Given the steroids controversy and the fact that pitchers are usually ahead of the hitters during the earliest part of the season, we saw some very inflated scores yesterday.  The Cardinal smashed the Phils 13-5 and if there are any questions whether Scott Rolen will recover from a shoulder injury that sidelined him last year, I think he lay those to rest with a grand slam, going 3 for 5 with four RBIs.  Pujols, too, seems to be in mid season form hitting two home runs, perhaps energized by his participation in the WBC.  Rollins stroked a double his last at bat, a meaningless hit in a blow out loss, but he extends his “streak” that really is not comparable to The Streak, according to 89 yr old Dom Dimaggio, and I agree.   Chase Utley performed well yesterday too, as he starts off this season as he ended last year, but now he is batting fourth in the lineup, an unusually prominent position in the batting order for a  guy who plays 2b, supplanting left fielder Pat Burrell.  He is a star in the making!

San Diego killed Jason Schmidt, even if the local talk shows in the Bay Area says Schmidt pitched well.  Never exceeding 92 mph after regularly reaching 96-97 two years ago, the power loss he has experienced is noteworthy, coinciding with steroids testing.  Makes one wonder, no??   Also had to notice that manager Felipe Alou had Ray Durham hitting 3^rd and Barry hitting 4^th.  Am sure that will not last long; the talk show people in SF were all over it last night, complaining, etc.  Great that it starts

And the Yankees beating up on the A’s.  Scanning the A’s lineup, they have a very good one, but I cannot see WHY Bobby Crosby is batting 3^rd in that lineup.   He has no track record, no history of handling that position in the batting order (except in college), and with so many good hitters on that team, why put undue pressure on a still young and untested player?  He says he enjoys the pressure, but let us see.  He had to leave the game early, spiked in the left hand with a tweaked finger, not a good omen for his season.  Last year he was also injured on opening day and missed significant time. 

Curt Schilling pitched well too, though never reaching 97 mpg as he was prone to do in the past, topping out at 93.  But he pitched and did it well, throwing 117 pitches in his seven innings, not very economical but he got the job done and did it well.   Vlad was raking for the Angels, again, as one would expect though Ichiro was unusually quiet yesterday, going only 1 for 5 (when will he learn how to take a walk and increase that OBA, which will help his batting average as well?).   He might be more suited for the three hole in a batting order as his WBC manager figured out just in time to save their honor in the tournament.