NL, AL: All Divisions Tighten Up With Inter-League Play to Start on Friday …
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As inter-league play approaches, the races in all divisions in both leagues have become extremely tight.
In the AL, the Red Sox and Yankees are at each other’s necks in the East, as are the Chicago White Sox and Detroit in the Central Division, as well as Oakland and Texas in the West. All of the above are tied for 1st place in their respective divisions.
In the NL, the New York Mets continue to be in the East Division lead, 2 games up on the Phillies. the Mets having lost a tough one on Wednesday night to the St Louis Cardinals 1-0, while the Phillies were also losing, in another heartbreaker to Milwaukee in the bottom of the 9th, by 8-7.
The St. Louis Cardinals are also 2 games up on 2nd place Cincinnati in the NL Central Division.
In an tight NL West race, the San Diego Padres lead the Arizona Diamondbacks by a scant 1/2 game as the Diamondbacks took 2 of 3 from the Padres although losing on Wednesday night by a 14-10 score. The Colorado Rockies are a full game behind San Diego and 1/2 game behind Arizona and the Dodgers and Giants are but a game behind them in an extremely tight divisional race.
But this post is reserved one of the most under-inked teams this year, the Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs have been saddled in 5th place in the NL Central, 7 1/2 games behind St. Louis and 4 1/2 games ahead of the cellar-dwelling Pittsburgh Pirates, but the Cubs seem to be showing some signs of life. They’ve won 3 of their last 5 games, including taking the first 2 of the 3 game series with the Washington Nationals by the shutout scores of 4-0 on Tuesday and 5-0 yesterday.
On Tuesday, the Cubs’ struggling offense scatched out 1 run in the 4th inning and 3 in the 5th and that was all Carlos Zambrano (2-2) needed as he pitched 8 innings of 4 hit ball with closer Ryan Dempster (0-1, S7) closing down the Nationals in the 9th to preserve the shutout victory. Zambrano struck out 8 Nationals while walking 2 in an impressive performance.
On Wednesday, the Cubs 6′ 7″ rookie lefthander Sean Marshall (3-1) pitched 6 innings of shutout ball as the Cubs supported him by etching 1 run in the 1st inning and 3 more in 2nd enroute to a 5-0 victory over the Nationals. Washington has now been held scoreless for 21 consecutive innings going back to the last 3 innings of their 8-1 victory over Atlanta on Mother’s Day.
Marshall, although he walked 4 with hs 6 strikeouts, had a no-hitter going into the 6th until Alfonso Soriano (12 HR) led off the Washington 6th inning with a single. In the bottom of the 6th inning, 2nd year player Freddie Bynum’s (1 HR) pinch hit solo homer, his first major league home run closed out the scoring for Chicago. Relievers Bob Howry (2-1), Scott Williamson (2-2) and Scott Eyre shut down the Nationals 9 up, 9 down with Eyre striking out the side in the 9th.
Tonight, the Cubs play the rubber game of their series with Wahsington. Righthander Kerry Wood makes his 2006 debut for the Cubs after recovering from right shoulder arthroscopic surgery in the off-season. The Nationals counter with righthander Ramon Ortiz (0-4).
For scores and details on all of today’s games in both leagues, click here.
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