The First Week of the Season is in the Books

The 2009 major league baseball season got off to a rocky start for our teams. The Reds and the Red Sox have struggled out of the gate but don't run up the white flag yet. There is plenty of baseball left to play. Even a bad start can't dampen my spirits this time of year. BASEBALL IS BACK!

Red Sox Report:

Toronto 5-1

Baltimore 4-1

New York 3-2
Boston 2-3

Tampa Bay 2-3

Your eyes are not deceiving you. The Red Sox dropped the first series to the Rays 1-2 then went out west to LA and dropped another to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Josh Beckett pitched a gem in his first outing giving up only 1 run and striking out 10 through 7 innings. Okijima gave up a couple of runs to make the game closer than it should have been then Papelbon slammed the door shut.

Out in LA, the mmod was somber after the Angels lost their new young pitcher Nick Adenhart in a car accident hours after pitching a great game. Dice-K was a little rocky and Papelbon tried to blow the game by givimg up a leadoff solo homerun in the bottom of the ninth and loading the bases before recording his 2nd save of the season.

Reds Beat:

The Reds again got off to a slow start. Unfortunately on a cold day in Cincinnati, they had the priviledge of matching up with one of baseballs best pitchers in Johan Santana. Aaron Harang only gave up 1 run through 7 innings but the bats of the redlegs were silenced by the arm of Santana. Wednesday the bats heated up but the pitching let the team down. Seven runs on 9 hits weren't enough to overcome the 4 runs given up by Volquez in just 4 1/3 innings and the 4 given up by Lincoln in just 1 inning of work. Bronson Arroyo wasn't great on Thursday but the bats helped him get the win. Votto's 3 run shot in the 3rd propelled the Reds to their first win of the season. Saturday the Reds started thier second series of the season with a loss to the Pirates. These aren't your father's Pirates.

Cleveland Indians:

The Indians can't buy a win. They were swept by the Rangers in the opening series and then lost the first two to the Blue Jays. The games weren't even close. Cliff Lee gave up 7 runs in 5 innings on opening day while the bats fell silent only getting 5 hits and stranding 9 base runners. Game 2 wasn't any better. Although they managed 7 hits, they left 23 runners on as Carmona gave up 6 runs in 5 innings. The bats showed up for game three getting 8 runs on 11 hits but the pitching still wasn't there. Pavano never recorded an out in the second inning and was rung up for 9 runs on 6 hits including 2 HRs. So in 5 games, the Tribe left 81 runners on base while the pitching staff gave up 46 earned runs. That could make for a long season.

Stat of the Week: For the first time since 1987, the bums from the Bronx recorded 0 strikeouts by their hurlers in the first 2 games of the season.