Three Up, Three Down: MLB Week Eight

What an interesting stretch of baseball this past week.

It provided plenty of talk for the national media to harp on, and unfortunately it has to be a main subject of this weeks’ Three Up, Three Down.

But don’t worry; there is plenty of good and refreshing storylines from this past week to be discussed as well.

First Up: Magglio Ordonez, OF Tigers

For the first time, I think we are featuring a Tiger on the good part of Three Up, Three Down.

Magglio Ordonez has been the charging force behind the Tigers' latest run scoring. That vaunted Detroit lineup has finally been putting up the runs we thought they’d put up since day one.

Ordonez went 11 for 23 this past week, knocking in nine runs and hitting three home runs. He also scored seven runs himself, so you know the Tigers lineup is getting it done as a whole.

Ordonez was the unquestioned MVP of Detroit's team last year. If he keeps up his hot hitting, the Tigers should be able to get themselves back into the AL Central race in no time.

Second Up: Jon Lester, SP Red Sox

Throw out all the stats and storylines for this one. You cannot state an Up this week without talking about Lester and his no-hitter.

We all know what Jon Lester has overcome in a matter of a year plus: A battle with cancer, making his return to the big leagues, winning the clinching game of the World Series, and now throwing a no-hitter.

Lester was not only un-hittable, but overpowering from first pitch to last. He struck out nine and he lost very little of his fastball once the ninth inning rolled around. His final line included just two walks over the 130 pitches he threw.

Hats off to Jon Lester and the comeback he has made. With the steroid era slowly passing us, Lester is a player kids should know about. He is a fighter and someone I’d want my kid to learn about.

Third Up: Jason Bay, OF Pirates

Join in the party Mr. Bay—your fellow outfielders have been waiting. Xavier Nady and Nate McLouth have been putting up All-Star caliber years for Pittsburgh.

Now, the third outfielder that roams the fields of PNC Park has started to heat up.

Bay had got off to a rough start, and was overshadowed by the fast starts of both Nady and McLouth. Now, he is showing why he’s a former All-Star himself and giving the Pirates one of the best outfields in baseball.

Jason Bay went 12 for 25 this past week, hitting four—scratch that, three home runs. He also knocked in eight runs and stole a base.

I scratched that fourth home run because he was the victim of our main subject of the Down group. Bay had a home run taken away due to fan interference—or at least that was what the umpires said.

First Down: Umpires

Not only did they take away a home run from Bay, but they blew several calls this past week.

It started on Sunday night in the Mets-Yankees game, where they called a Carlos Delgado home run a foul ball. Granted, that was one of the tougher ones to judge. It was awfully hard to see from where they were positioned, and no yellow where the ball actually hit.

Then, Geovanny Soto took a ball deep at Minute Made park, only to find himself without a home run.

It continued later with Alex Rodriguez bouncing a ball off a flight of yellow stairs in the Yankee outfield. The ball returned back onto the field of play just as if it hit off the wall. Obviously, it fooled the umpires—but it’s still not enough of an excuse for them to screw up.

Next, they robbed Ben Francisco of a big home run on Friday in the Indians-Rangers game. The Indians were battling back from a big deficit and the would-be home run could have brought the Indians within three, and given them a complete momentum shift.

Yet the ball bounced off the railing, onto the yellow line and back onto the field. By now, umpires who are calling games at Progressive Field should be aware of the railing on the large left field wall. Plenty of calls have been misjudged before, and it’s something the umpires should be aware about.

Then of course the Jason Bay home run that was ruled a triple due to fan interference.

I’m not saying we need instant replay, but this week was simply not a good one for umpires. It clearly made the clamoring for replay even louder.

Second Down: Victor Martinez, C Indians

The most consistent hitter for the Cleveland Indians had himself a rotten week.

Not only did Victor Martinez go two for 15 with one lone run batted in, but he injured his middle finger causing him to miss two full games and part of another one.

An offense that is struggling mightily, with one lone starter hitting over .300 since Day One, can’t afford to have their cleanup hitter faring so poorly.

It also has to be noted that Martinez has yet to hit a home run in the nearly two-month-old season. The lack of power is a real concern to a lot of people—but Martinez isn’t worried, and his power stroke will come eventually.

Third Down: Second Aces

A couple of second aces for a pair of teams got hurt this week.

The first was Chris Young of the Padres. The bad part is Jake Peavy is already on the disabled list, and now Young will join him.

Young took a wicked line drive right off the top of his nose, via the bat of Albert Pujols.

Albert Pujols is one of the last hitters in the league I’d like to hit me with a line drive in any part of my body—let alone the face.

A stream of blood poured down Young's vioage as he was leaving the field. His first inclination was to get the blood to stop so he can keep pitching. Later it was revealed he’d have to miss time with multiple facial fractures.

Another pitcher who is probably the second ace of his rotation is Fausto Carmona. Carmona gave up four runs in the first inning of a game against Texas, and then was forced to leave the game in the third inning.

Carmona surrendered a few more hits in the third, including one down the line that forced him to cover first. Fausto got off the mound very gimpy, and was beat to the bag. He delivered one pitch and knew something was wrong.

The next day he was on the DL with a right hip strain, and could miss up to a month of baseball.

The Indians can probably afford to lose Carmona for some time with the pitching depth they have, which will only be aided by the return of Jake Westbrook, but you never like to see a hip injury to a young pitcher.