No Love in the Big Apple?

Written by Consigliere
When the perennial doormats from the American League East shortened their name and unveiled new uniforms last November, did anyone outside of St. Petersburg even care?If you hadn’t heard that Tampa Bay dropped the “Devil” and now just goes by the “Rays”, they’ve made sure that they’re in the news enough that you know by now.Tampa Bay owns the best record in baseball and they’re on a 7-game winning streak right now. They’ve pushed their record to 9-1 over the last 10 and 17-4 over the last 21 games. That stretch has produced a 5-1 record vs. in-state rival Florida and 3 game sweeps of the Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox. What makes that so impressive is that those teams are all in the playoff race.Two other impressive streaks reside in the AL Central. The Chicago White Sox and the Minnesota Twins are both 8-2 over the past 10 games and are locked up in a battle for the division. The Sox currently lead by 1 game.The win streaks may be the story in the AL, but hot hitting was on display this week in the NL.Matt Holliday is back in form after his stint on the DL. He’s batting .444 this week with 8 Runs, 3 HR, 10 RBI and 2 SB. J.J. Hardy has been a big part of the Brewers hot streak as he’s hitting an astonishing .533 with 6 Runs, 5 Doubles, 4 HR, 8 RBI and 1 SB. Fellow shortstop Hanley Ramirez has also been on fire this week. He’s batting .406 with 7 Runs, 4 Doubles, 4 HR, 9 RBI and 1 SB.The nod for best pitching of the week swings back to the American League. Roy Halladay followed up a complete game shutout with a 7-inning gem for his 2nd win of the week. Halladay stat line for the last 2 starts reads 16 IP, 10 hits, 2 ER, 1 BB, 13 K.Gavin Floyd and Andy Sonnanstine also pitched their teams to two wins this week. Floyd went 13.1 IP, 10 hits, 3 ER, 5 BB and 16 K, while Sonnanstine went 14 IP, 10 hits, 1 ER, 2 BB and 6 K.The major news for the week is just breaking, but it will remain a discussion around baseball all week long.C.C. Sabathia is reportedly being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for at least one prospect.Sabathia…Sheets…Braun…Fielder…Hardy… Hart…Watch out for the Brew Crew!