Joe Maddon says his Tampa Bay Rays turned into contenders quicker by playing in the tough American League East.
By Steve Mitchell,, US Presswire
Carlos Zambrano, shown April 27, has kick-started his career with the Marlins and has a 2.81 ERA after posting a 4.82 ERA for the Cubs in 2011.
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They'll have to be just as tough for the next two weeks — an interleague stretch against the National League East, the one division that can challenge Maddon's as baseball's most competitive and difficult.
Entering Friday night, nine of the 10 teams in the two East Divisions were at .500 or better; the Philadelphia Phillies were the exception. The divisions go head-to-head almost exclusively beginning tonight through June 24.
Yes, one division could finish with everyone over .500, thanks to the unbalanced schedule, though it has not happened under the current format. And the Easts have a chance of providing all four wild cards for this season's expanded playoffs. The AL East holds its league's two spots; in the NL, three of the four teams in the mix are from the East.
"You look at the pitchers," says Maddon, whose Rays have been no more than two games in or out of first place and visit the Miami Marlins this weekend.
"Look at the splits of (Carlos) Zambrano and (Anibal) Sanchez, pretty ridiculous," Maddon says of Marlins pitchers the Rays will face. "You've got them and the (New York) Mets shutting out the (St. Louis) Cardinals recently. Then we go to (the) Washington (Nationals) with that staff and Philadelphia with that staff."
Sanchez entered Friday as one of 13 pitchers from the East Divisions among baseball's top 34 in opponents' on-base-plus-slugging percentage. The divisions had 13 of the top 27 in ERA and 11 of the top 25 in strikeouts per inning.
"The offenses are fine, whatever, but you look at the pitching staffs, it's tough," Maddon says.
This weekend's matchups:
•Phillies at Baltimore Orioles: They're the biggest surprises in their divisions. Baltimore refuses to turn into a pumpkin; five-time reigning division champ Philadelphia is the only NL East team below .500.
The addition of ace Roy Halladay to an injury list that has included Ryan Howard andChase Utley since opening day makes things worse, so Philadelphia is fortunate to be hanging close to the pack.
The Phillies will pitch Joe Blanton, Vance Worley and Cliff Lee, who are a combined 7-11. They'll be tested by a Baltimore offense that's third in the majors in homers — behind two division rivals: the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays.
•Mets at Yankees: The Mets' unexpected staying power adds spice to the crosstown rivalry.
"It's always more for the fans," Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte says. "To us, it's another game, another guy standing in the batter's box."
The biggest intrigue will be tonight's start by Johan Santana.
It will be Santana's first start since his franchise-first no-hitter. It was pushed back two days to give the veteran, coming off shoulder surgery, extra rest because he threw a career-high 134 pitches.
•Nationals at Boston Red Sox: Stephen Strasburg gets tonight's start against Boston's Felix Doubront, but Saturday's game epitomizes these teams' plights.
The NL East-leading Nationals have Cy Young Award candidate Gio Gonzalez (7-2, 2.31 ERA) on Saturday while the Red Sox will turn to Daisuke Matsuzaka, back from elbow surgery and starting for the first time since May 16, 2011.
•Blue Jays at Atlanta Braves: These teams are counting on young players to keep them in contention.
Tonight's matchup of Toronto's Kyle Drabek, 24, and Atlanta Brandon Beachy, 25, is an example, but there are more.
The recent recall of first baseman David Cooper adds to Blue Jays young gun Brett Lawrie and the more established power of Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion.
Atlanta's defense has been helped by the call-up of shortstop phenom Andrelton Simmons.
•Rays at Marlins: Tampa Bay is surviving on its pitching, leading the AL in ERA. But the other half of the Rays' formula for contending — defense — has been a a struggle lately.
"We make spectacular plays," Maddon says. "But the errors, it's like Ground Balls 101."
Nothing went right for the Marlins for the season's first month and manager Ozzie Guillen's suspension for comments about Fidel Castro was only the half of it. But they were baseball's hottest team in May while getting consistent offense from only Giancarlo Stanton, Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez and Omar Infante.
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