AL East This Week: Welcome back baseball

Baseball is FINALLY back and this season at Bluebird Banter I’ll be giving you a bit of a recap of what went down in the Jay’s division each week. Don’t keep up with our rivals? No worries, I got you. Here’s how opening week panned out in the AL East.

Boston Red Sox (6-1)

The Red Sox are starting their season out strong, sitting at the top of the division. They started their season out with a series against the Tampa Bay Rays. They lost their first game 4-6 but came back to win the last three games against Tampa. They moved on to play two games against the Miami Marlins, where they won both. The Red Sox kicked off another series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday, winning that game 3-2.

The Red Sox number two prospect Michael Chavis was suspended 80 games this week after failing a test for performance-enhancing drugs. Chavis hit 31 home runs and 35 doubles while playing between Double-A Portland and High-A Salem.

The Boston Red Sox will face the Tampa Bay Rays today at 1:05 ET.

New York Yankees (4-4)

Currently, the Jays sit in second place in the division after beating the Texas Rangers 8-5 last night. Below them in third are the New York Yankees. I’m sure you all remember their opening series, winning two of four games against the Blue Jays. They went on to sweep their series against the Tampa Bay Rays, minus a game that was postponed due to weather. Currently, they’re in the middle of a run against the Baltimore Orioles that hasn’t ended well for them. They lost the first game 5-2 and the second 7-3 after fourteen innings.

The Yankees have struggled with injuries. Currently, they’re without Jacoby Ellsbury, Aaron Hicks, and Billy McKinney, all who’s returns are unknown. CC Sabathia left the game last night with hip soreness after four innings. Gary Sanchez exited in the 14th with a leg injury. Second baseman Tyler Wade also left the game with an injury. Yikes. Things are looking rough for the Yankees.

They’ll try to overcome injuries today against the Orioles at 1:05 ET.

Baltimore Orioles (3-5)

The Orioles sit in second to last after two challenging series. First against the Minnesota Twins. They won the opening game 3-2, but crumbled shortly thereafter, losing the rest of the games 6-2 and 7-0. They then faced off against defending champs, the Houston Astros. They were swept, losing 6-1,10-6, and 3-2. Baltimore would regain composure against the Yankees. Two games have been played so far in the series and the Orioles have won both of them. They’ll look to capitalize on a banged up Yankees team to win the series.

The Orioles looked good on Friday. Manny Machado hit homers in his first two at-bats. Pedro Alvarez hit a grand slam in the 14th inning, giving Baltimore a 7-3 victory. Though they started out the season a bit bleak, I wouldn’t be quick to count them out.

They’ll face off against the Yankees again today at 1:05 ET.

Tampa Bay Rays (1-6)

The Rays have had a rough start. They won their opening game against the Red Sox, but that would be the only win they’d get. After losing three straight to the Red Sox, they faced off against the New York Yankees. The first game of their series was postponed due to weather. The two games they did play against the Yankees did not fare well for them. Game one ended with a 4-11 loss, while game two ended 2-7. They took on Boston again on Thursday and were handed yet another loss.

The Rays could have won Thursday’s game against Boston, but closer Alex Colome blew a save opportunity. Tampa entered the 9th inning with a two-run lead but Colome failed to make a fairly routine save, giving the Red Sox a 3-2 victory. Colome left the game without speaking to reporters.

Tampa will look to turn their luck around against Boston today at 1:05 ET.