Professional baseball rankings -- Week 21

*Number 1 -- SEATTLE MARINERS-(94-37) -- Mariners defeated Cleveland Friday, 4-1. Pitcher Jamie Moyer improved his record to 15-5. He pitched seven innings and struckout six. His ERA is 3.67. Ichiro Suzuki had a 21 game hitting streak going, but it was snapped Sunday in loss to Cleveland. He went 0-5. Thursday, Seattle broke a franchise record for team wins in a season, with 92. They beat Detroit that night 5-1. Seattle is 49-17 when playing on the road.

*Number 2 -- NEW YORK YANKEES-(76-55-) -- Yankees defeated Anaheim Saturday behind the pitching of Roger Clemons. He improved his record to 17-1. His ERA is 3.56. He is the fourth pitcher in major league history to win 17 of 18 decisions. The others are Rube Marquard (New York Giants) who went 19-1 in 1912, Don Newcombe (Brookyln Dodgers) who went 18-1 in 1955, and Elroy Face(Pittsburgh Pirates) who went 18-1 in 1959. Quite an accomplishment. Clemons has won 13 straight decisions and Saturday's win was his 277th career victory.

*Number 3 -- ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS--(75-54) -- Diamondbacks beat Philadelphia two out of three this weekend in Philadelphia. They won Sunday in 10 innings, 4-3. Pitcher Curt Schilling did not figure in the decision. He struckout six in six innings. Outfielder Luis Gonzalez hit his 48th homerun of the season. He now has 117 RBI's on the year. He's batting .342. Pitcher Randy Johnson struckout 16, but still lost the game to Pittsburgh 5-1 last Thursday.

*Number 4 -- OAKLAND ATHLETICS-(75-56) -- Athletics beat Detroit Sunday, 7-6. Starting pitcher Cory Lidle got bombed early, but relief pitcher Jeff Tam came on and got the win. He is now 3-2. Miguel Tejada hit his 25th homerun and a double in that win, and Jason Giambi hit his 31st homerun. He has 98 RBI's on the season. Oakland trails Seattle by 19 games in the A.L. West.

*Number 5 -- HOUSTON ASTROS-(75-55) -- Astros beat Pittsburgh Friday, 5-1. Pitcher Roy Oswalt improved his record to 11-2 with win. He struckout nine batters. His ERA is 2.98. Houston leads Chicago in the N.L. Central by three games.

*Number 6 -- CLEVELAND INDIANS-(73-57) -- Indians lead Minnesota by four-and-a-half games in the A.L. Central. Indians slowed Seattle down Sunday by winning 4-3. Kenny Lofton hit his 10th homerun in that win. Bob Wickman earned his 24th save. David Riske got the win in relief. Seattle relief pitcher, Arthur Rhodes was made to remove his earring in Saturday's and Sunday's game against Cleveland by the umpire. He was thrown out of Saturday's game for arguing about it. Cleveland pitcher Charles Nagy out for the year with arm injury.

*Number 7 -- CHICAGO CUBS-(72-58) -- Cubs beat St. Louis two in a row this weekend. Pitcher Jon Lieber won Saturday, to run his record to 17-5. Fred McGriff hit his third homerun in the N.L. in that win. He went 3-4 with three RBI's. Cubs won Sunday 6-1 behind the pitching of 20 year old Juan Cruz, from the Dominican Republic. Slugger Sammy Sosa hit two homeruns to give him 51 on the year. He leads the majors with 133 RBI's. He is batting .323. He's hot.

*Number 8 -- SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS-(72-58) -- Giants lose three in a row to Mets at Shea Stadium. Barry Bonds hit his 55th homerun Thursday in a 10-5 win over Montreal.

>*Number 9 -- ATLANTA BRAVES-(71-58) -- Pitcher Greg Maddux improved his record to 17-7 last Wednesday, when the Braves beat San Diego, 6-3. His ERA is 2.86. Chipper Jones hit his 32nd homerun, and B.J. Surhoff hit his eighth in that win. Atlanta beat Los Angeles Dodgers Sunday 9-2. John Burkett got the win, to run his record to 11-8 and outfielder Andruw Jones hit two homeruns to give him 27 on the year. He's finally starting to hit.

*Number 10 -- BOSTON RED SOX-(71-58) -- Red Sox lost a heartbreaker in 18 innings Saturday to the Texas Rangers, 8-7. Pitcher Pedro Martinez made his debut Sunday, since coming off the DL. He did not figure in the decision. Boston lost again 5-4. Martinez pitched four innings and struckout four batters. Slugger Manny Ramirez has been on the DL(hamstring). Boston trails the Yankees by four games in A.L. East.

*Number 11 -- LOS ANGELES DODGERS-(71-59) -- Dodgers beat Atlanta two out of three this weekend. Outfielder Shawn Green has been hot. He hit a homerun in each game this past weekend. He now has 42 for the year. Gary Sheffield has 30.

*Number 12 -- ST. LOUIS CARDINALS-(70-60) -- Cardinals beat Chicago in slugfest Friday, 10-8. Pitcher Matt Morris earned the win. He is 17-7. His ERA is 3.31. Outfielder Jim Edmonds went 3-4 with three RBI's and two doubles in that contest. Jim Edmonds hit his 20th homerun of the year in Saturday's loss to the Cubs 6-4.

*Number 13 -- PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES-(69-60) -- Manager Larry Bowa got thrown out of Saturday's game against Arizona in a bitter 4-3 loss. Arizona's Steve Finley was called safe at home and Bowa thought differently. Philadelphia did win Friday night, 6-5. Pitcher Omar Daal got the win. He is 12-4. Closer Mesa earned his 33rd save. Outfielder Pat Burrell hit his 19th homerun in that game.

*NUMBER 14 -- ANAHEIM ANGELS-(69-62) -- Angels beat New York Yankees Sunday, 7-6 in 10 innings. Garrett Anderson hit three doubles in that game and knocked in the winning run with his third double in the 10th. Closer Troy Percival got the win in relief. He is 4-2. First baseman Scott Spiezio hit his 11th homerun and had three RBI's in that win.

*NUMBER 15 -- MINNESOTA TWINS-(69-62) -- Twins swept Kansas City this weekend. Pitcher Brad Radke got the win Sunday in 7-2 win. He is now 11-8. Third baseman Corey Koskie was 2-5 with two RBI's.

*NUMBER 16 -- CHICAGO WHITE SOX-(65-64) -- White Sox beat Tampa Bay Sunday, 3-2. Slugger Jose Canseco hit his 12th homerun and Magglio Ordonez hit his 26th in that win. White Sox won against Kansas City in a wild game last Wednesday, 13-12. Ordonez and Durham homered in that game.

*Number 17 -- SAN DIEGO PADRES-(64-65) -- Padres whipped Florida Sunday, 10-0. Pitcher Kevin Jarvis improved his record to 11-9 with win. Ryan Klesko went 3-4 with one run scored and a double. Catcher Ben Davis hit his ninth homerun. Third baseman Phil Nevin went 1-4 with two RBI's. He now has 97 on the season.

*Number 18 -- TORONTO BLUEJAYS-(64-67) -- BlueJays have won four in a row. They beat Baltimore Sunday, 5-1. Rookie pitcher Brandon Lyon was the winner. He is 3-2. They won Saturday, 9-0. Pitcher Kelvim Escobar won that game. He is 6-5 on the year. He had eight strikeouts in that complete game shutout.

*Number 19 -- FLORIDA MARLINS-(61-68) -- Marlins beat San Diego Friday, 6-3. Ex-Padre pitcher Matt Clement beat his old team. Clement is 8-8. His ERA is 5.14.

*Number 20 -- NEW YORK METS-(61-69) -- Mets beat the Giants three in a row at home. Pitcher Al Leiter earned the win on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. Mets won 6-5. Leiter improved his record to 9-10. He struckout seven. Catcher Mike Piazza has 300 career homeruns as a catcher and the record of 351 is held by Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk, who played his career with Boston and the Chicago White Sox.

*Number 21 -- TEXAS RANGERS-(58-73) -- Rangers beat Boston two out of three this weekend at home. Texas won marathon game Saturday, 8-7. Back-up catcher Bill Haselman drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 18th. That was the longest game in Ranger history. Alex Rodriquez hit his 39th and first baseman Rafael Palmeiro hit his 35th homerun in that win. The game lasted over six hours.

*Number 22 -- MILWAUKEE BREWERS-(57-72) -- Brewers defeated Colorado Saturday, 5-4. Catcher Henry Blanco hit his fourth homerun of the year in that game. Mark Loretta went 3-3 with one RBI and Luis Lopez hit his third homerun of the season.

*Number 23 -- COLORADO ROCKIES-(56-73) -- Pitcher Mike Hampton improved his record to 13-10, with a 3-2 win over Milwaukee. Hampton had seven strikeouts. Outfielder Larry Walker hit his 33rd homerun of the year in that win. Walker is batting .348. Todd Helton went 2-4 with two doubles. He has 44 doubles on the year.

*Number 24 -- MONTREAL EXPOS-(55-75) -- Montreal beat Cincinnati Friday, 6-4. Outfielder Vladimir Guerrero hit his 31st homerun in that win.

*Number 25 -- CINCINNATI REDS-(53-77) -- Reds crushed Montreal Sunday, 17-4. Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 19th homerun in that slaughter. Griffey had four RBI's. Pitcher Jose Acevado got the win. He is 4-5. He struckout five and walked one in seven innings of work.

*Number 26 -- BALTIMORE ORIOLES-(54-76) -- Orioles had a rough week. They did win Thursday, 7-4, over Tampa Bay. Jeff Conine hit his 14th homerun in that victory.

*Number 27 -- DETROIT TIGERS-(53-76) -- Tigers beat Oakland Friday, 8-4. Outfielder Roger Cedeno went 3-4 with one RBI and two runs scored. Jose Macias went 2-4 with two RBI's and one run scored. He also hit a triple. DH Tony Clark hit his 25th double of the year.

*Number 28 -- KANSAS CITY ROYALS-(51-80) -- Have lost six in a row. It will probably get worse.

*Number 29 -- PITTSBURGH PIRATES-(48-81) -- Pirates beat Houston Saturday, 8-2. Pitcher Todd Ritchie improved his record to 10-11 with that win. His ERA is 3.22. Outfielder Brian Giles hit his 31st homerun in that win. Aramis Ramirez hit his 27th, which was a grand slam.

*Number 30 -- TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS-(47-84) -- Devil Rays beat Baltimore in wild one last Wednesday, 11-10. Outfielder Jason Tyner went 4-6 with two RBI's and one run scored. Second baseman Brent Abernathy went 3-5 with three RBI's. He also hit two doubles. Jared Sandberg was 3-5 with one RBI and three runs scored.

See you at the game.