MLB

I really, really like Madison Bumgarner . Despite the rough Spring Training, I felt talent-wise, he was the best person to pitch in the fifth spot in the rotation over Todd Wellemeyer and Kevin Pucetas. Furthermore, I was impressed by his numbers last year in his short September call-up. Was he throwing gas?

With an "A-Bomb" grand slam from A-Rod on Friday night, the great Mariano Rivera giving up a grand slam himself on Sunday, and Marcus Thames sinking Papelbon and the Sox on Monday, it has been a week of highs and lows for the Yanks thus far.

But through it all, the Yankees are starting to see some major production out of their once struggling sluggers.

Mark Teixeira, also known as Mr. May, has been on fire this month. He has five homers to go with 21 RBI and his average now stands at .224--at the end of April it was a lowly .195.

With the Red Sox and Yankees meeting again this week, here’s my rundown of the best moments of the past decade in baseball’s greatest rivalry.

There are any number of moments I could have picked.

Caption: Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon doesn’t look on as NYY 3B Alex Rodriguez rounds the bases after touching him for a game-tying two-run home run in the ninth inning. Things only got worse, as RF Marcus Thames would hit a game-winning two-run home run off Pappy moments later.

Tonight’s game in New York is a perfect example of why a closer needs to have a second pitch—and possess the intestinal fortitude to use it frequently enough to interrupt the timing of opposing hitters.

If you were to poll the general population as to which jersey number a person wore as a kid over the last few decades – it’s likely that Michael Jordan’s number 23 would be at the top of the list.

However, the most underrated jersey number in sports just may be No. 5 – specifically in the baseball world, where there were a slew of big-time players that donned this crooked number on his jersey – including arguably the best of today and yesterday.

In particular, here are my top ten greatest baseball players to wear No.

Last night was one of the great nights in the history of New York baseball.

The beloved New York Mets beat Atlanta Braves' ace, Derek Lowe, in a gut-wrenching game, while the World Champion New York Yankees blasted two clutch, ninth-inning home runs against Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon to beat the hated team from the great state of Massachusetts.

The best right-handed pitcher in New York, Mike Pelfrey, hurled seven and two-third innings of solid baseball, improving his record to 5-1, as the Mets beat the Braves, 3-2.

There are certain players in baseball who have been fantasy studs over the first month and a half of the season that would help any team. At the same time, there are players who have overperformed and are bound to come back to life.

In this list, I will point to five players who have been fantasy stars so far and helped your team win that are not going to be able to hold up this level of production throughout the season. I will also list five players who's skills at the plate or on the mound does not transition well to the fantasy game.

There are some players in the game today who flat out don't like each other; players who take rivalries further than most.

Two All-Star outfielders playing on the top team currently in each league share something else in common. Both the Tampa Bay Rays Carl Crawford and Philadelphia Phillies Jayson Werth are in the final year of their contracts and could be amongst the biggest names in the 2011 free agent market.

Each player is off to a strong start in 2010, seemingly stating his case to other team's around Major League Baseball.

It was a rough night to be a pitcher in the Bronx last night. Nine pitchers in total were used in the contest between the Yankees and Red Sox. Of the nine, five gave up runs in the 11-9 Yankees win.

The starters were not good. Boston starter Daisuke Matsuzaka   had a bad first inning in which the Yankees scored five runs. The righty lasted 4.2 innings, giving up nine hits. Three of those nine were doubles. The Yankees scored seven runs off Matsuzaka before he was taken out with two outs in the fifth.