Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.You Oughta Know ...
The AL Central could be tight all the way through September. Going into Tuesday's games, three teams were tied for first at two games over .500, and all three -- the White Sox, the Tigers and the Royals -- lost. So now four teams are within a 1/2 game, and last-place Cleveland, with four wins in its past six games, is 2 1/2 out.
That could come as news to some in Cleveland. Attendance Tuesday night at Progressive Field was 11,408 -- hurt by a simultaneous Cavaliers playoff game.
From the Trainer's Room ...
Good news for Detroit's Dontrelle Willis, apparently: Willis, who struggled last year to throw strikes and this spring was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, pitched seven innings in Single-A and did not walk a batter. In the first outing of a minor-league rehabilitation assignment, Willis gave up four runs on eight hits, struck out two and got 16 groundouts (just three air outs).
"I'm going to (Double-A) Erie and throwing there,'' he said. "If they like what they see, I'll be back with the big club.Numbers Game ...
"... Did I look nervous out there?" Willis asked Tuesday night. "I don't know. As long as it wasn't life threatening, then I was good [with the diagnosis]. They felt that was the problem and I'm all for it. I want to be a better ballplayer. I know I can pitch for a long time, so if they said that's what's wrong, I'm all for it.''
San Francisco's Edgar Renteria went into last night's game with one RBI in 40 at-bats this season. He then drove in five runs, including the first-ever grand slam off San DIego ace Jake Peavy. Before that, Peavy had faced 96 batters in his career with the bases loaded and allowed just two extra-base hits, both doubles. Now he can't catch Jim Palmer, who in 213 bases-loaded situations never allowed a slam.
In Their Own Words ...
"He's got to figure it out – not me." – White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen on Jose Contreras, who allowed the Orioles six walks and six runs in 5 1/3 innings to fall to 0-3 with an 8.04 ERA
Advance Scouting ...
If things really do even out over time, Arizona's Dan Haren will allow about six runs to Colorado Wednesday (3:40 PM, ET) – and win. We say that because Haren has allowed one, two and one runs in his first three starts while his team has scored zero, one and zero. Thus Haren is 0-3 with a 1.89 ERA – the first pitcher since Ray Burris of the 1982 Expos to allow two runs or fewer in each of his first three starts and lose all three. Talk about being due.
