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2009 MLB American League Central Notebook
Remember, the concerns over 2008 American League Cy Young winner in Cleveland’s Cliff Lee and his terrible start?
Well, they are not remembering that anymore because Lee has found the form that made him so dominant. Lee took a no-hitter into the eighth inning in his June 14 start against St. Louis before he finished off the complete game.
But in his last 12 starts, Lee is 4-4 with a 2.07 ERA. In April, Lee’s ERA rivaled some of the TARP money the big banks were getting. But he has lowered it to 2.88, which is good for 8 th in the AL. He’s 4-6 for the season.
During that span, he has taken six starts at least eight innings, eight starts at least seven innings and 12 starts at least six innings.
Lee’s only problem is that there are too many other leaks in the rotation to really help him.
MINNESOTA
The Twins absolutely love interleague play. Following the team taking two out of three from Pittsburgh in the Metrodome, the Twins are 7-2 in interleague play this year.
But since interleague play began in 1997, the Twins are 127-92 and are one of three teams to collect 125 wins or more. The New York Yankees have also won 127 games, while Oakland has won 125.
The good news is that the Twins continue the good vibes with the National League when Houston visits the Metrodome this weekend.
They will finish interleague play next week with a roadtrip to Milwaukee and St. Louis.
KANSAS CITY
Zack Greinke is human after all. He amazed many through his first 10 starts with an ERA of less than 1.00.
However, the last several starts showed it was going to difficult to maintain this pace. The Royals have lost his last four starts – he has lost two of them – and he has surrendered 15 earned runs in 26 innings in those starts. He has seen the ERA go up from 0.84 to 1.96.
But that ERA still leads the AL, while his 106 strikeouts are second.
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DETROIT
The division leaders have been wobbling this week. First, left-hander Dontrelle Willis returned to the disabled list because of a return of his anxiety disorder.
Willis thinks it’s more mechanical but the Tigers are more convinced it’s the other way. Willis began the season on the DL because of these issues. He just really hasn’t been the same since winning 22 games in 2005 with Florida.
In two seasons with Detroit, Willis has made only 15 starts and won just one game.
CHICAGO
Maybe it’s relevant. Maybe it’s not. But when you look at the White Sox in their wins and losses, there really isn’t any middle ground.
In their 31 wins, the White Sox have a 1.97 ERA, batted .296, averaged 6.3 runs per game and hit 50 home runs. In their first 35 losses, they have a 6.19 ERA, batted .207, averaged 2.1 runs per game and hit 17 home runs.
It’s likely that a lot of other teams have numbers that look like that. Still, it is interesting to see how the numbers validate the wins and losses.
By Kevin Lonnquist
MLBcenter.com Staff Writer
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