AL East Round-Up

Sep 7, 2013; Bronx, NY, USA; Boston Red Sox first baseman

(12) follows through on his second inning home run scoring Boston Red Sox designated hitter

(not pictured) at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports.

Makes you sick, doesn’t it?  The Red Sox are running away with the AL East in astonishing fashion.  Meanwhile, Toronto’s managed to keep pace somewhat with a pretty successful week of their own.  The problem with that, however is Toronto falls into a mediocre pick spot for the MLB Amateur Draft.  Wasn’t it Boston that was suppose to be thinking about draft slots and Toronto was suppose to have postseason aspirations?  I’m going to go throw up now.  I don’t want to do this, but I have to.  The sting of writing about other teams more successful than Toronto… it motivates me to write about how I want AA fired.

Boston Red Sox: (RECAP)  As mentioned previously, the Red Sox turned every teamed face into their personal “We’re HERE!” message.  They didn’t just win this week.  They won and beat the piss(ah) out of World Series favourite teams.  The Detroit Tigers, believe by many to be the frontrunner to win the World Series, caught a serious kick in the ass thanks to the Sox.  The statement game came Wednesday when Boston beat Detroit 20-4.  At one point this game was close, but a Will Middlebrooks grand slam told the Tigers to screw and that was all Ryan Dempster needed for the win.  Then Boston goes to New York, which is never easy, and absolutely crushes the hearts of Yankees fans in Thursday’s 9-8 comeback win thanks to Shane Victorino‘s clutch hit in the 10th.  The next 2 nights, Boston dismantles the Yankees with relative ease.  They’ve now won 5 in a row and opened up an 8.5 GM lead in the division.

(NEWS & NOTES) OF Jacoby Ellsbury has flown back to Boston to determine whether he has a deep bone bruise or fracture in his foot from a foul ball back on Aug.28.  Jackie Bradley Jr. has been recalled from Pawtucket to replace Ellsbury.  RP Daniel Bard was claimed off waivers by the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs hope to solve Bard’s problem and help him regain the form that once made him one of the most dominant relief pitchers in baseball from 2009-2011.  Boston recalled C Ryan Lavarnway, P Rubby De La Rosa, selected the contract of OF Quintin Berry, and activated former Blue Jays SS John McDonald.

Tampa Bay Rays: (RECAP) The Jekyll-Hyde Rays look to get back on track this coming week.  Two weeks ago they were AL East leaders.  Now they find themselves 8.5 GB of Boston.  In the midst of a West Coast trip, the Rays managed to drop 5 of 7 to the likes of the Athletics, Angels, and Mariners.  The stunning part about this fade is the Tampa Bay happens to be getting healthier, with the return of Alex Cobb and Matt Moore.  The problem is key players like Chris Archer, Jeremy Hellickson, and Evan Longoria have struggled this week.  Hellickson was actually demoted to single A for a bit while Longoria only has 2 RBIs for the week, with a .269 BA.  Wil Myers has been a bright spot, belting 2 HR to single handedly beat the Angels 3-1 on Wednesday.  However, he only has 3 RBIs for the week.

(NEWS & NOTES) Tampa Bay activated DH/OF Luke Scott of the DL.  They say his sideburns are back in form after a shaving mishap.  LHP Matt Moore has also been activated from the DL.  RHP Jeremy Hellickson’s short stint in the minors ended Tuesday when he was recalled.

Baltimore Orioles: (RECAP) Baltimore had a terrific 5-2 week, which kept pace with Boston.  However, keeping pace still means the Orioles sit 9.5 GB of Farrell’s boys.  The Chris Davis watch continues as he managed to knock out his 48th HR of the season on Friday against the Chicago White Sox.  The true test comes this week against the division rivals Yankees and our very own dirty blue birds.  Did I say Toronto was going to be a test?  Well, maybe since they are 7-3 in their last 10 games and happen to have the best record among last place teams… which is the same as saying you’re the best loser.

(NEWS & NOTES) Adam Jones player rating increased in MLB 2013: The Show.  Other good news, no Toronto player lost rating points.  It’s actually been a busy week for the Borioles.  OF Marcus Thames was DFA’d and claimed by Houston.  Top Prospects SS/2B Jonathan Schoop and OF Henry Urrutia were recalled.  C Taylor Teagarden was DFA’d, then outrighted to AAA Norfolk.  RHP Jason Hammels was activated from the DL.

New York Yankees: (RECAP) The Yankees were having a fine week, sweeping the White Sox.  Then NY ran into Boston got their hearts stomped on.  While they’re not entirely out of it yet because the Rays have managed to tank their Wild Card lead pretty badly, the Yankees are pretty close to being done.  They’re currently 10 GB in the AL East, but only 2.5 GB of the Rays for WC Spot #2.  Fortunately, the boys in pinstripes don’t see Boston again… until… next… week.  Well that’s a bummer.  If NY does have playoff aspirations, they’re going to need their starting pitching to step up their game a little because they have been awful as of late.

(NEWS & NOTES) SS Derek Jeter looked awful in his return to the field this week and showed very limited range.  The Yankees did him a solid and said that Jeter will miss some time due to an issue with the ankle he broke last season.  NYY recalled Top Prospect RHP Dellin Betances from Scranton Wilkes Barre.  He managed to pitch 0.1 of an inning and drop his ERA from 54.00 to 36.00.  Clearly, Betances looks like he’s ready to go!