CSF

Come on, Danys! Do your best Danny Graves impersonation!

If William could only pitch every game like that.

Let's see if 3 shutout innings by the 'pen comes to a crashing end.

Were the bats packed on the plane when the team left Chicago yesterday?

Chad Gaudin now pitching. C'mon Aaron. Get us started.

Yay, Abbott's out of there. Trevor Miller pitching.

Willie is 2-3 tonight. I'll take the lack of power he has for the hustle and effort he brings instead.

A positive from this, though: I'm liking the movement on Shingo's pitches. Maybe, just maybe he's found his groove.

Game 2 of the ALDS against Seattle. We got owned then, too.

Shingo's coming in. Personally, I would've liked to see Cotts go a little bit longer. This could've been a potential audition for the 5th starter's job.

Now even though he's reached base in all 3 plate appearances so far, who's willing to bet if the Sox lose that Kotex Boy would blame it on the Frank article in the Southtown as a distraction.

Minnesota winning 1-0 over KC. Cleveland winning 4-1 over Detroit.

Once again, Danny can't make it to the 6th inning. Cotts in.

Nice throw, Timo.

Right now it's 3-0 on a 2 run shot by Mueller and a solo shot by Ramirez (though it should've been a triple). I hope he struggles enough so when he comes to Chicago next week, the Sox can get a little revenge.

Yup. The Reds bullpen gave up a 4-0 lead, then a 9-4 lead, and finally a 10-7 lead. Their bullpen blows.

You wanna rethink that one, bud?

Reds up 10-9 top of the 9th. Graves gives up the tying home run to Sosa, then the next pitch gives up the winner to Alou. Tragic.

Aww, dude I remember when that happened. Joe West threw Dawson out of the game for arguing balls and strikes. Andre went back in the dugout, tossed 2 water coolers and some bats, and then the drunks in the bleachers started throwing beer cups in the outfield. Classic.

So far the only person to mention it in great detail is the eternal asswipe Mariotti.

With the exception of the outperforming the 80 percent quote, I didn't find anything wrong with this. He didn't discuss exact amounts, I think he realizes this club is on the way back up and he wants to finish his career on the South Side. Yet I know the rest of the media is going to run with this and make Frank to look worse......again.

Mariotti, as predicted is having a field day with this. He's even brought out all the stupid nicknames (The Big Blurt). The man only discusses the Sox when he's got a clear shot at insulting them.

Imagine if he was still in this organization Damn you KW! :banghead

That injury could be far more serious than they're reporting: Wasn't this what sidelined Parque for 2001?

SI's Power Rankings Power Rankings Home run milestones can't save Bonds' legacy now Posted: Thursday April 15, 2004 2:39PM; Updated: Thursday April 15, 2004 2:42PM Willie Mays with a torch? Now that's a little much. AP Barry Bonds may well end up with every home run record worth having -- and maybe that's enough -- but it's obvious by now that the San Francisco Giants slugger is never going to win the hearts and souls of baseball fans. He's never going to be Babe Ruth. The Babe was larger than life; even his shortcomings were the stuff of legend. It's trite but true -- the guy had flair. Barry? Fair or not, he's always come across as aloof, if not downright surly. On the charisma meter, there's nary a beep. And we haven't even mentioned BALCO. So when Bonds hit the 660th and 661st homers of his career this week, passing godfather Willie Mays, the feat was duly noted -- and that was about it. Hey, if folks couldn't wrap their arms around him when he hit 73 in 2001 -- and don't pretend it was anything like Mac and Sammy in '98 -- how are they gonna to get revved about him moving into No. 3 on the all-time list? And that business about Willie passing the torch to him? You know somewhere Vince McMahon was taking notes. Heck, the most interesting thing about Bonds' homers was that the same guy fished both of them out of McCovey Cove -- and even gave one back. Nope, Barry will never go down in history as one of baseball's beloved, just a great home run hitter. And, sadly, before this steroid probe is over, even that may not be his lasting legacy. MLB Power Rankings Rank LW Team 1 -- Florida Marlins They beat the Expos 4-3 on Opening Day, raising Jack McKeon's record in openers to 2-7. It was news to McKeon. "That's how much I pay attention to stats. I should probably read Moneyball." 2 -- Oakland Athletics How about third baseman Eric Chavez giving his Gold Glove to Ron Washington, saying he couldn't have won it without the infield coach's help? Stuff like that will shake your faith in cynicism. 3 -- Detroit Tigers Terrific start. But before we get too carried away, let's note that the biggest single-season improvement in baseball history is 33 wins, by the Red Sox in 1946. If the Tigers match that, they'll finish ... 76-86 4 -- Cincinnati Reds More kudos. But they'd better start hitting higher than .240 as a team if they expect to stay here. Hey, we hate being so negative, but fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly. Yeah, buddy, it was a show tune reference. Gotta problem with that? 5 -- Houston Astros Roger Clemens pitched 13 2/3 innings before giving up a run this season. Don't worry, though -- he'll settle down once he gets used to those National League hitters. 6 -- Anaheim Angels They agreed to a four-year, $48 million extension for Garret Anderson. OK, can we all agree to stop referring to Anderson as the AL's most unappreciated superstar? 7 -- New York Yankees The good news is Mike Mussina finally won his 200th game over the weekend. The even better news is that he dodged the Devil Rays, who already have beaten him twice this season on different continents. 8 -- San Francisco Giants Hank Aaron may still be atop the all-time home run list, but he's no longer No. 1 on baseball's all-time player list. That honor belongs to David Aardsma. And if the Giants rookie ever finds his way into Webster's, he'll also be ahead of "aardvark." 9 -- Chicago White Sox Esteban Loaiza allowed just 17 homers last season. This year? Five in 12 innings. Assuming Loaiza matches his 226 innings pitched in 2003 -- and what the heck, let's do it -- he's on pace to give up 94. 10 -- Boston Red Sox Terry Francona has decided to limit Pedro Martinez to 105 pitches a game -- or one scuffle with Don Zimmer, whichever comes first. 11 -- Los Angeles Dodgers Dave Roberts has stolen seven bases in six games. Only in Dodger Stadium, of course, does that translate into three runs scored. 12 -- Pittsburgh Pirates Gotta like closer Jose Mesa getting two saves against his old team last week. Now we know what his problem was in 2003 -- he didn't pitch enough against the Phillies. 13 -- New York Mets Chirping birds, trees turning green, Todd Zeile hitting .417. Ah, springtime! 14 -- San Diego Padres After two players flipped over a 3-foot wall down the right-field line at Petco Park, the team quickly decided to raise the wall by 2 feet. But not before getting some really cool blooper footage for the video scoreboard. 15 -- Kansas City Royals Their rotation is believed to be the first in major league history with five left-handers. The 5.79 team ERA through eight games may make it the last, too. 16 -- Texas Rangers Hey, I like to give credit where credit is due. But can't anybody do anything nice without pointing two fingers skyward? Criminy, Ramon Nivar did it the other night after scoring on a single. 17 -- Colorado Rockies What about Jason Jennings? The right-hander is 17-6 in Coors Field over his career, including 8-1 last year. OK, this is one guy who should be pointing two fingers toward the sky. 18 -- Minnesota Twins Joe Mauer, who turns 21 on April 19, was the youngest catcher to start on Opening Day since Ivan Rodriguez in 1992. After tearing cartilage in his knee April 6, he's also the youngest to immediately go on the DL. 19 -- Milwaukee Brewers Why, yes, Dave Burba is still in baseball. The 37-year-old right-hander got the win on Opening Day against the Cards, then picked up his first save since 1991 three days later. 20 -- Atlanta Braves Since Opening Day, J.D. Drew has experienced a sore knee, a tight right hamstring and a strained left hamstring. And he wonders why people think his first name is "Ifhestayshealthy." 21 -- Chicago Cubs Suddenly, ex-Brave Greg Maddux is all over the map. First, he hits two batters in the same inning for the first time in his career, then he walks in a run for the first time in 11 years. Oh, Leo! Leo? 22 -- Tampa Bay Devil Rays Victor Zambrano, 3-0. Trust us. 23 -- St. Louis Cardinals Did you see President Bush at Busch Stadium on Opening Day? Cardinals owners have contributed some $743,000 to GOP candidates and committees since 2001 ... and all he got was that lousy jacket. 24 -- Cleveland Indians Closer David Riske is 0-for-2 in save situations and has an 18.00 ERA, Scott Stewart's is 16.20 and Jose Jimenez's is 9.00. So when exactly does Bob Wickman get back? 25 -- Baltimore Orioles Lee Mazzilli's pitchers issued 43 walks in their first seven games. And they did it all without Maddux. 26 -- Toronto Blue Jays Eric Hinske is in only his third major league season but he's already homered in every AL ballpark except Angel Stadium, the Ballpark and the Metrodome. Look out, Fred McGriff. 27 -- Montreal Expos They've scored 10 runs in their first eight games while batting .190. In contrast, Dontrelle Willis, the pitcher who beat them Wednesday night, is 6-for-6 with two home runs. 28 -- Arizona Diamondbacks Amazingly, when Luis Gonzalez and the Rockies' Luis Gonzalez both homered in the same game last week, it was not the first time that players with the same name had accomplished the feat. Ken Griffey Jr. and his father, Ken Griffey, did it on Sept. 14, 1990. 29 -- Seattle Mariners Reliever Ron Villone has pitched in 38 major league parks during his 10-year professional career. And a whole bunch of minor league parks, too. 30 -- Philadelphia Phillies They're struggling, but the fans are in midseason form. After they opened Citizens Bank Park with a 4-1 loss to the Reds, more than a few in the crowd began chanting, "Let's go, Flyers!" Dan George is a senior producer for SI.com.