* Tampa Bay's David Price has become the third pitcher to win his first regular-season game after getting a postseason victory. Odalis Perez did it for Atlanta in 1998 and Francisco Rodriguez for the Angels in 2002.

On deck

 

CHEERS:

For White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. At a time when most people in baseball work hard at saying as little as possible, Guillen at least speaks his mind. Two examples from this week:

Hearing that Jake Peavy and Roy Oswalt wouldn't waive their no-trade clauses to come to the South Side of Chicago, he shrugged. "If you don't want to play for us, why should we have you?" he responded.

And he isn't worried about fans who bemoan the fact that he has been playing Dewayne Wise over Brian Anderson in center. "If they don't like it when Wise comes to bat, turn the TV off, turn the radio off or turn around and start walking toward the concession stand," he suggested.

Gotta love that Ozzie.

JEERS:

To Cubs righthander Carlos Zambrano. After getting a six-game suspension for flipping out on an umpire, heaving a ball into the outfield and destroying a Gatorade dispenser in the dugout, the Big Z blew off the team charter to Atlanta on Monday without letting anybody know.

This is the same guy who left the ballpark in the middle of a game last September. And team sources told the Chicago Tribune it's not the first flight he's skipped, either.

What a good pitcher. What a knucklehead.

BY THE NUMBERS:

4: Grand slams by Rays second baseman Ben Zobrist in his last 70 games, covering 195 at-bats, after launching one against Kansas City on Wednesday night.

5: Wild pitches allowed by Dodgers catcher Russell Martin on Monday night, tying a club record set in 1918. "It's not really a record I want to put my name behind," he said. "It was a tough night. I just wasn't getting there and wasn't putting my body in the right position to block the ball."

80: Strikeouts, in 177 at-bats, for Rangers first baseman Chris Davis. At this rate, he will demolish the single-season whiff record (204 by Arizona's Mark Reynolds last season).

509: Games for Dan Uggla to reach 100 career home runs. That's the fastest ever for a second baseman.

UP NEXT:

Unlike Pedro Martinez, Paul Byrd, Mark Mulder and other free-agent pitchers still unsigned, Tom Glavine just completed a rehab assignment and is ready to see if there's enough left in his 43-year-old arm to get big-league hitters out. With all the teams in desperate need of pitching, it shouldn't be long before the 305-game winner finds a job.

Weeklings

Page:   2  of  3  View All

«Previous    1 |   2 |   3      Next»