Empyreal Environs

All three teams topping the American League East won yesterday so none of the troika gained an advantage. In addition to their half-game advantage over the Red Sox the Yankees have more starters on the All-Star roster. Here’s the breakdown for the AL East leaders

• Yankees: Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, C.C. Sabathia, Phil Hughes, Mariano Rivera
  Reserve: Alex Rodriguez
• Red Sox: Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester
  Reserves: Adrian Beltre, David Ortiz
  Injured: Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez
• Rays: Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford, David Price

Since Boston has 10, count ’em, 10 players on the disabled list, the fewer players who need to jet to Los Angeles during the Midsummer Classic the better as far as I am concerned. I can’t help think that Joe Girardi had nefarious thoughts when he appointed Buchholz and Lester even though they deserved to be on the roster. If all goes well this will be the first of many selections for the pair of aces.

Clean-up hitter Kevin Youkilis leads his team in runs and is tied for second in runs batted in but also tops the list on hit by pitch. The Red Sox first baseman will be on the ballot for the fan selection. Girardi’s selection of Miguel Cabrera over Youkilis wasn’t divisional politics but simply a reflection of the mass of offensive talent at first base.

Girardi could have easily picked Michael Young over Rodriguez at the hot corner, so the simultaneous tapping of his third baseman and Beltre smacked slightly of balancing the scales between the two rivals. Young will be on the fan vote ballot with Youkilis, Paul Konerko, Nick Swisher, and Delmon Young (no relation).

In comparison to the Red Sox, the Orioles’ sole representative is Ty Wigginton. The versatile fielder, while productive, wouldn’t be a starter in Boston or New York. Wigginton went 0-for-3 with a walk against Lester and Robert Manuel, who made his Red Sox debut. Also making his first start as a player on Boston’s roster was Niuman Romero, who is basically a younger version of Angel Sanchez.

Juan Samuel was ejected by home plate umpire Mike Everitt in the bottom of the eighth after two embarrassing errors by Frank Mata and Wigginton. I got the feeling it was to avoid having to watch the sloppy efforts of his team rather than to rile them up. He could also stock up on office supplies before everyone else left the dugout for the clubhouse.

Game 81: July 3, 2010
Orioles 24-56	3	L: Jeremy Guthrie (3-10)
		2B: Matt Wieters (9) HR: Jake Fox (3)
Red Sox 49-32	9	W: Jon Lester (10-3) S: Jonathan Papelbon (19)
		2B: Kevin Youkilis (19), J.D. Drew (18), Daniel Nava (8), David Ortiz – 2 (18), Mike Cameron (7) HR: Kevin Youkilis (16)