Summer's here and fans are dreaming of pennants for there favorite teams, and it certainly looks good at least for now, for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Seattle Mariners, the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox or NY Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins or Cleveland Indians. June 3, 2001 - by staff@baseballhistorian.com - Internet Newspaper - Monday's News Home runs flying, but pitching still dominates the game! ================================================== The Arizona Diamondbacks have rung up eight straight wins to vault to a 3-game lead in the National League West. The D'backs are tied with the Giants for the most home runs in the majors with 79. Arizona has a 34-22 mark, .607 pct. But it's still their pitchers that are providing the wins. Right hander Curt Shilling has racked up a 9-1 record and his 2.76 ERA is 5th best in the NL. Future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson is 5-4, ERA of 2.84, and is on pace to strike out a zillion batters this season... think not? He's got 123 in just 85 innings. The heavy hitting Diamondbacks are led by outfielder Luis Gonzalez, who's batting .332, and has already hit 21 yard/shots. Batting clean-up is former Cub, Mark Grace, who has a .421 on-base-pct, with 33 RBIs. Outfielder Reggie Sanders has hit 15 homers and although only hitting .247 for the year, has driven in 38 runs. -------------------------------------------------------------------- With Lou Piniella at the helm, the Seattle Mariners are torching the majors with a 43-12 record and have won their last 10 games. The Mariners are second in the league in both batting and pitching. Aaron Sele has run off an 8-0 start, his 2.65 ERA is third lowest in the AL... Jamie Moyer is 7-1, 4.71 ERA... and closer Kazuhiro Sasaki has gathered a major league leading 23 saves. Although Seattle has hit only 46 homers, they're hitting .281 for 2001... Ichiro Suzuki, a former star of Japan, is the American League's leading vote-getter for the coming All-Star game. Susuki is batting .362, third best in the AL... veteran DH Edgar Martinez is batting .312 with 42 RBIs... John Olerud's batting .346, 40 RBIs... Brett Boone has 53 RBIs that have won quite a few games and he's hitting a compelling.316. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Chicago Cubs - Pitching certainly has carried the Cubs atop the NL Central with a 33-20 mark, including 12 straight wins - that have put smiles on the North Siders' fans faces. Would you believe the Cubs have posted the lowest ERA in the NL, a resounding 3.77. Kevin Tapani is 8-1, 3.41 ERA... Jon Lieber is 5-3, 2.95 ERA... flame-throwing Kerry Wood is 4-4, 4.07 ERA ad has caulked-up a stingy opponents batting average of just .192. The Cubs' relievers are 'the talk of the town' and appear unhittable. Jeff Fassero has 10 saves and Tom Gordon 7... middle-man Kyle Farnsworth has fanned 46 batters in just 27 innings, Courtney Duncan is 3-1, 2.13 ERA in 25 innings. Slugger Sammy Sosa has hit 12 doubles, 16 homers, scored 45 runs and has 50 RBIs. Sosa's on-base-pct is a heavy .429, and he's third highest in the league with 43 walks. ------------------------------------------------------------------- The Minnesota Twins are still in first place in the AL Central, but the Cleveland Indians have moved to just 1/2 game behind. The Twins are 35-18, a .660 pct. The red-hot Twins are 20-8 at home, and a nice 15-10 on the road... and the Twins have won six of their last eight and are off to their best start in franchise history - Wow! The Twins are hitting only .266 as a team but former Olympic hero Doug Mienthiewicz is batting .346. Shortstop Christian Guzman went 4-for-6 on June 4th, is hitting .296 for the year... and his 8 triples are tops in the majors. Minnesota's pitching rates 4+-Stars. Right hander Joe Mays is 7-3, and his 2.62 ERA is second lowest in the AL behind only Pedro Martinez of Boston.... notoriously intense Brad Radke is 7-1, 3.55 ERA... closer LaTroy Hawkins has 14 saves, 3rd best in the league. --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Philadelphia Phillies have increased their NL East Division lead by 6 full games and have complied a 35-20 mark - compared to a 65-97 finish in year 2000. Their 3.84 ERA is fourth best in the National League. Left-hander Omar Dahl is 6-0, 3.65 ERA and Robert Person, who pitched most of last year in the minors, has posted a 4-4 record, 3.73 ERA... he's fanned 64 batters in 72 innings. Closer Jose Mesa is second in the league with 16 saves. Outfielder Pat Burrell leads the Phils in batting with .310 and appears destined to become a future star. Third baseman Scott Rolen, who's won two Gold Gloves, has hit 5 HRs, driven in 30 runs and is considered the team's take charge man along with shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who's hitting .274. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Last year's (2000) World Champion New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox are staging a torrid battle for first in the AL East. One day, the Yanks are in first, the next it's the BoSox in first. Slugger Manny Ramirez is leading Boston's charge. Signed over the winter as free agent, Ramirez is leading the majors in batting with .371, has gone deep 18 times, and has 58 RBIs. But it's still Boston's pitching that's producing points in the win column. The Red Sox are first in baseball in ERA with 3.28. Pedro Martinez has a stingy 1.44 ERA en-route to a 7-1 mark. Hideo Nomo is 5-3, 3.60 EERA... right hander Frank Castillo has collected a 5-3 record, 3.88 ERA. The New York Yankees are relying on pitching, superior defense and clutch-hitting and, as usual, play hit-and-run with the best of them. Scout Brosius is leading the Yankees in batting with .310. All-Star shortstop Derek Jeter and center fielder Bernie Williams are still capturing the attention of baseball fans with their outstanding fielding and 'winning brand of baseball'. Jeter's has 4 homers, and is hitting .308, while Bernie's hitting .269, 7 homers, 22 RBIs. Pitching always brings out the best in the Yankees... Andy Pettitte is 6-3, his 3.04 ERA is 4th best in the AL. Mike Mussina is 5-3, 3.32 Era and 'the Rocket' Roger Clemens has vaulted off to a 5-1 record, 4.26 ERA, with 71 Ks in 76 innings. ------------------------------------------------------------------ So will any of the above teams win its division or make the playoffs? We don't know... but, their fans have been hootin' and rootin.' ======================================================== For more current news, type in 2001 into the 'Search' located on the Home Page.