Sports Illustrated
- In a scary play on Thursday night, Twins second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka broke his leg when Nick Swisher slid into him trying to break up a double play. By all accounts, the play was not dirty and Swisher was completely in his rights as a baserunner. He made a smart baseball play in trying to break up the double play, and it ended in an unfortunate manner. It is a tough break for the former Japanese league player, who was only 6 games into his MLB career. This is a clear example of the difference between American baseball and Japanese baseball. In Japan, they are much more polite and considerate of opponents. These slides do not occur as often. This will be a tough loss for Minnesota.
- In another note from that New York-Minnesota game, AJ Burnett looked good for his second straight start, improving to 2-0 on the year. Burnett pitched 6 solid innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks with 5 strikeouts. This is big for the Yankees. One of their biggest questions was the pitching rotation behind CC Sabathia and Phil Hughes. The man immediately following that duo is AJ Burnett, who is known for being wildly inconsistent. Getting two strong starts out of him is huge for this team. If he can ride the wave of confidence, that gives the Yanks 3 legitimate starters, and boosts them higher in MLB Power Rankings everywhere.
- Speaking of starters on a roll, there is a far more proven pitcher doing serious damage early in season. Roy Halladay is starting the year how everybody always expects him to, which is to say, dominantly. Halladay is 2-0 and has been smothering lineups in his 13 innings. After his 7 shutout innings tonight, Halladay has an ERA of 0.69, allowing 1 run in 13 innings. This is how a Cy Young hopeful should perform.
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