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YOUK, KINSLER BEST IN AL, RICHARD AND RUIZ BEST IN NL





SAN FRANCISCO - There's less than a week left in April, and as we look forward to to May, let's review the each league's top players:

Boston infielder Kevin Youkilis (.548, 2 HR, 9 RBI) and Texas second baseman Ian Kinsler (.577, 3 HR, 6 RBI) as well as San Diego starter Clayton Richard (2-0, 1.20 ERA, 21 K) and Philly catcher Carlos Ruiz (.444, 2 HR, 13 RBI), were honored as the top players for the week of April 21st to the 27th, for the AL and NL, respectively.

VS CIN:

4/25: W 9-8

4/26: W 9-1 (SIMMED)

4/27: L 2-1 (SIMMED)

Colorado Rockies (15-11) @ San Francisco Giants (17-9)

April 28, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO - This game was surprisingly low-scoring at first, because starters Jonathan Sanchez and Kevin Millwood were equally effective. The score was tied 1-1 until the bottom of the 5th with 2 outs, when Jeff Keppinger blasted a no-doubter into the left field seats. The Rockies had a chance to re-tie it a half-inning later. Ryan Spilborghs kicked the inning off with a lead-off double, but Jeremy Affeldt would retire the next three batters in order, striking out 2 and lowering his ERA to 0.64 in the process. Buster Posey re-paid Affeldt's solid pitching work in the 7th, hitting a huge bomb to left field that traveled even further than Keppinger's did. The inning was a tough one for Kevin Millwood, who gave up a single and then a two-run homer to Cody Ross. Jose Bautista didn't get a hit in his Giants debut, but he wasn't really needed. Brian Wilson, who hasn't been his dominant self this season, held down the Giants lead with a 1-2-3 9th inning.

Final Score:
Rockies: 1
Giants: 5

W - J. Sanchez (2-1) L - Millwood (1-4)

HR: Posey (2), C. Ross (2), Keppinger (3)

Hitting Stats
---------------------
Rockies
Spilborghs 1-4, 2B, 2 K
Taveras 0-4
C. Gonzalez 0-3, 2 K
-- S. Smith 0-1
Tulowitzki 0-4, 2 K
Helton 1-3, R, K
Wigginton 0-3
Ellis 2-3, 2B, K
Iannetta 0-3, K
Millwood 0-2
Stults 0-1

Giants
F. Sanchez 4-4, RBI
A. Chavez 0-4
J. Bautista 0-3, BB
Posey 1-3, HR
P. Sandoval 1-3, R
C. Ross 1-3, HR
Schierholtz 0-3
Keppinger 2-3, 2B, HR, RBI
J. Sanchez 1-1, 2B, R
PH Burrell 0-1/Affeldt 0-1

Pitching Stats
-----------------------
Rockies
Millwood 6 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 1 BB (L)
Stults 2 IP, 2 H

Giants
J. Sanchez 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 6 K (W)
Affeldt 3 IP, 0 H, 3 K (H)
B. Wilson 1 IP, 0 H

PEPSI PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Jeff Keppinger



Broke the tie with a homer in the bottom of the 5th

For agents I'll have Pat Burrel and Buster Posey.

Done.

List
-------------------------
PPJr: Bautista, Lincecum
PMC: Burrell, Posey

* BTW, would Burrell like to explain why he gave up a double when I accidently left him in to pitch?

Month in Review - April

SAN FRANCISCO - Under new general manager Nick Puleo, the Giants have maintained their success from last year's championship season. The team, with a record of 20-9, currently is the best in the majors.

For every "Month In Review", we'll take an in-depth look at the month in Giants baseball, from the standings, to individual statistics, to team transactions. We'll also check in on what's going on in the rest of the league.

First, let's look at how the league standings are shaping up through the first month of the season:


League Standings
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AL East

Blue Jays 18-10
Orioles 18-11 0.5 GB
Yankees 17-12 1.5 GB
Red Sox 16-13 2.5 GB
Rays 9-19 9.0 GB

The most surprising thing at first glance for the AL East is the fact that the teams usually sitting in the cellar are currently at the top.

Toronto has had decent pitching, but the key part of their early lead in the division is the offense, which has been driven by a comeback season from Edwin Encarnacion ( .301, 8 HR, 28 RBI,) and will now look towards more of the same from recent acquisition Carlos Beltran (.326, 7 HR, 31 RBI). By losing Jose Bautista and Ricky Romero, the team is without one of the best power sources in the league and now don't have a true ace, but still maintains a lead. They'll need their offense to help out as a result of not having a true ace or good pitching staff beyond Brandon Morrow.

Baltimore, lead by the red-hot Vladimir Guerrero (9 HR, 27 RBI) and the 4th-best ERA in the AL (4.47), are shocking everyone in the league. There's a chance the Orioles remain in the race until the end if their sub-par pitching is backed up with their offense, much like the Blue Jays.

The Yankees and Red Sox, meanwhile, remain in hot pursuit and aren't very far behind.

Perhaps the most disappointing team is the Rays, who haven't been nearly as competitive as last season, mostly in part due to the team's loss of Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, and the bullpen that primarily thrust them into the playoffs last year. There's still plenty of time to come back, but this just might not be the year for Tampa Bay.

All in all, this is a close race now and will come down to the wire as it usually does.

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AL Central

Tigers 17-11
Royals 13-14 3.5 GB
Indians 13-15 4 GB
White Sox 13-15 4 GB
Twins 13-15 4 GB

Justin Verlander and the Tigers pitching staff, which is just second behind the Angels for strikeouts and best in the AL for walks allowed, is one of the few elite staffs in the league. But don't leave out the offense, directed by Miguel Cabrera (.367, 12 HR, 38 RBI) and Wilson Betemit (.384, 4 HR, 12 RBI). Everyone knew that Detroit would be up there in the division, and there's a pretty good chance JV and the Tigers hold off the the others if they keep it up.

Right now, there isn't a clear team that will be vying for the AL Central alongside the Tigers.

Kansas City's pitching is worst in the division in most of the pitching categories, including ERA (5.76), runs allowed (148), strikeouts (171), and walks allowed (113). Most of it can be blamed on the rotation: Luke Hochevar is 0-4 with a 9.47 ERA, Jeff Francis is 1-4 with a 6.87 ERA, and Kyle Davies is 1-2 with an 8.00 ERA. Batters are hitting a combined .312 off the three. The team's offense is also struggling getting runs back for their pitchers, as their 15 homeruns is tied for second least in the majors and their 233 hits is the lowest amount in the league. The Royals really aren't looking good this season, and trading away young players like Kila Ka'aihue and Chris Getz for vets like they did to San Francisco for Aubrey Huff and Orlando Cabrera doesn't help them to build for the future.

Cleveland is the polar opposite of Kansas City, with four of their five starters managing an earned run average under 3.20 (U.Jimenez - 1.76, A. Reyes - 2.00, Carmona - 2.43, Sowers - 3.13). The other side of the diamond is experiencing the same success, mostly due to the breakout season from Jason Donald (.426, 4 HR, 19 RBI, 4 SB), whose batting average is superior to everyone else. Travis Hafner (.333, 4 HR, 21 RBI) and Shin-Soo Choo (.291, 10 2B, 5 SB) also have a hand in the team's offensive production. The Indians could very well come back and give the Tigers a run for their money if their solid pitching holds up.

Chicago's AL team isn't having a hard time putting up numbers on the scoreboard - the club leads the division in hits (284), homers (24) and stolen bases (23). Its pitching staff has held opposing hitters to just 226 hits, and 19 bombs, another division-leading stat.
The stat is a little misleading, however, as their team ERA is 5.05 and many of their hurlers have an earned run average from 4 to 7.
One still might question why they aren't the best team in the Central, and it's obvious they'll need the pitching to turn it around if they want to be the best. Trading Jake Peavy back to San Diego with reliever Matt Thornton for Eric Patterson probably isn't looking like a good move for "The Pale Hose".

Minnesota's pitching staff has allowed the 4th most homeruns in the bigs and the most hits in the division. Their sluggers have also not gotten off to a great start, hitting just .243 with the least runs scored in the MLB (104). Like the White Sox, their pitchers have hovered around 5 runs per game. Both the hitting and the pitching will have to get a lot better if the Twins want to reach the Tigers.

Right now, the Tigers are the clear frontrunners in the AL Central. It's completely possible the White Sox, Twins, and Indians could catch up to Detroit. On the other hand, it's looking like a division title isn't in the cards for Kansas City even though we're only a month into the season. This could be a very interesting race.

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AL West
Mariners 17-11
Rangers 12-16 5 GB
Angels 12-17 5.5 GB
A's 10-19 7.5 GB

It's safe to say Seattle has turned a lot of heads in 2011. "King's Court" is certainly proud of Felix Hernandez, who is guiding the AL West's leader in ERA, runs allowed, and hits as well as walks, with a 0.91 ERA in 5 starts. Each of them have been quality, and each of them ended in wins. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner also is second in the league to just Justin Verlander in strikeouts with 57 (Verlander has 64.) The offense has been slouching a bit, with the least hits (261) and homeruns (17) in the division, but they've picked it up with the second most stolen bases in the MLB at 33, just two behind San Diego. The rest of the rotation behind King Felix has a combined earned run average of 5.73, and the team's homerun leader is Miguel Olivo and Josh Bard at three. The rotation can't just rely on Hernandez the rest of the way, and while the bullpen has done a nice job, they'll need more contributions from their other starters as well as the lineup if they want to hold up their lead.

Texas has let down plenty of people this year after an inspiring World Series run in 2010. Their pitching has been decent, but their ERAs are hovering from 4 to 6. Alot of their sluggers are batting over .300, including red-hot Ian Kinsler (.387, 4 3B, 5 HR, 25 RBI, 8 SB), who has done everything for them this season. Other hot hitters include offseason acquisitions Mike Napoli (.303, 5 HR, 15 RBI, 26 SO) and Adrian Beltre (.281, 5 HR, 11 RBI, 9 XBH). Their offense has done more than enough for their pitching to win, also slamming the most bombs in the West (29). The other side of the diamond needs to pull it together if they want to make a run this year.

MORE ON ANGELS, A'S AND OTHERS..

Nice, I really like this log. And you forgot to put; Pepsi: Drink it because we said so; on the last update.

Thanks. I dropped the Pepsi slogan for a few games because I thought it would be stupid to repeat it every game.
It'll be back soon.

Maybe you can come up with a couple different slogans and alternate between them.

Jeez how long does it take to type these? It takes a while for me to write the Stranglers things and there about half as long.

I type them as I play because I know I'm not going to remember everything lol.

I write what happens in my games in a notebook, then I can type it whenever, and I don't have to remember what happens.

I take pictures.

I type it as the game goes along, then look at the box score for notables.