billdawg12185

I know it's early and not even at the All-Star break yet, but this series in interleague play has been good and could be a possible World Series preview. Again it is too early to say, but the Cubs are off to a great start and Tampa Bay has almost as many wins as last year and its still June. Watching both games of this series so far have led me to write this blog. Speculation, yes, but you have to admit it's been a good series so far.

So I'll start off by giving some reasons why the Cubs can make it to the series.

Chicago Cubs
They have the best record in the majors at 45-27, which I believe is a better start than their 1908 series victory. The moves Lou Piniella has made with the lineup were criticized at the beginning of the year by everyone, but it seems he was right. Putting Kerry Wood in as the closer where he has done very well was questioned. Heck, the fact the Cubs resigned the once promising young starter was looked down on. The Cubs had faith and its paid off.

Putting Ryan Dempster in as a starter was looked at as a stretch. Now he has 8 wins, tied with ace Carlos Zambrano for the team lead. Dempster has had a few games where he has struck out double digits. Now with Zambrano's injury the Cubs face a tough road ahead. Alfonso Soriano needs to come back with some pop in his swing and get hot. Not sure of the extent of Jim Edmonds injury yesterday either, but they can always bring youngster Alex Pie back up where he played pretty well in the field. Maybe more time in the minors has improved his hitting stroke.

The acquisition of Reed Johnson has proved a good move too. Johnson made his former team, Toronto, pay last weekend with a homer, that clinched the win. I'm sure they wish they still had Johnson in the mix for their outfield. Another newcomer in the Cubs outfield, has been Fukudome. Fukudome has been a nice fit in right field for the Cubs and quickly become a fan favorite.

Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez have teamed with rookie Geovany Soto to create a lineup with plenty of pop in the lineup, especially with Soriano in the lead off spot. So when it comes to producing runs I think the Cubs can put up the numbers. With Zambrano healthy they have a nice rotation and a quality bullpen, led by Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol.

Granted its going to be interesting to see if some of the guys can keep producing like they have so far this year. I say they are a great story and so far are playing like they deserve to be there. A blessing in disguise is that Albert Pujols is also down for the Cardinals and the NL Central should be the Cubs to lose. Unless they have a meltdown like the Mets last year they will be in the playoffs and making a run for the series.

Tampa Bay Rays
Manager Joe Maddon has gone up in wins each year with this team since he became skipper. At 42-29 the Rays are just 24 games off their win total last year. The franchise has never been this many games over .500 , especially this far into the season. The bad thing for the Rays is their division has Boston and New York in it.

Tampa Bay will be fighting with the Yankees for the wild card. The Yankees have won a few in a row and could be ready for a run at the Rays. In years past, Tampa has had the Yanks number, so it will be interesting to see if this young team can hold off a veteran club.

The Rays have young, quality pitching and have done something so far this year no one thought would happen...win games and be just behind Boston for the AL East lead. Tampa Bay has overcome the suspensions handed out for the brawl with Boston and done fairly well without key position players.

The current interleague series has seen Tampa Bay win two, one-run games. It doesn't get much better than that. Imagine if they meet in the World Series and each game in the series is that close? Pretty exciting. Now, the talk of adding Ken Griffey Jr. to the Rays has come up and even though he isn't in his prime, he should bring leadership in the dugout. Plus he could play DH and maybe get hot down the stretch. Who knows?

B.J. Upton, Evan Longoria, Willy Aybar and Carl Crawford are exciting to watch and that's why we all as fans tune in right? The Rays young pitching staff is better than their starters' records show. Scott Kazmir has started only nine games and gone 6-2. Not bad after missing the beginning of the season.

The Rays bullpen has been strong this year and kept them in games, and won games for them. J.P. Howell has five wins for the Rays, and he doesn't even have a start. Andy Sonnanstine (8-3) has been a pleasant surprise for the Rays too.

I'm a Yankee fan, but don't think this is the year they make a run so I would rather see a young and hungry team like the Rays make it to the series. You figure other young teams have won or made it to the series. The Rockies last year, the Diamondbacks and Marlins. Why can't this be the Rays year?


If pitchers for both teams can stay healthy, get healthy and continue to put up current numbers, here could be the potential pitching match-ups.

Carlos Zambrano (8-3) vs. Scott Kazmir (6-2)
Ryan Dempster (8-3) vs. Matt Garza (
Ted Lilly (7-5) vs. Andy Sonnanstine (8-3)
Jason Marquis (5-3) vs. James Shields ( 4-5)
Sean Gallagher (3-3) vs.