MLB

On a windy day in Detroit, the Yankees were shut out for the second time in the past three games as Justin Verlander dominated them in a 6-0 loss on Thursday.

The Tigers ace allowed just four hits and struck out four in 6.2 scoreless innings as he outdueled CC Sabathia, who was touched up for six runs on nine hits in six frames.

New York's offense has gone silent over the past week. Outside of a six-run ninth on Wednesday, the Bombers have scored just nine runs in their last five games, losing four of them.

Damn that Brian Sabean!

Bruce Bochy is ruining everything!

Geesh! How in the world could Sabean not anticipate that Mark DeRosa's surgically-repaired wrist ligament would rupture even after DeRosa was given a clean bill of health by team doctors and other physicians?

DeRosa wasn't considered that "old" when the club signed him and then got off to a fast start in April. But, hell, now it's apparent that Sabean just can't help but sign broken down old free agents—like the 35-year-old DeRosa.

Royals manager Trey Hillman has just been relieved of his duties, effective immediately. Ned Yost will take over as the new manager to replace Hillman. Hillman's record was 151-206 in his two-plus seasons as the head guy in Kansas City.

He had been in hot water for quite some time after the team once again to off to a slow start to the 2010 season, winning 12 out of their first 35 games.

The firing of Hillman continues the revolving door of managers that the Royals have had in recent years.

In Thursday's series finish against the Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Brendan Ryan was left out of the starting lineup, for good reason. The 28-year old has been an utter failure as the Cardinals' starting shortstop.

His batting average is .173, which would be a little disappointing by anyone's standards.

Ryan was not expected to win any batting titles, but the Cardinals were willing to barter with his bat in exchange for his stellar glove.

I, as did some others, pegged Ryan as my preseason pick for a Gold Glove. How wrong I was.

Justin Verlander pitched 6.2 scoreless innings, and Miguel Cabrera and Brennan Boesch homered to lead Detroit to a 6-0 triumph Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park. The Tigers won three of four from the Yankees in a series that featured three shutouts.

In yesterday's 3-2 win over the Red Sox all the Blue Jays runs came courtesy of Travis Snider . Both of his hits, a double and home run, came off Sox starter Tim Wakefield. However, a couple of hits off Wakefield, a knuckleballer, tells us absolutely nothing about Snider's development as a hitter this season. Just in the same way a hitless day against Wakefield would tell us nothing. 

The Mets are about to begin a stretch of games against some of the top teams in the NL, or at least teams that can give you trouble. Their upcoming schedule shows the Mets playing Florida, Atlanta, Washington, the Yankees, Philadelphia, and San Diego. This may be the run of games that will show you what the Mets are all about.

Hey sports fans, wanted to let you know that this afternoon, I was lucky enough to sit down for an audio interview with my old buddy Tom Finn, formerly of CBS Sports.

The Tampa Bay Rays have the best record in baseball right now with a 24-10 record. The Rays just completed a very successful West Coast road trip, as they won six of the nine games on the trip. They are only a half game ahead of the New York Yankees in the standings though.

The Rays have very good hitters and a great pitching staff. They have a big time star in 3B Evan Longoria. Longoria is batting .326 with eight homers and 29 RBIs so far. He has committed a few errors of late on defense, but his offense has made up for the errors in the field.

Who would have thought that the most indispensable part of the Phillies infield would turn out to be Juan Castro?

When Jimmy Rollins tweaked his calf muscle in mid-April, he was batting .391 with a .516 OBP, and a wOBA of .527. Impressive numbers, ones that he certainly would not have been able to keep up over the course of the season, but clearly he would be very hard to replace.