We all expeted the NL West to be a tight race this year, but we expected it to be between the Giants and Dodgers. But this morning, there's a three-way tie at the top of the division, and the Dodgers aren't involved. The Giants, Rockies, and Diamondbacks all have 26-21 records, and are 4.5 games up on the fourth place Padres. Each of those three teams are playing .500 ball in May too, with the Rockies bringing up the rear at 10-10. It'll be interesting to see if the race stays tight over the rest of the season, or if someone pulls away. I have a feeling that no one team will separate itself from the pack, but it'll be interesting to see what goes down.
PIC OF THE DAY
Ruben Tejada and Ike Davis collide while David Wright looks on in horror. Meet the Mets, indeed. (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)
Game of the Day: Blue Jays 4, Rays 3 (ten innings). This game was deadlocked at two runs apiece through four, and remained that way until the ninth. In the ninth, James Loney singled in Evan Longoria to give the Rays a 3-2 lead. Fernando Rodney came in for the save, and allowed a game-tying solo homer to Jose Bautista, blowing his fourth save of the season. In the tenth, Aaron Loup set the Rays down without much chaos, and Cesar Ramos started the inning for Tampa on the hill. He allowed an infield single to Colby Rasmus, and Emilio Bonifacio bunted him over to second. He moved up to third on a Munenori Kawasaki groundout, and after Mark DeRosa walked, Kyle Farnsworth came in to pitch to Bautista. After falling behind 0-2, Bautista poked a single to right to score Rasmus and give Toronto the win.
Pitching Lines of the Day: Cliff Lee threw a three-hit complete game shutout in Philadelphia's 3-0 win in Miami, walking two and striking out five. Francisco Liriano threw seven shutout, two-hit innings in Pittsburgh's 1-0 win over the Cubs, striking out nine and walking just one. He was nearly matched inning for inning by Jeff Samardzija, who allowed one run on three hits in seven innings, walking one and striking out eight. CJ Wilson dazzled the Mariners in a 7-1 Angels win, giving up one run on six hits in eight innings, striking out ten and walking two.
Hitting Lines of the Day: Jose Bautista did it all for the Blue Jays in their win over the Rays, going 4/4 with a walk, a steal, four RBI, and two homers. Chris Davis did well for the Orioles in their 6-3 win over the Yankees, going 4/4 with two runs, two RBI, a homer, and a walk. Curtis Granderson did a pretty good job for the Yankees in the loss, going 3/3 with two runs, a walk, a double, and a homer. Carlos Gonzalez helped the Rockies to a 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks, going 2/4 with two runs, two RBI, a triple, and a homer. Miguel Cabrera continued to roll in Detroit's 11-7 win over Cleveland, going 2/4 with two runs, three RBI, a walk, a double, and a homer.
Other Games: The Rangers beat the A's 3-1. Atlanta beat Minnesota 8-3, and Vance Worley was demoted to AAA after the shelling. The Brewers got smashed by the Dodgers 9-2, even with Don Mattingly throwing Andre Ethier under the bus. The Reds scored three in the ninth to beat the Mets 7-4. The Nationals edged the Giants 2-1 in ten innings. The Red Sox beat the White Sox 6-2 to avoid a sweep in Chicago. The Astros beat the Royals and James Shields 3-1. The Cardinals beat up the Padres 5-3.
What You Missed: Amanda had a quick interview with Fred McGriff. I broke down some players chasing history at the quarter pole of the season.
Today's Games: Edwin Jackson starts for the Cubs in Pittsburgh. Kevin Gausman makes his major league debut for the Orioles against the Blue Jays and Brendan Morrow. Ryan Dempster and the Red Sox host the Indians and Zach McAllister. Ervin Santana and the Royals host his former team, the Angels.
National TV: Indians-Red Sox (7 PM, MLB Network), Twins-Tigers (7 PM, MLB Network)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
