Ah, you have to love the friendly confines of Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium. Sure, the place is so empty you can hear the infielder's voices echo as they chatter encouragement to their pitchers, but who cares?

The Orioles beat the Royals, 6-2, last night in front of approximately 27,000 empty seats (13,556 announced or about Arena Football numbers). Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie, the bargain pick-up from Cleveland, went seven innings and upped his record to 3-1, and we all know it could be better with a little bullpen support. His ERA is just a smidge over 3.00, and he managed to hold Kansas City in check despite battling location problems. This is four victories in a row for the Orioles, who cling to second place in the AL East, albeit 11 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox.

* Speaking of the Red Sox, someone test the water in the Charles River. Bosox starter Josh Beckett, coming off the disabled list, raised his record to 8-and-oh with seven strong innings last night. The Red Sox, on a five-game winning streak and on pace to win 114,  beat a pretty good Cleveland team for the second straight game, this time, 4-2. Beckett had been on the DL since he tore some skin on his hand, you may recall, as the starting pitcher in what became known as the Orioles' Mother's Day Meltdown. 

* It's early, but the Dodgers' Brad Penny makes a strong argument as an NL Cy Young candidate.  Penny was part of a Los Angeles three-man combo that shut out Washington, 10-0, last night and raised his record to 7-1 with a 2.06 ERA. He hasn't given up a homer all season, actually 70 innings.

* You have to remind yourself that Cleveland Cavalier star LeBron James is just 22 years old. He has almost single-handedly brought the Cavs back from the brink of elimination in the NBA playoffs to knot the Eastern Conference finals 2-all with Detroit. Last night, he scored 25 points (13 in the fourth period) as Cleveland upended the Pistons, 91-87. The series now heads back to Detroit. I think the Pistons still take this thing because of their deeper lineup, but James gets high marks for taking on this load.