Friday's first pitch

Leading Off
First Johan Santana. Now Jose Reyes.
The Mets shortstop might face surgery.
We already knew the season was lost for the Mets, but we hope they can come back to full health for the 2010 campaign.
If the Mets are healthy and competitive, the National League is that much better.
Right now, there are three elite teams that have been on top of the National League for at least two seasons: the Dodgers, Phillies and Cardinals.
The league needs another consistent winner and the Mets would be a good fit for that.
Consider that each of the past eight seasons the American League can pretty much count on strong squads from Anaheim, New York, Boston, Chicago, Minnesota and, until the last two seasons, Oakland. Sure, other teams have risen up and made the playoffs, but you need a depth of consistent winners to bring up the competition.
The National League needs the Mets for that.
But it also needs a triumphant return of Johan Santana as well.

Regional Roundup
J.A. Happ deserved to get the 'W.' But if we're honest, the Pirates deserved it more.

• Brandon Moss is a tinkerer and a tweaker. Maybe he tweets too.


• The Phils weren't the only team to blow a late lead. The O's dropped their game in the ninth.


• Would you believe it? The Nats held on to their lead.


• Jimmy Rollins agrees with the Appeals Court ruling that says the Feds were wrong in taking all of the samples from 2003. Jimmy Watch:3-for-5, run scored, double.

Best of Rest

• The Yankees are the most dominant team in baseball. Yet they have no direction. Talk about overreacting.


• The Rays have 17 games to gain some major ground in their push for the playoffs.


• Rafael Furcal has given his team some cushion. If we were taking bets, however, we'd pick the Rockies.


• One of the biggest series of the season is going to take place in The Bay this weekend.

Batter's Eye

• We're going to start checking in the Baseball Prospectus' standings to take a look at how things are going. Notice today how the Braves have underperformed.

Today in history
1951 -- The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the New York Giants 2-0, snapping the Giants' 16-game winning streak. The streak enabled the Giants to cut the Dodgers 13 1/2-game lead to six.

1971 -- In the nightcap of a doubleheader, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Rick Wise hit two home runs to help himself to a 7-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

1990 -- Ryne Sandberg became the first second baseman in history to have consecutive 30-homer seasons, leading the Cubs to a 5-2 victory over the Houston Astros.

The Closer
Peter Gammons has us steamed.
On ESPN Radio yesterday he referred to the National League as "Quad-A."
Basically saying it isn't as good as the American League.
Now, we'll agree on one point of that. The bottom four teams of the American League - Washington, Pittsburgh, San Diego and Arizona - are not that good.
However, he and many in the national media have been too harsh on the Senior Circuit.
Sure Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia have dominated after moves to the NL. But I haven't seen much of a drop off in Sabathia's numbers since he moved to the Yankees.
Nobody is denying that pitchers benefit from not having to face the designated hitter when they come over to the National League, but there can't be that much of a drop off in competition between the two leagues when you consider two facts: World Series winners and best players at each position.
Since Divisional play there have been 14 World Series.
The American League has won eight.
The National League has won six.
That's one win from being even.
However, since the last time the Yankees won - 2000 - the numbers lean toward the NL.
In those eight World Series, the National League has won half of the Fall Classics (2001, 2003, 2006, 2008).
Also, when you go by position and pick the top players, you mostly come up with just as many National League players as American Leaguers.
1B - Albert Pujols - Is anyone going to argue this?
2B - Chase Utley - The American League offers Brian Roberts, Howie Kendrick, Robinson Cano and Aaron Hill. But you'd have to go with Utley.
3B - Man this is tough: David Wright. Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Zimmerman, Michael Young. We'd go with Evan Longoria, however.
SS - Popular sentiment would go with Derek Jeter, but his defense is way to shoddy. We'll take Hanley Ramirez, who can hit for average (batting .365 this year), power (averaged 27 homers the past three seasons) and run like the wind (two 50-stolen base seasons)
C - Gotta go with Joe Mauer here. If he locks up his third batting title as a catcher this season, he's a lock Hall of Famer. And he's only 26.
So as we leave the infield we have the National League leading 3-2.
LF Jason Bay provides power, solid defense and a solid average as well.
CF We'd normally say Carlos Beltran here, but since he was hurt we have to replace him. At first we thought it was going to be Torii Hunter, but it's not. The best center fielder, for our money, is Matt Kemp, who plays good defense, has pop, hits for average, and has speed to burn.
RF It's a almost a push but I'm going with Ichiro, who hits for average, still runs very well, has a rifle arm, has good range and not much power. Ryan Braun is thisclose to catching Suzuki, however.
After factoring in the outfield, we have a virtual tie each league holding four spots.
Now, lets move on to the pitching staff, where the National League takes over.
Seriously.
Five best pitchers in baseball:
TIm Lincicum, Cliff Lee, CC Sabathia, Johan Santana and Roy Halladay.
That's a 3-2 ratio.
The National League has retaken the lead 7-6.
But, with Mariano Rivera, the American League rallies at the closer position and ties things up.
So really, is there that much difference between the two leagues.