The Remaining Unbeatens

Four games into the season and the Midwest must be going mad. Detroit and Milwaukee are the last unbeaten teams remaining in baseball.


Arizona Diamondbacks' Conor Jackson, left, is out at second as Milwaukee Brewers shortstop J.J. Hardy throws to first base to complete a double play on a ball hit by Shawn Green during the fourth inning of their baseball game Friday. (AP)

Dave (Who?)Bush gave up two hits in seven innings and Derrick Turnbow got his fourth save in four games to help the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 on Friday night.

Turnbow became the first pitcher to save each of his team's first four games of the season since the save become an official statistic in 1969. Which lucky dog saw that coming on his fantasy team?

Bush (1-0), who was acquired in the trade that sent Lyle Overbay to the Toronto Blue Jays in December, struck out seven to earn the win in his first start for Milwaukee.

And to think, these fine four starts have all come with ace hurler Ben Sheets off the team rehabbing an injury. Sheets made a rehab start for Double-A Huntsville Thursday, throwing 49 pitches. He is expected to make another minor league start on Tuesday, where his pitch count will be approximately 70.

You may find it hard to believe (or remember) but the Brewers won their first 13 games in 1987. That team finished 3rd in the AL East with 91 wins behind Detroit and Toronto.

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Detroit Tigers' Mike Maroth pitches in the third inning against the Texas Rangers (AP)

Meanwhile, with Jim Leyland making his baseball managerial comeback in Detroit, Chris (Who?)Shelton had a two-run homer and the Detroit Tigers remained the AL's only unbeaten team with a 5-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday night. Last season it took Shelton 26 games to reach five homers en route to his career high of 18. All four homers this season have been with the bases empty.

The Tigers lead the majors with 16 homers.

"You're happy to be 4-0 but I won't get too excited about it," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "In our first four games, our starting pitchers got wins. That's very unlikely but in this case, we did. We're pitching and playing defense very well."

Tigers starter Mike Maroth (1-0) gave up one run and eight hits with one walk in 5 1-3 innings. Relievers Jason Grilli, Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney combined to allow one run and three hits over the final 3 2-3 innings. Rodney worked the ninth for his second save.

Maroth had been 0-3 against Texas with a 10.35 ERA in four previous appearances.

Pitching phenom Justin Verlander will make his first start of the season against Rangers' ace Kevin Millwood (0-1) on Saturday.

Of course, we remember 1984 when the Tigers won their first 9 in a row and 35 of their first 40 games.

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Meanwhile, Archie Bunker's Army chronicles the Mets third win in their first four games to assume control of the NL East.

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And in other games on Friday, the Cubs knocked the Cardinals from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 5-1 victory to open a three game home stand at Wrigley. Greg Maddux, a week shy of 40 and like his 40 year old former teammate Tom Glavine, won his first start of the season.



Maddux held the St. Louis Cardinals to four hits over 6 1/3 innings to earn his 319th victory to place him 15th on the All Time Victories list.

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A day after the Rollins hitting streak was halted at 38, the Phillies dropped their 4th straight loss to start the season, this time a 5-3 loss to the Dodgers. The Phillies haven't started a season 0-4 since 1987, and this is the first time they've lost the first four at home since 1977 -- though they did end up going to the playoffs that year.



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PA Sucks

Even more futility in Pennsylvania as the Pirates slogged along to their worst start in 32 years, losing their 5th game in a row to start the season.

The Pirates are 0-5 for the first time since 1974, when they lost their first six games. The 1955 club dropped its first eight, setting the franchise record for futility.

Pittsburgh finished last in the NL Central a year ago, 33 games out. The Pirates retooled their everyday lineup, adding former Reds Sean Casey and Joe Randa, but are 4 1/2 games out of first place less than a week into the season.

Pennsylvania baseball teams are now 0-9 to start the season.

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Yankees Suck!


And yes, it's true, the Yankees lost another last night, this time to the Angels. The Yankees have now lost 3 in a row after a their Opening Day win and it probably won't be long before this multibillion dollar enterprise starts feeling the heat, one week into the season. Oh Happy Days!