4/21/98: Some people in The Media have been talking about Greg Maddux’s “poor” performance last night in Pitcher’s Hell — eight innings, five runs, four earned. That’s actually a good performance, it should be remembered. It should have been even better, because Lockhart (they really should bring in Graffanino for defense in the late innings) botched a double-play ball that not only led to the unearned run but really to three of the earned ones as well. Andruw, meanwhile, is up to .190 and hit two homers last night, even if it was in Coors. Like I said, the kid’s going to be OK. I don’t know if it means anything, but he’s fourth on the team in runs and fourth in RBI, despite mostly hitting eighth.

The Braves and Mets are now tied for first place in the East — actually, the Mets are percentage points ahead — with no one else in the division above .500. Some other early oddities in the standings: There are four teams in the AL East (everyone but Toronto) above .500, while only the Indians in the Central and the Rangers in the West are above break-even. Meanwhile, four teams in the NL Central (“Comedy Central”) are over .500, while in the NL West (“NL Best” before the season) only the Padres are over .500. It’s early yet. Still, the Dodgers are under .500, which is a Good Thing.