Daisuke who?
In what was supposed to be the Welcome to Boston Party for Japanese pitching phenom Daisuke Matsuzaka, Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez, who turned 21 on Sunday, took center stage, carrying a no-hitter into the eighth inning on his way to a one-hit complete game shutout of the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night.
After snow forced the Cleveland Indians to cancel an entire week of baseball, Hernandez, pitching on eight days' rest, showed no signs of rust, needing only 111 pitches to silence Boston. He struck out six and surrendered only four fly balls, earning 17-of-27 outs on ground balls. The masterpiece was King Felix's second in as many attempts this season, as he opened 2007 with 12 strikeouts and only three hits allowed in eight innings of work during a 4-0 defeat of the Oakland Athletics.
Matsuzaka went seven innings, giving up three runs on eight hits while striking out four in the loss. In the game's first at-bat, cameras flashed throughout the ballpark as Matsuzaka coerced countryman Ichiro Suzuki to ground out. Although Matsuzaka did not appear to have command of all his pitches on Wednesday, he kept Seattle hitters off balance for much of the game and appears to have a bright future in Boston.
The lone Red Sox hit of the night came from J.D. Drew, who has hit safely in every game this season and has a 12-game streak dating back to his days last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Another headline-grabbing story in the American League two weeks into the season has been none other than Alex Rodriguez, who New York Yankees' fans will have to cheer for if he continues producing at this rate. Through eight games, A-Rod has six home runs and 16 RBI and is batting .355 with an absurd OPS of 1.512. At this pace, he'll finish the season with 121 homers and 324 RBI (both would be records).
Much to the delight of the Bronx crowd, A-Rod's most masterful performance came on Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles, where he launched a walk-off grand slam with two out in the ninth and his team down a run. Rodriguez finished that game 3-for-4 with two homers, six RBI, and four runs scored.
Perhaps the most exciting team in the American League so far this season has been the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Although the D-Rays stand at only 3-5 through eight games, they have a plethora of young talent that has produced at the plate early in the going. While their pitching, and the fact that a third of their schedule is against the Red Sox, Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays, will keep them from contending in 2007, baseball fans will undoubtedly be impressed with the Tampa lineup.
Leading the way for the Rays has been third baseman Akinori Iwamura, who at .444 is currently leading the AL in batting. Iwamura is proving to be a sound investment by Tampa, which shelled out $4.5 million over the winter to acquire him from Japan's Tokyo Yakult Swallows. Former No. 1 and No 2 overall draft picks Delmon Young and B.J. Upton have also been impressive for the Rays, batting .371 and .385, respectively, on the young season.
With two home runs in seven games played, rookie Elijah Dukes has been a pleasant surprise for Tampa Bay, as has journeyman Ty Wigginton, who has started the season batting .344 with two homers and eight RBI. And for the first time in years, Rocco Baldelli has started the season healthy, and all-star speedster Carl Crawford has already belted a pair homers and stolen two bases.
While the Devil Rays have yielded a whopping average of 7.4 runs per game to begin the season, all hope is not lost, as they have been facing off against the high-octane offense of New York, Toronto and the Texas Rangers. If the Tampa staff can settle down against some weaker opposition, the D-Rays will win a few more games in 2007 than many expect.
