Last night Brandon Phillips of the Cincinnati Reds hit a mammoth 2 run home run en route to an 8-7 victory over the Florida Marlins. The win gave the Reds an 18-23 record on the season, and downgraded the Marlins’ record to 23-15.

“It’s not over because anything can happen in this game,” Phillips said. “You never know when you’ll need some runs.”

A day into the month of May, the Tampa Bay Rays are still in first place in the American League East. In a 4-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles, Matt Garza went 6 innings strong, surrendering just 2 earned runs on 3 hits. He’d strike out 3, and walk 2.

“His fastball had life, good velocity,” Orioles manager Dave Trembley said of Garza. “He pitched just high enough to tease some guys. There were some at-bats where, obviously, we got ourselves out chasing some bad pitches.”

Entering Sunday afternoon’s game, Carlos Delgado had just 3 hits in his last 9 games. However, the slumping New York Met hit 2 home runs against the Atlantas Braves en route to a 6-3 Mets victory, giving the Mets the series victory over Atlanta. Despite hitting the 2 home runs, Delgado didn’t emerge from the dugout following the 2nd shot for a curtain call.

“The way I look at is I hit a solo home run in the seventh inning,” Delgado said. “I’ve got a great deal of respect for the game. I don’t think that’s a place for a curtain call.”

Entering Sunday afternoon’s game, Carlos Delgado had just 3 hits in his last 9 games. However, the slumping New York Met hit 2 home runs against the Atlantas Braves en route to a 6-3 Mets victory, giving the Mets the series victory over Atlanta. Despite hitting the 2 home runs, Delgado didn’t emerge from the dugout following the 2nd shot for a curtain call.

“The way I look at is I hit a solo home run in the seventh inning,” Delgado said. “I’ve got a great deal of respect for the game. I don’t think that’s a place for a curtain call.”

Joe Saunders led the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to their 2nd straight victory, a 5-4 win over the Seattle Mariners. Saunders, the 26 year old southpaw, went 8 innings strong, allowing 4 earned runs on 6 hits. The victory boosted Saunders to 3-0 on the season, and gave the Halos an 11-7 record.

The Kansas City Royals lost a tough one to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim yesterday. Not only did they wind up losing the game 5-3, but they may have lost their centerfielder, David DeJesus, as he left the game in the top of the 5th inning with a foot injury. Joey Gathright would later enter the game as DeJesus’ replacement. 

It took 22 innings, but last night the Colorado Rockies were able to put away the San Diego Padres for a 2-1 victory. The winning run was scored by Willy Taveras, after Troy Tulowitzki hit an RBI double.

“It’s tough to keep your head into it and put together good at-bats and be into every pitch,” Tulowitzki said after the game. “We were talking about how our legs were hurting out there. It’s tough to stand on your feet for 22 innings and keep moving.”

The St. Louis Cardinals are tied for the best record in baseball so far this season. Last night they beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 to up their record to 11-4, thanks in part to a 2 run double off the bat of Albert Pujols in the very 1st inning, and a defensive gem from Pujols in the 9th where he stopped a Jason Kendall line drive dead in its tracks.

“That’s my job as a first baseman—try to make a play every time I can,” Pujols said after the game. “[I like to] have an idea what the hitter will try to do at the plate and try to read it. That’s what I did. Jason Kendall tries to stay inside the ball every time, and I wanted to make sure I was on my toes.”

The Detroit Tigers seemingly woke up last night, in a 13-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians. The man taking the injured Dontrelle Willis’ spot in the rotation, Armando Gallaraga, went 6.2 innings allowing 2 runs on just 1 hit, with 6 punch-outs.

“I was a little bit nervous, but when I gave up the home run, I had to get going,” Galarraga said. “The runs made me feel more relaxed.”

On Wednesday Jeff Weaver passed his physical examination to complete his signing with the Milwaukee Brewers. Weaver will likely spend 10 or so days in the Brewers minor league system to prepare himself physically for the season. Last season was one to forget for Weaver; he went 7-13 with a 6.20 ERA with the Seattle Mariners.

It was Jackie Robinson night at Shea Stadium on Tuesday night, all 25 Mets were wearing the number 42 on the backs of their jerseys. Despite all having the same number, the Mets shunned their anonymity with a 6-0 victory over the Washington Nationals to boost their record to 6-6, 2nd place in the National League East division

The Florida Marlins had everything working Tuesday night. Scott Olsen, Renyel Pinto and Kevin Gregg combined to pitch a shutout, and new Marlin Wes Helms drove in his first run of the year. Olsen would pick up the win, he’s 2-0 this season. Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens was the tough luck loser, he threw 6 innings of 4 hit 2 run baseball but still managed to pick up the loss.

“When you give up two runs, you’ve got to win, it’s as simple as that,” Braves manager Bobby Cox said, regarding the fact that Jurrjens lost tonight as a result of no run support from the Braves offense.

It looked as though the Phillies bats would remain silent at the beginning of the 9th inning in Philadelphia. Houston Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon had shut them out through 8 innings, and all hope looked lost with Stros’ closer Jose Valverde coming on. However, the Phillies managed to score 4 runs to defeat Houston 4-3

The Oakland Athletics are in 1st place, 13 games into the season. On Monday the A’s defeated the Chicago White Sox by a score of 2-1 to improve to 8-5, 1st place in the AL West standings. The win for the A’s went to rookie Greg Smith, who made his 2nd career start. He held the Sox to just 1 earned run with 6 hits over 7 innings pitched. After Santiago Casilla and Alan Embree combined to pitch a scoreless 8th inning, Huston Street notched his 4th save of the season. The loss put the White Sox at a 7-5 record, 2nd place in the AL Central division. 

On Monday the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Ottawa Senators to jump out to a 3 games to none lead in the 2008 NHL Conference Quarterfinals. Goals were plentiful for the Penguins in the 4-1 victory; Max Talbot scored in the 1st period, and Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal and Marian Hossa would all score in the 3rd period against Ottawa goalie Martin Gerber. 

Tony Parker scored 32, dishing out 11 assists with 2 steals en route to a 101-98 San Antonio Spurs victory over the Sacramento Kings.

“We had a tough loss against the Lakers, so we needed this,” said Parker. “We got Utah next. The West is so hard that we need to get as high a seed as possible.”

Joe Bororwski took another big step towards losing the Cleveland Indians closer job on Monday. He blew a save in the 9th inning, allowing 3 runs to score by a Dustin Pedroia sac fly and a 2 run Manny Ramirez home run. The loss dropped the Tribe to a 5-8 record, and the victory upped the Boston Red Sox to a record of 8-6. 

Down is up and up is down so far in the 2008 MLB season. Somehow, the Baltimore Orioles are 8-5, and George Sherrill is leading the league in saves. The Orioles defeated the Toronto Blue Jays tonight 4-3. Kevin Millar hit a two run bomb in the 5th inning to seal the deal for the Birds.

Paul Konerko and Joe Crede hit grand slams en route to an 11-0 rout over the struggling Detroit Tigers. Also helping the White Sox to victory were Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome, who knocked in runs.

“Where we’re at makes sense because that’s the way we’ve played,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said after the game. “It’s not surprising that we’re 2-10. We’ve been shut out four times. ... I didn’t think we’d get shut out four times all year, to be honest with you.”

Prior to the start of the 2008 season, Kansas City Royals manager Trey Hillman said to the media, “I do know this, you cannot win a championship without the expectation of winning it.” When at the time Hillman’s comment may have drawn more laughter than respect, his expectation doesn’t look quite so unrealistic now. His Royals swept the Detroit Tigers with a 4-1 victory on Thursday, thanks in part to home runs from Mark Teahen and Alex Gordon. The Royals’ starting pitcher, Zack Greinke, had a Brian Bannister-esque performance, going 7 innings giving up just 6 hits and 1 run, striking out 3. Recent Royals acquisition Ramon Ramirez held down the fort in the 8th inning en route to Joakim Soria’s 2nd save of the year in the 9th inning.

“Obviously, we’re very pleased by this—especially with our pitching,” Hillman said. “It’s nice to come in here and play this well against a team like that.”

Chien-Ming Wang proved his place as the New York Yankees’ ace of 2008. Tonight, on the night of the last ever (old) Yankee Stadium home opener, Wang went 7 innings strong striking out only 2 but giving up just 6 hits and 2 earned runs. Toronto Blue Jays’ starting pitcher Roy Halladay was just barely outdueled; Halladay went 7 innings as well giving up 7 hits and 3 runs, all of which earned. Mariano Rivera notched his first save of the 2008 season, striking out one.

Sidney Crosby had 2 assists en route to an easy 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers. Also contributing to the Pittsburgh Penguins victory was Marion Hossa who scored a goal, as well as Evgeni Malkov and Max Talbot, each scoring goals. Marc-Andre Fleury was top notch in the winning effort, saving 26 of 27 attempted shots.

“I can’t wait for about 10 days, to start this thing (the playoffs),” said Max Talbot. “It’s good that it’s all (division) games like this until the end of the season. Every little play can change the game and that’s playoff hockey, and that’s what we’re in right now.”

Above is a view of downtown Orlando, Florida from the Citrus Bowl Stadium. This will be the home of WrestleMania XXIV in just four days. I flew in, and am now in town. If any of our readers are out here and going to the event, feel free to let us know in the comments, and we will hook up. I’ve been here in Florida for three days now, just taking in the sights. In a few days, you may even be able to find our WrestleMania thoughts here.

After losing to the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1, the New York Islanders turned their luck around on the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 4-1 win. Wade Dubielewicz started tonight in place of the injured Rick DiPietro and fared quite well. He earned the 2nd star of the game, stopping 28 of 29 attempted shots. The 1st star of the game was Isles captain Bill Guerin, he scored a goal and dished out an assist. Other Islander goals came from Sean Bergenheim, Trent Hunter and Richard Park. The third star of the game was 25 year old Matt Spiller, he was a + 2 in this game. 

Now that the season’s winding down, every single game is more important than the last for the New Jersey Nets. Tonight Vince Carter continued to lead his team to a playoff berth, scoring 27 points with 6 rebounds and 7 assists in a 106-91 victory over the New York Knicks. Carter wasn’t the only net to have double digits in points though; Nenad Kristic scored 22 and Richard Jefferson scored 26. With the victory the Nets improve to 30-41 while the lowly Knicks sink to 19-51.

The New York Islanders shut down goalie Rick DiPietro for the season, and the results already show that he’ll be missed. Journeyman goalie Joey MacDonald made his first start of the year giving up 4 goals of 26 attempted shots. The goals for the Flyers were scored by Daniel Briere, Scott Hartnell, Braydon Coburn and Vaclav Prospal. Philadelphia goalie Martin Biron only allowed one goal on the night of 33 attempted Islander shots.

“You want to stand there and keep it going,” said Biron, smiling. “It’s like, bring on more shots to give them more to cheer about.”

One thing is for sure with the 2008 Detroit Tigers, they’ll hit. The 2007 Tigers finished in 2nd place in the AL Central division, with an 88-74 record. If their starting rotation can hold up, you can bet Detroit will give the Cleveland Indians a run for their money this season. 

Following last year’s playoff run, the Cleveland Indians are back and looking to overcome the Detroit Tigers and win the AL Central division. That may be a tall order considering the Tigers’ starting lineup this year, but the Indians may have the tools to make it competitive this season. 

After trading away Johan Santana and Matt Garza in the off-season, the Minnesota Twins clearly showed that their in a rebuilding phase from 2008 on. However that doesn’t neccesarily make the Twins a bad team this season; what it does mean is that the Twins will really have to rely on getting some bang for their buck to compete in such a talented division. 

The Kansas City Royals will have to prove their worth in 2008. New no-nonsense manager Trey Hillman said earlier this off-season, “I do know this, you cannot win a championship without the expectation of winning it.” Though a championship in this decade isn’t realistic for Kansas City, 2008 may present the team with its first opportunity to finish at .500 or above since 2003.