Rundown of some leaders from Friday, April 14
Is it still early to look at who will be leading by game 162. You betcha’, with only 8.6% of games have been played in a 162 game season we have a lot of exciting moments and movement across all MLB teams. But here are a few thoughts on some of the leaders.
The Tampa Bay Rays -
The Rays drop their first game in Toronto with a 3 – 6 loss to the Blue Jays. Drew Rasmussen struggled to bring his best stuff to the mound but fell short. The Jays brought on an aggressive start at Rogers Centre with George Springer knocking out a home run on the second pitch of the game.
Bo Bichette continued to shine for the Jays with 5 hits with 5 at bats and crossed the plate to put another point on the board. The bigger number for Bichette was 500. He has now recorded 500 career runs in his 407 games played with the Jays.
Rays’ spotlights began in the 4th inning with Luke Raley’s RBI single that brought Brandon Lowe home.
Bottom of the 5th the Rays continued to fall as the Jays put up 4 runs.
Rays showed some opportunity for a comeback with 2 solo home runs in the 7th from Josh Lowe & Christian Bethancourt.
Jays Closer, Jordan Romano closed the door on the Rays and gave them their first loss since Opening Day. The Rays now stand with a 13 – 1 record that leads them with wins across all teams in the leagues.
Rays continue with 2 more games in Toronto this weekend hoping to increase their win column points and their team run differential record of 68+ runs over their competitors.
Twins, Brewers & Braves all hold the second position with 10 – 4 records. Let’s take a look at them
Minnesota Twins -
The Twins recently took 2 of 3 games with the Astros and again with the White Sox. This weekend they are facing the Yankees in New York in a 4-game series. The Twins have won the first 2 games of the series with a +10 run differential.
It is worth pointing out that Yankee, Anthony Volpe, had his first career home run in yesterday’s game.
Yankees fans are struggling with a 5 – 5 win loss record for their last 10 games. Saturday and Sunday’s games are critical for the Yankees to build on their 8 – 6 winning start to the season.
Twins run differential to date: +25 Yankees: +18
Milwaukee Brewers –
The Brewers also maintain that 10 – 4 record. They have a positive stride having won 7 of their last 10 games. However, they finished up a 3 games series in Arizona taking only 1 win away from the Diamondbacks.
Currently, the Brewers are in San Diego in the middle of a 4-game series with the Padres.
The Brewers have taken the first 2 games of that series. Yesterday they punched the Padres with an 11 – 2 win. Everyone of the Brewers put a hit onto the field.
The Brewers line-up that included names like Yelich, Adames, Contreras, Tellez, Voit gave every baseball fan had someone to applaud. Most of these guys had played with other teams across the leagues, Miami, Tampa, Atlanta, Toronto, Saint Louis, New York, San Diego & Washington. If you are a fan of the game more than a fan of a team you may find yourself tracking these and other players as they move in their careers.
Back to the game. The Brewers had a strong start with 4 runs. The action began at the top of the line-up with Yelich, Adames, Tellez, Anderson, Voit putting together 3 runs & 4 hits in the first inning. At this point, Padres pitcher, Mike Wacha had thrown 26 pitches and there was still more to come. Mike Brosseau hit another RBI bringing Voit in to total 4 runs in the top of the first inning.
As the Padres took the plate Brewers shortstop, Willy Adames gave the Padres a large STOP sign as he scooped up two potential hits from Xander Bogaerts and Juan Soto and turned those contacts to outs at first.
Top of the second Brewers, Christian Yelich delivered a home run to start off the second inning.
The pain continued. By the conclusion of the 6th inning the Brewers led 10 to 1. This came from the bats of Luke Voit and Rowdy Tellez who combined drove in 6 RBIs.
I just can’t say much more about the Padres, Luis Campusano marked up a home run.
For more on the action of this Sad San Diego drama check out this video
Brewers team run differential rate to date: +34
Differential rates provided by TeamRankings.com
Atlanta Braves – I’ll save updates on these guys for a bit later.
With Gratitude
- Mark
