Opinion

The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians by a score of 6-5. They won with a home run by Derek Jeter in the top of the eigtth inning. Joba Chamberlain didn't pitch well. Brian Bruney got the win and Mariano Rivera got his third save.

Derek Jeter had his second game winning hit this season. Whether it's the one spot or two spot, Jeter produces.

In 2008 the Indians' Travis Hafner struggled through the worst year of his career.

Limited by a shoulder injury, Hafner appeared in only 57 games, hitting .197/.305/.323 with only 5 HRs and 24 RBI while striking out almost twice as much as he walked.

These numbers were a far cry from the Hafner of 2004-06 who averaged .308/.419/.611 with 34 HR, 111 RBI, 96 R, and 38 2Bs a year as one of the league's most best hitters.

The Minnesota Twins have had serious struggles with their bullpen so far this season, just as they did at the start of last year. Last year, they cut bait on Juan Rincon, added Craig Breslow and saw almost immediate improvement.

They'll hope for the same effect from Juan Morillo this season.

Morillio was claimed off waivers Friday from the Colorado Rockies, where he'd spent his entire career. Morillo is just 25, hits 95 to 96 on the radar gun, but is a walk machine. In 2006, he struck out 132 hitters in AA, but also walked 80.

I hate when the Giants suck.

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not exactly a Giants fan. In fact, I've been rooting for the Dodgers since I was 7—almost two decades of bleeding bright blue. 

On a scale of teams I hate from 1-10, the Giants are hovering somewhere around 13 on any given day, right next to the Yankees and not far above the Red Sox. So don't go thinking I'm weeping over their latest misfortune of a lineup.

Baseball is less fun when the Giants suck.

Cue the doomsday music, and prepare for a passionate backlash from the mainstream media and an increasingly pessimistic fan base.

Last night I was faced with a dilemma.

I sat down to my computer to do some work, and put MLB Network on for background noise. As I’ve done with ESPN for years, I watched—rather, listened—to the same highlights at least a half-dozen times.

Then, much to my enjoyment, a baseball came on, and my attention, unintentionally, was pulled from my computer. Initially I was only comparing the MLB Network’s announcing team with those from the NFL network.

Buster Olney of ESPN made this comment on Mike and Mike in the Morning, an ESPN morning radio program: "If the Detroit Tigers are out of the playoff race early this season, look for them to trade Miguel Cabrera to the Red Sox, since the Red Sox are one of the few teams that could take on a large salary."

Cabrera is in the second year of an eight-year, $153 million deal. His annual salary ranges from $15 million to $22 million a year.

The Mets have a very potent offense, no question, but most of the hitters are extremely streaky, especially the heart of the lineup and this is a concern for the fans and for Mets management.

Howard Johnson is the hitting coach and was spared the late night firing that Willie Randolph and Rick Peterson received in Anaheim last June.

Good news:  The Brewers' fourth starter, Braden Looper, is looking good so far this season.  Milwaukee won both games he started, and he's got nine strikeouts in 11 innings pitched.

Bad news:  The Brewers' first, second, and third starters, aren't looking so hot.  In a 7-6 loss to the Reds, Yovani Gallardo earned every Cincinnati run.  Jeff Suppan's ERA is a shade under 13 in seven innings pitched.  Manny Parra has been mediocre also, allowing eight runs in his first two starts.