Davis Is My Pick For AL MVP

You'd be smiling too if you hit 53 HR and knocked in 138

Last year's winner, Detroit's Miguel Cabrera, had a legitimate shot to not only repeat his Triple Crown feat but to win back-to-back MVP Awards as well. Just like last year, Mike Trout was right in the mix as well, saying "go to hell"  to the sophomore jinx.

But this year's winner of the AL MVP Award should be Baltimore's Chris Davis. The former sixth round draft choice of the Texas Rangers (2006), Davis struggled with his original organization. There were way too many strikeouts compared to his output (e.g. 2006 - 150 Ks, 21 HR, 59 RBI .726 OPS) to play regularly. He hit a low in 2010 when he appeared in just 45 games with a .571 OPS and a batting average below the Mendoza line.

Not much was thought of it when the Rangers dealt Davis and pitcher Tommy Hunter to the Orioles for bullpen help (Koji Uehara - a huge 2013 impact in his own right). The 31 games he played for the O's showed nothing spectacular - .708 OPS and 2 HR in 129 plate appearances.

But Davis had a break out year in 2012 when he slugged 33 home runs, drove in 85 runs and sported an .827 OPS. And he was still just 26 years of age.

This year Davis has had a season for the ages. He broke the franchise record for home runs with 53 and led the league with 138 RBI and 370 total bases. He's also scored 103 and has a 1.004 OPS. Sure, the strikeouts are still there (198), but his 6.3 WAR was well above his previous high and career average.

The Orioles took a step back from their 2012 playoff appearance and finished 12 games behind Bosto in the AL East and 6.5 back in the wildcard race. However, the Orioles were competitive and in the playoff mix for most of the season and that would not have been accomplished without Davis' power surge. 

Had the Orioles pitching been more up to snuff, Davis could have been putting on a power display in the post-season instead of watching it on TV.

Cano, Mo, and 1 to Go

The Yankees and Baltimore Orioles have been waging baseball battles since last October's pitching dominant American League Division Series. With a chance to make the playoffs this season on the line, the current four games series between the two teams comes emotionally close to the last Fall's nail biters. Wednesday night the Yankees rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat the O's 5-4 in a game that had fans of both teams on edge at the end of the game.

Coupled with Tampa Bay's 10 inning loss to Boston (On a Mike Carp pinch-hit grand slam), the Yankees sit one game in back of the Rays for the second wild card spot. Cleveland lost earlier in the day to Kansas City, so once again the Yankees only have the Rays in front of them. Thursday is the finale of the Orioles series with Phil Hughes pitted against Wei-Yin Chen.

Andy Pettitte gutted out six innings plus one batter in the 7th to keep the game tied 3-3 after Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez hit solo home runs in consecutive innings (5th, 6th) to even things up. The game remained tied until the 9th when Robinson Cano blasted a Tommy Hunter pitch on to Eutaw St. for a 4-3 Yankees lead.

The Yankees added a huge insurance run when Adam Jones couldn't run down a catchable ball driven deep to center by Granderson. The Chicago native raced to third with a stand up triple and scored on Lyle Overbay's infield single off of Troy Patton. Yes, you read that correctly; Overbay beat the throw from shortstop J.J. Hardy after he hit one in the hole on the left side of the infield.

The extra run proved vital after Mariano Rivera ran into trouble after he easily retired the first two batters in the 9th inning. Rivera, who had gotten a four out save on Wednesday, gave up a two-out double to Nate McLouth and Brian Roberts delivered him with an RBI single. The Yankees got a break in that Roberts is not the major base stealing threat he once was. Rivera then struck out Manny Machado to pick up his 43rd save of the season.

Notes

Chris Stewart made a big play in the 7th when he gunned down McLouth trying to steal second base after he drew a lead off walk from Pettitte.

Scott Feldman got a tough no decision after he allowed three runs on just three hits in 7.1 innings pitched.

Will A-Rod Say "Pleas"? Lawyer Says Not So Fast

Does this look like a guy who's going down without a fight?

Word on the street is that this will be the week when Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig slams down suspensions on a number of players like the mighty Thor swung his hammer.  Everyone is waiting with bated breath...not to be confused with those who ate sardines...for the names and the length of time players will get sent to the "baseball brig".

Bad puns aside, this could be a make or break period for Alex Rodriguez and whatever career he has left. It's been widely reported that A-Rod has been offered a plea deal - accept a suspension for the remainder of this year and all of next year - that if accepted would allow A-Rod to return to baseball in 2015. It would also allow him to collect the $60MM that will still be owed to him by the Yankees. Selig is reportedly ready to ban A-Rod for life if he doesn't take the plea arrangement.

However, the reports of the plea offer were denied by A-Rod's lawyer, David Cornwell, who represented Ryan Braun after the Milwaukee Brewers outfielder failed a drug test last year.

Speaking Monday afternoon to ESPN radio's Stephen A. Smith, Cornwell said that Major League Baseball has not approached A-Rod with a deal and that he is focused on readying an appeal for when Selig announces a suspension.

Cornwell said he believes the next step in the process will be for the union to meet with MLB to discuss the investigation and focus on "particular players" and that union head Michael Weiner previously laid out some groundwork on how the process will take place.  Cornwell also said he would not bother to respond to anything reported by any of the media, since it is irrelevant to the appeal process that he is preparing for.

Cornwell also emphasized that the paperwork containing evidenced was stolen by a "disgruntled ex-employee", Porter Fischer of the Biogenesis clinic. Clearly Cornwell will look to discredit Fischer, who has been looking to make a buck by selling the evidence, and the clinic owner Tony Bosch, who is looking to save his butt by cooperating with authorities.

Cornwell added that A-Rod is only focused on getting back to playing baseball, which it looks like he'll do if he does appeal any suspension handed down.

While no fan of A-Rod, it's absurd if Selig is uses him as an example in order to show other potential cheaters that he is tough, especially to those who dare cheat the game multiple times. That being said A-Rod deserves a lengthy suspension if he indeed cheated, but he should not be the only one. As I have said before, Ryan Braun 65 game "sentence" is a joke.

Whatever happens it is time for Major League Baseball and the players union to get things right. Both sides mishandled things from day one- MLB by ignoring the drug issue and the union by refusing to agree to stringent testing sooner.

Times are changing though; the majority of players appear to be fed up with the cheaters as is Weiner. Selig has had enough of players that ignore the warnings or try to finagle their way around the truth.

You can bet there are still players in the league that used steroids in the past, prior to testing and maybe even afterwards, and may try to do so again. You'll never hear them speak up about cleaning up the game. The younger players though want an even playing field. Guys like Chris Davis, who had a breakout season last year and is having a monster season this year, are tired of hearing whispered accusations about possible PED use, because of greatly improved play.

Brace yourself for a long fight.

Pettitte Far From Perfect, but Yankees Rally Past O's Again

Andy Pettitte is not the pitcher we're using to seeing out there on the mound. More baseballs are in the air than on the ground, Pettitte's trademark for getting outs. On Saturday afternoon he hung tough and the Yankees offense bailed him out in a 5-4 Yankees win over the Baltimore Orioles.

Things didn't look good early for Pettitte, as has been the custom of late. Chris Davis, who used to not be able to hit a left-hander if  he were swinging an oak tree, deposited a first inning pitch over the center field wall for his 33rd home run and 2-0 O's lead. Alexi Casilla added an RBI double an inning later and the Yankees were in a quick 3-0 hole.

The Yankees bats, which had shown life in Minnesota, cut the lead to 3-2 in the home half of the 2nd inning against O's starter Chris Tillman. Recently acquired Luis Cruiz slapped a bases loaded single to get the Yankees on the board and fresh-off-the-DL Eduardo Nunez lifted a sac fly to left for the second run of the inning. The Yankees might have gotten more had Lyle Overbay not run them out of a bigger inning.

Overbay tagged up at second base on Nunez's fly and was easily thrown out trying to advance to third. Never mind the old cliche "You don't make the first or last out at third base.", you don't try to advance to third on a ball hit in front of you, especially when you have no speed.

Pettitte was tagged for another run in the 4th on a Taylor Teagarden RBI single, but finally retired the side in order for the first time in the 5th.  The Yankees took the opportunity to tie up the game in the bottom of the inning. Nunez and Chris Stewart stroked back to back singles and Brett Gardner followed with a sac bunt.

Ichiro Suzuki lashed a ball back up the middle that Casilla made a gorgeous stop on ranging to his right, but had no play on the speedy Ichiro as Nunez scored. Robinson Cano then sliced a pitch to left-center for a game tying single.

Pettitte stranded a runner in the 6th and left with two in the 7th after he struck out Nick Markakis looking with Casilla on second base. Shawn Kelley came on and stranded Casilla with a strikeout of Manny Machado. The Yankees meanwhile had taken the lead in the bottom of the 6th when Overbay singled, moved to second on Cruz's sac bunt, and scored on Nunez's single to center. Adam Jones made a strong throw home, but Overbay knocked over Teagarden as the the catcher couldn't corral the baseball.

David Robertson and Mariano Rivera finished things off for Pettitte's 251st career win, a total that tied him with Bob Gibson on the all time list. It was the lefty's first win since June 8 and his first start since he passed Whitey Ford as the Yankees all time strikeout leader.

Kuroda Gem Gives Yankees First Home Series Win

Hiroki Kuroda punches the air after punching out Chris Davis.
(photo courtesy of AP) 

When the Yankees signed Hiroki Kuroda prior to the 2012 season they were hoping to get a pitcher to give them innings, keep them in the ball game, and win more times than not. They not only got all they expected, but much more when Kuroda was their best and most consistent starter for the 2012 season.

Kuroda came into Sunday night's game on the heels of two dubious starts. He took a liner off his finger tip in the second game of the season against Boston, and though he beat Cleveland this past Monday, he still wasn't sharp.

That all changed in front of a national television audience Sunday night against division rival Baltimore. Kuroda dominated the Orioles in a 3-0 shutout that raised the Yankees record to 6-5. The win gave the Yankees two straight series victories and their first one at home.  Kuroda was in control throughout and was pushed to 113 pitches (79 strikes) only because Jayson Nix committed a 9th inning error. With Mariano Rivera loosening in the bullpen, Kuroda struck out Chris Davis for the third time to end the game.

The game itself was reminiscent of last year's wild card series when neither team could hit their way out of a paper bag. Orioles left-hander Wei-Yin Chen was setting down the Yankees with ease until the 5th inning when Brennan Boesch led off with one of his two singles on the night. He moved to second base on Francisco Cervelli's single and then over to third base on a fly out by Lyle Overbay.

Nix made small ball pay off when he lifted a deep fly to right for a ribbie sac fly and a 1-0 lead. Brett Gardner then powered up as much as he can and hit his second home run of the year near the top of the right field foul pole.

That was plenty for Kuroda, whose detractors said would be unable to compete in the AL East. They could not have been more wrong. He limited the O's to five hits, didn't walk a batter, and struck out five. He gave the Yankees innings, kept them in the game, and won. Mission accomplished.

Get That Bum Outta There

"No Coke, Pepsi" (recap from Baseball Digest)

Outside of Mariano Rivera and Phil Hughes, there isn't one reliever that Joe Girardi can totally depend on to come out of the bullpen and give a solid effort. Brian Bruney, Phil Coke, Al Aceves, and others have all had good stretches followed by equally poor ones. This afternoon's game was a perfect case in point. Coke and David Robertson turned a 3-2 deficit into a 7-2 game enabling the Rangers to takethe rubber game of the three game series.

The Yankees lack of hitting and poor relief also overshadowed a good outing by A.J. Burnett. It might have been an overpowering or dominant performance if not for Burnett's 4th inning. After retiring the first 11 men to start the game, Burnett issued back to back walks to Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz, and then left a BP fastball over the middle plate to Ian Kinsler. The Rangers' 2nd baseman hammered it into the left field seats for a 3-1 Rangers' lead. Burnett got back on track after that and finished the game with a season high 12 strikeouts. Nonetheless he was saddled with his 4th straight loss, dropping to 10-8 overall.


Mark Teixeira drove in both Yankees' runs, including an RBI single in the bottom of the 4th against starter Dustin Nippert. But unlike their counterparts, the Rangers' bullpen tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings to seal the win. That included the 4th inning when, with two on and two out, Jason Grilli retired Alex Rodriguez on a weak comebacker to end the Yankees threat.

Girardi went to Coke to start the 7th after Burnett tossed 105 pitches. He gave up back to back hits to David Murphy and Taylor Teagarden to start the inning and then a back breaking a 3-run shot to Chris Davis for a 6-2 Rangers' lead. Kinsler added his 2nd home run of the game off Robertson in the 8th to account for the game's final run.

Game Notes

Jake Peavy will not pitch in the Chicago White Sox series at the Stadium this weekend. It was originally thought that he might face Joba Chamberlain on Sunday, but he's not ready to be activated after all.

The Yankees were limited to six hits, two each by Teixeira and Johnny Damon.

Andy Roddick threw out a ceremonial first pitch prior to the game.