Observations Around the League

- Carl Pavano won his third game tonight for Cleveland in his 7th start.  No Yankee starter has 3 wins yet.  In 3 years with the Yanks, he was 9-8 in 27 starts.  It cost the Yanks roughly $4.5M per win.  So far, it's cost the Indians less than a million per.  Anymore wins and it will be a one heck of a signing for Cleveland.  

- Dodgers, 1-3 without Manny.  C'mon, Joe Torre, I've had to listen to the sports writers who swoon and faun over your Bob Gibson stories tell me what a genius you've been for the past 15 years.  I've said it since Luis Gonzales' bloop single beat the Yanks in the 2001 World Series - this man is a phony fraud.  Go Giants.

-  Yoda Pedroia pulled a groin muscle this weekend.   Probably did it on one of his ridiculous swings.  Is David Ortiz still playing?  I haven't seen him on the HR stat sheet yet.  He has 26 hits and 26 Ks - not good.  Jonathan Van Every, Nick Green, Julio Lugo and Jacoby Ellsbury have all hit 1 HR, in less at bats.

- More on Red Sox:  Jon Lester and Josh Beckett have ERAs  of 6.31 and 6.42 respectively.  Pitching coach John Farrell must be having some sleepless nights.  Something tells me it still beats watching the Dart Thrower, Matsuzaka, attempt to navigate 120 pitches through 5 innings.

- Poor Johan Santana.  He has an ERA of 0.78 and is only 4-2.  His first lost was a 2-1 decision with 2 unearned runs and he lost tonight to Atlanta, giving up just 2 more unearned runs, before departing with 1 out in the 7th, trailing 2-1.  His bullpen imploded and the Mets lost 8-3.  They just can't score runs for this guy.

- Ken Griffey, Jr., you can't go home again:  3 HRs and hitting .218 for Seattle.

- Is Tampa Bay really this stubborn and cheap that they won't bring up stud pitcher David Price yet?  I hope they miss the playoffs by a couple of wins.  Socialism sounds good, but doesn't work in reality.

- Why can't anyone hit in Oakland?  They're hitting .236 as a team.