Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 1220 of 1503)

Think the Brewers are regretting the decision to send top minor league prospect Matt LaPorta to the Indians in exchange for C.C. Sabathia? Well, not yet anyways.

Sabathia threw his first complete game in the National League Sunday afternoon, as Milwaukee topped the Reds 3-2. Sabathia struck out nine and allowed just two runs. He also hit a solo shot in the third inning, his second home run of the year.

So, Sabathia is 2-0 as a Brewer thus far, although the club remains five games back of the Cubs heading into the All-Star break. Will the acquisition of Sabathia be enough for the Brewers to catch the Cubs in the second half? If Chicago continues to play as well as it did at home in the first half, obviously not. But if Ben Sheets can stay healthy and win at least another five games (he’s currently 10-3), the Brewers might be the surprise of the second half.

Which deal will prove best – the Brewers’ of Sabathia or the Cubs of Rich Harden? It’s early, but both moves look great so far.

– The soon-to-be former first place Rays lost their sixth straight Saturday. Ryan Garko and Grady Sizemore homered in the Indians’ 8-4 victory. Boston is now just a half game behind Tampa in the AL East.

– Speaking of the BoSox, they slapped the Orioles 12-1 on the strength of 15 hits. Manny Ramirez (18), J.D. Drew (17) and Kevin Youkilis (15) all went yard for Boston. Youkilis also had a career-high six RBIs in the win.

– Rich Harden looked solid in his Chicago debut, although Carlos Marmol blew Harden’s chance to collect his first NL win by giving up five runs to the Giants in the top of the ninth, which tied a once 7-0 game at 7-7. The Cubs eventual won 8-7 in the 11th when Reed Johnson singled to score Mark DeRosa.

– Alex Rodriguez passed Mickey Mantle on the career home run list after blasting his 19th of the season in the Yankees’ 9-4 win over the Blue Jays. Derek Jeter also went yard and Darrell Rasner collected his fifth win of the season.

– Shane Victornio went 3 for 3 with two home runs, three RBI and two runs scored in the Phillies’ 10-4 loss to the Diamondbacks. Randy Johnson won his second straight start, improving to 6-7 on the season.

– Ryan Ludwick went 3 for 5 with a dinger, four RBI and two runs scored, but the Cardinals dropped a heartbreaker 12-11 to the Pirates. After Troy Glaus homered to put St. Louis up 11-10 in the 10th, Jason Michaels hit a two-run shot in the bottom half of the inning to lift Pittsburgh.

I happened to be in attendance at Wrigley for Rich Harden’s Chicago Cubs’ debut on Saturday and he was awfully impressive. He only lasted 5.1 innings, but he gave up just five hits and no earned runs while also striking out 10 in the Cubs’ 8-7 extra innings victory.

Of course the Giants aren’t a good team to base whether or not Harden will be effective for the Cubs throughout the rest of the season (especially when their starting lineup consists of Rich Aurillia, Eugenio Velez, Omar Vizquel and Jose Castillo), but 10 Ks in just 5.1 innings is outstanding – no matter how bad the opposing offense is.

This Harden deal might be the one that officially puts the Cubs over the top. Harden and Carlos Zambrano are a solid 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation and Ryan Dempster has been lights out at home. Their lineup is stacked when Alfonso Soriano is healthy, and they’re getting great production from role players like Mark DeRosa and Mike Fontenot.

Is this finally the Cubs year? It’s easy to assume the loveable losers will choke and fall apart again. But there seems to be something different about them this year. The team believes they can win and even though the Cardinals are on their heels in the Central, perhaps no team in the National League looks more balanced than the North Siders.