AL East Round Up: Drama Edition

May 31, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; The Toronto Blue Jays take the field under an open roof at Rogers Centre at the start of their 12-2 win over Kansas City Royals.. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Toronto Blue Jays

This week, the Blue Jays had their 9 game winnings streak snapped. After sweeping, the Red Sox,  Rays and A’s, the Blue Jays lost 2 in a row to the Kansas City Royals. The Royals! For me, what stood out about this recent hot streak is that they beat good teams. Each of the teams they swept are supposed to be contenders.  Now, some will point to last year’s 11 game win streak and say “Look how that turned out”. Well, all I can say is that this one is different. It has a different feel. Last year, it seemed as though the players themselves could not believe the streak they were on. This year, there is a much more calm, quiet confident approach to each game. Gregor Chisholm (MLB.com) echoes this when he gives us an explanation as to why the 2014 Blue Jays are better off than a year ago. Right now, they are playing with confidence and without the stressful pressure they put on themselves last year. And, they are starting to make believers out of those who once doubted them.

At MLB.com, Anthony Castrovince is one of those believers. He explains why the Blue Jays may actually be able to contend for the AL East title. His piece mentions that the Blue Jays’ ability to win has a lot to do with the apparent crumbling of the other teams in the division.

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As you’ll see as you go through this post, he is on to something.While other teams are struggling, the Blue Jays are starting to pull ahead. Here’s how:

Firstly, the performance of

Edwin Encarnacion

has been just jaw dropping. In May, he has hit 16 homeruns. 16! I don’t really need to say much more. Instead, I’m going to let the following video montage say it for me. Just sit back, relax and enjoy the following order of chicken wings:

The Blue Jays have been playing MUCH better defense this season, too! Even with the

Brett Lawrie

,

Juan Francisco

(J-Frank) alternating at 3rd, they have managed to stay near the top of the league on defense. They have committed just 29 errors (3rd) and have a fielding percentage of .986 (2nd). That quite the turn around. To wit:

And:

And this:

The Blue Jays are also getting great performances from their starters. Mark Buehrle is surprising everyone with his 9-1 start. He is embodying the “bend, but don’t break” idea this season. He is giving up his share of base runners, but he is being helped out by his defense and his offense. If the All Star game were this week, he’d be my choice for the starter for the American League.

Liam Hendriks and Marcus Stroman (#StroShow) have also chipped in to help. Hendriks picked up the win in his first start for the Blue Jays. As well, a Celebratory Brett Lawrie High Five goes to the #StroShow who picked up his first MLB start and win against the Royals. I’ll leave you with this Vine of Eric Hosmer to sum it up for you:

Hosmer reacts to filthy Stroman slider in vine.co’s Hangs on LockerDome

May 31, 2014; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher

Masahiro Tanaka

(19) delivers a pitch in the sixth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

New York Yankees

Despite being in 2nd place, the Yankees are a bit of a mess right now. They are banged up. Mark Teixeira is dealing with an injured wrist…again according to Alex Halsted of MLB.com. Reliever Shawn Kelly is coming back from injury. Carlos Beltran is too. Bryan Hoch of MLB.com tells us that Beltran just took some “game speed” batting practice. Apparently, his elbow feels good. And, apprently, Michael Pineda is more of a mess (physically) than we thought. According to Bryan Hoch, he suffered a set back in his attempt to come back from injury.

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He’s got inflammation behind his shoulder.

Perhaps the only good news for the Evil Empire is the performance of Masahiro Tanaka. It seems I am writing about him every week. It’s just that he is worth it. He currently sits at 8-1 with a 2.06 ERA. His 88 K’s to 12 BB is amazing and his 0.953 WHIP leads the league. Not only is he my early pick for Rookie of the Year (it’s not even close), he may actually be the only one who could beat Mark Buehrle for the 2014 Cy Young award. In fact, if I had a vote, I’d send it Tanaka’s way, as much as I am loathe to celebrate any Yankee. Given that the Yankees are such a mess and still well within striking distance, he may even get some nods for MVP. Take a look as he dominates the Minnesota Twins.

Finally, the Derek Jeter farewell tour took a stop in St Louis. The Cardnials presented “The Captain” with a pair of Stan Musial cuff links and a cheque for his Turn 2 foundation. I find it odd that they would present Jeter with a gift that does not even recognize HIM. Instead, they took the opportunity to tout one of their own. Weird.

May 31, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Baltimore Orioles left fielder

Nelson Cruz

(23) receives a high-five from third baseman

Manny Machado

(13) after hitting a home run during the seventh inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Richardson-USA TODAY Sports

Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles are maintaining some sort of shot at first place and landing themselves in the post season for the second year in a row. Well, sort of. They are playing .500 ball. While this might be OK (not great, but OK) for now, just OK is not going to get them into the playoffs. Other than Nelson Cruz leading the league in homeruns (20) and RBI (53) the Orioles are not getting much from their lineup.

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Their pitching is much worse.

Chris Tillman

and

Wei-Yin Chen

each have 5 wins and then it drops off dramatically.

Ubaldo Jimenez

has won just twice (lost 6 times!). No Orioles starter has an ERA under 4!

I could go on and on about the struggles of the Baltimore Orioles. But, today, I am going to focus on some positive. The Orioles took part in MLB annual Civil Rights game against the Houston Astros. This was more than just a game to honour civil rights in baseball and the world beyond. As Richard Justice (MLB.com) tells us, it was a celebration and discussions of not only the contributions of Jackie Robinson, but also race in America. MLB awarded its Beacon Award to Maya Angelou, Motown legend Berry Gordy and football great, Jim Brown.

The ‘festivities’ began with a round table discussion featuring Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson! Man, it would have been an amazing experience to be fortunate enough to attend that! Here is the inspiring Opening Video from the ceremony:

Check out Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson speaking about MLB Commissioner Bud Selig:

Former Toronto Blue Jay, Dave Winfield speaks about minorities in baseball:

Here is what Maya Angelou had to say about her award. It is especially poignant as these are some of the last words she left this world with. Angelou passed away on May 28, 2014.

Say what you want about Bud Selig’s reign over Major League Baseball, but we can’t deny his efforts toward equality.

May 30, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; The Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays benches clear after left fielder

Mike Carp

(not pictured) gets hit by a pitch by Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher

David Price

(14) during the fourth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Boston Red Sox

While the Blue Jays were busy atop the AL East, the Red Sox and Rays were involved in just plain silliness.

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This week was marked with benches clearing with the Rays. Oddly, the Rays come off (to me, anyway) looking good. The Red Sox, not so much.

Silliness- Exhibit A: The Red Sox took the opportunity to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their 2004 Championship. They brought back all the old guys including Kevin Millar, Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez. Insert eye roll here.

Good luck with that, boys. Enjoy it. It doesn’t look too good for you this season. Just saying.

Silliness- Exhibit B: Last Sunday, the Red Sox took exception to Yunel Escobar stealing 3rd base. They started chirping him from the dugout. Then, as you would expect, Jhonny Gomes sprints in from the outfield to “protect his team”. Maybe it wasn’t Escobar stealing 3rd that got them upset. Maybe it was the fact that they were losing their 10th game in a row.

But, the silliness did not end. The Red Sox seem to think that they are beyond the treatment given to them by David Price, the Rays and the umpires. More on the Rays and Price in a minute. Here are the fireworks:

Here is what David Ortiz had to say (it wasn’t very nice…or humble):

Here are some other things to note from the Red Sox:

Jackie Bradley Jr had an unfortunate mishap with the wall, a ball and what ended up to be an inside the park homerun for the Rays’ Kevin Kiermaier. He would be OK, though. Check it out:

On a positive note, Ian Browne and Quinn Roberts share the Red Sox’ relationship with the Jimmy Fund. If you don’t already know, the Jimmy Fund is a charity raising funds for adult and pediatric cancer care and research. The Red Sox and the Jimmy Fund have been working together for 60 years!

May 30, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; An official talks to Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher David Price (14) after hitting Boston Red Sox left fielder Mike Carp (not pictured) during the fourth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays continued their descent into the basement of the AL East this week. While they were sinking in the standings, they refused to lose their dignity. They did not back down from  the Red Sox one bit. In fact, they sent a very clear message that commands respect.

Some think the David Price/ Red Sox issue started last season in the playoffs. This week was the first time Price had the opportunity to face Ortiz since he gave up 2 bombs to Big Papi.

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If you were listening during the Rays/ Red Sox video above, you would have heard the Rays announcers talk about Ortiz “pimping” his post season homerun. So, Price felt like a little payback was in order.

Here’s Tamp Bay’s response to the silliness.

Here is what Price had to say to Ken Rosenthal in his defense. Basically, Price acknowledges the respect David Ortiz has earned, but he says that Big Papi is not bigger than the game of baseball. Boom! Finally, someone said what I’ve been thinking for years. Price hit the nail on the head, or the ego in the rump as it were. Ortiz carries himself in a way that rubs me the wrong way. As evidenced by the Civil Rights celebration previously, there are things that ARE bigger than the game of baseball. David Ortiz needs to realize he’s not one of them. Good on David Price.

Moving on…Wil Myers suffered a bit of a wrist injury on Friday night as he collided with Desmond Jennings. HERE is the link. To add insult to injury, the hit they were trying to catch allowed the Red Sox to walk off with the victory.

Rays’ Roman Ali Solis was removed from Saturday’s game after being hit by a pitch…sort of. The ball was thrown in the dirt and it bounced right back up and hit Solis on the nose. CHECK IT OUT.

Given their place in the standings, I will not spend a lot of time on how far out of the division lead they are. It is obvious. I will not discuss the dramatic climb they have ahead of them. Things are better off with us resting assured that the Rays are not going to go quietly and let other, more arrogant teams walk all over them.