AL East Round-Up: Don’t Look Now Edition

It’s been that kind of season… People putting sh*t over their heads. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Panic?  Screw panicking.  Welcome to August.  Welcome to last place, which is pretty much where the Toronto Blue Jays have been all season.  Baseball’s hellhole.  So here we fans are, watching our team start yet ANOTHER month (that makes 4… 5 if you include April and alphabetical order) floating around in the porcelain pipedream.  So what else is going on in baseball?  Or at least, what’s going on in the AL East?  Somebody had to take over the AL East Round-Up for the hilarious, but now departed Daniel George (RIP… actually, he’s alive and well at Gamesided.com. If you’re a video game “enthusiast,” check the site out) and who better than the lone Jays writer south of Boston?  Since Boston’s on top, let’s let them ride!

Boston Red Sox: (RECAP) The Red Sox found themselves playing everyday this past week (suckers) to make up a postponed game with Tampa Bay from July 25th.  That make up game was 1 of only 2 losses for the Red Sox as they went 5-2 against the likes of the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, and Arizona Diamondbacks.  Thanks to Toronto’s 3-4 week, that keeps the Blue Jays in the hunt, ONLY 16 GB for the AL East crown!  Thaaaaanks Boston… Massholes… (NEWS & NOTES) The Sox were fairly busy over the week after the acquisition of former Chicago White Sox ace Jake Peavy.  The trade also involved the Detroit Tigers, who received SS/3B Jose Iglesias for OF Avisail Garcia and RP Bryan Villarreal.  Garcia was then spun to the White Sox along with 3 Red Sox minor-leaguers.  Villarreal was then optioned to Pawtucket and IF Brock Holt was recalled to replace Iglesias at 3B.  Other roster moves to account for Peavy, in a somewhat surprising move, RHP Brandon Workman (1-1 3.54 ERA, 3 QS, 22:4 K:BB in 20.1 IP) was sent to Pawtucket along with RP Jose De La Torre and RP Pedro Beato.  RHP Rubby De La Rosa and RP Steven Wright were called-up to Boston.

Tampa Bay Rays: (RECAP) The Rays are currently 1 GB in the AL East despite sticking it to Boston like a Ray stuck it Steve Irwin (too soon?)  Tampa Bay went 4-3 this past week, playing against some tough competition such as the New York Yankees, Red Sox, Diamondbacks, and San Francisco Giants.  Tampa Bay got 2 more complete games out of RHPs Chris Archer and Roberto “Fausto Carmona” Hernandez, giving them a league leading 7 CGs on the year.  (NEWS & NOTES) Tampa Bay acquired currently injured White Sox RP Jesse Crain in exchange for cash or player(s) to be named.  Also biting the dust for the Rays this week was LHP Matt Moore, as well as OF Brandon Guyer (15-DL) and Brandon Gomes (60-DL).  IF Ryan Roberts was recalled to replace Moore. Bad news for Toronto: Moore and RHP Alex Cobb are expected to return some time next week, just in time for that nice 3 game series at The Trop.

Baltimore Orioles: (RECAP) Baltimore played .500 ball this week, losing some heart-breakers to the Red Sox and Seattle Mariners.  Somehow, they got blown out by the Houston Astros… but hey, even sun shines on a dog’s ass sometimes!  The losses to the Red Sox obviously hurt a bit more, moving Baltimore to 5.5 GB for the AL East, but only 0.5 GB for the 2nd Wild Card spot. (NEWS & NOTES)  Chris “Crush” Davis became the 5th Oriole (but really the 3rd, shame on you Rafael Palmeiro and Brady Anderson) to hit 40 HRs in a season.  The Orioles also stayed busy making a trade I think they’ll regret later.  Baltimore sent their #5 (RHP Josh Hader aka Napoleon Dynamite’s twin) and #7 (OF L.J. Hoes) Top Prospect according to MLB.com in exchange for Astros RHP “ace” Bud Norris.  GM Dan Duquette is an effin genius and the O’s needed a pitcher with Jason Hammels going on the 15-DL, and since I’m just a writer, who the hell am I to question The Duke?  2B Brian Roberts went on paternity leave for the birth of his 1st child.  Because if there’s one thing Brian Roberts needs more of, it’s time off (http://instantrimshot.com/)  OF Steve Pearce and RP Steve Johnson were activated from the DL.

New York Yankees: (RECAP) ‘Murica’s favourite MLB team has managed to stick around this season, despite injuries and having the 2nd worst line-up in the AL.  New York got some special “old man” treatment this week with 2 days off, but to their credit, they were on the West Coast.  The pinstripes went 3-2 against Tampa Bay, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the San Diego Padres.  The bright spot for the Jays is LHP C.C. Sabathia continues to suck, as he lost his 4th decision in his last 5 starts, dropping his record to 9-10 with an ERA approaching 5.  This level of suckitude may be what Toronto needs to get out of the AL cellar. (NEWS & NOTES) CF Curtis Granderson returned from the DL and hit his 2nd HR of the year last night.  “Super” Utility Jayson Nix also returned to the Yankees this week, but they lost DH/1B Travis Hafner to 15-DL.  Former Yankee great and Japanese legend OF Hideki Matsui re-signed with New York and announced his retirement. SAYONARA!  Oh yea… and some guy named Jeter, Derek, got re-instated from the DL, but word on the street is he’s going to miss a few games due to lingering quad and calf soreness.  Lastly, Alex Roidriguez is facing a lifetime ban from baseball that he, like Lord Voldemort, vows to fight until the end.

I’d talk about what the Blue Jays did this week, but Jays Journals has got other cooler, better writers here to talk about them.  So on that note, Happy Sunday… and if it’s not happy, drink a beer!  You’ll know you’ll want to once the Jays-Angels game gets going at 3:35 ET!  Cheers!