MLB outlook, week of 5/23/10

 1. Losing with conviction » The Pittsburgh Pirates are in the middle of the pack in the NL Central, but way behind the pack when it comes to run differential. Entering the weekend, the Pirates were a -101 in runs scored — more than 30 runs worse than the dismal Houston Astros. So how does a team only a few games under .500 have that bad of a run differential? The Pirates don’t mess around with losing close games. They have been defeated 15 times by five runs or more — including 20-0 and 17-3 losses to the Brewers within a week of each other in April. Combine bad pitching with the fact that Pittsburgh is the second lowest scoring team in the NL and you get some fantastic blowouts.

2. Meet the most mercurial of all major league baseball players » And that’s saying something. Unfortunately for the Florida Marlins, he also happens to be their best player and the face of the franchise. But Hanley Ramirez, who had public squabbles with teammates last summer as his team fell out of the playoff chase, was at it again this week. He kicked a ball into left field during a game Monday against the Diamondbacks and was pulled by manager Fredi Gonzalez for not hustling after it as two runs scored. After blasting his manager in public, Ramirez was then benched the next night, too. He later apologized. But you wonder if — as talented as Ramirez is at just 26 — he’s worth the headaches he sometimes produces.

3. You have to feel for local kid John Maine » The Fredericksburg, Va.-native just wants to be healthy. He had shoulder surgery at the end of 2008 and managed just 15 starts last year. Unfortunately, he doesn’t handle injuries all that well. Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen called Maine a “habitual liar” when it comes to revealing pain to team trainers. The 29-year-old was visibly upset when manager Jerry Manuel pulled him from Wednesday’s game at Nationals Park after just one batter, bending over at the waist in disbelief. But the guy was tossing around 83 mile-per-hour fastballs during Nyjer Morgan’s at-bat and looked awful in the bullpen during pregame warmups, too. New York’s coaching staff was only protecting Maine from himself. Sounds like he needs it.

SERIES TO WATCH
Red Sox at Rays, Monday-Wednesday
Boston has survived the early part of their dreaded mid-May schedule — splitting with the Yankees and sweeping the Twins in a two-game series before heading to Philadelphia this weekend. But the real challenge for the Red Sox will be on Monday when they kick off a three-game series against the best team in baseball. Tampa Bay leads the AL in ERA, while also scoring the second-most runs in the league. Their starting rotation hasn’t missed a start and No. 5 starter Wade Davis has an impressive 3.35 ERA — the worst of the five-man staff. Boston sluggers David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis have caught fire, but will the Rays’ deep pitching staff cool them off?