Big Winners:
Edinson Volquez, Joey Votto, and the Cincinnati Reds: Votto had his best game as a major leaguer after belting 3 of the Reds 7 homeruns against the Cubs, and Volquez improved to 5-1 with a miniscule 1.06 ERA, and leads all of baseball with 52 strikeouts. Dusty Baker could also be called a big winner as his club took 2 of 3 from the team that most recently fired him.
The Florida Marlins: Florida continues it's improbable run, handily beating a floundering Milwaukee Brewers squad. The share first place with last year's NL East Champion Philadelphia Phillies.
The Oakland Athletics: Many people assumed the A's were waving the white flag before the season even started by trading their Ace (Danny Haren) and arguably their best player (Nick Swisher) during the winter. Instead the A's are tied with the Angels, and Redsox for best record in the American League after notching a walk-off win the 10th inning yesterday.
Placido Polanco, and the Detroit Tigers: While the Tigers appear to still be working to find their identity, scoring 2 in the 9th after blowing an 8-4 early lead to win can't hurt. Especially when you score those two off of Uber-Closer Jonathan Papelbon. Polanco did his best to break out of what has been a season long slump after raising his average from .238 to .270 by going 5-6 with 3 RBIs including the game winning hit.
Cliff Lee: I mentioned yesterday the kind of season Lee has gotten off to, and it's appearing all to obvious that it's not fluke. Entering the game with a 0.96 ERA, Cliffy actually lowered it to 0.81 as he threw 7 shutout innings and notched his third straight start without allowing a walk. Lee now has surrendered just 2 base on balls, in 44 innings while going 6-0.
Carlos Gomez: I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the young Twin's night. Gomez was the centerpiece for the Twins in the Johan Santana trade, and so far wasn't impressing people all that much. Gomez blew up expectations when he hit for the cycle in a 13-1 win over Mark Buehrle and the Chicago Pornstars....Err, Whitesox. It was the first time a Minnesota Twin had hit for the cycle in 22 years, and now Gomez' name will forever be mentioned with the likes of Legendary Twin, Kirby Puckett
Big Losers
Jon Lieber: This was supposed to be Jon Lieber's glorious return to the starters mound as a Chicago Cub after starting the season as a long reliever. Lieber had pitched extremely well out of the pen for the Cubbies and was moved into the rotation after Rich Hill was sent to Iowa. Lieber lasted just 2 innings, and surrendered 4 of the Reds astounding 7 homeruns.
San Diego Padres: What in the name of god is wrong with the San Diego Padres? A complete lack of any power is certainly a culprit, but the pitching hasn't been nearly as dominant as many expected it to be either. The Friars sit alone as not only the worst team in the National League, but in all of baseball. This is a team that many saw as improved over a squad that was one Trevor Hoffman blown save away from beating the eventual NL Champion Rockies out for the National League Wild Card last season.
Barry Zito: Zito returned to the starting rotation from the bullpen, after never having actually pitched in relief, and picked up right where he left off, falling to 0-7 on the season. In Zito's defense, this loss was on the Giants offense, or lack thereof, than his pitching, but when you notch seven losses in seven starts, you get mentioned in this section.
Ned Yost and the Milwaukee Brewers: Will Ned Yost be the first manager fired this season? I say yes. After looking like a lock to win the NL Central going into August last year, the Brewers failed to make the playoffs. This season a team that is chock full of young talent is floundering in the middle of the pack after dropping five straight and falling to 16-17.
Jason Isringhausen: The fact that his team is surprisingly in first place will probably afford a longer leash than some of the other struggling closers this season, but Izzy has 3 blown saves already this year, and is sporting a 6.60 ERA after taking part in allowing 4 runs to the Colorado Rockies in the bottom of the 8th inning last night.
