Three Up, Three Down: MLB Week 10

After a week off due to a recap of May, "Three Up, Three Down" has returned to give Lance Berkman his due.

But he only hit one home run and knocked in four. Lance, you are still Three Up, Three Down’s hero. Keep plugging away!

Berkman plays in Texas though, so maybe some of his awesome hitting talents wore off on the other team in the state. Then again, it could just be the park they play in.

First Up: Anyone and Everyone who bats in Texas

You want to talk about scoring? Just bring up any game played in the ballpark of Arlington this past week. It was the home base for any home run, extra-base hit, or run batted in.

We'll start off with this week's hottest bat, Milton Bradley. Bradley hit five home runs, knocked in nine, and stole four bases, all while going 11 for 23.

Teammate Michael Young hit an even .500, with a home run and seven runs batted in. He also ran his MLB-best hitting streak up to 22 games. The bad news is that he is battling an injury, so the playing time dwindled down late in the week.

Speaking of hit streaks, Ian Kinsler had his 19-game hitting streak snapped this week. He also hit a home run and scored seven runs.

David Murphy, Marlon Byrd, and Josh Hamilton knocked in 16 runs combined. Hamilton also had a home run in four straight games, a streak that he carried into the week.

Not only that, the other teams thrived as well. Ryan Garko and Casey Blake had career games in two Cleveland wins. Jason Barlett and Eric Hinske knocked in three runs a piece in a weekend series as well.

Second Up: Joe Crede, 3B White Sox

Crede only played in five games last week.

Yet he managed to hit five home runs and knock in 12 runs. Go figure.

Crede's White Sox also won all five of those games, scoring no less than six runs in each game.

Crede went 11 for 18 and scored nine runs for the AL Central-leading White Sox.

Chicago is on a roll, and so is Crede. It's evident that when he catches fire, his team does as well. Also, a quick mention to Gavin Floyd, who pitched 14 solid innings, struck out 13 and picked up a couple of wins.

Third Up: Los Angeles Pitching

It's kind of like the Texas hitting. Well, not exactly.

There were a lot of fabulous performances by pitchers playing for teams in Los Angeles.

Start with Derek Lowe. He pitched 15 innings this week and carried a 2.40 ERA. He won both games and struck out seven.

Lowe probably didn't pitch as well as fellow Dodger Hiroki Kuroda though.

Kuroda four-hit the Cubs this week, going nine shutout innings for the win. He struck out 11 Chicago hitters as well.

The Dodgers' closer Takashi Saito did give up an earned run and didn't gain a save. However, he struck out the side in his last two innings and two more in his other outing.

The other closer in Los Angeles had a great week for the Angels. Francisco Rodriguez picked up five saves in five chances and struck out six hitters.

The Angels rotation also had the magic number of seven. Three starters who pitched in one game this week went at least seven innings and picked up a win.

John Lackey, Joe Saunders, and Jon Garland all contributed to the effort this week. Saunders and Lackey struck out five and Garland had eight.

The guy who pitched twice was Ervin Santana. He didn't go seven even in both starts, but he averaged it in his two games. He earned one win and struck out 12 hitters.

First Down: Texas/Cleveland Pitchers

Well, someone had to be bad in the Texas/Cleveland series this past week.

Of course, the answer is the pitchers.

All the starters pretty much got beat around the yard by the hitters. Kevin Millwood and Cliff Lee were the only ones who earned wins.

Combined, the Indians and Rangers pitching staffs gave up 78 runs, 113 hits, and 17 home runs.

That's close to 20 runs, a little over 28 hits, and four home runs per game.
Michael Young, who has been playing in Texas for a good time now, was quoted as saying he never saw anything like this before at the Arlington ballpark.

Second Down: First Basemen

Carlos Pena, David Ortiz, and Travis Hafner have all gone to the disabled list, and a host of others did not have good weeks.

Derrek Lee, the Cubs first baseman, only knocked in two runs and only collected five hits.

Albert Pujols did go yard and knock in three, but he only had four hits this past week. Miguel Cabrera had four hits as well and only four hits.

Ryan Howard probably had the best week, knocking in six runs, but he failed to hit a home run and he only hit .258.

Justin Morneau continued the run with only five hits and two runs batted in.

Joey Votto and Mike Jacobs combined for 10 hits.

Third Down: Justin Upton, OF Diamondbacks

Justin Upton got off to a really hot start, as did a lot of the players on Arizona.

Lately, he is showing why he is still very young and learning.

Upton had just one hit in 18 at-bats last week, with no runs batted in and only two runs scored.

Justin Upton isn't depended on as much as some others are on the team.
But his production sure didn't hurt for a team that is a pitching juggernaut.

These are the growing pains for a young player with very little experience in professional baseball.