Weekly review and preview

A weekly glance at the MLB action.

Powered by automated translation

? St Louis Cardinals: the Cards went 6-1 last week and began to open a sizeable lead in the NL Central. ? Detroit Tigers: the Tigers won back-to-back series against the Twins and Angels and closed in on first-place Minnesota in the AL Central.

? Austin Kearns: the Cleveland left-fielder had 12 hits and 10 RBI over the past seven games. ? Kelly Johnson: picked up over the winter, Johnson has performed well for the Diamondbacks, collecting four homers last week.

? Javier Vazquez: the Yankees thought Vazquez would be a reliable addition to their rotation, but in two starts last week, he failed to get past the fourth and allowed 10 runs in six and two-thirds innings. ? Ryan Howard: in the same week in which he signed a $125 million (Dh459m) contract extension, the Phillies slugger had just two RBI over a span of eight games

? New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox, May 7-9 They are not playing particularly well of late, but a meeting between the ancient rivals is always compelling. ? Los Angeles Angels v Seattle Mariners, May 7-9 These clubs were supposed to be battling it out for first place in the AL West. Instead, they are trying to stay out of the basement.