Barry Bonds took another step forward in his chase to become the all-time home run king, hitting one out against Chris Young of the San Diego Padres. One down, 21 to go. As long he stays healthy and pitchers like Young are dumb enough to throw him strikes, Bonds will certainly break Aaron’s record and Bud Selig may have a dilemma on his hands. How would you like an internationally hated man holding one of, if not the most, sacred record of your sport?
A.J. Burnett joined this season’s list of starters to get rocked in the early going. The Tigers lit him up for the better part of their eight-run third earning when he was pulled from the game. The Jays mounted a late comeback attempt by scoring seven runs in the eighth inning but ultimately fell 10-9.
The Mets completed their sweep of the defending champion Cardinals which isn’t really too much of a surprise when you consider the team that St. Louis fielded this year. Moving a former closer into the rotation and reassembling the Angels middle infield combo of Kennedy and Eckstein aren’t the best off-season moves you can make. Their fans should be happy that management didn’t take the Florida Marlins approach to winning though.
Dice-K debuts today so run out to your local bookie and throw down some money on Boston today. Is there really a possibility that Boston will open their season by losing a series to the lowly Royals? Especially with Daisuke Matsuzaka’s regular season debut today, it doesn’t seem likely. This is also assuming that “wonder-kid†Alex Gordon of Kansas City also continues his pace to go hitless on the year after being touted as a rookie of the year candidate. He’s showing his critics what he can truly do.