MLB cleveland Indians

It hasn't been the greatest week for Cubs manager Lou Piniella. Not only is he feeling the heat of the Chicago media with the Cubs scuffling, but he's also gotten into an argument with Milton Bradley in which he called his right fielder a "piece of [expletive]." Regardless of whether the exchange should have ever left the clubhouse or not, it's not exactly the type of thing you want the world to know about.

All of this was done after a recent poll by Sports Illustrated in which Major League players were asked anonymously which manager in baseball they would least like to play for, and which one they'd most like to play for. Guess which one Sweet Lou emerged "victorious" in.

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

"This concludes our test of the emergency attendance enhancement system. We now return to the regularly scheduled season."

Yes, the 13th season of interleague play wraps up Sunday, except for a Cubs-White Sox makeup game. We have survived six San Diego-Seattle games (that's more zeroes than an A-Rod paycheck).

We didn't learn much we didn't already know: the system has inherent flaws and the American League rules.

For the sixth straight year, the AL has had** the better record in interleague play – 129-108 going into today.

Take out Cleveland and Oakland, and the AL is 119-84.

"It probably is" as big a gap between leagues as in past years, one AL team official said, "until you get to the World Series. Then it doesn't matter."

The Cardinals, in need of offense, have traded with the Indians for infielder/outfielder Mark DeRosa. St. Louis sent right-hander Chris Perez to Cleveland, along with a player to be named.

DeRosa, acquired from the Cubs in the offseason, had hit .270 for the Indians, with 47 runs scored, 13 doubles, 13 homers and 50 RBI in 71 games. He provides the kind of versatility Cards manager Tony La Russa uses well.

Perez was 1-1 with a save and a 4.18 ERA in 29 appearances. He began the 2009 season at Triple-A Memphis, going 1-0 with two saves and a 0.00 ERA in three appearances before being recalled to St. Louis on April 15th. He has held big-league hitters to a .195 average. He will report to the Indians in the next few days, the team said.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That Joe Torre can manage a little bit. Torre, who for a great part of his managing career was known as a loser, got his 2,195th managerial win Thursday night to pass Sparky Anderson and move into fifth on the all-time list.

Incredibly, Torre has taken his team to the postseason in 13 consecutive seasons, and given the Dodgers' ever-expanding lead in the NL West, he's likely to make it 14 in 2009. Even with the loss of Manny Ramirez, Los Angeles is 13-4-5 in 22 series this season, including taking two out of three from Oakland this week.

---

---

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.

As Joey Votto heads out to a rehab assignment, the Reds are anxiously awaiting the return of their best hitter. Votto hasn't started a game since May 27 -- when the Reds stood at 26-20. Since then, they've gone 8-11. As a team, the Reds are hitting .244 and rank 11th in the National League in runs scored. Votto is hitting .357 with eight home runs and 33 RBI in only 38 games. Translation: The Reds really, really need him. They aren't the only team in baseball that will be missing a star player in the upcoming weeks. After the jump, we'll list the Top 10 most important injuries in baseball moving forward in 2009.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That Zack Greinke and Trevor Hoffman are human.

Greinke took the loss Wednesday as Kansas City fell 12-5 to Arizona, allowing six runs (four earned) on eight hits in 6 2/3 innings.

And since Greinke went 8-1 in his first 10 starts he has gone winless in four straight starts. Over his past 26 innings, he has given up 31 hits and 20 runs (five of them unearned).

---

---

Remember last week when the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals on a walk-off single by Shin-Soo Choo when Royals centerfielder Coco Crisp lost the ball amidst a flock of seagulls (video here)? No, Coco didn't have headphones on and he was not singing along to "I Ran" when this occurred.

There was literally a flock of seagulls in the Progressive Field outfield, no doubt there searching for all of those bugs that still haunt Joba Chamberlain's dreams. Well if you are a Royals player or fan you were probably pretty upset to be losing a game because of avian invasion, but you'll just have to trust me when I say that it could have been a lot worse.

NEW YORK – Thanks in part to the influence of a 300-game winner, and the brother of a 300-game winner, the Rangers no longer have to try to out-slug people.

In the most remarkable turnaround of the season, Texas' pitching staff is actually pretty good, with a 4.46 ERA after shutouts Thursday and Friday and allowing three runs Saturday. If the Rangers can keep it there all year, it would mark the first time since 1993 the franchise had an ERA better than 4.50.

Not coincidentally, Texas leads the AL West at 35-26, the second-best record in the league.

"This is my third year here," right-hander Brandon McCarthy said, "but in two years I got sick to death of hearing, 'Texas pitchers stink. Texas pitchers stink.'

"Now we can turn those tables a little bit, be the group that maybe changes that whole mindset. It would be an awesome accomplishment."

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

Everyone knows the No. 1 prospect in Tuesday's draft (and if you don't, read this). But after Washington selects Stephen Strasburg, things get less precise.

"Anybody from [No.] 2 to 15 could be just as good as the other guy," an executive from an NL team with a high pick told FanHouse. "It's really a strange year because it is in the eye of the beholder."

For example, Arizona State right-hander Mike Leake has been discussed as high as No. 3 overall, to the Padres. But he's more likely to go in the middle of the first round, no lower than Arizona's picks at 16 and 17.

For some reason, I had it in my mind that Fausto Carmona was due for a big bounceback year. After a shaky 2008, I figured he would shake off the heavy workload that the Indians' run to the ALCS in 2007 created and use his power sinker to help take the Indians back to the top of the AL Central.

Boy, was I wrong.

With 12 starts under his belt, Carmona's 2-7 with an ERA of over 7.00, and Saturday the Indians announced they'd be sending him to Arizona to work on his struggles.