Professional baseball rankings -- week 18

*Number 1 -- SEATTLE MARINERS-(80-31) -- Mariners lose wild one in Cleveland on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball 15-14. They had a 14-2 lead at one time. Cleveland tied it up in the bottom of the ninth and won it in the 11th. There were 40 hits in that game. Seattle did win Friday and Saturday against Cleveland. Pitcher Freddy Garcia got his 13th win Saturday, when the Mariners beat the Indians 8-5. Garcia had eight strikeouts. Second baseman Bret Boone hit his 25th homerun of the year in that win. He has 102 runs batted in to lead the A.L.

*Number 2 -- NEW YORK YANKEES-(67-44) -- Yankees beat Anaheim two out of three this weekend. Andy Pettitte won Friday night to improve his record to 12-6. His ERA is 3.38. Mariano Rivera recorded his 36th save. Hot hitting Tino Martinez hit his 25th homerun in that game. Rookie second baseman, Alfonso Soriano hit his 11th. Newly acquired pitcher Sterling Hitchcock, from the San Diego Padres won his debut with the Yankees Wednesday, by winning against Texas 9-7. He gave up five earned runs, but had six strikeouts. He lasted just five innings, but got the win. *Number 3 -- LOS ANGELES DODGERS-(63-49) -- Beat the Chicago Cubs Saturday and Sunday in LA. Won Sunday night 3-2 in 10 innings. First baseman Eric Karros knocked in the winning run with a two out single. Pitcher Tery Mulholland, who came over from Pittsburgh this week got the win. Outfielder Marquis Grissom hit his 17th homerun and Gary Sheffield went 3-5 with one RBI and two doubles.

*Number 4 -- ATLANTA BRAVES-(63-48) -- Braves beat Milwaukee Saturday 14-2 and Sunday 12-8. Pitcher John Burkett got the win Saturday. He is 9-8. His ERA is 2.43. First baseman Wes Helms hit two homeruns to give him seven on the year. He had seven RBI's in that game. A career high for him. He also hit a triple. In Sunday's win, Andruw Jones had four RBI's to give him 72 on the year.

*Number 5 -- CHICAGO CUBS-(63-47) -- Cubs defeat Los Angeles Friday behind the pitching of Kerry Wood. He struckout nine batters. He improved his record to 10-6. His ERA is 3.50. Sammy Sosa hit his 37th homerun in loss to Dodgers Sunday night.

*Number 6 -- BOSTON RED SOX-(63-47) -- Boston beats Texas in doubleheader Saturday and wins Sunday against them too. Pitcher Rolando Arrojo improved his record to 3-3 with win. He struckout eight. His ERA is 3.17. Manny Ramirez hit his 34th homerun of the year. He has 99 RBI's on the season and he's batting .313. Outfielder Carl Everett got thrown out of Sunday's game for arguing about strikeout with homeplate umpire and throwing his bat at umpire's feet. Nothing unusual for Everett to get tossed.

*Number 7 -- MINNESOTA TWINS-(63-48) -- Twins stop Kansas City Royals Saturday 6-2. Pitcher Eric Milton goes to 10-4 with win. David Ortiz hit his 8th homerun in that game. Good to have him off the DL. First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz hit his 14th and hit his 29th double. Twins lead Indians by 0.5 games in the A.L. Central.

*Number 8 -- SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS-(62-50) -- Giants had won nine in a row before losing to Philadelphia Saturday 12-2. Giants won Friday night, when first baseman Andres Galarraga hit a two-out, two-run homerun in the ninth. Rich Aurilia hit his 22nd in that game. He hit his 23rd in a 8-4 win Sunday over Phillies. Pitcher Livan Hernandez won that game to push his record to 10-11. Barry Bonds leads the majors in homeruns with 47.

*Number 9 -- ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS-(62-49) -- Trail the LA Dodgers by a half of game in the N.L. West. Pitcher Curt Schilling becomes the majors first 16 game winner when he defeats New York Mets Sunday 2-1. He struckout 13. He allowed no walks. His ERA is 3.01. Randy Johnson beat Mets Friday 7-0 to improve his record to 14-5. His ERA is 2.45. Outfielder Luis Gonzalez hit his 43rd homerun in that win. He has 106 RBI's. He has my vote for N.L. MVP.

*Number 10 -- CLEVELAND INDIANS-(62-48) -- Indians rally from 14-2 deficit against Seattle to win that game 15-14 in the 11th inning. Amazing! No team has come back from that big a deficit to win, in 76 years. Jolbert Cabrera's broken bat single in the 11th scored Kenny Lofton from second to win the game. The game lasted four hours and 11 minutes. Slugger Jim Thome hit two homeruns to give him 36 for the years. He leads the A.L. in homeruns. Marty Cordova went 4-5, along with his 13th homerun. He also had a double. Omar Vizquel hit a three run triple to tie that game in the ninth. He had 4 RBI's total in that slugfest.

*Number 11 -- OAKLAND ATHLETICS-(61-50) -- Athletics have won four in a row. They beat Detroit Saturday 10-1. Pitcher Barry Zito got the win. His record is 7-7. He struckout 10. Jermaine Dye hit his 16th homerun for Oakland. He's been hot since he's been with Athletics. Eric Chavez hit his 17th and G.Myers hit his seventh. Pitcher Tim Hudson won his 13th Friday night against Detroit in 2-1 win.

*Number 12 -- HOUSTON ASTROS-(62-49) -- Astros beat Montreal Sunday 4-1. Moises Alou hit his 22nd homerun in that game. Vinny Castilla hit his 14th.

*NUMBER 13 -- PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES-(60-51) -- Phillies trail Atlanta by three games in the N.L. East. They beat Giants Saturday 12-2. Pitcher Nelson Figueroa improved his record to 3-2 with win. His ERA is 2.75. Pat Burrell hit his 15th homerun of the year in that game. Todd Pratt had three doubles.

*NUMBER 14 -- ANAHEIM ANGELS-(57-54) -- Angels beat Boston three out of three in Boston this past week. They beat Yankees Sunday 4-3. Pitcher Ramon Ortiz goes to 10-7 with win. Troy Percival recorded his 29th save.

*NUMBER 15 -- ST. LOUIS CARDINALS-(56-54) -- Cardinals beat Florida 3-0 Saturday. Newly acquired pitcher from San Diego, Woody Williams got the win. He is 9-8 on the year. Albert Pujols hit his 26th homerun of the year. What a rookie! Mark McGwire hit his 19th homerun Wednesday to tie him with Harmon Killebrew on the all-time homerun list.

*Number 16 -- FLORIDA MARLINS-(56-55) -- Pitcher Ryan Dempster runs his record to 13-9 with 5-3 win over Cardinals Sunday. He allowed nine hits and three earned runs. Alfonseca got his 22nd save.

*Number 17 -- CHICAGO WHITE SOX-(54-55) -- Jose Canseco promises young cancer patients he will hit a homerun for them in the game against Kansas City Wednesday. He hits two instead. Way to go Jose. Those two gave him eight on the year. He's been a real plus since coming to the team.

*Number 18 -- SAN DIEGO PADRES-(54-57) -- Padres beat Cincinnati Sunday 2-0. Phil Nevin hit his 30th homerun in that game. Nevin hit his 31st in a losing cause Sunday. Pitcher Brian Tollberg got the win Saturday to go to 6-3. He pitched eight innings. Trevor Hoffman got his 27th save.

*Number 19 -- TORONTO BLUEJAYS-(53-59) -- BlueJays whip Baltimore three in a row this weekend. They won Friday night 10-1. Pitcher Esteban Escobar improved his record to 3-5. Curtis Delgado hit his 30th homerun in that game. He had 3 RBI's. Thousands of bugs called Aphids, descended into Skydome, so umpires had to have roof closed. Apparently it bugged them!

*Number 20 -- NEW YORK METS-(51-61) -- Mets beat Arizona Saturday 4-2. Kevin Appier got the win to improve his record to 6-10. Armando Benitez got his 25th save. Newly acquired pitcher Bruce Chen from Philadelphia pitched well Wednesday against Houston, but didn't figure in the decision. Mets won in 10 innings 8-2.

*Number 21 -- TEXAS RANGERS-(49-62) -- Have played pretty good ball in past two weeks. They beat Texas Thursday 12-2. Aaron Myette earned his first career victory. Ex-Yankee Ricky Ledee hit his second homerun of the year in that game. He had two doubles too. Alex Rodriquez hit his 30th and Catalanotto hit his 5th.

*Number 22 -- MILWAUKEE BREWERS-(47-62) -- They beat Florida Thursday 4-3. Pitcher Allen Levrault improved his record to 6-6. His ERA is 4.89.

*Number 23 -- COLORADO ROCKIES-(46-65) -- First baseman Todd Helton hit his 34th homerun of the year in 6-3 loss to Pittsburgh Saturday. Pitcher Mike Hampton's record improved to 11-8 with 12-7 win over Pittsburgh Friday. Hampton allowed 6 earned runs. Helton went 4-5 with one RBI and two runs scored.

*Number 24 -- DETROIT TIGERS-(46-63) -- Have lost five in a row. They did beat Seattle last Monday 4-2. Pitcher and ex-Astro Jose Lima got the win.

*Number 25 -- CINCINNATI REDS-(46-64) -- Reds beat San Diego Sunday 10-9. In Friday's win, Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 11th homerun. Dmitri Young, Jason LaRue, and Pokey Reese hit consecutive homeruns in the 6th inning.

*Number 26 -- MONTREAL EXPOS-(47-65) -- Expos trail Atlanta in N.L. East by 16.5 games. They trade closer Urbina to Boston.

*Number 27 -- BALTIMORE ORIOLES-(45-67) -- Orioles beat Tampa Bay Wednesday 6-5. Orioles were 0-59 when trailing after eight innings before this game.

*Number 28 -- KANSAS CITY ROYALS-(44-67) -- Royals beat up on Minnesota Sunday 10-5. Mark Sweeney hit two homeruns to give him 25 on the year. Outfielder Mark Quinn went 4-5 with two RBI's and one run scored. He also had two doubles.

*Number 29 -- PITTSBURGH PIRATES-(43-67) -- They beat Colorado Saturday 6-3. Pitcher Todd Ritchie ran his record to 8-10. He's getting better and better. Third baseman Aramis Ramirez hit two homeruns to give him 24 on the year in that contest.

*Number 30 -- TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS-(37-74) -- Going nowhere fast. 30 games out of first place in the A.L. East. 19-32 playing at home and 18-42 on the road and a big zero at the ticket booth.