Rays looking good; A's finally scoring runs

AL CENTRAL

Nearly a month into the season, the Minnesota Twins have clinched a winning April record, and they show no signs of slowing down. Jim Thome is giving a nice addition of left-handed power, and the Twins continue to show off the intangibles, pitching well and making few errors.

The big story for the week comes from the lowly White Sox, who finally showed some signs of life. The offense came alive in a few come from behind walk-off wins, and they went 4-2 on the week. However, the two losses were by a combined 22-2 score to Tampa Bay.

With the inconsistency from the Tigers and White Sox early on, the Twins are sitting nice at the moment. It will be tough to finish ahead of them this season.

AL EAST

The Tampa Bay Rays are continuing to show their talent level is better than what many critics anticipated. The pitching is stellar, with a 3.38 team ERA and 125 strikeouts. They are not giving opponents a chance to get on base, and it bodes well when they face tough lineups.

The New York Yankees are trailing by just a game, but they ended the week on a down note. The Yanks lost three of four and a series to the Los Angeles Angels.

Boston continues to struggle, and they show no signs of improvement at this time. The week was capped off by a loss to the 3-16 Baltimore Orioles. It may be time for some drastic changes in Bean-town.

AL WEST

Oakland continues to surprise us all, and the one weakness was the lack of run support. Leave it to the Cleveland Indians to cure that ailment. Oakland won 10-0 and 11-0 to win the weekend series. They are in first place ahead of two inconsistent teams.

Los Angeles and Seattle have given us a roller coaster to start the year. Seattle swept Baltimore, but finished the week by getting swept by the White Sox. Los Angeles split a four-game set with Detroit with a lack of run support only to score 19 runs in a series win against the Yankees.

If Oakland can keep their pitching going and actually score runs, they may be a thorn in the side of both the Angels and Mariners.

TOP FIVE AL TEAMS APRIL 26:

1.) Tampa Bay Rays - The pitching remains great, while the team

holds a one game lead over the defending champions.

2.) Minnesota Twins – The pitching and defense has clinched a winning

April.

3.) New York Yankees – The Yankees have consistently played well, but

the series loss to the Angels showed some

pitching weaknesses.

4.) Oakland Athletics – With two ten run games, the offense has

finally joined the pitching.

5.) Los Angeles Angels – The series win over the Yankees was huge,

especially with the increased runs.