MLB

The Mets lost their fifth straight game as the Marlins finished off a four-game sweep.

It is not that often that the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays and the Indy Atlantic League are mentioned in the same sentence.

However, within a two-week span, fans have been entertained to record-breaking numbers!

The Fisher Cats hit a milestone by welcoming in their two millionth fan.

While I wouldn’t classify the Tigers’ moves as a “major” shakeup, the team did make a flurry of transactions that has an impact on fantasy owners:

Last year, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded away Tom Gorzelanny, then later signed Brian Burres as compensation. Friday night's game was the first test of the direct impact of the two moves. So how did the Pirates do?

Not so well. Burres pitched four innings, one less than Gorzelanny. And he gave up six runs, one more than Tom Gorzelanny. Clearly, the Pirates had given up something with this sequence of events.

Ubaldo Jimenez continues to roll.  Clayton Kershaw appears to have righted the ship.  Jose Reyes returned to the leadoff role and did as he always does.  Let’s look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games:

As a lifelong skeptic, I am the first person to downplay a small sample size of excellent statistics.

When Mike Sweeney tore through spring training and earned a roster spot with the Mariners this year, part of me said 'good, I'll take an able bat on the bench,' while another part of me said 'why are we wasting a roster spot on a non-fielding designated hitter and pinch hitter when we already have Griffey filling that role?' I was skeptical, but willing to give Sweeney a few weeks to prove me wrong.

The forecast is starting to look better.

If you think about where the Mets were on April 30 and where they are now, it's almost unexplainable.

On that Friday night, April 30, in Philadelphia, the Mets had just crushed the Phillies 9-1 and won their eighth-in-a-row.

People were wondering, how can the Mets go in to Philly and spank around the two-time defending National League champions? What's up with this new-look Mets team coming off of a 9-1 home stand?

"Civil rights include the ensuring of peoples' physical integrity and safety; protection from discrimination on grounds such as physical or mental disability, gender, religion, race, sexual orientation, national origin, age, and individual rights such as the freedoms of thought and conscience, speech and expression, religion, the press, and movement."

That's a definition of civil rights from Wikipedia.

On Saturday night Cincinnati hosted it's second consecutive "Civil Rights Game."

Look, Carlos Zambrano makes a hell of a lot of money. If he is going to provide any return on that investment, it has to be as a starting pitcher, not a reliever.

You don't pay relievers $18 million per season. Plus, he isn't doing a good job in that role anyway.

If the Cubs had listened to my advice two years ago and again last year, they would have traded Big Z when they had the chance.

When I wrote the articles, many Cubs fans said no way you trade Zambrano. And even the ones who thought it made sense wanted a king's ransom in return.