There is a new catchphrase this week for those of us who spend agonizing hours trying to explain, predict, forecast or heaven forbid over-analyze the wildly unpredictable American League East. And it's just in time, because, really, there's only so many ways to say "it's all about the (starting) pitching."
For the next six weeks it will be all about the schedule. Oh, for sure, how the starting pitchers hold up will be a key, but make no mistake about it, the team that handles this stretch the best will have a leg up on the division. And here's where the conspiracy theorists are having a field day. To fully understand that, you have to realize there has never been a schedule that pleased everybody. Never been one. Never will be.
The Orioles, holding a four-game lead in the AL East, are making the second of three West Coast trips and face 16 of their next 19 -- and 29 of their next 41 -- games on the road. Meanwhile you can draw a circle around the month of July on the schedule of the second-place Boston Red Sox and third-place Toronto Blue Jays. The Red Sox have only seven road games that month, and that's two more than the Blue Jays.
