Sox Ceremony Sucks But Not As Much As Yankees, 8-1

Oh yeah, we should all probably be happy for New England and their 86 year old sigh of relief. Hopefully, yesterday was the last we'll have to hear about it but just a tiny excerpt was seeing the Yankees standing at the top of their dugouts applauding the Sox for their rings. I couldn't help but contrast it to the classless boasting of the Red Sox following their World Championship.

The game itself was appropriately, a mismatch as the Sox pounded Mike Mussina.

The Yankees fall was led yet again by Red Sox Most Valuable Choker, A-Clod. Rodriguez helped Boston break the game open in the bottom of the inning, committing an error on a routine grounder hit by Johnny Damon.

"I was a little overaggressive," Rodriguez said. "I knew Johnny got out of the box pretty good, but I should have played it back a little more."

More like, you choked like a dog yet again, second error against the Sox. The error extended the inning for the Red Sox, who capitalized by scoring three runs, two on Trot Nixon's double, a ball which glanced off the glove of Gary Sheffield, who appeared to lose it in the sun.

Following his error, Rodriguez heard it from the Fenway faithful, as the 33,702 in attendance chanted "A-Rod! A-Rod!" in unison. Rodriguez said it reminded him of the 1980s, when opposing fans would taunt the Mets' Darryl Strawberry with chants of "Dar-ryl!"

"I think I'm becoming a cult hero in Boston," Rodriguez said. "I really don't want that at all."

Well, playing like a man instead of a mouse might be helpful.

Sox fans also cheered Mariano in a standing ovation, a thanks for blowing two saves against the Red Sox in last October's ALCS, then blowing two more last week at Yankee Stadium. Oh, those clever Red Sox fans know who to love, don't they? Meanwhile, For 200 Million You Expect More.

Cubs Shut Out At Home

Meanwhile, in the city (as Jim Caple notes) that hasn't had a ring since the final year of Teddy Roosevelt's administration and haven't played in one since the last year of Franklin Roosevelt's administration, the Cubs fell to 3-4 on the season with a 1-0 loss to the San Diego Padres.

Jeromy Burnitz's 6th inning error led to the only Padre run and to make matters worse, the replacement Sosa struck out on bad pitches with a full count to end both the sixth and eighth innings with runners in scoring position.

Now Cubs fans can turn their attention to Mark Prior, who will be making his first start of the season today against the Padres despite giving up 7 runs in six innings against AAA fare in his last outing.

"Other" Chicago Team Wins

And whilst the Cubs were busy coughing up another fur ball, their crosstown brethren, the White Sox, 88 years waiting for a World Series, were led by last year's key acquisition, Freddy Garcia, who retired the last 14 Indians he faced, limited them to four hits and has held them to two runs in 14 innings this season as he dueled the Indians Kevin Millwood. Garcia is 10-0 with a 2.29 ERA in day games going back to the start of last season.

Although they mustered about as much offence as the Cubs, Sox starters have posted a 2.44 ERA through the first seven games - key to their 5-2 start.

Perhaps most interesting was the 26 mph "breeze" blowing in. Think that added a few mphs on pitching velocity?

Royal Disappointment

What's it like being a KC Royals fan? Well, you get a record crowd of 41,788 in to see your home opener, proving the eternal optimism of the Midwest outside of Chicago, and then you watch your team get crushed by the sad-sack Mariners, 8-2. In truth, they were probably all there to watch hitting machine Ee-Chee-Row go 2 for 5 and drop his batting average down to a more human .464 --

Nats No Match For Braves

After their humiliating defeat to the Mets yesterday, the Braves bounced back to trounce the Nats 11-2. Mike Hampton (8 innings pitched, 7 hits one run and two hits himself to go to 2-0) was a model of efficiency and got help from Rafael Furcal and Andruw Jones in the form of two two-run homers as the Braves rolled the Nationals on Monday in the two clubs' first meeting.

Don't look now kids but for the first time in this young season -- not to mention in their nascent history -- the Nationals have a losing streak, albeit a modest two games.

Nice article on the World Oldest Living Senator.

Mets Win Again

The fine details, as usual, found at Archie Bunker's Army.

Today's Menu

As previously mentioned, Mark Prior gets his first start of the year against the Padres. Worse still, he is matched against Jake Peavy, the defending Major League ERA champ. Peavy started off with a spotless mark in 2005 with 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball in the home opener against the Pirates.

The Phillies face the Marlins in Florida for the start of another inter NL East battle. Wolf against AJ Burnett.

The Ex-Met we will never hear the end of, Scott Kazmir, will make his first career start against the Orioles. Both Tampa and Baltimore are 3-3.

It probably won't get much better for the Nats as they have to face Tim Hudson and the Braves today. The Nats will send Esteban Loiza to the mound. Loaiza will face the Braves for the eighth time in his career. He is 3-2 with a 4.50 ERA against them.

STANDINGS

(Please note the Rockies have now tied the Mets for longest losing streak of the season at 5 in a row)

American League
EAST W L PCT GB HOME ROAD EAST CENT WEST NL L10 STRK
Toronto 5 2 .714 - 2-1 3-1 4-2 0-0 1-0 0-0 5-2 W3
Baltimore 3 3 .500 1.5 1-2 2-1 2-1 0-0 1-2 0-0 3-3 W1
Tampa Bay 3 3 .500 1.5 3-3 0-0 1-2 0-0 2-1 0-0 3-3 L1
Boston 3 4 .429 2.0 1-0 2-4 3-4 0-0 0-0 0-0 3-4 W1
New York 3 4 .429 2.0 3-3 0-1 3-4 0-0 0-0 0-0 3-4 L2

CENTRAL W L PCT GB HOME ROAD EAST CENT WEST NL L10 STRK
Chicago 5 2 .714 - 2-1 3-1 0-0 5-2 0-0 0-0 5-2 W1
Detroit 3 3 .500 1.5 3-3 0-0 0-0 3-3 0-0 0-0 3-3 L1
Minnesota 3 3 .500 1.5 1-2 2-1 0-0 1-2 2-1 0-0 3-3 W1
Cleveland 3 4 .429 2.0 0-1 3-3 0-0 3-4 0-0 0-0 3-4 L1
Kansas City 3 4 .429 2.0 0-1 3-3 0-0 1-2 2-2 0-0 3-4 L1

WEST W L PCT GB HOME ROAD EAST CENT WEST NL L10 STRK
Los Angeles 4 3 .571 - 3-3 1-0 0-0 1-2 3-1 0-0 4-3 W1
Oakland 3 4 .429 1.0 0-1 3-3 3-4 0-0 0-0 0-0 3-4 L1
Seattle 3 4 .429 1.0 2-4 1-0 0-0 2-2 1-2 0-0 3-4 W1
Texas 3 4 .429 1.0 0-1 3-3 0-0 0-0 3-4 0-0 3-4 L1

National League

EAST W L PCT GB HOME ROAD EAST CENT WEST AL L10 STRK
Atlanta 5 2 .714 - 3-1 2-1 5-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 5-2 W1
Philadelphia 4 3 .571 1.0 1-2 3-1 2-2 2-1 0-0 0-0 4-3 W3
Florida 3 4 .429 2.0 3-4 0-0 3-4 0-0 0-0 0-0 3-4 L1
Washington 3 4 .429 2.0 0-0 3-4 3-4 0-0 0-0 0-0 3-4 L2
New York 2 5 .286 3.0 1-0 1-5 1-2 1-3 0-0 0-0 2-5 W2

CENTRAL W L PCT GB HOME ROAD EAST CENT WEST AL L10 STRK
Houston 4 2 .667 - 4-1 0-1 0-1 4-1 0-0 0-0 4-2 L1
Milwaukee 4 2 .667 - 1-0 3-2 0-0 4-2 0-0 0-0 4-2 W1
Cincinnati 3 3 .500 1.0 3-0 0-3 3-0 0-3 0-0 0-0 3-3 L3
Chicago 3 4 .429 1.5 2-2 1-2 0-0 2-1 1-3 0-0 3-4 L1
St. Louis 2 3 .400 1.5 1-2 1-1 1-2 1-1 0-0 0-0 2-3 L2
Pittsburgh 2 5 .286 2.5 0-2 2-3 0-0 0-3 2-2 0-0 2-5 L1

WEST W L PCT GB HOME ROAD EAST CENT WEST AL L10 STRK
Los Angeles 4 2 .667 - 0-0 4-2 0-0 0-0 4-2 0-0 4-2 L1
San Francisco 4 2 .667 - 4-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 4-2 0-0 4-2 W3
Arizona 4 3 .571 0.5 4-3 0-0 0-0 2-1 2-2 0-0 4-3 W2
San Diego 4 3 .571 0.5 2-2 2-1 0-0 3-2 1-1 0-0 4-3 W1
Colorado 1 5 .167 3.0 1-1 0-4 0-0 0-0 1-5 0-0 1-5 L5