Three Up, Three Down: MLB Week 11

I'm running out of witty things to say about Lance Berkman.

Maybe he is running out of steam, or perhaps his awesome hitting abilities are coming back down to earth.

Or maybe he is just letting some teammates have their time in the sun; he's such a great guy! Carlos Lee hit .429 last week, so you can take a week off Lance.

Lee, as good as he was last week, isn't part of the list this week. So, I made it a point to mention just how good he was in the opening; aren’t I a fair guy?

First Up: Red Sox Outfielders

No Manny? No Problem!

With Manny Ramirez battling an injury, the rest of the Red Sox outfield has stepped up, especially in the past few days.

J.D. Drew has been on absolute run these past few weeks, and he is certainly starting to earn that big deal he got last offseason.

Last week, Drew had seven hits in 20 at-bats, hitting three home runs, knocking in six runs, and scoring nine times.

Jacoby Ellsbury provided production in a different way. Ellsbury stole five bases last week, including one that gave him the Red Sox rookie record. Ellsbury also hit a solo home run and scored seven runs off nine hits.

Manny has played last week; he went deep for the fourth time in as many games against Baltimore. But, he hasn't started the last two games in Cincinnati.

That would be where Coco Crisp comes in, who was the subject of many trade rumors prior to the year.

With the Ortiz injury, I'm sure the Red Sox feel pretty good about not dealing Crisp, who has made up for Ramirez not being in the lineup. Crisp has gone deep the past two games, including one in extras on Saturday. He also has knocked in five runs this past week.

Second Up: AL Central "Powerhouse" No. 1

They were regarded as the two top teams in the American League Central.

They became the two most disappointing teams in the entire American League.

And now, they look to be waking up. Better late than never, I guess.

First, let's start with Detroit, who has won their last six games, two sweeps against the Dodgers and Central-leading White Sox.

Some of the culprits for the surge in Detroit include Marcus Thames and his four home runs, and Miguel Cabrera with his .370 average last week.

But, in large part, the Tigers have been getting great pitching to win these games. Only six runs allowed against the White Sox in three games is quite a feat for a team struggling in that department.

Nate Robertson earned two wins last week with a 2.19 ERA in 12.1 innings. Youngster Armando Galarraga had a seven-inning scoreless effort against the Dodgers.

And of course, welcome to the party, Justin Verlander. The Tigers' ace had a rough first two months, but he turned in a complete game, four hit, one-run performance against the White Sox last week.

Third Up: AL Central "Powerhouse" No. 2

The Tigers won all but one game last week. The one loss came against that other AL Central underachiever, the Cleveland Indians.

The Indians are just the opposite of the Tigers. They needed offense, and that is just what the Tribe got last week.

Cleveland has won five of their last seven, and their pitching staff has continued to give them the performances needed to win.

Start with C.C. Sabathia, who pitched 17 strong innings last week, including a complete game shutout against the Twins. The big Cy Young winner also struck out 15 hitters. He now is second in the entire majors and first in the American League in strikeouts.

Cliff Lee pitched in 11 innings last week, and he struck out the same number of batters. Struggling set-up man Rafael Betancourt went the entire week without giving up an earned run in his 4.1 innings of work.

Offensively, the Tribe has gotten a jolt from Grady Sizemore, who homered five times last week, bringing him within one of the leader in the American League, Josh Hamilton.

Shin-Soo Choo hit .300 and knocked in seven runs last week, and fellow outfielder Ben Francisco matched that with a .333 average and seven runs scored.

The biggest reason for the Indians’ offensive surge? Start from the top, with new second baseman Jamey Carroll. The new sparkplug of the Tribe's offense took over for the injured Josh Barfield and promptly went on a streak that the team hadn't seen in awhile.

Carroll hit .619 last week, with three runs scored and three runs batted in. He also stole two bases and got hit by a pitch.

First Down: NL Central Superstars

Not a good week if you are a marquee name in the National League Central at all.

Albert Pujols went on the disabled list for at least three weeks with a strained left calf.

Then Cubs left fielder Alfonso Soriano got hit by a pitch, breaking his finger and placing him on the disabled list for four to six weeks.

It would behoove the rest of the NL Central to use these next three to four weeks to gain some ground on the top two teams in the division.

Second Down: Braves Corner Infielders

Mark Teixeira and Chipper Jones both had weeks to forget.

Jones went two-for-15 last week, bringing his seasonal average down to .402. Certainly the .400 average isn't bad at all, but if he wants to continue his magical year, he needs to get the ball rolling again.

Maybe one reason for his struggles with hitting the ball is the struggles of the guy who hits behind him.

Teixeira hit .208 last week, knocking in three runs. The worst stat is the fact that he struck out in every single game last week, including twice against the Cubs.

Yikes, Teixeira better reign himself in.

Third Down: Brad Penny, SP Dodgers

The Dodgers have been getting stifled offensively the past few games.

The pitching performance of Brad Penny isn't helping matters.

Penny has lost his last five decisions, including seven of his last eight. He hasn't won since May 2nd, and his ERA is a bloated 5.88.

He turned in one of his worst performances of the year against the Tigers on Saturday night.

Penny pitched 3.2 innings of seven-run ball. He gave up seven hits, two walks, two home runs, and failed to strike out a single batter.

Extra Outs

I don't think the Washington Nationals would care if they ever saw Ryan Doumit in the batters box ever again. Doumit terrorized the National's pitching staff earlier last week, hitting four home runs, and only being retired twice the entire series.

Willy Taveras was running like crazy this past week. Taveras stole nine basses, including five against the White Sox on Saturday Night. A.J. Pierzynski can't feel too great about that.

If there was one guy better than Sabathia last week, it was Ricky Nolasco. Ricky pitched in 14.2 innings with a 1.23 ERA. He earned two wins and struck out the same amount as Sabathia, 15.

George Sherrill had the trifecta this past weekend against the Pirates. He won, lost, and saved a ball game, factoring into the decision all three times. He also blew the save in the same game he won.