American League East standings via MLB.com

Baltimore Orioles

Will anyone ever believe it? The weekend that the Orioles swept the Red Sox? Not only that, but the Baltimore birds are in first place in the merciless AL-East. Oh, no, not only that… did I mention who currently has the best record in Major League Baseball? It’s time to believe.

The marathon in Massachusetts ran for 17 innings on Sunday, when awesome Adam Jones finally sealed the deal with a 3-run homer that Boston could not match. Shortstop J.J. Hardy had eight at-bats and recorded 5 hits, 2 home runs, and 2 RBI.

In other news, outfielder Nolan Reimold was diagnosed with a herniated disk and will spend time in a rehab assignment before rejoining the club.

For more on the Orioles, visit Charm City Yakyuu.

Tampa Bay Rays

Everyone’s favorite bespectacled skipper, Joe Maddon, celebrated the management of his 1,000th game for the Rays on Saturday night. Young’ns in attendance were rewarded with a pair of commemorative Maddon-esque sunglasses, in which case, they should have reported that the total attendance for the game was totally cool. 

Matt Moore had a rough night, allowing 8 runs in just under five innings for his shortest outing. The offensive side was unable to recover. But the Rays are still looking pretty in second place in the gnarly unforgiving AL East with an impressive current record of .655.

Rays outfielder Desmond Jennings left the game on Sunday with a knee injury and is still being evaluated. Evan Longoria is on the 15-day DL with a partial left hamstring tear, and so Will Rhymes was called up from Durham.

Oh, and also: The Rays signed good ol’ designated hitter Hideki Matsui to a minor league contract.

For more on the Rays, visit Cowbell Clankers.

Toronto Blue Jays

How ’bout them Blue Jays? Well, thank you for asking, actually. Edwin Encarnacion continues to heat up Toronto, with 25 RBI already racked up along with 9 home runs in the books. It might seem like he’s holding up the mantle for (I-don’t-want-to-say-supposed-)slugger Jose Bautista. But hey, we talked about that last time, anyways.

The Jays rotation is looking like it may not be the cause for concern fans worried about at the beginning of the season. Brandon Morrow threw a shut-out on Thursday against the Angles with eight strikeouts and only three hits to gain the win for the Jays. Following Morrow’s lead, Alvarez trumped Anaheim again for another shut-out, and the first of his career.

Rajai Davis is back in the lineup after a hip flexor injury that put him out earlier last week. Buckle down your bases folks!

For more on the Blue Jays, visit Way Of The Jay.

New York Yankees

Big news for baseball this weekend: Yankees prized closer Mariano Rivera tore his ACL during batting practice. Everyone loves that living legend Mo Rivera, and unfortunately, the Yankees are anticipating that Mo will miss the remainder of the 2012 season. It might sound heartless, but… if you haven’t already, you should be looking for a replacement on your fantasy team, like, sooner than stat.

In case you have not heard, Andy Pettitte wants to play baseball again. Yeah, and Jose Canseco does too, so… I’m just saying they could join forces or something. Like The Avengers… or maybe, did you ever see that movie RED? It stands for Retired Extremely Dangerous. Yeah. Like that.

Wild card crazy Nick Swisher hit a homie on Sunday against the Royals after a week off at the end of April for a tight left hamstring. The guy seems like he’s back in action and ready to rock n’ roll call with those wild Bleacher… People…

Speedy Gardner-zales  should begin rehab Monday for his elbow injury in Triple A. If his recover is as quick as his base running, well… well… welcome back.

For more on the Yankees, visit Second Place Is Not An Option.

Boston Red Sox

“Oh Darn!” was the headline on the Red Sox game recap after their series sweep to the rambunctious Orioles… but I have a feeling that “Oh Darn!” just doesn’t fully encompass the feelings of sports fans in Boston at the moment…

The Red agenda continues to be one of injury after injury. Aaron Cook required 11 stitches in his left knee after a collision at home place that involved his knee and some spikes. (Spoiler alert: spikes trump knee, ow!). Southpaw Andrew Miller was called up from Pawtucket, where he was finishing a rehab assignment of his own, to help out the ailing team.

Additionally, Kevin Youkilis is still recovering from a back injury and his return date is currently unknown.

In other news… manager Bobby Valentine once said his team was playing well at home… Well, in the words of The Dude: “Yeah, well, you know, that’s just, like, your opinion, man.”

For more on the Red Sox, visit Fenway Fatales.