Professional baseball rankings -- week 17

*Number 1 -- SEATTLE MARINERS-(76-29) -- Mariners sweep Minnesota again, this time at home in Seattle. Pitcher Freddy Garcia improves his record to 12-3 with 10-2 win over Twins Sunday. He scattered five hits and allowed one earned run. His ERA is 3.31. Second baseman Bret Boone goes 4-5 with three RBI's and two runs scored. He also had two doubles to give him 25 on the year. He is batting .330 and now has 99 RBI's for the season. Mariners are 36-16 at home and 40-13 on the road. They have scored 613 runs so far this year.

*Number 2 -- NEW YORK YANKEES-(64-41) -- Yankees have won eight in a row. Pitcher Roger Clemons improves to a major league best at 15-1 with 12-1 win over Toronto Saturday. Clemons only pitched 5.1 innings. He pulled his groin. He is day-to-day. He had eight strikeouts in the game. His ERA is 3.58. Tino Martinez hit his 22nd homerun of the year in that contest. Martinez hit his 23rd Sunday in a 9-3 win over BlueJays. Tino only had 16 homeruns all of last year and 91 RBI's. He already has 81 RBI's this season. Having a great year.

*Number 3 -- CHICAGO CUBS-(61-43) -- Cubs defeat St. Louis On ESPN Sunday Night Baseball 7-5. Pitcher Juan Tavarez got the win. He is now 8-6 on the year. Newly acquired Fred McGriff walks his first time as a Cub. Next at bat, he singles home a run. Chicago leads N.L. Central over Houston by 4-1/2 games and over St. Louis by 8-1/2 games. Slugger Sammy Sosa hit his 35th homerun in Saturday's loss to Cardinals 7-4.

*Number 4 -- LOS ANGELES DODGERS-(61-45) -- Dodgers take over lead in the N.L. West by 1-1/2 games over Arizona. Dodgers spank Colorado Saturday 10-6. Chan Ho Park improved his record to 11-6 with win. He pitched seven innings and allowed one earned run and had six strikeouts. His ERA is 2.85. Closer Jeff Shaw earned his 32nd save. Shawn Green hit his 30th homerun of the year in that game. He only hit 24 last year. He went 3-5 with three RBI's and a double also in that game. Marquis Grissom hit his 16th. Jeff Reboulet hit his third. Newly acquired pitcher James Baldwin from the Chicago White Sox pitches good game in his LA debut, but Dodgers lose it to Colorado Sunday 3-2. Baldwin tossed eight innings, scattering seven hits and allowing two earned runs. Herges got the loss to go 8-8 on the season.

*Number 5 -- ATLANTA BRAVES-(60-45) -- Braves now have three game lead over Philadelphia in N.L. East. Pitcher Kevin Millwood finally returns from DL. He beats Cincinnati Wednesday 11-3. He is 2-4 now. He walked five and struckout five. Braves beat Montreal three out of four this weekend. Greg Maddux wins his 10th straight decision Friday night in 7-3 win. He has now tossed 58-1/3 innings without a walk. He is 14-5 with an ERA of 2.49. What a year -- what a career! Brian Jordan hit his 16th homerun in that game. First baseman Ken Caminiti hit four homeruns in that series. He now has five in the N.L. Pitcher John Burkett improves his record to 8-8 with Sunday win by a score of 8-1. His struckout eleven batters. His ERA is 2.47.

*Number 6 -- CLEVELAND INDIANS-(60-44) -- Pitcher Bartolo Colon goes to 10-7 with 7-4 win over Detroit Friday. Bob Wickman recorded his 18th save. Jim Thome smashed his 33rd homerun of the year in that contest. Wil Cordero hit his 4th.

*Number 7 -- BOSTON RED SOX-(60-44)-Boston gets Nomar Garciaparra and Carl Everett back Sunday. Nomar hits his first homerun in his season debut, and drives in the winning run against the Chicago White Sox Sunday in a 4-3 win. Pitcher Rod Beck got the win in relief. He is 5-3. Derek Lowe got his 21st save. Boston still trails the hot Yankees by 3-1/2 games.

*Number 8 -- MINNESOTA TWINS-(60-45) -- Losers of three in a row. Twins beat Oakland Wednesday 3-1. Pitcher Joe Mays improves his record to 12-7. His ERA is 3.25. Closer LaTroy Hawkins got his 26th save. Denny Hocking hit his 2nd homerun of the year. Twins acquire pitcher Todd Jones from Detroit.

*Number 9 -- SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS-(57-49) -- Have won five in a row. Beats Arizona four games straight. Barry Bonds hit his 45th homerun of the year in 9-3 win Friday over Arizona. Andres Galarraga acquired from Texas hit his 1st homerun in the N.L. this year. Galarraga had three RBI's in that game. Pitcher Kirk Rueter improved his record to 10-7 with win.

*Number 10 -- ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS-(59-46) -- Have lost four in a row. Swept by the Giants this weekend. Arizona beat San Diego Wednesday 9-6. Pitcher Miquel Batista improved to 6-6. He had five strikeouts. His ERA is 3.54. Luis Gonzalez hit his 41st homerun in that game. He hit his 20th double of the year. He now has 102 RBI's on the year. Leading the majors. He's batting .350.

*Number 11 -- OAKLAND ATHLETICS-(56-49) -- Outfielder Jermaine Dye traded to Oakland from Kansas City. He homers in Sunday's game. Oakland won over Kansas City 6-4. That was Dye's 14th homer of the year.

*Number 12 -- HOUSTON ASTROS-(52-46) -- Houston trounces Pittsburgh Saturday in 12-3 win. Pitcher Tony McKnight wins his first game of the year. He is 1-0. Jeff Bagwell went 3-4 with 3 RBI's and 3 runs scored. Also had a double. Lance Berkman hit his 34th double.

*NUMBER 13 -- PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES-(57-48) -- Phillies beat Montreal Wednesday 8-4. Pitcher Robert Person improved to 9-5 with win. Bobby Abreu hit his 22nd homerun of the year in 6-5 loss Sunday to the Mets.

*NUMBER 14 -- ST. LOUIS CARDINALS-(52-51) -- Mark McGwire hit his 17th homerun of the year and his 571st career homerun Saturday in 7-4 win over Cubs. He's two behind Harmon Killebrew for fifth place.

*NUMBER 15 -- ANAHEIM ANGELS-(53-52) -- Angels beat Baltimore Saturday 6-4. First baseman Scott Spiezo hit two homeruns to give him eight on the year. Third baseman Troy Glaus hit his 26th homerun Friday in a 4-3 loss to Baltimore.

*Number 16 -- FLORIDA MARLINS-(52-52) -- Have lost four in a row. Swept by Cincinnati this weekend. Did beat Mets Tuesday 4-3. Bones was the winner. He is 3-3.

*Number 17 -- CHICAGO WHITE SOX-(51-52) -- They beat Boston Saturday 3-1. Pitcher Mark Buehrle improves to 8-6 with win. His ERA is 3.22. Closer Keith Foulke got his 24th save. Magglio Ordonez with new contract went 3-5 with one RBI and three doubles to give him 24 on the year.

*Number 18 -- SAN DIEGO PADRES-(51-54) -- Padres beat Milwaukee Sunday 12-5. First baseman Ryan Klesko hit his 20th homerun of the year. Bubba Trammell hit his 18th. Kevin Jarvis improved his pitching record to 8-8 with win. Ricky Henderson makes manager, Davey Lopes of the Brewers mad by stealing base late in game. He threatens Ricky.

*Number 19 - -NEW YORK METS-(49-57) -- Defeats Philadelphia three in a row. Armando Benitez gets the win in relief. He is 5-3. Catcher Mike Piazza hit the game winning homerun to give him 26 on the year. Mets trade pitcher Turk Wendall to Philadelphia then beat him in Saturday's game.

*Number 20 -- TORONTO BLUEJAYS-(48-58) -- Trounced by Yankees this weekend. Outscored 30-5 by New York this weekend.

*Number 21 -- MILWAUKEE BREWERS-(45-48) -- Manager Davey Lopes enraged, because Padre Ricky Henderson steals base late in the game while they are being blown out 12-5. Davey there's no crying in baseball. Do you expect the hitters not to hit also, because your losing big time? Get a grip. He should be fined for threatening Ricky Henderson. Richie Sexson hit his 24th homerun of the year in 8-0 win over San Diego Friday.

*Number 22 -- DETROIT TIGERS-(45-58) -- Tigers whip Cleveland Sunday 8-3. Pitcher Steve Sparks improves his record to 8-5 with win. He pitches complete game. He struckout seven. His ERA is 3.74. Outfielder Roger Cedeno hit his fifth homerun of the year.

*Number 23 -- TEXAS RANGERS-(46-58) -- They are 29.5 games out of first in the A.L. West. Texas blanks Tampa Bay Sunday 2-0. Pitcher Rick Helling improves his record to 8-8 with complete game shutout. He allowed only four hits.

*Number 24 -- COLORADO ROCKIES-(44-61) -- Todd Helton hit his 31st homerun in a 3-2 win over Los Angeles Sunday. He now has 96 RBI's on the year. He is batting .319. Rockies trade shortstop Neifi Perez to Kansas City Royals. Pitcher Mike Hampton has his shortest outing of the year when he is blown out Saturday in 10-6 loss to Dodgers. He lasted just 2-1/3 innings. Allowing nine earned runs.

*Number 25 -- BALTIMORE ORIOLES-(44-61) -- They beat Anaheim Sunday 1-0. Pitcher Jose Mercedes improves his record to 5-12 with win. Jeff Conine knocks in the only run with a double.

*Number 26 -- MONTREAL EXPOS-(45-61) -- Expos beat Braves Thursday 3-2 in ten innings. Mike Mordecai walked with the bases loaded to push in the winning run against Atlanta pitcher Mike Remlinger.

*Number 27 -- KANSAS CITY ROYALS-(41-64) -- Royals beat up on Oakland Saturday 9-3. Pitcher Chad Durbin improved his record to 7-9 with win. He pitched a complete game. He struckout six. His ERA is 4.54. Carlos Beltran went 3-5 with two RBI's and one run scored. He also had a double.

*Number 28 -- CINCINNATI REDS-(41-63) -- Have won three in a row. They beat Florida Saturday 5-0. Pitcher Elmer Dessens improves his record to 7-8 with win. He pitches a complete game shutout. Ken Griffey Jr. hits his eighth homerun of the year after criticizing the team for not being committed to win. Contemplated retirement, but backed off those statements later. Man, baseball has it's share of whiners. Not every team can win or will. Someone has to be a loser. If he had been just a bit more patient with Seattle, look where he would be today.

*Number 29 -- PITTSBURGH PIRATES-(41-63) -- Pirates explode for seven runs in the bottom of the ninth Saturday to beat Houston 9-8. Brian Giles hit his 25th homerun of the year in that game and it was a grand slam. Also hit his 30th double of the year. Meares hit his 4th homerun of the year.

*Number30 -- TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS-(34-71) -- Have allowed 622 runs to be scored on them. McGriff finally decides to go to Chicago. Just what they needed to do, was to lose 50 percent of their offense. Can you spell loser?