Reds Move Into 1st Place Tie

Playing without probably the best hitter in baseball, the Cardinals are predictably struggling. They're still hitting (had 11 hits last night, but only 3 runs), thanks to the red-hot Scott Rolen, but without Pujols to drive runners in, treading water in the competitive NL Central is going to be a challenge for Tony LaRussa's crew.

As for Cincinnati they just keep on rolling. Last night's win extended their win streak to 7 games, and only the Los Angeles Dodgers have scored more runs than the Reds in the National League. And the news gets better as Cincinnati will be hosting the Cubs and Pirates, who are a combined 16-45 on the road this season, over the next 7 days.

"Johnnycakes"

Here's some proof that John Smoltz does not watch "The Sopranos".



Insert your own Vito Spatafore jokes here.

AL Central Race Tightening

Thanks to more heroics from Alex Cintron, the White Sox have moved to within a game of division-leading Detroit. One problem facing the Tigers is health. Pudge Rodriguez was out of last night's game, and LF Craig Monroe was forced to leave the game (leg) after crashing into the left field wall going after a Scott Podsednik flyball, which turned into a triple and the White Sox's first run. It was Monroe's replacement, Alexis Gomez, who misplayed the Alex Cintron single that allowed Joe Crede to score the winning run.

Ichiro Being Ichiro

On May 1st, Ichiro Suzuki didn't appear immune to the offensive anemia that plagued just about every veteran Mariners hitting not named Raul Ibanez. His batting average was at .287, which is respectable for most players, but not for a player who had never failed to hit over .300 as a professional.

Now that's it's June 8th, Ichiro is leading baseball in hits (93) and is second only to Joe Mauer in batting average (.358). In the first week of June, Ichiro is hitting an astronomical .571 (16-28) and the M's have won 6 of 7 and are tied with the LA Angels (of Anaheim in the state of California in the United States of America) as they both trail the division-leading Texas Rangers by 5.5 games.

Tonight's Marquee Matchup

Thursday is "Ace" day in Major League Baseball.

Weather permitting, it'll be the Curt Schilling-Jaret Wright duel we expected last night in the Bronx. With the Yankees 1.5 games ahead of Boston, and last night's game rained out, the Sox have to salvage at least one game from this abbreviated series.

Bronson Arroyo tries to extend the Reds winning streak to 8 against Glendon Rusch of the Cubs. Other aces on the mound today include Roy Halladay (vs. Baltimore), Kenny Rogers (vs. Chicago), Doug Davis (vs. San Diego) and Johan Santana (vs. Seattle).