters. He then reacted to a question about his poor start.

“What’s up with that, man?” he said. In an expletive-filled tirade, the slugger said there were still 160 games left.

Before Wednesday’s game, manager Terry Francona reacted calmly to his star’s remarks. “Sometimes guys get touchy after a game,” he said. “That’s why I don’t normally pay much attention to it.”

David Ortiz will get his first hit tonight. Against Andy Pettitte he has a .367 career average in 49 at bats.

Jon Lester has a good record against the Yankees – In 8 games he is 3-1 with a 3.88 ERA. AJ Burnett has decent numbers against the Red Sox in his career. Burnett in 12 games is 5-2 with a 4.23 ERA.

A.J. Burnett and Jorge Posada spent most of spring training trying to get in sync with each other and to build their relationship.

In Boston last year, AJ Burnett had his worst game of 2009 – the same game that caused the perceived rift between the pair. Burnett allowed nine runs in five innings that day, questioning his pitch selection after the game. Many people took that as a shot at Posada.

Let’s hope they build on a winning combination in 2010.

Prediction: Yankees 7, Red Sox 6