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Shortly after the team’s loss to the Texas Rangers in the American League Division Series -- which saw only 28,299 fans show -- Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg launched into the troubling financial situation of his franchise:

"The rubber has got to hit the road at some point. We're four years into winning. We're getting to the point where we don't control our own destiny. This is untenable as a model…When I came in here in '05 and '06, I saw the stars, and I was confident that we could put a winning product on the field -- and I was told by you guys and others that all we needed was a winning team. Well, we won. We won. We won. And we won. And it didn't do it."

Sternberg acquired control of the franchise in 2005. Since that point, the Rays have arguably developed into the model organization in the sport, allowing them to compete year after year over the last four years despite a limited payroll.

The team’s success has not translated to sufficient attendance. One would have expected at least a noticeable uptick in attendance with the team routinely winning 30 more games per season than it used to, but that has simply not been the case.

It appears the preseason warnings of a down season and the huge departures via free agency may have kept the fans away.

The Rays have two AL East titles, a World Series appearance and three postseason appearances in four seasons, but have averaged exactly 1,748 more fans per game than they did in 2007, when they lost 96 games.

Unfortunately, the lack of attendance has a direct effect on the Rays’ ability to spend money. After attendance issues last year both in the regular season and postseason, the Rays slashed payroll by around $30 million.

While at first glance it might appear as though the Rays’ 2011 spending situation is actually a non-trivial improvement over the spending from 2005-07, it is actually just a case of context. The team ranked 29th in 2011 and ranked 30th, 29th, 30th, 29th from 2005-08. Payrolls across baseball have risen since 2005 as a whole, so in reality the Rays are still spending at the same fractional amount of competitors. For example, in 2005 the Rays payroll accounted for 24 percent of the Boston Red Sox payroll. In 2011, the Rays payroll increased 38 percent over its 2005 payroll -- was barely more than 25 percent of the Red Sox 2011 payroll, essentially no difference from 2005.

Over the years the team has lost Carl Crawford, Matt Garza, Carlos Pena, Joaquin Benoit, Scott Kazmir, Rafael Soriano, either due to unmatchable free agent offers or trades made necessary by salary obligations. It’s entirely possible that the team could once again leak talent this offseason, with James Shields getting more expensive and B.J. Upton due a raise from the nearly $5 million he made in 2011 in the arbitration process.

An organization can only churn out Matt Moores and Jeremy Hellicksons and Desmond Jennings for so long in an effort to paper over holes created from departures. At some point, perhaps the Rays can find themselves a better situation, allowing their on-field success to overshadow their off-field issues.

The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees resume their rivalry, with a three-game series starting Tuesday at Fenway Park. The Red Sox are 10-2 against the Yankees this season. It’s the first time Boston has won at least 10 games in a season against the Yankees since 2004 (11-8).

Four of those 10 losses by the Yankees have come with CC Sabathia on the mound (Sabathia will take the ball in the opener on Tuesday). Sabathia is 0-4 with a 7.20 ERA against the Red Sox and 17-3 with a 2.40 ERA against everybody else this season.

Why has Sabathia struggled so much against the Red Sox this season?

Left-handed batters: Red Sox lefties – Carl Crawford, J.D. Drew, David Ortiz, Jacoby Ellsbury and Adrian Gonzalez - have hit .333 (16-48) with two home runs against Sabathia. All other teams’ left-handed batters have a .153 batting average with two home runs in 157 at-bats against Sabathia.

Falling behind: Sabathia fell behind more often and pitched in more hitters’ counts against the Red Sox (26 percent of batters faced) than against other teams (18 percent). As a result, he has had to rely on his fastball more often, which the Red Sox have crushed. All other teams have hit .264 against his heater, while the Red Sox batters hit .389 (21-54) in at-bats ending in the pitch.

Not fooled by his slider: The Red Sox have laid off his slider, swinging at 43 percent of those pitches overall and chasing 30 percent of them out of the zone. The rest of the league has swung at 52 percent of his sliders with a chase rate of 45 percent.

On the other side of the rivalry, Dustin Pedroia has excelled against the Yankees this season.

Pedroia, a career .313 hitter against the Yankees, is batting .439 with 10 RBI and nine walks in 11 games against them in 2011. He’s cooled off after the first two series, however. In the first seven games, he was 13-for-24 (.542), but is just 5-for-17 (.294) over the last five games in the series.

The Angels and Yankees continue a 3-game series in the Bronx at 7 ET on Wednesday Night Baseball.

Fresh off a 6-4 win Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Angels will look to win its first series against the New York Yankees in the Bronx since May of 2007 (swept a three-game series). The Angels are 4-11 in their last 15 games in New York.

On the mound

Garrett Richards will make his major league debut Wednesday night. Richards was rated the sixth-best prospect in the Angels organization by ESPN.com’s Baseball Insider Keith Law. In 21 starts at Double-A Arkansas, Richards went 12-2 with a 3.06 ERA while striking out 100 in 141.0 innings pitched. The 2011 Texas League All-Star is 27-8 with a 3.10 ERA in 55 career minor league starts.

The Yankees counter with rookie Ivan Nova, who’s 6-0 with a 2.91 ERA in his last seven starts. Nova’s last loss was to the Angels on June 3. In his last start (August 4), Nova struck out a career-high 10 batters without issuing a walk against the Chicago White Sox. That effort earned Nova his 10th win of the season, making him the fourth Yankees rookie in the Divisional Era to win at least 10 games.

Player Focus

In 35 career games, Bobby Abreu is hitting .318 with seven HR and 26 RBI against the Yankees, including a .571 (8-for-14) average with two HR and four RBI in four games this season. Abreu recorded his 16th career multi-HR game Tuesday night, including the game-winning shot against Mariano Rivera in the top of the ninth.

Curtis Granderson hit his 29th HR of the season Tuesday night, one shy of his career high set in 2009. The HR was Granderson’s 15th at home, setting a single-season career high for HR at his home ballpark.

Stat of the Game

Two days after allowing the game-tying run to score in the 9th inning at the Boston Red Sox, Mariano Rivera took the loss Tuesday night after surrendering a two-run HR to Abreu. That was the first ninth-inning HR allowed AT HOME by Rivera that gave the lead to the opposing team since May 7, 2009 (Carl Crawford). Rivera has continued to struggle against left-handed batters this season, continuing a downward trend over the last four seasons.

For more information on Rivera’s struggles, check out the piece by Mark Simon of Stats and Information on Rivera’s struggles with his cutter.

With the Red Sox prevailing 10-4 in this afternoon’s matchup against the Yankees, Boston and New York are once again tied atop the AL East standings. However, the season series has hardly been even, as the Red Sox have won nine of the first 11 matchups, outscoring the Yankees 72-44.

CC Sabathia brought a 0-3 record and 6.16 ERA into the game and both those numbers got worse, as he allowed seven earned runs in the loss.

Sabathia is the first Yankee pitcher to lose four games in a single season to the Red Sox since Pat Dobson went 1-4 in 1975. He also became the first Yankee pitcher in the Live Ball Era to allow six-or-more earned runs in three straight starts vs Boston.

Red Sox lefties teed off on Sabathia, going 5-for-11, including a three-run homer by Jacoby Ellsbury and a double by Carl Crawford. The five hits by lefty batters matches the second-most Sabathia has allowed in his career.

Ellsbury now has 19 home runs this season, one shy of matching his total in 349 career games entering 2011. Ellsbury finished with six RBI, the most runs driven in by a Red Sox leadoff batter since Ellis Burks had seven RBI on June 10, 1987 against the Orioles.

Crawford went 4-for-4 with three runs scored for his fourth four-hit game this season. Three of the four hits came off the lefty Sabathia. Entering Saturday, Crawford had just three hits in his last 24 at-bats versus lefties.

On the west coast...

The Phillies beat the Giants 2-1, as they extended their win streak to nine games and sent the Giants to their eighth loss in their last nine games.

Cole Hamels tossed his ninth career complete game and second one this season for the victory. Hamels threw first-pitch strikes to 28 of 32 batters, including 22 straight between the second and eighth innings.

Hamels continued his dominance with his changeup. The Giants went 2-for-17 in at-bats ending in the pitch, and chased 13 changeups out of the zone. Opponents are now hitting .125 against his changepiece this season, the fourth-best mark among starters.

Both the Phillies and Giants made significant trades at the deadline, with the Phillies acquiring Hunter Pence and the Giants getting Carlos Beltran, but the teams have gone in different directions since making the moves.

The Phillies are 8-0 with Pence in the lineup, and Pence is hitting .382 with two homers and seven RBI during this stretch. The Giants are 2-8 since Beltran joined the team, and Beltran is batting .244 with a .366 slugging percentage in his first 10 games with the Giants.

Carl Crawford returns to Tampa Bay for the first time since leaving the Rays in the offseason to join the Boston Red Sox. After hitting .155 in March and April, Carl Crawford is batting .303 since May 1.

Nearly all of his improvement has come against right-handed pitchers. He’s hitting .367 (40-for-109) vs righties since May 1, after hitting .148 (9-for-61) against them in April.

He is still struggling against lefties. He hit .167 (6-for-36) against them in April and is even worse since May 1, hitting .152 (7-for-46).

Let’s break down his improvement vs right-handed pitching:
More solid contact. In April, just 15 percent of his balls in play against RHP were line drives; since May 1, that rate is up to 25%. His groundball percentage has also decreased from 53% to 45%.

Handling inside pitches. In April he had one hit in 17 at-bats (.059) ending on an inside pitch from a righty. Since May 1, he is hitting .476 (10-for-21) on those pitches. Three of his five home runs since May 1 have come on inside pitches from right-handers.

Better on breaking pitches. In April, he was 0-for-16 in at-bats ending on a curve or slider and missed on 23 percent of his swings against those pitches from righties. Since May 1, he’s hitting .333 (9-for-27) and has missed on only eight percent of his swings on those pitches from righties.

Crawford is still struggling in some areas this season. He’s hitting .159 against left-handed pitchers and averaging a walk every 30 PA, sixth-worst in the AL (min. 50 PA).

But he’s helping the Red Sox with his ability to get clutch hits. He has four hits in the seventh inning or later that have given his team the lead, tied for most in the majors, and his six game-winning RBI are tied for the most on the team.

Perhaps most surprisingly, Crawford has yet to find his running game since joining Boston.

Crawford didn’t run less early because of his hitting struggles -- in March and April he attempted six steals, just as many as he’s attempted since May 1.

One aspect that is particularly puzzling is Crawford’s lack of attempts against AL East teams. Playing his full career in the AL East, it’s no surprise that 46.4 percent of his attempts have been against teams from that division.

With Tampa, Crawford attempted a steal once every 2.4 games against the AL East. In 23 games against division opponents this season, Crawford has run four times, (once every 5.8 games).

Joining the Red Sox may have been a poor decision for Crawford’s success rate too. Of all the teams Crawford has played at least 10 games against, his highest success rate on steals is against Boston, at 93.9 percent.

Crawford has 62 steals against the Red Sox in his career and has only been caught four times. Crawford has been caught four times in just 12 attempts this season.

-- Dan Braunstein and John McTigue contributed

After scoring only 14 runs combined in four games entering Wednesday's contest with the Cleveland Indians, the Boston Red Sox have now hammered out 14 runs in each of their last two games, with Thursday's victim being the Detroit Tigers.

This marked the eighth time since 1919 that Boston scored at least 14 runs in back-to-back games, and first time since July of 1998.

Much to the relief of Red Sox fans, at the forefront of this offensive outburst is Carl Crawford, who had two triples as part of his second straight four-hit game. He's just the fourth different Red Sox player (joining Dustin Pedroia, Jim Rice and Wade Boggs, who did it three different times) with consecutive four-hit games in the divisional era.

Crawford's also the first Red Sox player with at least four hits and at least two extra-base hits in consecutive games since Del Pratt did it in back-to-back games on August 23-24, 1921.

In the last two games alone Crawford has raised his average from .212 to .244 and seen his slugging percentage jump from .293 to .368 during that same stretch.

While all the talk following the game centered on Boston's offense, entering Thursday's contest the buzz surrounded the man tasked with shutting it down. Heading into the game, Max Scherzer was 3-0 in five home starts with a 0.77 ERA, the lowest ERA for a Tigers pitcher in his first five home starts of a season since 1945, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Scherzer's home ERA is now 2.43 following the Tigers' 14-1 loss to the Red Sox.

Scherezer faced three batters in the second inning without recording an out before exiting. Almost all the damage was done by the seven left-handed hitters in Boston's lineup. Nine of the 15 batters Scherzer faced reached base, and six of the seven hits he allowed were to left-handed batters.

Elsewhere around the majors:

• After using eight different relief pitchers on Wednesday in their 19-inning win over the Cincinnati Reds, Cliff Lee gave the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen a much-needed day off, throwing eight innings. But it was his bat that contributed almost as much as his arm. Cliff Lee had two hits and three RBI, without the benefit of a home run. He's just the fifth Phillies pitcher since Divisional Play began in 1969 to do that.

Jay Bruce did hit a two-run home run off Lee. It was Bruce's 10th home run in the month of May, currently tied with Jose Bautista for the most in the month of May.

• The Florida Marlins defeated the San Francisco Giants 1-0 behind Anibal Sanchez who pitched the third shutout of his career. It marked just the fifth time in franchise history that a pitcher threw a 1-0 shutout. Sanchez has allowed zero earned runs in four of his last seven starts.

As for the Giants, their first game without Buster Posey displayed their offensive deficiencies that could prevent them from reaching the playoffs. According to 10,000 simulations done by Accuscore.com, the injury dropped the Giants' chances of making the playoffs to 44.4 percent if he is out for the entire season.

Some notes to know on the Sunday Night Baseball (ESPN, 8 ET) game between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

The Red Sox lead the season series, 4-1, but if recent history is any indication, neither team will have an advantage at season’s end.

In EACH season from 2008-10, the teams tied the season series at nine wins apiece.

The Red Sox are 17-10 in their last 27 games after starting the season 2-10. One of Boston’s keys has been its starting pitching. The starters have compiled a 14-6 record since the team’s 2-10 start.

Sunday’s Red Sox starter is Jon Lester, who will be going for a little history on Sunday Night Baseball. Lester held the Yankees scoreless in his last two starts against them, going at least six innings in each. Only two pitchers since 1920 have had longer such streaks – Britt Burns (four straight, 1981-1982) and Schoolboy Rowe (three straight, all shutouts, 1934-1935).

Jon Lester Matchups to Watch
Derek Jeter has 36 at-bats against Lester without an extra-base hit against him. There are only two pitchers against whom he’s had more at-bats without an extra-base hit - Darren Oliver (41) and Chuck Finley (37). Jeter does have 12 hits against Lester - all singles.

Mark Teixeira is 0-for-his-last 10 vs Lester. Nick Swisher is 0-for-his-last 7 against Lester. Jorge Posada is 1-for-his-last 10 against him.

Alex Rodriguez was 1-for-13 against Lester to start his career. He’s 5-for-13 with 3 HR against him since then.

The Yankees enter Sunday having won just three of their last 10 games but one area of the team that can’t be blamed is its power.

The Yankees have hit 58 HR through 37 games (three short of the franchise record for home runs through 37 games: 61 in 2003).


Good thing for those home runs, because the Yankees have not been good with runners in scoring position. For the season, the Yanks are hitting .236 with RISP and lately it’s been worse. Over the last four games, they are 5-39 (.128) with RISP – including 1-17 (.059) in the first two games of the Red Sox series.

Before his eighth-inning single Saturday night, Teixeira was hitless in his last 30 at-bats (with 15 strikeouts) against the Red Sox – dating back to last season.

The Yankees starter Sunday is Freddy Garcia.

Freddy Garcia Matchups to Watch
Carl Crawford was 5-for-10 to start his career against Garcia. He’s 1-for-8 against him since then.

Freddy Garcia vs Red Sox
Garcia is 8-2 career against the Red Sox. There are 23 active pitchers with at least 10 decisions against the Red Sox. Garcia’s .800 win percentage ranks best among them.

-- Mark Simon and David Bearman contributed to this report

(What you need to know for tonight’s Angels-Red Sox game at 7 ET on ESPN.)

This series between the Los Angeles Angels and Boston Red Sox is the last time they will play this season, and Los Angeles probably can’t wait to get out of Boston. Since 1987 -- the year after the Red Sox erased a 3-1 deficit in the 1986 ALCS -- the Angels are 49-82 at Fenway Park.

After taking nine of 10 from the Angels last season, Boston this season is 6-0 against them. In those 16 games, the Red Sox have outscored the Angels 104-49.

The Angels do have the second-best road record in the American League behind the Tampa Bay Rays, but have allowed 16 runs to the Red Sox in the first two games of this four-game series.

On Tuesday, Angels hitters struck out 12 times. They lead the American League with 234. That’s very unusual for a Mike Scioscia managed-team. Since Scioscia took over as Angels manager in 2000, they’ve struck out the fewest times of any team in baseball, and have ranked in the top half of the American League at avoiding strikeouts in each of the last 10 seasons. The only season they ranked in the top five for most strikeouts was in 2000, Scioscia’s first season.

Vernon Wells, who’s struck out 24 times this season, is still hitting under .200 (.176) with just two home runs.

Why has Wells struggled thus far? He’s not chasing or swinging at more pitches this season, but he’s missing more pitches. Last season, Wells’ miss percentage was 20.7 percent. This year it’s 24.6 percent. He’s also hitting just .163 against right-handed pitching this season after hitting .291 against righties last season.

Perhaps Josh Beckett, who’s on the mound tonight for the Red Sox, is just what Wells needs to break out of his season-long slump. In 41 at-bats against Beckett, Wells has hit five home runs -- but only one in his last 30 at-bats.

Beckett will be pitching for the first time in a week. Boston has lost Beckett’s last four regular-season starts against the Angels in Fenway Park. In those starts, he’s 0-2 with a 5.74 ERA

Boston started 2-10, but has rebounded to go 12-5, and starting pitching has been key. In the first 12 games, Boston's starters had a 6.71 ERA and allowed 14 home runs, both of which were worst in the American League through April 15. In their last 17 games, the starters have a AL-best 1.86 ERA and have allowed just six home runs.

With Beckett on the mound, will Jason Varitek be behind the plate? If so, don’t expect him to have much success at the plate against Angels starter Ervin Santana (1-for-15 lifetime). The only active pitcher Varitek has faced at least 15 times and fared worse against is Santana’s teammate, Joel Pineiro (0-for-16).

In fact, the Red Sox have received very little offensive production from their catchers. Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Varitek have combined to hit .167 with no home runs and seven RBI.

While Varitek has struggled against Santana, Carl Crawford has not. He’s 10-for-31 against Santana, and Crawford is showing signs of putting his bad start behind him.

Although Crawford is starting to hit (6-for-11 in May), Boston still is not hitting when it counts. The Red Sox rank 12th in the American League in batting with runners in scoring position (.225), and seventh in the league with the bases loaded (.267).

Today’s Trivia: Can you name the only two players with 50+ home runs for both the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees?

Quick Hits: Let’s take a look at some fast facts regarding the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry and what the fresh faces might mean for 2011.

• The Red Sox and Yankees have split the season series 9-9 in each of the past three seasons. That includes 2009 when the Red Sox took the first eight games against New York.

• Joe Girardi took over in 2008, so that makes him an even 27-27 against Boston while with New York. Including the postseason, Terry Francona is 67-69 against the Yankees as Boston manager.

• According to Elias, this will be the 28th time that the Red Sox have had their home opener against the Yankees. Boston has won the last six and in 14-13 overall.

• The last time the Red Sox faced the Yankees while on a six-game losing streak. According to Elias, it was in the midst of a nine-game streak in 2001. The last time the Red Sox snapped a six-game losing streak against the Yankees? May 1998.

• Mark Teixeira hit eight home runs against the Red Sox last season. That’s the most by a Yankees hitter since Mickey Mantle clubbed nine in 1958. Oddly, Teixeira hit just .237 against Boston in 2010.

• Adrian Gonzalez has never beaten the Yankees, though he’s only had had three chances. Friday is also the Fenway Park debut for the hitter who has the most opposite field home runs in the majors since 2008.

• By contrast, Carl Crawford has almost a full season of data against New York. With a .301 lifetime average, he has 171 hits in 138 games. Among active players, only Manny Ramirez and Vernon Wells have more hits against New York, who is actually tied with David Ortiz for third. In 2005, Crawford tallied 35 hits against the Yankees, the first person to do that since Dale Mitchell in 1952.

• Since 2009, Dan Wheeler has made 10 appearances against the Yankees, but only lasted 5⅓ innings while allowing six home runs. His ERA in that span? 20.25. The Yankees are hitting .467 with a 1.634 OPS.

• It looks like Dennys Reyes won’t quite get to experience the rivalry, as he was designated for assignment Friday. If this is it for Reyes in a Boston uniform, he will go down as the only pitcher in Red Sox history with more hit batsmen (2) than innings pitched (1⅔).

• Russell Martin has faced the Red Sox in three games, and is just 1-for-11 (.091).

• Rafael Soriano has been excellent against the Red Sox in his career with a 2.61 ERA and .178 opponent batting average. He had five saves against Boston last season, the most for a pitcher since Francisco Rodriguez in 2008.

Trivia Answer: Johnny Damon and Mike Stanley are the only players with 50+ HR with both the Yankees and Red Sox. Babe Ruth? He only had 49 homers with Boston.

If you're a fan of the Tampa Bay Rays, it's been a pretty rough six months.

After losing in the ALDS to the Texas Rangers, ownership cut payroll, letting go of Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, and just about every member of the bullpen.

Things have gone from bad to worse to open the 2011 campaign, as the Rays are 0-5 for the first time in franchise history.

They are the second team in AL history to start 0-5 after having the best record in the American League the previous season, joining the 1905 Red Sox.

While it's still early, the players tasked with replacing the departed Rays' have struggled mightily, most notably Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon.

The Rays as a whole have found it difficult at the plate. They are batting just .136, and have scored only seven runs through the first five games.

Even worse, they are hitting just .111 with runners in scoring position, with four hits in 36 at-bats. It appears the Rays’ hitters are starting to feel the pressure, especially with two strikes in the count.

According to Inside Edge, in Wednesday's loss against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Rays’ batters chased 62 percent of pitches out of the strike zone when there were two strikes in the count. The major-league average is 36 percent.

Things won’t get any easier for the Rays on Thursday against the Chicago White Sox as they face Edwin Jackson, who no-hit Tampa Bay last season while he was with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

On the opposite end of the spectrum from the Rays are the Texas Rangers who completed a sweep of the Seattle Mariners to improve to 6-0 this season.

It is their best start since opening a franchise-best 7-0 to start the 1996 season.

They needed to get past reigning AL Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez to do so. The Rangers scored four of its seven runs off the ace who is now 5-7 all-time in Texas.

Texas has been tearing the cover off the ball leading the majors in runs scored, and extra-base hits. More importantly though has been how well the Rangers’ starting staff has pitched early, despite the loss of Cliff Lee.

Collectively they have a 2.63 ERA through six games this season. In five of those a Rangers’ starter has produced a quality start (gone at least 6 IP, allowed 3 ER or less).

This has helped make the Rangers look pretty smart for moving Neftali Feliz back into the closers role. Oh, and by the way, Feliz has made four appearances having allowed no hits and picking up two saves.

Fold up shop, Boston Red Sox fans, the season is over on April 5.

At least, that's what history tells us.

The Red Sox fell to 0-4 with a 3-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no team in MLB history has rebounded from a 0-4 start to win the World Series.

In fact, only the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals reached the World Series after starting the year with four straight defeats and they lost to the Kansas City Royals in seven games.

Elias also reports under the current eight-team playoff format, which began in 1995, only two out of 128 playoff teams reached the postseason after an 0-4 start -- the 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks and 1995 Cincinnati Reds.

Boston is off to its first 0-4 start since 1996 when it began the season with five straight losses. The four straight losses matches its longest losing streak from its last World Series-winning team (2007).

This season, all prognostications pointed to a World Series berth. Accuscore, which runs 10,000 simulations of seasons, projected the Red Sox to win 95 games, with only the Philadelphia Phillies projected with a higher total at 97.2 in all of baseball.

There’s been a lack of consistency from the offense. Consider these:

• The Red Sox have one hit from their eighth-place hitter and yet to receive a hit from their ninth-place hitter this season.

• They and the Tampa Bay Rays are the only teams in the AL yet to get a hit from their last hitter in the lineup. Coincidentally, both teams are off to 0-4 starts.

• Carl Crawford, the Red Sox $142-million man, has already been inserted into three different spots in the lineup (third, seventh and second on Tuesday).

• The team batting average is .186 this season, which is worse than what the Butler Bulldogs shot from the field (18.8 percent) against the Connecticut Huskies in Monday’s National Championship Game.

The pitching staff is not without blame either.

Boston’s starters have an ERA of 9.30 to begin the season. According to Elias, that’s the highest ERA for its staff through the first four games of a season since earned runs became official in the American League in 1913.

Elias also reports that the streak of four straight games without a quality start to begin a season is the Red Sox longest since 1996.

There is some hope. The skid has a high probability of ending Wednesday when they send Daisuke Matsuzaka to the hill. He has yet to give up a run in his 15 career innings at Progressive Field.

• Miguel Cabrera homered twice as the Detroit Tigers outmuscled the New York Yankees to salvage the final game of their opening three-game series in the Bronx.

It was Cabrera's 19th career multi-homer game, and second at the new Yankee Stadium. Both of his home runs came against cut fastballs from Phil Hughes.

In the loss, the Yankees Jorge Posada also went deep twice, the 17th time in his career he has done so.

However this was the first time he has done so as a designated hitter. Each of the previous 16 came while he was playing catcher.

• For the third straight game to open the season Mark Teixeira hit a home run.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the only other Yankees player to hit a home run in each of the first three games of the season was Dave Winfield in 1983.

• Texeira isn't the only player to have homered in each of the first three games of this season.

His former teammates with the Rangers, Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz, both homered for the third straight game to kick off the 2011 campaign.

Kinsler and Cruz are the first set of teammates in Major League Baseball history to do so in each of their team's first three games.

Who’s hot and who’s not to start the 2011 season:

• The Texas Rangers hit 11 home runs and scored 26 runs in a season-opening sweep of the Boston Red Sox.

Boston is 0-3 for the first time since they starting the 1996 season 0-5. The only positive sign was Carl Crawford, who after opening the season 0-for-7, had two hits and an RBI today.

• Crawford’s former team the Tampa Bay Rays have struggled to find offense, getting swept by the Baltimore Orioles.

The Rays scored just one run in each of their first three games to start the season.

According to Elias, they are the first team since the 2007 St. Louis Cardinals to score one run or fewer in each of their first three games.

Meanwhile the Orioles are 3-0 for the first time since 1997. That season they won 98 games, the last time they finished over .500.

• The Philadelphia Phillies are 3-0 for the first time since 2001 after finishing off a sweep of the Houston Astros.

Philadelphia hasn’t started 4-0 since 1915, when they started 8-0.

The Phillies starters have been as good as advertised. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Roy Oswalt have combined to go 2-0, with a 2.84 ERA in 19 innings.

Each pitcher didn't allow more than 5 hits, and they have 23 combined strikeouts compared to just one walk.

• After a rocky start to 2011, the New York Mets rebounded nicely to take two of three from the Florida Marlins on the road.

Last year, the Mets didn't win a road series against a team from the National League until August 20-22 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Today’s Trivia: For the first time since 2002, Roy Oswalt will not be the Opening Day starter for the Houston Astros. Who was the Opening Day starter for the Astros in 2002?

Quick Hits: A quick look at more Opening Day longevity.

* With Vladimir Guerrero gone, the Texas Rangers will have a different Opening Day designated hitter for the 12th straight season. The last to go back-to-back was Rafael Palmeiro in 1999-2000.

* The most storied position in franchise history, the Boston Red Sox may have finally found their man in left. Carl Crawford will be the fourth different Opening Day starter in as many years. That hasn’t happened in Boston since 1973-76 when the team was transitioning from Carl Yastrzemski to Jim Rice.

* The Chicago White Sox appear set to start the same outfield trio that began the 2010 season. In the past 35 years, the White Sox have had the same Opening Day outfield in back-to-back seasons just once. That was in 2003-04 with Carlos Lee, Aaron Rowand and Magglio Ordonez.

* Here's a glimmer of hope for New York Mets fans: the Mets have won five straight games on Opening Day, the longest active Opening Day win streak. Of course, Friday starter Mike Pelfrey may not evoke memories of Johan Santana or Tom Glavine, the starting pitchers in those five Mets wins.

* Conversely, no team has a worse recent Opening Day history than the Oakland Athletics. The A's have lost six straight times on Opening Day, the longest current streak in baseball. Oakland's most recent win was 2004, which was the last Opening Day start that Tim Hudson made in an A's uniform.

* Apart from first base, the entire Minnesota Twins infield falls into this category. In its Opening Day lineup, Minnesota will have its fifth second baseman in five years and eighth shortstop in eight years. It also will be the ninth straight year that the starting third baseman is different from the year before.

* Evan Longoria will be the only player in the Tampa Bay Rays lineup who started each of the last two opening days.

* Yunel Escobar will be the Toronto Blue Jays sixth different Opening Day shortstop in six years. Russ Adams was the last to start back-to-back openers in 2005-06.

* Similarly, Josh Willingham will be the A’s 12th Opening Day leftfielder in 12 years. Ben Grieve was the last to go back-to-back.

* Carlos Beltran is expected to be the 13th different person to man right field on Opening Day for the Mets in the past 15 years. Only Ryan Church and Jeromy Burnitz managed two such starts in that span, which included the likes of Eric Valent and Butch Huskey.

* The Colorado Rockies have only had two Opening Day first basemen: Todd Helton and Andres Galarraga. Jose Lopez will be the 14th to start at second in the opener. The last to do so in back-to-back seasons was Mike Lansing (1998-2000).

* Kevin Correia will be the 15th different Opener Day starter for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 19 years. That’s the period since Doug Drabek left via free agency.

Trivia Answer: Wade Miller was the last Astros pitcher not named Roy Oswalt to start on Opening Day.

Baltimore Orioles
The Orioles enter the season with a streak of 13 consecutive losing seasons, the second-longest active streak behind the Pittsburgh Pirates (18). If the Orioles fail to win 81 games this year, their streak will tie for the fifth-longest streak in baseball history.

The Orioles were 32-73 before Buck Showalter took over on August 3 last year. They went 34-23 the rest of the season, the third-best win percentage in the majors from that date. They won 11 of 18 series, after winning just four of their previous 34.

Boston Red Sox
The key to their season could be staying healthy. Last year, the Red Sox had 19 different players make 24 trips to the disabled list, and combined to miss more than 1,000 team games.

A major offensive move this offseason was signing Carl Crawford. He will provide much-needed offensive production as a leftfielder, a position where the Red Sox ranked among the worst in the AL. Boston's leftfielders hit .230 with a .303 OBP a year ago, both ranking second-to-last in the AL.

New York Yankees
Derek Jeter, who turns 37 in June, is looking to bounce back from the worst season of his career. To do so, he'll have to defy history: only two shortstops aged 37 or older have qualified for the batting title and hit over .300 in a season: Honus Wagner from 1911-13, and Luke Appling from 1946-49.

While A.J. Burnett was a significant contributor to the Yankees' 2009 title, his 2010 season saw a complete meltdown. Burnett finished with the third-highest ERA among qualified starters last season at 5.26 -- and it got worse as the season went on, as he went just 1-7 after August began. But this season, he won't have to pitch to Jorge Posada at all, who will DH full-time. In 38 ⅓ innings last season, Burnett's ERA pitching to Posada was 7.28. While he's always been erratic, his strikeout rate was also his lowest since 2001.

Tampa Bay Rays
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Rays will be the first team in major-league history to replace at least six relievers that each pitched in at least 55 games the previous season.

Tampa Bay has led the American League in stolen bases for the past three years, but will have to contend with the departure of Carl Crawford, who leads the league in steals during that timespan.

Toronto Blue Jays
After finishing last in the American League (28th in MLB) with 58 steals last season, the Blue Jays acquired Rajai Davis in the offseason, who finished third in baseball with 50 stolen bases in 2010.

The Blue Jays committing five years to Jose Bautista in an offseason contract seems to indicate they think most of last year's 'breakout' season was legitimate. After hitting just 59 home runs in his CAREER entering 2009, Bautista blasted 54 last season alone. In addition, his 6.9 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) represent nearly four times his career total entering 2010.

-- Katie Sharp and Justin Havens contributed to this report

Arizona Diamondbacks
They struck out a major-league record 1,529 times in 2010. However, two players no longer with the team -- Mark Reynolds and Adam LaRoche -- accounted for 25 percent of those strikeouts (383 of 1,529).

Gerardo Parra was second among all leftfielders in 2010 with a +/- rating of +19. (Parra turned 19 more batted balls into outs than the average left fielder would have.) The only left fielder with a better +/- than Parra last season was Carl Crawford.

Colorado Rockies
The Rockies hit .298 at home in 2010, but just .226 on the road. The 72-point differential in their home-road batting average was the worst in baseball.

Carlos Gonzalez was one of 15 players who hit 30 home runs and had 100 RBI last season. Of those 15 players, Gonzalez drew the fewest walks (40).

Los Angeles Dodgers
Once again, the Dodgers will have a big question mark in left field. (Currently, Jay Gibbons and Marcus Thames are the leading candidates for the starting position.) In 2010, the Dodgers' leftfielders combined to hit .261, with a .322 on-base percentage and .392 slugging percentage. Those numbers were the lowest for Los Angeles' leftfielders in all three categories since 2005.

Despite playing 162 games for the first time in his career, Matt Kemp saw his batting average, OBP and slugging percentage all drop at least 40 points from 2009 to 2010. He also struck out 31 more times, from 139 to a career-high 170.

San Diego Padres
There's no replacing Adrian Gonzalez's offensive production, one reason why their offseason moves might have revolved around improving defensively. New second baseman Orlando Hudson was a major-league best +23 among second basemen last season. New shortstop Jason Bartlett ranked ninth at his position, +6.

The core of their bullpen, the best in the majors last season, returns in 2011. The Padres’ relief corps ranked first or second in ERA, opponents’ batting average, strikeouts per 9 IP and strikeout-to-walk ratio, and fourth in home runs per 9 IP. Their strikeout-to-walk ratio was 18 percent higher than the next-best team.

San Francisco Giants
Barring injury, Tim Lincecum likely will become the eighth pitcher in the modern era (since 1900) with 1,000 strikeouts in his first five seasons. The seven pitchers who reached this milestone: Tom Seaver (1,155), Bert Blyleven (1,094), Dwight Gooden (1,067), Kerry Wood (1,065), Grover Cleveland Alexander (1,036), Hideo Nomo (1,031) and Mark Langston (1,018). In four seasons, Lincecum has 907 career strikeouts.

The Giants finished the season on a tear thanks to their pitchers, who put together one of the best calendar months in the live ball era (since 1920). The Giants posted a 1.78 ERA in September, the fifth-lowest in a month since 1920, and their .182 opponents’ batting average was the second-best for a single month in that span.

-- Mark Simon and John Fisher contributed to this report