Jake Peavy picked up where he left off in his last start. He struck out 16 in seven innings at Arizona, and home tonight against the Nationals he already struck out seven in five innings. That gives him 42 K in 37 1/3 innings this season.

Update: The first four Nationals reach base in the seventh, pushing a run across to make the score 3-1 Washington and loading the bases. Black leaves Peavy in the game. He strikes out the next two batters and retires in the side on a fly ball. He's losing, but he's struck out 10 and walked 2 through seven innings. San Diego needs to find Jake some runs.

Meanwhile, Patterson leaves after six innings, allowing just the one run. That's five starts in a row for the Nationals in which the starter allowed two runs or less.

Jason Bay homers in the bottom of the eighth and Salomon Torres picks up a wild save (15 pitches, 8 for balls) as Pittsburgh defeats Chicago 3-2. The Cubs are now 0-6 in one-run games, the only team not to earn a victory in that situation.

Rich Hill pitched seven strong innings, but Duke matched him through 6 2/3, both allowing two runs. Wuertz made the mistake to Bay, and that was the ballgame. Three of Bay's four home runs have come from the seventh inning on.

Tim Hudson turns in his sixth quality start in six outings as he holds off the Phillies long enough for the Braves to score three in the ninth inning on an Andruw Jones home run to take the game 5-2. With the two runs allowed, Hudson's ERA goes up to 1.40. He's pitched at least seven inning in each of his starts and three runs is the most he's allowed.

Roy Halladay pitches his second complete game of the season, using just 110 pitches in a time of 2:02 as Toronto defeats Texas 6-1. Halladay struck out eight and walked none, lowering his ERA to 2.28. Depending on how Lackey finishes his game, that will be third or fourth in the American League. With the complete game tonight, Halladay averages close to eight innings per start.

Update: Lackey lasts 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run. That lowers his ERA to 2.19, leaving him .01 behind Gil Meche.

The long ball continues to plague Randy Wolf as Chris Young of Arizona leads off the Diamondbacks/Dodgers game with a home run. That's the sixth home run allowed by Wolf in 30 innings.

Bob Wickman hits the DL with a back injury:

Braves closer Bob Wickman went on the disabled list with an upper back injury on Monday, one day after the veteran blew a save for the second straight time.

The team called the injury a strain. Wickman said he has tendinitis in his upper back, and he attributed his recent struggles to "stubbornness on my part."

Wickman says he has been feeling no discomfort in pregame warmups while throwing in the outfield, so he keeps telling pitching coach Roger McDowell he was available to pitch. The troubles come when he threw off mounds.

"You'd think I'd be smart enough," Wickman said. "Every time Roger came up to me in the outfield and asked me I said yes. I believe the last couple days I've been hurting the team rather than helping them. ... You try extending off the mound, it kind of catches."

Reggie Willits picked up his tenth hit of the season in the first inning, raising both his batting average and his slugging percentage to .370. That made we wonder who knocked out the most hits this season without one for extra bases. It's Tony Graffanino with eleven. Of course, with many fewer at bats he's hitting in the low .200s. Jason Phillips also lacks a long hit among his 10 safeties.

With two out in the top of the third, Scott Olsen picked up a hit off Chan-Ho Park. That started a string of six Marlins reaching base, four by hits and two by walks. The two-out rally plates five runs, and gives the Marlins a 5-0 lead.

Tim Hudson walked one and hit one, but that's it tonight. He's gone four innings without allowing a hit. He's induced nine ground balls all for outs.

Lieber is also pitching well, shutting out the Braves through three innings.

Update: Rowand gets the Phillies first hit with one out in the fifth.

Jeremy Bonderman's first inning woes continue. The Orioles went four for seven, scoring two runs in the top of the first. Opponents are now 14 for 33 against Jeremy in the first, a .424 BA. The rest of the game he allows a low .204 batting average.

Derrek Lee doubles and scores in the Cubs first, his fourteeth double of the season. The Day by Day Database goes back to 1957, and Derrek is only the fourth player in that time to pick up at least 14 doubles by the end of April. In 2002, his teammate Mike Lowell knocked out 15. That same year, his current teammate Alfonso Soriano collected 14 doubles, as did Garret Anderson in 2003.

The Cardinals hung a Josh Hancock jersey in the dugout and bullpen tonight for their game in Milwaukee. Tim Hudson played with Josh at Auburn, and he received permission to wear JH on the front of his jersey.

Tim Hudson retires the Phillies in order on six pitches and three ground balls in the first. Five of the six pitches went for strikes.

Wang pitched with a broken fingernail Sunday:

As it turns out, Wang was pitching with a broken nail on his pitching hand from the third inning on, thus the three walks, one hit batter, wild pitch (all of which came after the third inning), and unusual number of extra base knocks (Wang, who allowed just 12 homers all of last year hadn't allowed two homers in a single game since June 28, 2005). The nail on Wang's right index finger cracked in half perpendicular to his finger. According to Peter Abraham, Wang has reportedly fixed similar problems with glue in the past and says he will make his next start.

The Mets scratched Orlando Hernandez from tonight's start. He's suffering with bursitis:

El Duque, 2-1 with a 2.53 ERA in five starts, told the Mets on Sunday in Washington that he felt pain in the shoulder and was sent to New York to see a doctor.

Chan-Ho Park starts in Hernandez's stead.

J.C. Bradbury throws out the idea that the trade of Langerhans might mean the Braves are going to sign Andruw Jones.

When is a strikeout not a strikeout?

And while Baek didn't get the win after winding up with four hits and a single run in 6 1/3 innings, he set the table for an interesting series of events that included a pair of critical seventh-inning strikeouts with runners on second and third by rising rookie reliever Brandon Morrow, followed by Bloomquist's bizarre at-bat in the bottom of that inning.

With two out and two runners in scoring position, Bloomquist fouled a pitch back on a 3-2 count that appeared to be caught for the third out by catcher John Buck. But the ball lodged in Buck's chest protector. Home plate umpire Chris Guccione conferred with his crew and ruled that Bloomquist wasn't out, based on the 6.05(b) language.

The rule, which Bloomquist admitted he'd never heard of before that moment, states that a batter is not out if the ball sticks in the catcher's clothing or gear on a third-strike foul tip, unless it first touches the catcher's glove or hand. Since the ball went straight into Buck's chest, Bloomquist was given another chance.

He then delivered a bloop double to short center that eluded a diving David DeJesus and scored Jose Guillen and Yuniesky Betancourt with what stood up as the winning runs.

Another reason the home plate umpire needs to keep his eye on the ball.

Two minor league pitchers find themselves out of action for a couple of months:

Roney, a 27-year-old right-hander, is 2-0 with an 0.90 ERA in five relief appearances at Triple-A Syracuse. He signed with Toronto last November and was sent outright to the minors on March 22. He was penalized under baseball's minor league drug-testing program, and his suspension began Saturday, the commissioner's office said Monday.

...

In addition, Detroit right-hander Sendy Vazquez was penalized for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance under the minor league program and was suspended for 50 games, starting last Friday.

The Baseball Cube spells Sendy's last name Vasquez if you're trying to find his stats. Once again, pitchers get caught. Steroids, they're not just for sluggers.

No one is going to fire Torre or Cashman:

"The season is still very young, but up to now the results are clearly not acceptable to me or to Yankee fans," Steinbrenner said in a statement. "However, Brian Cashman, our general manager, Joe Torre, our manager, and our players all believe that they will turn this around quickly.

"I believe in them. I am here to support them in any way to help them accomplish this turnaround. It is time to put excuses and talk away. It is time to see if people are ready to step up and accept their responsibilities. It is time for all of them to show me and the fans what they are made of.

"Let's get going. Let's go out and win and bring a world championship back to New York. That's what I want."

The Yankees are basically in the same situation they were two years ago, except they're trailing the Red Sox instead of the Orioles. The starters lasted longer in games that season, but they were getting hammered, too.

In my opinion, the Yankees need to rethink bullpen use in light of their starters' short outings. More innings per appearance, less repeat appearances. It goes against conventional wisdom right now, but the Yankees are in far from a conventional situation.

Where Have you gone, Andy Van Slyke asks why the Pirates took so long to promote Steve Pearce to AA? My question is why do you trade for LaRoche when you have this person in your minors? His seasonal age for 2007 is 24. At this point, he should be much higher than AA, he should be ready for the big leagues. If he continues to hit like this at AA, the Pirates should seriously consider bringing him to the majors. Pittsburgh owns too many old minor leaugers. There's no use letting another player age in their system.

The Phillies start a three-game series with the Braves, trailing Atlanta by four games for second place in the NL East. The Braves send their big gun to the mound as Tim Hudson faces Jon Lieber. Since moving into the starting rotation, Lieber's been nearly as good as Hudson, posting a 1.54 ERA and striking out 10 in 11 2/3 innings. Hudson's allowed just one run in his fourteen innings of work in Atlanta this season.

The Cubs try to catch the Pirates tonight as Rich Hill gets the start after yesterday's postponement. Hill's been nearly untouchable on the road, allowing just one run and five hits in fifteen innings this season. He'll face Zach Duke, who's been inconsistent. He's pitched three good games and two very poor ones. And although he's only struck out six in 26 innings, he's walked even less, just five.

Finally, Arizona opens a three game series at Los Angeles, trailing the Dodgers by 1/2 game. Brandon Webb takes the hill for the Diamondbacks. Webb has everything working, high strikeouts, low walks and home runs. Against everyone but the Rockies, he pitching like a defending Cy Young Award winner. Randy Wolf is good at two of those three items. He is allowing home runs however, leading to a few more runs.

Enjoy!

The Oakland Athletics acquired Ryan Langerhans from the Atlanta Braves last night:

The Oakland Athletics got some relief for their injury-depleted outfield Sunday, acquiring Ryan Langerhans in a trade with the Atlanta Braves for a player to be named or cash.

Langerhans will join the A's in Boston on Tuesday and is slated to start in center field for the opener of the two-game series with the Red Sox.

"He plays all three outfield positions, and given our situation with all the injuries, we need as many healthy bodies as we can get," A's general manager Billy Beane said. "He's a player we've liked in the past. He's off to a rough start in Atlanta and he became available to us."

I assume Beane likes the 93 walks in 701 career at bats. That's not a lot of career at bats, so a pure picture of Ryan hasn't emerged yet. However, given that he's 27, the chance of him being much better than his career number is probably small. And while the 93 walks are good, the 188 strikeouts are not. Adam Dunn without the power?

MLB Fanhouse points to an article in which Giants outfield Dave Roberts is said to have helped Dodgers pitcher Bret Tomko with his delivery. Fanhouse notes:

The immediate question that must follow is whether or not Dave Roberts crossed a line in tipping his friend, who happens to pitch for a hated rival. Think about it -- do you see the players in the final showdown at the World Series of Poker tell each other their bluffs after they've finished? Of course not -- they know they'll meet at some point in the future and want to keep that privileged information to themselves. So what do you think, is it OK for Roberts to give a tidbit to his buddy, or does that cross the line of competition? I think Giants fans already know the answer.

But if you read the article, it's not at all clear when Roberts and Tomko talked:

Now, Tomko's mother is cancer-free. His wife is healthy. And he has used a new delivery inspired by a discussion over dinner with Giants outfielder Dave Roberts, a fellow San Diego-area resident, about how hitters were seeing the ball all too well against him.

So these two could have sat down for dinner when Roberts was a free agent. In that case, I don't see the problem giving advice to a friend.

MetsBlog.com posts two links worth checking out. In one, Brian McRae describes speed use by the Mets in the late 1990s, and it the other Bob Sikes tells us a little about Kirk J. Radomski. I agree with Matt that the amphetamine story could be told about any clubhouse in the majors for the last forty years.

The 2007 season hit the four week mark yesterday. So far, the big news remains the reduction in home runs. Versus the same point last season, runs are down 0.77 per game. Home runs are down 0.46 per game. At 1.6 runs per home run this season, the runs lost due to fewer home runs is 0.745 per game, or 97% of the difference.

On the team front, two teams show signs of pulling away from their divisions. The Red Sox own the best record in the majors. They just finished taking five out of six from the Yankees, dropping New York into last place in the AL East. That might be the biggest surprise of the month. Boston presents a balanced attack. They score over five runs a game while allowing three and a half. Julien Tavarez stands out as the only bad pitcher on the staff, and the completion of Jon Lester's rehab likely fixes that problem. Okajima and Papelbon emerged as the best setup/closer in the game. The combination allowed one run so far, striking out 32 and walking 8 in 22 innings of work.

Milwaukee turned out to be a consensus pick for first place in the NL Central, and right now they hold the biggest lead of any senior circuit team. Unlike the Red Sox, however, the Brewers record stands on a bit of luck. Opponents outscored Milwaukee 113-110 so far, meaning they should be much closer to .500. They're 8-3 in one and two games, however. The history of the Brewers show that they play well through the middle of May, then fall off. So far, they're on track for that type of season.

Apart from the Yankees, the surprises at the bottom come from the NL Central, where Chicago, St. Louis and Houston bring up the rear. While neither the Astros nor the Cardinals are playing well, the Cubs outscored their opponents by twenty two runs! It's their 0-5 record in one run games that puts them 1/2 game above last in the division. Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez carry the load offensively. But the big signing, Alfonso Soriano, hit poorly in April. If he did a better job setting up Lee and Ramirez, the Cubs might not play any close games.

And then there are the last place Yankees. They've also outscored their opponents, but are just 1-5 in one-run games. While the problems are properly put at the feet of the pitching, this isn't a typical Yankees offense, either. While they get on base and slug with the best in the league, their batting average is a bit low for them at .268 (although this ranks fourth in the AL). This means for pitching staff that don't walk many batters, they have a much better chance of keep the Yankees offense down. The bullpen started the year strong, but of the eight AL pitchers with 14 or 15 appearances this season four are Yankees. Until the Yankees starters are able to go deep in games, Torre needs to start using his relievers longer in games to save some of these appearances.

Alex Rodriguez and Grady Sizemore are both scoring more runs than games played, and Alex is also driving in more than played. No one score and drove in more runs and RBI than games played (100 games) since Ruth and Gehrig both accomplished the feat in 1931, although in 1937 Joe DiMaggio scored 151 runs in 151 games while driving in 167.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

Troy Tulowitzki turns the rare unassisted triple play against Atlanta. His play prevented Atlanta from scoring in four straight innings, and the Braves ended up losing in eleven frames 9-7. The full list is here. There have been five since the start of the 1990s, eight before that. There were six in the 1920s, including one in the World Series. Maybe the clean ball led to more line drives.

The Dodgers and Padres head to the 17th inning still tied at four. The Dodgers picked up a single in the inning, but the runner was wiped out by a double play. The two teams combined to use 39 players so far.

Update: Wilson Valdez reaches on an error by catcher-playing-first Pete LaForest, then scores on a double by Brady Clark down the leftfield line. It's the first run scored by Los Angeles since the third inning. The Padres need a run in the bottom of the inning to extend the game, two to win. They haven't scored since the seventh.

Update: Two Padres reach on an error and a walk, but Billingsley strikes out three in the inning and the Dodgers stay in first place by 1/2 game.

The Dodgers and Padres remain tied at four after fifteen innings. Both starters allowed the runs, and the two bullpens are working overtime this afternoon. I like the way Bud Black is using his pen. He's giving each reliever two innings of work. In ten innings, they've allowed five hits and five walks, spreading them out enough to keep the Dodgers off the board.

This is something Joe Torre should think about. Instead of using all his relievers every day, he should try to leave the first one in as long as possible, keeping everyone else fresh. Using your relievers one inning at a time keeps everyone tired, so one of them is bound to blow up sometime in the game.

The Dodgers pen is only at 8 2/3 innings, but they've done even better, allowing one hit and one walk so far.

Scott Kazmir finished April on an up note, defeating the Oakland Athletics 5-3. Scott lasted seven innings, but only struck out one. That's the fewest batters he's struck out in a major league appearance of any length. Opponents were six for twenty three putting the ball in play (.261), but the defense did better, as two of those hits were home runs (.810 DER). Kazmir owes the win to the gloves behind him today.

Francisco Cordero keeps mowing down opposing batters. He walked one today, but didn't allow a hit to run his scoreless streak to 11 1/3 on the season. He's allowed just two hits on the season while striking out 19. He's wild, walking seven, but so far it's an effective wildness.

Mike Maroth outpitched Johan Santana today as he gave up one more hit but two fewer walks and one less home run. All four Tigers runs came via the long ball as Detroit took the game 4-3. That's unusual as the Tigers came into the game ranked eleventh in the AL in percent of runs on homers at 32.2%.

John Maine moves into second place in the NL ERA race with seven scoreless innings against the Washington Nationals this afternoon. He helped make Carlos Beltran's home run stand up for a one run victory. Maine's ERA drops to 1.35, and he's now struck out 30 in 33 1/3 innings. Maybe they should call him Pocket Pedro. :-)

Fausto Carmona comes close to a shutout, but ends up with an 8 1/3 innings, 6-1 win over the Orioles. He only struck out one, but he threw strikes all game. He threw 73 of 104 pitches for strikes, allowing only six hits. He lowers his ERA to 3.76 and seems to have found his niche as a starter.

Jamie Moyer just struck out Dan Uggla for the second out in the seventh. With two strikes, Moyer threw a nice pitch on the outside corner that was called a ball. He comes back with a breaks inside and just catches the inside corner to fool Uggla, who started to first base.

Miguel Cabrera then breaks up the no-hitter with a double. The crowd gives Moyer a standing ovation, and he's working with a 3-0 lead.

The Game of Baseball delivers posts about the game and its players. Stop by and say hi.

Carlos Beltran puts the Mets on top 1-0 in the top of the sixth inning in a good pitching duel between Maine and Bergman. Carlos once again is posting a high OBA and high slugging percentage. After a tough first year with the Mets, he continues to show he was worth the investment.

Jayson Werth makes a sno-cone catch to preserve Moyer's no-hitter. The ball seemed to fool him as he slowed up, then had to extend his reach to make the catch. Uggla was all the way around second and is easily doubled up. Moyer's faced the minimum through for innings, with a walk to Ramirez the only blemish on his game.

Update: Moyer retires the side in order in the fifth. That's four 1-2-3 innings for Jamie.

Update: The Marlins go in order in the sixth. Moyer is keeping his pitch count low (69 pitches), which improves the chance of his going deep into the game. Moyer may need to get shutout, as Obermueller allowed just three hits and one run through five innings.

Take a look at the statistics for the White Sox starting lineup. Dye has the best OBA in the order with a .326 mark.

Doug Mientkiewicz homers off Julien Tavarez to put the Yankees up 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth. Doug is a career .402 slugger, which is bad for any player but particularly for a first baseman. Allowing a home run to Mientkiewicz doesn't make Tavarez look very good. No wonder his ERA is around nine.

Update: Wang returns the favor and allows a two-run homer to Red Sox #9 hitter Alex Cora. I almost picked this game as slugfest of the day, and it's starting to look like that. Cora's career slugging percentage is .347.

A ball just dropped between Jason Kubel and Torii Hunter because Torii didn't do his job as a centerfielder and try to catch everything. He jogged after a ball he thought Kubel could catch, rather than running full speed and calling Kubel off. Kubel thought Hunter would get the ball, and it fell for a hit to put runners on first and second with one out.

Update: Santana gets a strikeout and ground out to end the inning. No score at the end of two in Detroit.

Kevin Youkilis drives a ball to the warning track off Wang where Matsui makes a good catch, but Ortiz follows up with another high fly that lands in the upper deck in right. No ground balls for Wang so far, and the Red Sox lead 1-0.

Josh Hancock died in a car accident this morning:

The Cardinals said they were told of the 29-year-old reliever's death by the St. Louis Police Department. The team's home game against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday night was postponed.

The team said the accident happened in St. Louis, but no other details were disclosed. The Cardinals and police are expected to make a statement this afternoon at Busch Stadium.

Hancock pitched his best season in 2006 for the Cardinals. He brought his strikeout rate up and his walk rate down. He was off to another good start this year.

My thoughts go out to his family and friends.

Update: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch provides more information:

Hancock's Ford Explorer slammed into the rear of a tow truck that was parked in the far left westbound lane shortly after 12:30 a.m. The tow truck driver, who was seated in the vehicle at the time, was unhurt.

He told police that his emergency lights were on, and that he honked his horn when he saw the Explorer approaching in his rear view mirror, but that the Exploer didn't slow down or swerve to avoid the collision.

At the time of the accident, the tow truck driver was assisting a motorist from an earlier accident.

Slugfest of the day is a tough choice, but I'm going with Texas at Toronto as Brandon McCarthy faces Tomo Ohka. Brandon's big problem comes from left-handed batters. They're slugging .735 against the righty. Ohka is a righty who can't get righties out. Righties are posting a .361 OBA against him, while lefties are getting on at a .270 clip.

Paul Maholm comes off a three-hit shutout of the Astros as he faces Aaron Harang and the Reds. Maholm shows good control this season walking just six in twenty five innings. Harang will try to end April 4-0. He's not only showing good control like Maholm, but he's adding a high strikeout rate as well.

In the battle of 23-year-old lefties, the veteran Scott Kazmir visits the rookie Dallas Braden. Dallas handled the Orioles easily in his major league debut, striking out six and walking just one in six innings of work. Scott's main problem this season is five home runs and a tendency to give up hits with men in scoring position.

The Cubs and Cardinals appear on National TV tonight. The teams are tied for last in the NL Central with Houston, so one of them will move up a spot after tonight. Rich Hill takes the hill for the Cubs. He's third in the majors in ERA based on incredible work against right-handed batters. They're hitting just .127 against Rich with a .207 OBA and a .215 slugging percentage. After three good starts at the beginning of the season, Kip Wells allowed eleven earned runs in his last two appearances.

Enjoy!

Update: Sorry, I just saw the Cardinals game was postponed due to the death of Josh Hancock. Please see the next post.

The line drive off Jeff Karstens' leg did more than knock the pitcher out of the game:

The New York Yankees lost another starting pitcher Saturday when Jeff Karstens was hit by a line drive, breaking his right leg.

On his first pitch of the game against Boston, Karstens was hit on the side of his knee by Julio Lugo's liner. He won't need surgery and is expected to return this season, team physician Dr. Stuart Hershon said.
"It's not as bad as it could have been," Hershon said.

In the clubhouse after the game, Karstens had an air cast on his leg. He won't need a conventional cast, Hershon said.

"They said no throwing tomorrow at least," Karstens joked.

Given his great relief work yesterday, I assume Igawa takes Karsten's spot in the rotation.

Ian Kinsler started a slow move up in the batting order:

2B Ian Kinsler moved up to the 6th spot in the lineup. Washington said he'd likely hit Kinsler sixth against lefties. Kinsler hits seventh vs. right-handed pitchers.

At the moment, he' hitting both sides pretty well. With his high OBA, he needs to be in one of the top two slots. Right now, Texas #1 hitters post a .330 OBA, #2 hitters a mere .291. Kinsler can help up there.

The Royals pounded Jeff Weaver last night:

Weaver lost his fourth decision in as many starts, giving up six runs, seven hits and recording just one out before manager Mike Hargrove pulled him in the top of the first inning.

The performance may have cemented Weaver's removal from the Mariners' rotation. Neither Hargrove or Weaver would comment about it after the game.

"I am really not going to talk about what I'm going to do or not going to do with Jeff," Hargrove said. "Tonight was not a good outing for him. He feels worse than anybody else. We've got to try and help him get back in line."

Weaver now owns an 18.26 ERA. Here's a list of the highest ERAs ever for pitchers with at least 10 innings pitched in a season:

Pitcher	Year	Innings	ERA
June Greene	1929	13 2/3	19.76
Jeff Weaver	2007	11 1/3	18.26
Mel Rojas	1999	14	18.00
Harry Byrd	1950	10 2/3	16.88
Jot Goar	1896	13 1/3	16.88

Given the number of innings by other people on this list, Jeff might be close to the end of his season.

Aaron Rowand led off on Saturday with Jimmy Rollins batting third. Given their torrid starts, that seems appropriate. Aaron currently holds a .460 OBA. What strikes me the most about that number is that he's drawn eleven walks in 86 at bats. In 2006, he drew just 18 walks in 405 at bats. He doesn't appear to be more patient at the plate as his 3.6 pitches seen per plate appearance jibes with previous years. Maybe he's just hitting the ball so hard pitchers are being more careful with him. He's slugging .640 on top of everything else.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

Barry Bonds put the Giants up 2-0 early with his eighth home run of the season. That puts him fourteen home runs away from 756. It's looking more and more like Barry will get there sometime in June.

John Gibson writes:

FYI... Something you don't see every day I thought you might find interesting if you haven't already heard about it...

Runner on 1st and third and the batter flies out to RF. Tejada is running and gets doubled up at 1st. However Markakis tags up and scores before Tejada is doubled up. Umpires do not understand the rule book and waive the run off.

Apparently Perlozzo protested and couple of innings later the umpire is in the dugout making a phone call while the game is being umpired by only two umpires and they end up awarding an extra run for the O's in the 3rd inning and now Eric Wedge is protesting.

First time I've ever seen a team in the same half inning lose a lead and regain a lead.

Strange days indeed. The umpires got it right, however, and that's all that really matters. The Indians came back to tie the game then take the lead on a two-run homer by Peralta.

The White Sox are going to be without Jim Thome for a couple of weeks:

White Sox slugger Jim Thome is likely headed for the 15-day disabled list with a rib cage injury.

Thome left Friday's game against the Los Angeles Angels after fouling off a pitch in the first inning. He re-aggravated a right rib cage injury that caused him to miss the two previous games.

There's not much offense in the Chicago lineup without Thome. He's accounted over one quarter of the White Sox's walks this season.

Jerome Williams issued four walks so far, but the Mets remain hitless through five innings in Washington. Williams only struck out one batter so far, and has thrown more balls than strikes (36-34). Given his problems in the game, this looks like an unlikely no-hit bid.

Update: Matt Belisle is perfect through five against the Pirates. He's struck out five and walked none, and thrown 40 of 56 pitches for strikes.

Update: Beltran breaks up Williams no-no with one out in the sixth.

Update: Paulino doubles with one out in the sixth to break up Belisle's perfecto.

Dan Haren continues to cement himself as the Athletics' ace, helping defeat the Devil Rays today by a score of 12-5. Haren struck out seven in 7 1/3 innings while walking none, throwing 68% strikes. He's walked just 9 in 39 1/3 innings this season.

And when does B.J. Upton move up in the Devil Rays lineup? He picked up three more hits today, missing the cycle by a triple. His OBA is now over .400. Wouldn't that be more productive at the top of the order than at the bottom?

Mariano Rivera gets a save, but still trails Saul Rivera for most Rivera saves 2-1. He allowed a broken bat hit leading off the inning, but threw strikes on 11 of 16 pitches. The Yankees win 3-1 ending their losing streak. It's only the second win of the season for the Yankees in games in which they scored four runs or less.

Derrek Lee picked up his 13th double of the season, tying him with Chase Utley for the NL lead in that category. Throughout his career, Lee balanced his doubles and home runs, favoring doubles by a bit. But this season, he's only hit one home run. He's slugging .565, so there's nothing to complain about, but has he lost a bit of his power? Or is he simply hitting line drives, and the home runs will come eventually?

Call him Nuke Igawa. Kartens took a line drive off the leg in the first inning with none out, leaving the game with two men on. Kei Igawa entered, got out of the inning with a double play and a strikeout, and went on to pitch six innings with six strike outs. He didn't allow a run.

He did however, walks four and throw a wild pitch. At one point, ahead in the count 1-2 to Manny Ramirez, Igawa threw what appeared to be change up over everyone's head. It just reminded me of that scene in Bull Durham when LaLoosh is told to hit the bull, and Crash uses that to scare the hitters. Whatever Kei did today, he kept the Sox hitters off balance as they only picked two hits against him.

Michael Young and Mark Teixeira combined for a five for ten day with five runs scored as Texas pulled out an extra-innings victory over Toronto 9-8. The two big guns for Texas haven't hit, yet Texas game into the day 9-13, just 2 1/2 games out of first. I'd expect if today represents a turning point for these slumping stars, that Texas' prospect might be looking up.

Joe Mauer knocked out three hits today, including a home run to help the Twins to an 11-3 win at Detroit. Mauer's averages now sit at .388/.485/.538, and for his career he's batting .324 win an OBA over. 400. Being a catcher, however, he's likely to see his offense decline quicker than other players. Should the Twins move him to a different position as the Astros moved Biggio? Joe's a good defensive catcher, which makes the decision tougher. But should the Twins think about moving Joe to leftfield where they can take advantage of his batting skills longer? Or should they get his best years as a catcher, then let him walk as a free agent?

I'm on the road today, so here's a quick and dirty games of the day:

Minnesota at Detroit. The only good pitching matchup of the day pits a rejuvenated Carlos Silva vs. a just plain juvenated Justin Verlander.

Boston at New York. Tim Wakefield is tied for 2nd in the AL in ERA. The Yankees own the third worst record in baseball.

Florida at Philadelphia. Dontrelle Willis is always fun to watch, and the two teams are tied for third in the NL East. Plus, two shortstops off to great starts go head to head.

San Francisco at Arizona. Matt Cain looks like he's out acing Barry Zito this year.

Enjoy!

Mariano Rivera allowed four runs in a mop up assignment last night, raising his ERA to 12.15:

On Friday, Rivera's biggest problem was control. After Mike Lowell's one-out single, the left-handed-batting Jason Varitek and Coco Crisp laced singles on cut fastballs that Rivera failed to spot under their hands, the way he usually can. A walk to Dustin Pedroia, the No. 9 hitter, brought out Torre.

"I was missing up, missing down, missing everywhere," Rivera said.

Torre quickly dismissed any concern about Rivera. "He hadn't pitched in four days," Torre said. "He just needs to get regular work. Then he'll fall into what he needs to do."

The article mentions the no-save streak, but it's tough to pick up saves when the team doesn't present many chances. With the 11-4 loss to the Red Sox and the Tampa Bay win over Oakland, the Yankees are now 6 1/2 behind Boston and one full game behind the Devil Rays in last place.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

The second place Pittsburgh Pirates won again as the rotation throws its six good game in a row. Snell threw seven scoreless innings against the Reds, and the Pirates starters now own a 1.54 ERA over their last six performances. They've been especially good at keeping the ball in the park, allowing just one home run in their last 41 innings. They've need the pitching as they've outscored the opposition by just six runs, 25-19 to go 5-1 during the stretch.

A former Mets clubhouse employee (very former, by the way) ran into the Feds today:

Today, the IRS agents, FBI and U.S. Attorneys office in California that pursued the BALCO case made a significant announcement. Kirk J. Radomski, a New York Mets clubhouse employee between 1985 and 1995, has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in San Francisco to distribution of a controlled substance -- a schedule three anabolic steroid -- to "dozens of Major Leaguers on teams throughout the league." He also pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering. (Combined, these charges are punishable by a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and $500,000 in fines.)

Earlier this spring, the steroid-related news pertained to the break-up of a distribution chain linking the Internet sites to anti-aging clinics and compound pharmacies. Now, the BALCO investigative team is back in the picture.

No names yet, so stay tuned. Radomski is said to be cooperating.

Jason writes:

I was wondering if you could look up a record for me, since I haven't been able to locate it. What is the MLB record for the longest a team has gone into the season, without recording a save? The Yankees this year are now 20 games in without one, as upset about that as I am (being a Yankee fan), I was wondering what the record was. Obviously it'd have to date back to when the stat was first recorded. Thank you.

Good question, and the answer is that the record is longer than I imagined. The save statistic became official in 1969.

Season	Team	NoSaves
1975	BAL	57
1975	NYA	33
1974	KCA	31
1969	CLE	25
2002	DET	25
1974	TEX	23
1976	BOS	23
1975	CIN	22
1988	BAL	21
1978	SLN	20
1974	LAN	20
1988	PHI	19
2007	NYA	20
1981	CHN	17
2005	DET	17
2005	FLA	16
1986	LAN	16
1994	SEA	16
1971	CHN	16
1996	OAK	16
1996	FLO	15
2005	TB	15
1975	TEX	15
1982	LAN	15

The current Yankees streak of 20 games isn't even the team record. 1975 Was the year the save rule as we know it now came into existence. It could very well be that managers that season weren't managing to the rule yet. In other words, they might send a pitcher out to start the ninth with a platoon advantage, get one batter, then change pitchers. If the lead were three runs, the incoming pitcher would not get a save. It just goes to show how a stat changed baseball strategy.

Over at Mr. Irrelevant, bloggers discuss their favorite in person moments at baseball games.

Cole Hamels touts a big Day/Night split:

In his career, Hamels has a 2.70 earned run average in night starts and a 5.92 ERA in day starts. This season (admittedly only five games old for Hamels), he has a league-leading 0.56 ERA at night and a 5.71 ERA during the day.

The statistics have gotten the attention of manager Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee and, sooner rather than later, Hamels' starts could be manipulated to take advantage of his strengths and avoid what has so far been a weakness.

I'd like the article better if they talked to the catcher at least and asked him if he saw Hamels' pitches better in the day time. But three starts from now, Manuel has the choice of pitching Cole at night or pushing him back a day for an afternoon game. We'll see what happens then.

WABC in New York showed a movie every weekday afternoon at 4:30 when I was young. Every so often Monster Week would pop up with a bunch of 'Godzilla vs." flicks. So it's with a bit of nostalgia that Godzilla vs. Matsuzaka comes to New York this evening, weather permitting. There's only a small history between the two:

The two Japanese mega-stars have a little history. In the 2002 Japan Series, Matsui went 0-for-3 against Matsuzaka. In the 2001 All-Star Game at Yokohama Stadium, Matsui hit a two-run home run off Dice-K.

Meanwhile, the comeback last night against Baltimore gave Boston the biggest division lead of any first place team, and set the losing Yankees further into last place. Another sweep by the Red Sox and New York finds itself 8 1/2 games out of first place.

Last year's playoff entries from the AL Central face off in Detroit as Ramon Ortiz takes on Nate Robertson. Two things are helping Ortiz pitch well for the Twins. He's lowered his walk rate to less than one per 9 innings, and the Twins defense is posting a .765 DER behind him. With lots of balls in play, turning 76.5% into outs is extraordinary. Robertson reduced his home run rate by about a factor of three. That puts his ERA at 2.05, fifth in the AL.

Roy Oswalt looks to stop Houston's six-game losing streak as he faces Chris Capuano and the first place Brewers. One problem Roy faces this season is left-handed batters getting on base. They're doing so at a .354 clip. Coming into this season, Oswalt held lefties to a .307 OBA. Capuano's striking out about 1.5 batters more per nine than in his previous two seasons. Combine that with a higher percentage of ground balls and Chris' ERA took a tumble.

Enjoy!

Gary Thorne on how he made the mistake about Schilling's sock:

Mirabelli said he spoke with Thorne in the Boston clubhouse about six months after the 2004 playoffs.

"As he was walking away he asked, 'How about the bloody sock?' I said, 'Yeah, we got a lot of publicity out of that,' and that was all he can recall me saying," Mirabelli said. "He said he assumed what I meant was that the sock was fake and that it was just a publicity stunt. That by no means is what I meant. There was never a doubt in mind there was blood on the sock."

There a huge leap from "lots of publicity" to "painted sock." As I said yesterdy, Thorne is a sloppy with his facts.

Update: Hat tip to Joy of Sox for breaking the story.

After starting off 2-7, the Giants now sit 12-8. They've won eight in a row and are in first place in the NL West. Consistent pitching over the entire season now gets augmented by a decent offense. Actually, Barry Bonds carries the offense, and everyone else doubles. The offense posts a low .317 OBA during these 11 games, but a good team slugging percentage of .432. They're using power to make the most of the people on base. They've scored 54 runs in the 11 games, just under 5 per game, but they've only allowed 31.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

A.J. Burnett and Josh Beckett picked up wins tonight. Burnett hung seven shutout innings on the Yankees as New York goes down 6-0. It's the first time New York failed to score, and only the second time this year an opponent held them to less than four runs. A.J. allowed just four hits and opponents are hitting just .216 against him.

Beckett ran his record to 5-0 with eight strong innings. He allowed two runs, but was able to hang on until Wily Mo Pena blasted a grand slam in the 8th inning to hand Boston a 5-2 win. With no walks tonight, Beckett has issued just seven free passes in 32 2/3 innings while striking out 28.

Dave Stewart analyzes Barry Bonds' season so far.

Phil Hughes comes away from his major league debut with positives and negatives. He struck out 5 and walked just one. However, he allowed four runs in 4 1/3 innings, throwing 91 pitches in that time. The Yankees trail 4-0 in the sixth.

Bartolo Colon appears to be healthy again. He's in the middle of shutting down one of the best offenses in baseball as he's gone seven innings against the Devil Rays, allowing just two runs. His control is back, as he's walked one while striking out eleven. He's over 100 pitches, so he may be done for the day. The Angels lead 11-2.

Shawn Hill outpitched Cole Hamels today as the Nationals picked up a 4-2 win over the Phillies. I did not see the game, but from the from the boxscore it looked like Hamels struggled, throwing 92 pitches in 5 1/3 innings. Did anyone see the game and want to comment on Hamels? He's coming off a complete game.

Hill continues to pitch well. He walked two in eight innings and allowed just four hits. That gives him eight walks and 27 hits allowed in 32 2/3 innings and a 2.76 ERA. Not bad for someone with a replaced ligament.

The Houston Astros lost their sixth straight game today and sixth to the Pirates by a score of 5-3. Despite Tony Armas allowing six hits and four walks over five innings, the Astros scored just one run against him. For the game, they went 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position. That's been the problem all week as during the current streak they are 10 for 47 with runners in scoring position, a .213 batting average. To be fair, they're only batting .227 over the last six games overall.

Sammy Sosa hit two solo home runs this afternoon as Texas lost to Cleveland 9-4. That gives him six for the season and six away from six hundred. Sammy seems to be swinging for the fences as his batting average is just .239 but he's slugging .535. With a .289 OBA, he's not exactly trying to help the team by getting on base, either. Still, if you are going to be good at one thing, hitting home runs remains a good choice.

Boof Bonser walked seven men in five innings, and Zack Greinke walked four in seven innings, but neither starter allowed a run in the Royals/Twins game. The Twins bullpen walked two more in three innings of work, but neither team scored yet as the game goes to the tenth inning. The two teams combined for nine hits total, only two for extra bases.

Update: Minnesota picks up three singles in the bottom of the 11th to win the game 1-0. I wish the game ended on a bases loaded walk. The Twins pitchers issued a total of 10 in the game, but still pitched a shutout.

Update: Even more amazing, I find eight game prior to this one in which a team walked 10 or more batters and pitched a shutout. This includes a nine inning game on 5/21/1970 in which the Yankees walked 11 batters.

Trot Nixon delivers his first home run as an Indian, a two-run shot that puts Cleveland up 3-0 at the end of one inning.

Did anyone notice that the players ranked two, five and six in National League slugging percentage are all shortstops from the NL East? Rollins, Ramirez and Reyes are all off to great starts. Rollins leads the league in home runs. Ramriez and Reyes are in the top ten in OBA. Reyes leads the league in steals. I'm impressed that Jose and Jimmy really improved their ability to get on base, although I'll be more convinced about Rollins when he does it for a whole season.

So is this the Nomar/Jeter/A-Rod trio of this generation?

To put it mildly, River Ave. Blues is excited about Phil Hughes pitching for the Yankees.

Jeff Albert does his usual fine job of using video comparison to analyze the changes in Alex Rodriguez's swing from 2006 to 2007.

My first search for some insight into what mechanical changes were being addressed turned up a simple comment that A-Rod's mechanics were "firmer" and that new hitting coach Kevin Long had helped right the ship that is A-Rod's leg kick. According to a recent NY Times article, Long believed that a lower leg kick and faster hip rotation would help A-Rod quicken up his swing. After looking at the upcoming side-by-side that I will show, I have to extend a pat on the back to Mr. Long. Nicely done and way to earn your welcome to the Bronx!

I must admit, the change is very subtle, and I had to watch the video many times to catch it. See what you think.

Correction: Forgot the link.

Gary Thorne caused some controversy last night:

For those who have somehow forgotten, here's what happened: Schilling, who had a right ankle tendon injury, had sutures stitched into his ankle to keep the tendon stable so he could pitch in Game 6 against the New York Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series. A red stain, presumably blood, could be seen on the sock during the game, which the Red Sox won, and the sock was sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., after the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series.

Fast-forward to Wednesday night's Mid-Atlantic Sports Network's telecast of Red Sox-Orioles.

In the bottom of the fifth, according to multiple media reports, Orioles play-by-play man Gary Thorne said on the air that he had been told by Red Sox catcher Doug Mirabelli that the substance was paint, not blood.

"The great story we were talking about the other night was that famous red stocking that he wore when they finally won, the blood on his stocking," Thorne told broadcast partner and Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer, according to media reports.

"Nah," Thorne said. "It was painted. Doug Mirabelli confessed up to it after. It was all for PR. Two-ball, two-strike count."

Everyone associated with the Red Sox and this story, Mirabelli, Schilling and Francona denied it was paint. Having seen Thorne screw up on the air many times with ESPN, I have no doubt that the Red Sox are right here. I try very hard not to dislike people, but I have strong professional dislike for Thorne. In the early days of the STATS/ESPN relationship a number of people were upset that ESPN didn't use Elias. Gary was one of these people. One day, he called STATS out during a broadcast for supplying incorrect caught stealing statistics. What Gary failed to realize, however, that the report we provided only dealt with caught stealing by catchers, where the report his friends at Elias gave him dealt with all caught stealings. Gary was forced to apologize on the air.

So I'm biased about Thorne. In my opinion, he's sloppy. And in this case he's very likely wrong.

Shawn Hill takes on Cole Hamels this afternoon in Philadelphia. Hill holds the best ERA among the Nationals starters at the moment. He averaging six innings a start and only allowed one home run so far. He's two days short of his 26th birthday, so a win today would be an early present. Hamels comes off the first complete game of his career. Note that this season, Cole's pitch counts are 110, 97, 110 and 115. There doesn't appear to be a 100 pitch limit with Cole as there are with so many young pitchers. Whether this turns out well is yet to be determined. I hope it does, because I'd like to see starters stay in games longer, especially when they are pitching well.

Boston finishes its series with Baltimore as Josh Beckett faces Adam Loewen. Both pitchers are undefeated. With Beckett on the mound, the Red Sox outscored their opponents 32-8. It helps that Josh holds opponents to a .267 OBA. Loewen holds a good ERA despite walking a ton of batters, almost one per inning. The Red Sox are the kind of team that can take advantage of his wildness.

Philip Hughes makes his debut for the Yankees against A.J. Burnett of the Blue Jays. With the rainout last night, the Yankees didn't want to push him back a day to start his career against the Red Sox, so Pettitte goes tomorrow. Burnett is uncharacteristically wild so far this season. He has, however, been very good against left-handed batters, which is important whenever a team faces the Yankees.

Enjoy!

Barry Bonds hit his seventh home run of the season last night. He's now getting on base at a .470 clip and slugging .808. I'm totally amazed by this. Watching him play last April, I thought he was through. But as the season wore on he adjusted to his knees and elbow, and now he's approaching the averages he posted earlier in this decade. So what do we make of this fantastic start?

We're in the third year of serious drug testing, and no steroids or other PEDs turned up in Bonds. He allegedly tested positive for speed, but most don't put uppers in the same category as steroids. There is the possibility that Bonds uses something that isn't detectable. (Other than HGH. I hear now that HGH doesn't build strength.) But we also need to consider the possibility that the test are correct, and Bonds is free of perfomance enhancers.

In other words, we have to consider that a forty-two year old man with two surgically repaired knees and a surgically repaired elbow can still hit with the all-time greats. If this is true, if he can put up numbers like this old and disabled, how much did performance enhancers really help him? I'm not excusing Bonds for being a Baseball Jerk. But for the next few years there will be debates about Hall of Fame voting on people suspected of using steroids. If Bonds hits forty plus home runs with a .450 OBA and a .700 slugging percentage with his physical problems, and does so cleanly, that should be a positive for the suspected cheaters. It indicates that skill as a player might be a bigger factor in success than the extra strength gained from PEDs.

Of course, a reasonable person might say that someone couldn't accomplish this level of performance with those physical problems unless help came by way of chemicals. Given Bonds' history, that's a logical conclusion. But if he indeed is clean, then we need to step back and rethink if there's a real difference between clean records and tainted records. It may be tiny.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

The Mariners and Athletics sped through tonight's game. Blanton threw just 105 pitches, and Washburn did him one better with 104. Each threw a complete nine innings as Washburn shuts out the Athletics on three hits, while Blanton allows six hits and two runs both on solo homers. Of the 209 pitches thrown in the game, 143 went for strikes. I wonder if that's the fewest pitches thrown in a nine inning game this year? The game took a mere 1:47.

Jake Peavy just finished the sixth inning, picking up his fourteenth strikeout. At one point, he struck out nine in a row, getting the side on strikes in the second, third and fourth innings. He misses Seaver's record by one. The Padres lead 2-0 in the top of the seventh as Webb is also pitching a good game.

Update: Peavy strikes out two more in the 7th. That gives him 16, tying his own franchise record. He's at 117 pitches, however. Do you leave him in and let him go for the record? Or is that enough and should he come out?

Update: Cla Meredith is warming up in the bullpen.

Update: Sorry, it was Linebrink. He enters the game and Miguel Montero greets him with a pinch-hit home run to cut the Padres lead to 2-1.

Update: Another ninth inning blown save, this time by Hoffman. He walks Tracy with one out, then gives up a home run to Drew with two outs. Thanks to Webb keeping them close, the DBacks survive a 16 K outing by Jake Peavy and win the game 3-2. Drew picked a perfect time for his first home run of the season.

The Tigers just finished a 6-2 win over the White Sox. For the first eight innings, the White Sox were shutout by Chad Durbin. Durbin allowed three hits, walked none, and struck out nine. This is a pitcher with a career 6.31 ERA. Over 351 career innings, he had allowed 422 hits and 150 walks. He only struck out 208 in that time. He gave up 62 home runs, 1.6 per 9! And he just carved up the White Sox, a team with a pretty solid heart of the lineup. It was cold and rainy, but this is Chad Durbin!

Congratulations to Chad on the game of his career.

Salomon Torres follows Bob Wickman's lead and blows a great start by Zach Duke. It's the fourth good start in a row for a Pirate's pitcher, but Torres starts the ninth and allows two runs. The Astros tie the game and send the contest into extra innings.

If you missed tonight's show, you can hear the recorded version here. It's also available on demand at TPSRadio.

Tim Hudson pitched another great game tonight. Through eight innings he struck out 12 and allowed just five hits. But the first three batters singled in the ninth to load the bases, bringing in Bob Wickman. Hudson got his pitches up in the inning, and the Marlins took advantage of that. Hudson can't lose the game, but a bad performance by Wickman and Tim may not win it.

Update: Olivo hits the right center gap and the ball rolls to the wall. Cabrera and Ross score to double Hudson's ERA. Ross ran into the third base coach, and Cox argues that the run shouldn't count, but it wasn't intentional contact.

Update: After an intentional walk, Willingham stands in with the bases loaded. A long fly ball ties the game.

Update: Wickman falls behind 3-0, the works the count back full as Willingham takes two pitches. After fouling off a number of good pitches, Willingham swings over a sinker that would be ball four and strikes out. Amezaga's turn to hit a long fly.

Update: Amezaga loops one over the drawn in third baseman for an infield hit and a tie game.

Update: Wickman throws a wild pitch and the Marlins win! Quite a comeback against the best pitcher in the National League this year and a closer who was 24 of 25 in save opportunities for the Braves. It's games like this that make managers that bring in their closer at the start of the ninth.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room at Stickam. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Yankees postponed the game against the Blue Jays tonight. No word on how this will effect the rotation. I assume Pettitte will go tomorrow, but I don't know how far this pushes Hughes back.

Update: I'm told Hughes will go Thursday and Pettitte on Friday.

Biomechanics nerds are in! Anyone interested in becoming the biomechanics writer for Baseball Musings?

Derrek Lee answers a two-run fifth by the Brewers with his first home run of the season. Lee knocked out nine doubles so far this season, so his slugging percentage was good, but that's the first ball to leave the park. The Cubs now lead 6-2.

Elmer Dessens warms up and Ben Sheets is headed to the clubhouse as the Brewers bat in the top of the fourth. Ben hasn't allowed a run through three innings, but he did give up four hits while striking out one. Stay tuned.

Update: The broadcast reports a right groin strain for Sheets. There was a ground ball through the box at the end of the third inning. Sheets had his back to it, and spun to try to see it. After that, he limped off the field.

Update: WGN said it was a left groin strain. I'm watching the Wisconsin broadcast. One of his groins is strained.

Update: Dessens runs into trouble, allowing a run with just one out in the fourth. The Cubs lead 1-0 and two men stand on base.

Update: Ryan Theriot delivers a two-out, bases loaded single to extend the Cubs lead to 3-0. Floyd drives in two more with a double that he unsuccessfully tries to stretch into a triple. Lilly is pitching well, and now has a five run lead.

Also, the Wisconsin team just repeated the right groin strain.

This sounds pretty definitive:

"I want to stay in New York, no matter what," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez's statement sounded even stronger in the context of the question that preceded it. Rodriguez, who is batting .385 with 14 home runs and 34 RBIs in just 19 games, was nearing the end of a dugout interview with reporters when the opt-out clause in his contract was brought up. This is the seventh season in Rodriguez's 10-year, $252-million contract that he signed with the Rangers, who are picking up a significant portion of the money remaining. After this season, Rodriguez can opt out of the remaining three years and $81 million on his contract if he chooses.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman previously has said he does not plan to renegotiate Rodriguez's contract. He did not return a phone call yesterday afternoon.

Considering the hefty contracts given this past offseason to less accomplished players (Alfonso Soriano got eight years and $136 million, and Vernon Wells got seven years and $126 million), several teams likely will be willing to offer Rodriguez a contract worth far more than $81 million this winter. So Rodriguez was asked, after raving about how much he loves New York for a couple of moments, how hard it would be to turn down larger offers if the Yankees insist on sticking to the contract he has now.

That's when Rodriguez said: "I want to stay in New York, no matter what."

We'll see what happens at the end of the year. This doesn't mean he won't opt-out and renegotiate. But he can't be much clearer about his intentions.

The Rockies finish off the Mets 11-5. For a team that wasn't getting on much entering play, they reached 22 times by a hit or a walk. Willy Taveras picked up five hits while Helton knocked out four. The teams 20 for 44 day raised the Rockies batting average from .247 to .259, and the eleven runs topped their total for their last six games.

Mark Prior is officially done for 2007:

Mark Prior yesterday underwent successful right shoulder arthroscopy performed by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, AL. During the arthroscopy, Dr. Andrews performed a debridement of Mark's right rotator cuff as well as repair of labral and capsular injuries in his right shoulder.

Here's some information on debridement. It sounds like his shoulder was in pretty bad shape. At this point, do fans think he'll ever pitch again?

Holliday and Helton deliver RBI singles in the third, extending the Rockies lead to 3-0. The two H's are the only Colorado players experiencing good seasons, and both are having great years.

Mabry follows with a three run homer to make the score 6-0 Colorado. That's the first home run for John and ends seven straight games without a homer for the Rockies.

For Baseball Prospectus subscribers, my latest article looks at the relationship between winning and attendance.

I'm looking at the starting lineups for the Rockies at Mets today, and five of the Mets starters own OBAs over .400 and five Rockies sport OBAs under .300.

Update: The Rockies score in the first on a walk, stolen base and bloop single. Given the way Colorado scored the last two days, that might be the only run they get.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

You can stop by the chat room at TPSRadio during the broadcast and leave a comment. We're now using Stickam for the chat, so there are no logins required. Also, feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

The Reds try to make it two in a row against the Cardinals as Bronson Arroyo takes on Braden Looper. With Carpenter out of action, Looper emerged as the staff ace, pitching the only decent start in the last eight games for the Cardinals. Braden keeps the ball on the ground, and induced five double plays so far this season. Arroyo pitches better than his 0-2 record indicates. His strikeouts are high and his walks and home runs are low. It may just be he's being left in the game too long. Eight of the fourteen runs against him came from the seventh inning on.

In a matchup of potential Cy Young candidates, Jake Peavy faces Brandon Webb in Arizona. Peavy's been too different pitchers at Chase Field. Early in his career, the ball flew out of the park against him as he allowed 10 home runs in his first 15 innings there. But since, he's controlled the long ball and posted a 2.18 ERA at the park. Webb strikes out better than a batter per inning, but the DER behind him is exceptionally low this season. Given that his line drive percentage is up this year, that's not all the fault of the defense.

Finally, Noah Lowry and Randy Wolf battle in Los Angeles as the Giants and Dodgers continue their series. Noah is suffering from a lack of run support as San Francisco scored a mere five runs in his 20 innings pitched. Mr. Wolf's strike out rate represents a career high for him, and the Dodgers make life easy with generous run support. They've scored 28 runs in his 24 innings pitched.

Enjoy!

Correction: Fixed Lowry's first name.

A new form of league revenue sharing sprung up around Daisuke Matsuzaka:

The Rangers are among several Major League Baseball teams capitalizing on the Sox's $103 million investment in Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka by selling ballpark advertising to Japanese companies. Those firms, which include a chain of men's day spas, are trying to get their message across to fans watching broadcasts of Major League Baseball games back in Japan. The Rangers and Kansas City Royals have already sold ad space worth hundreds of thousands of dollars inside their own stadiums, though neither team has a Japanese baseball star. Several other teams have also gotten inquiries from Japanese firms about advertising when the Red Sox are playing.

"Teams like the Kansas City Royals are benefiting from the Red Sox," said Sam Kennedy , Sox vice president of sales and marketing.

The Sox, though, won't see much new revenue from Japanese sponsors at Fenway Park because most of the advertising space was sold long ago to American companies. It's also far more expensive to advertise at Fenway compared to other baseball venues.

Don't you just love global communications?

A big reason for the Brewers good start rest in their power numbers. They picked up three more extra base hits last night giving them 75 for the year. That ranks second in the National League behind the Marlins and 3rd in the majors. Last season, their 501 EXBH ranked twelfth in NL.

The young guns are doing a lot of the damage, too, as Weeks, Fielder and Hardy combined for 32 of those 75 long hits. Their development was crucial to the improvement of the Brewers, and right now they look to be right on track.

Red Reporter felt there was too much coverage of Griffey last night and not enough of Alex Gonzalez.

Alex Gonzalez had an incredible night in just about every area of play. His throw to get Albert Pujols was amazing. It really annoyed me to read the AP recap and find four paragraphs devoted to Ken Griffey Jr. and just one about Gonzalez. I was obviously happy to see Junior's home run, but him moving into 10th place on the all time home run list feels like a non-story to me at this point. Not sure why that is exactly, but he feels like an afterthought in general now, which is a little strange.

Gonzalez is a glove man who hit did something unusual for him, hit two home runs in the game. Balance that with an all-time great passing another all-time great on the home run list. The assault on both the 500 and 600 home run levels is a big story of this season.

More importantly, the win over Cardinals puts the Reds in second place in the NL Central and drops St. Louis to fifth. St. Louis starting pitchers allowed seven earned runs in two consecutive starts and only posted one good game in their last eight contests. Too many balls in play led to 59 hits in 45 innings over that time.

Correction: Fixed the division.

The Devil Rays placed Akinori Iwamura on the disabled list Tuesday. He'll likely miss four to six weeks with a strained oblique. That's too bad, since he and Upton are the only Rays really getting on base. The team does a great job hitting for power, but it helps to have someone on when those long hits are delivered.

After a great first inning, Randy Johnson struggled in his first outing of the season.

There were lots of swings and misses from Padres hitters. There was good shape, good movement on Johnson's pitches. There was good velocity, his fastball registering at 93 mph about 10 times, 94 a few times and 96 once, on a 3-0 pitch to Adrian Gonzalez in the fifth.

But there also were some mistakes. Johnson walked four batters (two intentional) and hit two batters. He seemed to tire in the fifth. He fell behind too many hitters and left too many pitches up in the strike zone, and he paid for it, particularly during a four-run fifth inning.

"Early on, his mechanics were good, he was repeating his delivery, and he was reasonably sharp," manager Bob Melvin said. "I just think he hit a wall in the fifth. Endurance-wise, he needs to get out a little further, but I didn't think he threw the ball badly at all."

He ended up allowing six runs in five innings and the Diamondbacks lost 10-5.

Wes Baier recommends Diamondbacks Bullpen as an excellent forum on Arizona baseball. Wes blogs about the DBacks at DBacks Ramblings.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

The Mets used small ball and a Rockies mistake to break a 1-1 tie in the 12th inning. Shawn Green walked and reached second on a sacrifice. A balk put him at third, and an intentional walk put Reyes at first. In a play I don't understand, the Rockies let Reyes take second (defensive indifference). Shouldn't the Rockies have tried to keep Jose at first to keep the force in order? The Mets win on a squeeze that goes as a base hit as they score a run without getting the ball out of the infield. It's the seventh time this season the Mets held the opposition to one run or less.

Roy Halladay posted a Cy Young performance tonight, holding the Red Sox to three runs over eight innings. He demonstrated excellent control in both his strike to ball ratio and his ten strikeouts with no walks. He's now allowed 37 hits plus walks in 38 1/3 innings pitched this season. With the Red Sox losing and the Devil Rays winning, the AL East gets a little bit tighter, with four games separating top from bottom.

Paul Maholm stands as a good example of a low strikeout pitcher giving up a lot of hits. But tonight, despite striking out just four, he pitched a three-hit shutout against the Astros. The managers disagreed on whether it was Paul or the Astros hitters:

"You can count the number of bad pitches he threw on one hand," the Pirates' Jim Tracy said. "He was exceptional."

"It was a very bad game, we looked like we had no clue what we were doing," the Astros' Phil Garner said. "We hit one ball good. We didn't square the ball up and swung at a lot of bad pitches and, unfortunately, we put them in play. I think it was more us than him, though obviously he pitched well."

Given Maholm's past, I tend to agree with Garner. Putting lots of balls in play against Pittsburgh leads to good results most of the time.

Chase Utley picked up his eleventh double of the season tonight. That leads the NL and is one behind Torii Hunter for the ML lead. While Alex Rodriguez makes early runs at home run and RBI record, the single season double record of 67 has stood since 1931. The closest anyone's come in the last 60 years is Todd Helton's 59 in 2000. Both players hit doubles in the high 30s, so making a leap of 30 more is unlikely. But if they're going to double their way to fame, they're both off to a good start.

Reyes strikes out Mientkiewicz for the final out as Tampa Bay makes Crawford's grand slam hold up. The final was 6-4, and the win moves the Devil Rays ahead of the Yankees for fourth place in the AL East. Even though it was just a two game series, the Tampa fans waved brooms at the end of the game.

The Rays also stopped Alex Rodriguez's hit streak. The slugger drew a walk, but took an 0 for 3 otherwise.

Randy Johnson retires the side in order in the first inning, striking out the Giles brothers. He looked very smooth throwing.

Wang gave the Yankees what they need tonight, pitching into the seventh before he got in trouble. After Vizcaino intentionally walked the bases loaded and induced a lineout, Myers came in to face Crawford. Myers sent one in low but over the middle of the plate, and Crawford golfed it out for a grand slam and a 6-3 Devil Rays lead. Righties are 0 for 10 vs. Myers, but lefties are 4 for 17 with two extra-base hits.

It's never too early to keep your eye on Rich Hill. He's retired the first nine Brewers tonight, striking out one an inning. That lowers his opposition batting average for the season to .100.

Update: Hardy doubles with one out in the fourth, then Fielder knocks one out of the park for a 2-0 Milwaukee lead.

The Braves and the Marlins each score four runs on four hits in the first inning. Vanden Hurk walks the bases loaded in the top of the second which leads to his getting lifted from the contest. The Braves are in a good position to score four more runs in this inning.

Scott Kazmir hit Derek Jeter with a pitch in the first inning. Jeter did not come out to play shortstop in the bottom of the first. He was hit above the knee.

Detroit started down 7-0 after three innings. They worked their way back slowly, scoring in the fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth. In the ninth, Frankie Rodriguez gives up a double to Sheffield and a homer to Ordonez to put the Tigers on top 8-7. Great work out of Rodney today, pitching two perfect innings in relief, striking out three. Combined with Bonderman settling down to give up one hit over his last three innings of work, the Angels bats have been nearly silent for five straight innings. We'll see if that remains true as they go to the bottom of the ninth.

Magglio is three for three with two walks on the day, raising his OBA to .395.

Update: Vlad doubles with one out in the bottom of the ninth to put the tying run in scoring position.

Update: Guerrero advances to third on a deep fly ball then scores when a pitch gets by I-Rod, although it bounced first so it probably goes as a wild pitch. The game is tied at eight, and the teams will play extra frames.

Update: The Angels win in the bottom of the tenth as Reggie Willits scores from third on a ground ball. Morales reached on an infield single and ended up at second on a Todd Jones error. After an intentional walk, a sacrifice moved him to third, setting up the score. Both closers blow saves in the game, but the offense redeems K-Rod.

Dallas Braden gives the Athletics six great innings in his major league debut. They don't push him, removing Braden from the game after 86 pitches. He strikes out six and walks just one as he allows just one run. He leaves with a 1.50 ERA and a .150 BA against. The A's pen allowed one run so far to make the score 4-2 in the bottom of the 8th.

Update: Street throws a perfect ninth, striking out two for his sixth save. The Athletics take the game 4-2 and remain in first place in the AL West.

Through four innings, Bonderman struck out seven but allowed ten hits (no walks). That makes the Angels 10 for 17 when they put the ball in play, not counting two errors by Guillen. Not surprisingly, LAnaheim leads Detroit 7-1.

Bonderman and Guillen combine to allow the Angels four runs in the first inning. Bonderman gives up four hits in nine batters, raising his first inning BA allowed to .385 (10/26). Guillen commits two errors, making two of the runs unearned. The Angels lead 4-0 going to the bottom of the fourth.

Kelvim Escobar retires the Tigers in order on strikeouts in the first. He threw 11 of 15 pitches for strikes. Interestingly, the announcer noticed that Kelvim is working faster this season. He said last year he'd time Kelvim at 25 seconds between pitches, this year at about 15. Another success story for work fast, throw strikes.

Dallas Braden appears to be influenced by C.C. Sabathia. His uniform hangs on him, he keeps his hat a bit crooked, and he visage shows a serious game face. He's allowed one run in two innings on poor outfield play turning a double into a triple. He's also struck out two. He looks very confident on the mound so far.

Nick Swisher is running hard around third, trying to score on a Chavez single when he's held up the the third base coach. He injures his leg trying to stop and leaves the game limping. Scutaro pinch runs and scores on an error by Mora, letting a double play ball go through his legs. It's worse, however, as Mora throws up his hands after the error and doesn't cover third, allowing Chavez to advance to that base. He then scores on a sacrifice fly. It's 2-0 Athletics in the first.

The Game Mix channel that's part of MLB Extra Innings on DirecTV shows pregame shows, but the main channel showing the game doesn't. That's a bit strange.

The Mariners lose another game to the weather as rain in Texas postpones the contest until July.

The Blue Jays moved closer B.J. Ryan to the 60 day disabled list today.

Ryan was initially ruled out for 4-6 weeks on Sunday, April 15th with a "strained ligament" in the elbow of his throwing arm. According to G.M. J.P. Ricciardi at the time, Ryan was not to begin throwing again for the first four weeks, with the hope that he might return quickly upon restarting his pitching regimen.

That plan appears to have changed. The first timeline would have seen Ryan return some time in late May.

Jason Frasor seems up to the task so far.

One of the nice things about writing for Baseball Prospectus is that I'm now on the their chatter e-mail list. Both there and in comments on this blog I've seen the Yankees accused of panicking. Another thought is that Hughes should be up already, and the process of saying he's not ready one week but ready the next is poor. However, I think it's just bad spin. In their way, the Yankees are going through a process. Here's what I wrote on the BP thread:

One of the things I've heard is that clubs want to see what happens when a pitcher faces adversity. I think it's baloney, but in his second start, Hughes gave up five runs. He came back from that and pitched six shutout innings. See? He can handle adversity. Now they can bring him up.

The Daily News had this story in March, talking to Hughes' dad:

On Joe Torre's assertion that Hughes will benefit from adversity: "I think it's part of his development. No matter what you do, whether you're in business, working behind a desk or playing baseball, I think you're better off if you have a little adversity."

"There's no doubt in my mind he can handle it, because he's handled it before. He just hasn't had to as a professional. He's just going to have to experience it eventually."

More important to me is that at the AAA level he struck batters out, didn't walk many and gave up zero home runs. I'll take my chances with that.

Redleg Nation notes a connection between working hard and winning in Dayton.

Torii Hunter broke a baseball rule that almost resulted in him being banned from the game:

Hunter's gift of four bottles of Dom Perignon, which he had delivered to the Royals clubhouse this past weekend, was meant as a reward for the Royals sweeping the Detroit Tigers last September, allowing the Twins to come from behind to win the American League Central. The gift fulfilled a promise Hunter made last fall.

But baseball has rules about this sort of thing.

Namely, rule 21-b, which proclaims "Any player or person connected with a Club who shall offer or give any gift or reward to a player or person connected with another Club for services rendered ... in defeating or attempting to defeat a competing Club ... shall be declared ineligible for not less than three years."

The Royals returned the gift unopened, saving Hunter's career. It seems to me the rule is less about encouraging teams to win and more about preventing extortion. ("Wouldn't it be a shame if we didn't play well against the Tigers this weekend.") Since neither Hunter nor Terry Ryan were aware of the rule, the league might want to publicize this a little more.

The post from the Cheater's Guide to Baseball is here.

Gary Sheffield almost took off Jered Weaver's head with a line drive Monday night:

Weaver could have lost so much more, but he was actually lucky. A blistering Gary Sheffield liner whizzed past his head in the second inning at 108 mph, according to the stadium speed gun.

"I know it was 108 -- I could hear it," Weaver said. "I actually had a dream [Sunday] night about Sheffield hitting me with a line drive. It was kind of weird."

He needs to dream about striking out Sheffield instead. :-)

It's debut day in the majors and we start off with Dallas Braden taking the hill for the Athletics. Before I looked at his minor league numbers I had a pretty good idea what I wold see; high strikeouts, low walks and low home runs. On top of all that, a 23-6 record in the minors. So far in 2007 he's struck out 20 in 18 innings while walking just four. Seems he has little left to prove at that level. Dallas starts in Baltimore against Jeremy Guthrie. This is Guthrie's first start of the season and second of his career. The problem throughout his short career is control. He's walked 27 batters in 45 major league innings.

Down in Tampa, the Devil Rays try to drop the Yankees into last place in the AL East. Standing in their way is Chien-Ming Wang, making his 2007 debut. Wang pitched dismally vs. Tampa Bay in 2005, but owned them in 2006. The Yankees need the latter type of performance tonight. Scott Kazmir takes the hill for Tampa Bay. Scott's ERA is high despite good strikeout and walk numbers. His downfall came from hits with runners in scoring position. The opposition is 8 for 22 in that situation, a .364 batting average.

Finally, Diamondbacks fans welcome Randy Johnson back to Arizona. The Big Unit struck out 14 in 18 rehab innings while walking just two. Johnson is 57-27 lifetime at Chase Field with a 2.70 ERA. He'll face another old lefty, David Wells. Boomer still controls the strike zone as he's walked just two in sixteen innings. Like Kazmir, however, his ERA is high due to lots of opposition hits with runners in scoring position.

Enjoy!

Just saw this headline of FoxSports.com:

Griffey Sidelined by Colon Problem

He's 5 for 18 vs. Bartolo with a home run and four walks. Doesn't seem like much of a problem. :-)

Dejan Kovacevic, one of the new breed of sabermetric sports writers, examines players and coaches beliefs in clutch hitting. He offers a good contrast between the statistical research, and what the players think pro and con. It strikes me that all the people in favor of the idea offer just anecdotal evidence.

Of those who feel otherwise, Pirates pitching coach Jim Colborn said, "Dead wrong. There is an element in certain people that allows them to focus at their peak and get into a zone when the situation is more important."

He cited, from his playing days, Joe Rudi, a career .264 hitter who had a reputation of elevating his level every postseason for the Athletics, at least as measured by the intangibles of timely hits and key defensive plays.

"Believe me: For all the great players in that lineup, Joe Rudi was not the one you wanted to face. He just had a knack."

I like Jason Bay's explanation:

"It's not so much a matter of raising your level in a clutch situation. It's a matter of keeping your level the same," Bay said. "Baseball is predicated on the idea that the people who are the most successful are the ones who do things the same way most consistently. It's not an emotion game like football or hockey, where you can go bust some skulls."

Which jibes with what researchers sees in the stats:

Some players, the argument can be made, do become better in trying situations. But those cases -- and this is one area where statisticians and those inside the game tend to agree -- are much rarer than those where performance decreases.

Maybe it can be summed up as the great players don't choke.

Thanks to Dan Fox, who is quoted in the article, for the link.

There was a comment last night asking what happened to all the great nicknames. Well, Rocky Cherry debuted for the Cubs last night. Unfortunately for nickname afficinados, his parents named him Rocky.

And his first appearance ended up more rocky than cherry. Prince Fielder homered to put the Brewers up 5-4 in the top of the twelfth inning, and Cherry took the loss. All four balls in play against Rocky were in the air, something that won't help him when the wind is blowing out of Wrigley.

The good news for the Cubs is that Carlos Zambrano pitched better. He only went 5 1/3 innings, but struck out seven.

The Brewers sit atop the NL Central at 12-7. They're the only team in that division over .500. However, they've only outscored their opponents by four runs so far. The last place Cubs, however outscored their opponents by 10! Based on run differential, the Cubs should be in first place in the division. Close games tell the story. The Brewers are 5-2 in one run games, the Cubs 0-5.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

John Buck picked up two more extra-base hits tonight to raise his total to nine. He's picked up fourteen hits total for a .389 batting average. He doesn't have enough plate appearances to qualify yet, but we could end up in a few games with Mauer, Posada and Buck all near the top of the AL batting race.

A number of people are asking for the April record for RBI. Since 1957, the record is 35 for Juan Gonzalez in 1998. However, that year there were games in March, so the record for most through the end of April is 36 by both McGwire and Gonzalez. I assume that's the record because before the 1990s the season started later, making it tougher to collect a lot of home runs or RBI in the month. With 34, A-Rod has plenty of time to set the record for the month and through the end of the month.

John Maine made his bid for new Mets ace tonight as he stopped the Rockies for 7 2/3 innings. He allowed just one run to lower his ERA to 1.71. He threw strikes, more than 67% of his pitches. He gave up seven hits, but only one of the them went for extra bases. The league is hitting just .169 against him, and he's only allowed three extra base hits on the season.

The Mets offense keeps clicking as Carlos Delgado hits his first home run of the season as New York takes the game 6-1. With the Atlanta loss the Mets retake first place in the NL East.

Jered Weaver imitates his big brother and lasts just 1 2/3 innings as the Tigers plate seven runs against the youngster. Granderson started things with a home run leading off the game, but it was in the second inning where they hit Weaver. Jered struck out the first two batters, but then allowed four hits and a walk, before heading to the bench. A fielding error allowed the final two runs, so only five of the seven Jered allowed tonight were earned. The Tigers lead 7-0 early in the game.

The Red Sox wish Aaron Hill was stuck on Bunker Hill tonight. The Blue Jays second baseman smacked four hits tonight, including two doubles and a home run. That raises his slugging percentage to .634, which should put him in the top ten, if not the top five in the AL. The Blue Jays take the game 7-3 and gain on both Baltimore and Boston.

The Marlins nearly blow an 8-2 lead as the Braves work their way back to an 8-7 loss. Willis ran into trouble in the sixth and seventh, giving back three of the six runs. Owens tried to finish the game in the ninth but allowed a homer and two doubles before Renyel Pinto struck out McCann to end the game and earn the second save of his career. Hooray for the namesake!

It was nice to see Dontrelle Willis get his hitting stroke back. He delivered a single and a triple, scoring a run. That's the third triple of his career.

Alex Rodriguez just took Reyes deep in the top of the ninth inning. His second home run of the game ties the major league record of 14 home runs in April set by Albert Pujols in 2006. That makes the score 10-8 Devil Rays, and the Yankees are down to their final out after Giambi Ks.

Update: With the four for five tonight, he's also hitting .400 on the season.

Update: Matsui flies out to end the game with the Devil Rays winning 10-8. Six of the nine Devil Rays offensive players collected multiple hits in the game. The Yankees pitching continues to be poor.

If A-Rod was to revert to his career rate of RBI per game for the rest of the season, he'd drive in 146 runs. With three tonight, he's driven in 34 runs in 18 games.

Down two runs in the bottom of the ninth, the Orioles push a run across and load the bases against Huston Street. But Street gets Tejada to ground out and end the game. I didn't see the play, but the Baltimore announcers were talking about a bunt play by Mora in the ninth. With first and third and one out, Mora bunted back to the pitcher, but he was just able to advance the runner on first to second. I don't know if a squeezed was missed by the runner on third, or if Mora was bunting on his own.

The Phillies took Chris Sampson to town as they knocked out 14 hits against the Houston starter in just four innings. The Day by Day Database goes back to 1957, and Scott Sanders is the only other pitcher who allowed that many hits in that few innings (Sanders had a worse game). Rollins and Victorino did another great job of setting the table, reaching base seven times (Rollins missed the cycle by a double) and scoring six runs. The Phillies win the game 11-4.

David Halberstam died in a car accident:

Halberstam, a New Yorker, was a passenger in a car that was broadsided by another vehicle in Menlo Park, south of San Francisco, San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault said.

...

The driver of the car carrying Halberstam is a student at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, and was taken to Stanford Medical Center. Two others were injured.

My thoughts go out to his family and friends.

I really enjoyed The Teammates. It gave me a new respect for the Red Sox teams of the 40s. I've read chapters of Summer of '49, also. He had a talent for putting you in the moment with his writing. It's sad to see him go so unexpectedly.

Both Craig Biggio and Jimmy Rollins lead off their half of the first inning with home runs. Rollins shot moves him ahead of Bonds for the National League lead in long balls. Biggio's hit leaves him 54 short of 3000. Half of his hits this season went for extra bases.

Alex Rodriguez blasts his 13th home run of the season leading off the second inning for the Yankees. That ties him with Ken Griffey, Jr. for the American League record for most home runs in April. He needs one more to catch Pujols for the major league record. He's now slugging 1.028, which is an MVP like OBA + Slugging.

Update: Igawa gives the run back and more in the bottom of the second as Baldelli crushes a three run homer to break a 1-1 tie and put the Devil Rays up 4-1.

It's about time:

A day after getting swept by the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees said Monday they plan on having top pitching prospect Phil Hughes make his major league debut Thursday against Toronto.

Yankees manager Joe Torre didn't rule out that the 20-year-old right-hander, taken in the first round of the 2004 amateur draft, might make more than one start.

"If we're comfortable and we sense he's comfortable, we'll see what we do," Torre said before the Yankees played Tampa Bay.

Hughes is 2-1 with a 3.94 ERA in three starts this season at Triple-A Scranton, and he pitched six shutout innings last Wednesday at Syracuse, allowing two hits, striking out 10 and walking none.

After last night's game, the Yankees could certainly use Hughes' control. With luck, he'll have a year like Jered Weaver did in 2006.

Eric Gagne hit the disabled list today:

Gagne, the 2003 National League Cy Young Award winner for Los Angeles, was appearing in consecutive games for the Rangers for the first time Sunday when he started favoring his right leg after his 11th pitch. He was diagnosed with a hip injury

.

The Rangers at least have an experienced closer who can take over. The Oakland Athletics lose a more valuable player:

The Oakland Athletics placed their ace right-hander on the 15-day disabled list Monday with a strained right shoulder and also put center fielder Milton Bradley on the DL.

The 25-year-old Harden went 4-0 with a 4.24 ERA in only nine starts last season because of two stints on the disabled list with a lower back and elbow injury.

The A's said Sunday that Harden, who threw a bullpen session before the game, would not make his scheduled start Tuesday at home against Baltimore. He left his outing April 15 against the New York Yankees in the seventh inning with a stiff throwing shoulder, but manager Bob Geren had said Harden probably wouldn't need to go on the DL.

Dan Haren makes a good ace, but it's tough to lose your best pitcher. Let's hope Harden doesn't turn into another Carl Pavano.

Soccer Dad doesn't like Forbes ranking of the top ten baseball GMs. He feels there's too much business, not enough baseball in the calculations.

Sabernomics points to a couple of studies that show hitters peak closer to 29 than 27. That's very interesting. When I first read Bill James and his research that players peaked at 27, it made sense to me. A few years earlier, a crew coach told me that oarsmen peaked at 27. I figured at that point, athletic peak was athletic peak. But it appears Bill's study was biased by the era of ballplayer he chose. Time to readjust my thinking.

Last night I wondered if Wily Mo Pena was the heaviest man to play centerfield. Since 2000, he's the heaviest man to bat as a CF.

Center Fielder	Weight
Wily Mo Pena	245
Lyle Mouton	240
Austin Kearns	235
Jermaine Dye	235
Larry Walker	233
Joe Borchard	230
Raul Mondesi	230
Robert Perez	230
Hideki Matsui	230
Sammy Sosa	230
Matthew Kemp	230

I'll see if I can dig up more data on the subject.

Where Have you Gone, Andy Van Slyke sees signs of hope and signs of despair in the Pirates play so far this season.

At U.S.S. Mariner:

I don't mean to be Corco, but our rotation was better when it had Gil Meche and Ryan Franklin in it.

A trio of retired African American players decided to try to bring baseball back to urban areas:

Count Dennis ''Oil Can'' Boyd, Marquis Grissom, and Delino DeShields among those taking a proactive approach to reviving baseball in the inner cities. They're doing this not only through their barnstorming tour -- ''Oil Can Boyd's Traveling All-Stars'' -- which starts May 16 vs. the Brockton Rox and continues through the US and Canada, but through their newly formed Urban Baseball League, which will start in 2008.

Independent pro baseball will be marketed in predominantly African-American cities (the hope is prominent African-Americans will purchase franchises), and inner-city kids will be taught the game Boyd, Grissom, and DeShields so love.

''I'm sick of the rhetoric,'' DeShields said from Charlotte, N.C., where his 14-year-old son was playing in a baseball tournament. ''If we want more black kids playing baseball, if we want more black people in the stands, if we want more black people running baseball teams and in positions of power, then we have to go after it ourselves. We have to do something about it, and not just talk about it. Oil Can, Marquis, and I are going after it. We're trying to change things as businessmen and as baseball players.''

It's one of those ideas that stop and make you think. In a way, it seems to be going back to the days of the Negro Leagues and segregation (although the article makes it clear Boyd's barnstorming team is diverse). But if you want to bring the game to black fans, what better way than putting a team in the middle of the community? I wish them lots of luck and hope Springfield, MA gets a franchise.

Manny Stiles, the man who sold his fandom on EBay for charity, is now credentialed at Devil Rays games. He'll be blogging from the pressbox tonight and wants you to join in.

Correction: Fixed not to now.

The Diamondbacks pitchers are hitting for a higher batting average than the Diamondbacks pinch hitters. Pitchers are 7/40, a .175 BA, while pinch hitters went 6/37, .162. It should be noted that batters in a pinch drew two walks and were hit by a pitch, giving them a better OBA. They've also produced a double versus no extra-base hits for the pitchers. Still, there's not much of a difference there. With Livan Hernandez 3 for 9, you might as well let him bat for himself.

The Red Sox continue their two week stretch against the injured Blue Jays and Yankees as they host Toronto Monday night. So far, Boston took five of six games against the AL East rivals to secure first place in the AL East. The Jays send Tomo Ohka against Tim Wakefield. Ohka's allowed the highest HR per 9 IP in the majors this season (15 IP). Given the Red Sox home run performance Sunday, that's a worry. Meanwhile, Tim Wakefield leads the American League in ERA with a 1.35 mark. He's yet to allow a home run, and batters are hitting a mere .167 against Tim. What's even more impressive is those 12 hits came on 61 balls in play, a .197 BABIP. Even when batters are making contact, they're not hitting the ball hard.

Chris Sampson of Houston is another pitcher at the top of the early season ERA leaderboards. Like Wakefield, he's not striking out many batters, but his BABIP is just .208. We'll see how long that lasts against a Phillies team that appears to be coming out of their offensive doldrums. Adam Eaton takes the mound for Philadelphia. He's pitched better than his ERA, but Adam gave up both his home runs this season with men on base.

The pitching matchup of the night throws Mark Buehrle against Gil Meche in Kansas City. Buehrle comes fresh off his no-hitter and has allowed a mere .127 batting average this season. With the Royals batting just .240 as a team, he might have a shot at another. Meche is controlling his walks well this season, helping him to a .315 OBA allowed.

Enjoy!

I have to agree with Deadspin on the Hank Blalock picture.

Not to make too much of 63 at bats, but there's no sign of improvement from Hank. This was one of Washington's big projects, getting Hank hitting again. So far, no change. And there's no high pressure management from Showalter this season.

Adam Dunn started out the season making contact. He struck out just eight times in his first nine games. Now that sounds like a lot, but for Adam it was a huge reduction in his career rate. He normally strikes out in 33% of his at bats. In those games, it was under 25%. Then things changed. In his last nine games, Dunn struck out every game, eight times more than once. And his averages plummetted. Putting the ball in play works for Adam. He's eight for 17 in this streak when he doesn't strike out. He can survive with a 33% strikeout rate, not a 50%. And if he can get it down to 25% again, he might win the MVP.

The Orioles sit in second place in the AL East, having taken five of their last six against AL East opponents and eight of their last nine overall. So far, the Orioles concentrating on the bullpen over the winter worked. While the starting staff is okay with a 4.55 ERA, the pen is shutting down the opposition. They've posted a 2.73 ERA so far, with great strikeout and walk numbers (58/19), 8.3 K per 9 IP.

The offense is middle of the road, but one place where it excels is with men on base. Thirty one of the team's fifty five extra base hits came with men on base, exactly when you want to hit for power. The long hits drive runners further around the bases. If the starting pitching can close to the bullpen in productivity, this will be a good season for the Orioles.

Four of the five NL East teams do a fantastic job of setting the table:

Best 1-2 OBA, NL Teams, 2007

Team	1-2 OBA
Mets	.404
Braves	.393
Marlins	.383
Phillies	.375
Reds	.375

Reyes and Rollins each discovered their inner selectivity this year. Jose's OBA is over 100 points better than his career average, while Rollins is up over 40. All these teams are giving their power hitting hearts plenty of RBI opportunities. NY, Florida and Atlanta are in the top five in the NL in runs per game.

Connor Jackson admitted to a hamstring injury on Sunday:

First baseman Conor Jackson left the game in the fourth inning with a left hamstring injury that apparently has been bothering him almost since the beginning of the season.

Jackson said he hurt it during the season-opening series in Colorado and re-aggravated it against the Dodgers last week.

That's likely a big reason behind his dismal start. He drawing walks just fine, but he's slugging just .281.

They have laws to cover everything in New York:

A 40-year-old man arrested at Shea Stadium on Friday night is accused of trying to distract Braves pitcher Tim Hudson and shortstop Edgar Renteria with a high-powered flashlight.

Frank Martinez was charged with interference with a professional sporting event and second-degree reckless endangerment, Queens District Atty. Richard Brown said Saturday.

If you ask Red Sox fans, Renteria doesn't need a light in his eyes. And given that Hudson pitched eight shutout innings, he's already seen the light. :-)

Joe Christensen notes that the Twins AAA pitchers are doing quite well to begin the season. That should be some comfort as Ponson's ERA soars.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

Abreu walks with two outs in the top of the ninth, bringing up A-Rod against Papelbon.

Update: A-Rod falls behind 0-2, then grounds to third for a force play. The Red Sox win 7-6, and Dice-K gets the win in his worst start so far.

The Red Sox win the series, but it was close. They win by scores of 7-6, 7-5 and 7-6. It was a fun series, close games, plenty of lead changes, late come backs, and lots of home runs tonight. It's going to be a fun year between these two teams.

After Alex Rodriguez leads off the 8th with a single, Okajima relieves Matsuzaka. Dice-K struck out seven and walked one (he hit two), but the Yankees were 8 for 21 when they put the ball in play, a .381 average on balls in play.

Update: Hideki gets one out, but gives up a single to Cano and a walk to Posada to load the bases. That's it for Okajima. Donnelly comes in to a tough situation.

Update: Josh Phelps pinch hits for Nieves, which means he'll come in to catch. He last caught in the majors in 2001.

Update: Phelps hits a line drive up the middle that Pedroia catches on a dive. A great play to preserve a one-run lead for Boston. A-Rod scores in the inning. The Red Sox come up in the bottom of the eighth leading 7-6.

Scott Proctor comes in for the third straight game and gives up three straight hits, including the second home run of the game for Mike Lowell. The three runs puts the Red Sox up 7-5. Maybe he should have stuck with Pettitte.

Update: I really wonder if the Yankees wouldn't be better off bringing in relievers with the idea that they finish the game. That way, the pen doesn't get totally worn out like it is now, having lots of pitchers go an inning in almost every game.

Robinson Cano goes from first to third on a ball that came very close to being caught by J.D. Drew. It's a fly ball causes many runners to hold up, but Cano judged it would fall and made it to third easily. That paid off as Cabrera hit into a double play, and Robinson scored. The Yankees lead 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth, and Andy Pettitte enters the game. Pettitte threw 100 pitches on Friday.

Update: Pettitte walks Youkilis, but gets Ortiz to hit into a double play to end the inning. He throws nine pitches. According to the broadcast, this was Pettitte's day to throw on the side anyway.

Derek Jeter ties the game with a home run that just reached the top of the Green Monster. That's his first home run of the season and only his fourth extra-base hit in 24 hits.

With Posada injured, Wil Nieves hurts his catching hand. Wil looks like he's staying in the game, but Josh Phelps was getting his catching gear out.

Manny Ramirez chaes a Wright pitch over the Green Monster seats to cut the Yankees lead to 3-1. It was certainly a monster shot. Drew parks one into the triangle seats in center on a hanging curve, and the solo shots bring the Red Sox within one run. The Lowell hits it higher and farther than Manny, blasting a high arching ball over the monster seats to tie the game. Three in a row for the Red Sox tie the game. Not a great inning for Chase Wright.

Update: Varitek makes it four in a row, but he doesn't clear the Monster seats. He just reaches the top row. Amazing. We'll see if Pena can make it five.

Update: Pena strikes out to end the inning. ESPN reports four in a row is a record for the Red Sox.

Damon and Jeter reach against Matsuzaka in the third, but Dice-K comes back and strikes out Abreu and Rodriguez. Giambi, however, dinks one between Pedroia and Drew, where Pedroia was playing in shallow right. A lucky, perfectly placed ball put the Yankees on top 3-0. Jason is now 2 for 2 vs. Daisuke.

MLB.com lists Willy Mo Pena at 245 pounds. Is he the biggest fielder to play centerfield? Watching him tonight, he moves like a big, heavy man.

Chase Wright walks the Red Sox table setters to start the first, but gets the heart of the order in order. Ortiz and Ramirez fly out while Drew strikes out. Wright threw 15 of his 29 pitches for balls, however, not a good sign against this potent lineup.

Matsuzaka retires Damon and Jeter easily, but Abreu works him for a walk. The Dice-K tries to come inside to A-Rod and hits him. Matsuzaka works Giambi outside, and Jason goes with the pitch, hitting a double into left center. That's good for two runs. If Jason keeps doing that, he'll force teams away from the shift, making it easier for him to pull the ball for hits.

Jeff Weaver allowed three runs in three innings today and lowered his ERA. The Angels took the game from the Mariners 6-1. Ervin Santana continues his good pitching in Anaheim, allowing just one run in seven innings of work.

Matt Holliday missed the cycle by a home run, and Jason Hirsh pitched seven strong innings as the Rockies defeated the Padres 4-2. Hirsh struck out seven, allowing two runs, bringing his ERA down to 3.16. Holliday brought his average up to .382, which should put him in the National League lead.

For the second day in a row, the Giants hit just enough solo home runs to win the game. Saturday, Bonds produced the only run of the game with his fifth shot. Sunday, Bonds and Feliz both went deep. That was just enough for Matt Cain who held the Diamondbacks to one run. Cain completes the game for the 2-1 win. Cain walked four to go with the three singles he allowed, but the Giants turned three double plays behind him to neutralize the wildness.

That's three homers for Bonds in his last four games. His slugging percentage is up to .804, and it looks like he's getting in a groove. He now stands at 740 career home runs.

Jorge De La Rosa looks like he's been watching the Twins pitchers closely. He walked just one batter today as he held Minnesota to one run over eight innings. That gives him just five walks in 26 2/3 innings, well below his career average of more than a walk every other inning. He threw more that 2/3 of his pitches for strikes, and brought his ERA down to 3.04. If he can keep this up, the Royals found themselves a gem.

I just saw the clip of Gagne leaving the game against the Oakland Athletics with an apparent knee injury, although SeamHeads say it might be his back. The Rangers held on for a 4-3 win. Once again, the Oakland pen wastes a good start. Chad Gaudin struck out seven over six innings, allowing just one run. The A's pitchers need to become a bit more efficient if they're going to go deeper in games to pick up wins.

David Bush threw eight shutout innings against the Astros today, taking a 4-0 lead into the ninth. With Bush slightly over 100 pitches, I thought the Brewers would go to the bullpen, but Bush started the ninth. It turns out he was out of gas. He allows a double, walk and a double before Cordero comes in to finish the game. In true reliever fashion, he allows the inherited runners to score, boosting Bush's ERA but making himself look good for the save. That's just the kind of outing anyone with Bush on his fantasy team hates.

But David pitched extremely well, striking out seven and not issuing that walk until the ninth. He's showing excellent control this year, walking just three in 25 innings. That makes fantasy owners very happy.

Tom Glavine out-pitched his old buddy John Smoltz today. Smoltz lasted just 5 2/3 innings, getting tagged for six runs. Meanwhile, Glavine showed good control, walking none and striking out five in his six innings of work, leaving with a 6-3 lead. But the teams changed positions once the bullpen entered.

Braves relievers shut down the Mets the rest of the way, allowing two hits and two walks in their 3 1/3 innings of work. Meanwhile, Atlanta pounded three Mets relievers over two innings, hitting two home runs and taking advantage of the defense for three unearned runs. What was supposed to be a strength for the Mets turned into a weakness today.

Scott Rolen boosted his batting average 73 points today as he knocks out five hits in five at bats. His last, a two run triple in the top of the ninth is the difference in the game as Isringhausen tries to get the final out, pinch hitter Alfosno Soriano. It's 9-7 Cardinals.

Update: Isringhausen gets ahead of Alfonso 0-2. He fouls off some pitches, then Isringhausen throws a low pitch over the plate. It wasn't low enough or outside enough, however, as Soriano pulls it down the line for a double. That puts men at second an third for DeRosa.

Update: DeRosa hits a high fly ball down the right field line. At first, Derosa didn't run, but the win blew it back fair where it falls in for a single. Two runs score to tie the game at nine. If DeRosa is running all the way, he has a double. A force out ends the inning as these two teams go to extra innings.

Update: Pujols wins the game with a three-run homer in the top of the 10th. His three for six moves him well above the Mendoza line at .229.

Jay Payton debuted at the plate today for the Baltimore Orioles and made the most of it, going three for five and scoring two runs. He was part of a productive top of the order today, as the 1-4 hitters in the Baltimore lineup went nine for sixteen and scored all seven Baltimore runs. The 7-3 win over the Blue Jays puts Baltimore firmly in second place in the AL East, one game behind the Red Sox pending the outcome of tonight's game.

Placido Polanco caps off a good day at the plate with his second RBI of the game. He singles in the twelfth to put the Tigers in the win column 6-5 over the White Sox. Polanco reached base three times in six appearance, raising his OBA to .402.

I wonder if Polanco and Granderson wouldn't be better flipped in the lineup. Granderson's not doing a great job of getting on base, but he's hitting for power. That probably works better behind Polanco than in front of him.

James Shields pitches eight stellar innings for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays this afternoon, striking out twelve and walking just one. The Indians managed just two hits as the Devil Rays went into the ninth lead 4-2. But Shields was over 100 pitches, which meant Brian Stokes came into the game as Reyes pitched two games in a row. That was a mistake as he walked two and gave up two hits, including a three-run homer to Garko. The Indians score four in the top of the ninth, taking the game 6-4 and making Shields' fine performance for naught.

Bruce Bochy's desire to stretch out his pitchers in games concerns John Perricone.

Dan Uggla came out of his slump yesterday and the Marlins came out of their losing streak. Saturday he picked up two hits and two walks in a 9-3 Marlins win. Sunday, he repeated his three runs scored, this time with two home runs and a single. He also added six RBI. With Cabrera raised from the dead and hitting his fifth home run, the Marlins went on to a 12-6 win over the Nationals.

Here's hoping Ron Santo makes a speedy recovery.

Kelly Johnson get the Braves off on the right foot, leading off the game against Tom Glavine with his third home run of the season. It's the second leading off a game.

Tom Glavine comes into today with a 3-1 record, his only loss coming in a game against his former teammate, John Smoltz. Both pitchers allowed two earned runs in that game, but the Mets defensive miscues led to three unearned runs. Despite Glavine's low ERA, two things bother me about the pitcher's stats. He's walking more than he's striking out, and righties are hitting him much better than lefties. When Glavine is right, he's the kind of pitcher who gets right-handed batters out. Smoltz is doing a better job of keeping the ball in the park this season compared to 2006. He's only allowed two home runs in 26 innings.

Runs could be plentiful in the Cleveland/Tampa Bay matchup. The Devil Rays score at a rate of 5.18 per game, third best in the majors. Add to that Jake Westbrook's 12.08 ERA and you have a slugfest in the making. Jake's already been taken deep five times in just 12 2/3 innings. He'll face James Shields, who also allowed five home runs. His are over 20 innings, however. James is also pitching very well against left-handed batters, allowing a .209 OBA against the group.

Houston and Milwaukee continue their battle for first in the NL Central with David Bush hosting Roy Oswalt. Bush appears to be pitching in a bit of bad luck. His strikeouts, walks and home runs are all great, but he's putting a lot of leadoff hitters on. Eight of seventeen leadoff hitters reached by a hit or walk. Roy Oswalt allowed just four extra-base hits so far this season, and none with men on base. He's making it tough for runners to advance a long distance.

Greg Maddux allowed home runs in each of his last five starts at Coors field, eight in all. His record there is way out of whack with the rest of his career, and it's the long balls that hurt him. The Jason Hirsh trade looks good for the Rockies so far. He's posting a 3.38 ERA and only allowed one home run in 18 2/3 innings so far.

And tonight, in glorious HD, Daisuke Matsuzaka takes the mound against the New York Yankees. The should be good news for Chase Wright, since all of Matsuzaka's opponents pitched well so far.

2007	Matsuzaka	Opposing Starter
Innings	20	22 2/3
Walks	5	3
Strikeouts	24	16
Home Runs	1	1
ERA	2.70	0.79

Enjoy!

Manny Stiles documents the Pronk shift, used against Travis Hafner last night.

Bartolo Colon returned to the majors last night, and allowed just one run over seven innings. 6-4-2 has more:

Despite giving up one run and seven hits, Bart actually looked pretty solid. That's not to say that he'll look anywhere near this good against real teams; the absence of strikeouts is a concern. Maybe that's not a surprise, because his velocity is likely gone for good:

"My goal all along was to pitch in April. I worked really hard to get back here, and I want to thank my teammates for all the runs they gave me tonight," Colon said. "I know the days of throwing 99, 100 miles per hour are over for me, but my mind is stronger."

Though the stadium radar gun was turned off, the radio announcers said he threw up to 95 MPH. I'll take Saturday's game as a positive sign.

The bullpen came close to blowing the game, allowing five run in the eighth inning, but the Angels held on for a 7-6 win, the first of the year for Bartolo.

Update: Given that Seattle is scoring 4.85 runs per game and the Angels are scoring 3.47 per game, saying Seattle isn't a real team is a bit unfair.

What a way to blow a ball game! Ian Snell held the Dodgers to two runs over seven innings, and the Pirates led 3-2 going into the bottom of the ninth with Torres on for the save. He walked the leadoff hitter, then replaced him with Valdez on a force out. At that point, the battery ran out of juice:

Torres' second pitch to Saenz, a wild one, skipped away from Paulino, and Valdez broke for second. When Paulino retrieved the ball about 15 feet away and tried to nail him there, the throw sailed into center field, and Valdez took third.

That was the first miscue.

His next, and the one that was far more costly, came when Torres got Saenz to swing over a diving splitter for strike two. Paulino failed to turn his glove to the underhand in time, and it rifled through his legs.

"I just saw the bat and the ball at the same time," Paulino said. "I lost the ball right there."

Still, it caromed hard off the backstop and right back to Paulino as Valdez was in a desperate sprint for home. Paulino flipped to Torres, who appeared to block Valdez's slide with his left foot, but umpire Joe West ruled him safe, and the score was tied, 3-3.

That set up Martin's grand slam in the tenth on a 1-2 count. With the Pirates scoring 3.44 runs per game, they need to win when their starters hold the opposition down.

The Texas Rangers used nothing but relievers last night in a 7-0 shutout of the Oakland Athletics. Kameron Loe started the game after five relief appearances, but his relief did a stellar job. Oakland did not land a hit in 3 2/3 innings. Four men reached base by a walk or hit by pitch, but that was it.

Despite their high team ERA, the Rangers staff pitched two shutouts this season. Only fourteen of the thirty teams have at least one.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

Joe Kennedy and Kameron Loe battle for five plus innings to a 1-0 score in favor of Texas. Loe is making his first start of the year after five appearances from the bullpen. He pitched much better tonight, giving up just three hits while striking out five. Kennedy also K'd five hitters, but walked three, one of those coming around to score on a Teixeira single in the fourth.

The bullpens took up the challenge, and it's still 1-0 in the seventh.

Cole Hamels struck out fifteen batters through nine innings. That gives the youngster 33 K on the season with just six walks issued, all in 28 innings. His only mistake tonight was a home run to Jeff Conine, a solo shot in the second. The Phillies win the game 4-1 as Hamels picks up the first complete game of his career and lowers his ERA to 2.57.

Update: A commenter points out the Phillies turned a triple play in the game.

Reds fifth. Hamilton walked. Encarnacion singled to center, Hamilton to second. Ross grounded into a triple play, third baseman Nunez to second baseman Utley to first baseman Helms. Hamilton out, Encarnacion out.

You have to love the around the horn triple play.

Matt Chico walks seven tonight in 4 2/3 innings. That matches the single game high for the season shared with Oliver Perez. That gives Chico 15 walks in 18 1/3 innings. He's not going to last in the majors with those kinds of numbers.

Anibal leaves the game in the top of the sixth with an apparent cramp. We'll see if it's more serious. The Marlins don't really need more injuries right now.

Update: Adam Loewen also walks seven tonight. That gives him 19 free passes in 19 1/3 innings. However, thanks three double plays he only allowed two runs and is in line for the win. The Orioles lead 5-2 in the ninth.

The Brewers idea to put Hall in center and Hardy at short paid dividends tonight. Hardy homered twice to help Milwaukee to a 5-1 lead in the sixth, J.J. driving in three runs. Both are showing decent to good power as Hardy is now slugging .559 and Hall .483.

Jon Papelbon pitches the ninth for the save and the Red Sox defeat the Yankees 7-5. All three AL games played today ended with the same 7-5 score!

Both bullpens pitch shutouts, with the Red Sox relievers not allowing a hit over 2 1/3 innings. Boston's relievers now own a 2.48 ERA.

Jason Marquis saved his best for his former team as he pitches seven shutout innings against the Cardinals. He allows seven hits, all singles and hits two batters. The Cubs offense helps out with two homers to give Chicago a 5-0 lead in the eighth.

Jim Thome drew his twenty second walk today. He's played fifteen games. It seems that the White Sox offense is so bad, teams feel they're better off pitching around Jim than pitching too him. I don't buy the strategy, but Thome's OBA is over .550 and the White Sox came into today with a .319 mark.

Edgar Gonzalez and Barry Zito are engaged in a classic pitching duel in San Francisco. So far, the only run came on Barry Bonds' fifth homer of the year and the 739th of his career. Home runs are Edgar's problem, as that's the sixth he's allowed in 24 1/3 innings through six today. Bonds is out of the game but leaves with a .767 slugging percentage.

Update: That's the way the game ends. Gonzalez gives up no walks and strikes out more batters than Zito, but the long ball makes the difference.

This was a good call. David Ortiz pulls the ball down the line in his third at bat for his sixth home run of the season. The two run shot puts the Red Sox up 7-4 and caps a three-run fourth inning.

Alex Rodriguez leads off the third with his seventh double of the season. That's 19 extra base hits for Alex, and so while we think about his breaking some single season home run record, we should also think about his breaking Babe Ruth's 119 extra-base hit record from 1921.

Crisp and Cora sneak back to back bunt singles by the Yankees, and both come around to score on a wild pitch, ground out and single. It's tied at four with the Red Sox still batting in the second.

Update: Ortiz sends another fly ball deep to right, but this time Abreu is playing deeper and makes the catch. If David keeps this up, the next one is going into the bullpen.

The Yankees are using the second string today as Thompson, Nieves and Cabrera bat 8, 9 and 1. What looks like an easy inning for Beckett turns into a run as Thompson doubles off the wall, Lowell makes an error on a ground by Nieves and Cabrera singles to put the Yankees back on top 4-2. They go to the bottom of the second with that score.

David Ortiz doubles in two to tie the Yankees in the bottom of the first. Lugo and Youkilis hit Karstens hard to start the game to put runners at second and third. Jeff then pitched Ortiz well, getting ahead and moving his pitches around the strike zone. But then he hung a curve and Ortiz just missed getting all of it, sending it over Abreu's head for a double.

Update: That's all the Red Sox get as Ortiz tries to score from third on a ground ball to second with the infield back.

Boof Bonser allows two home runs today in his five innings of work. That gives him seven in 20 2/3 innings. Makes you wonder if he's been getting tips from Twins broadcaster Burt Blyleven, who allowed 50 in 1986, the single season record. Minnesota and Kansas City are tied at five in the seventh.

The Yankees take a 2-0 lead in the first. Beckett walked two and struck out two facing the first four batters, then Giambi hit a fly ball to right center than fell between Drew and Crisp. (Drew made the most useless dive I've ever seen, as the ball landed yards away from him.) Then Cano hits a slow grounder that Youkilis doesn't go for, and by the time Cora gets there Robinson reaches first. The Red Sox are coming to bat.

Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye both double to start the 10th inning for the White Sox, putting them up 6-5 over the Tigers. An error and a sacrifice fly provides some insurance, making the score 7-5.

Update: Jenks pitches the bottom of the 10th for the save. Rodney continues to disappoint for the Tigers. His record goes to 1-4 and his ERA to 7.78.

Oliver Perez continued his career and season success vs. the Braves today. He allowed two runs through 6 2/3 innings. Most impressively, he struck out nine without issuing a walk. In 13 2/3 innings against the Braves this year, Perez struck out 15 without a walk. And while he's pitched a couple of bad starts, for his career he holds a 3.25 ERA against Atlanta.

Update: The Mets win 7-2, and Perez moves to 4-3 against the Braves.

Ken Harrelson said something very interesting while watching Crede face Zumaya. Joel is hitting 100 on the gun, and Crede just takes a pitch down the middle. Hawk says that when someone is throwing that fast, it's good to take a pitch like that all the way, not moving your head. He explained that this makes the pitch look slower; it lets the batter time the fastball. Crede then singled in the tying run.

I've never heard about this approach to a hard thrower before. Does anyone care to comment?

Jose Reyes knocked out three hits so far today, leaving himself a triple short of the cycle. Given his affinity for three baggers, the cycle seems like a decent possibility. His homer is one of three allowed by Chuck James, who didn't allow one this season before today. The Mets lead 6-1 in the sixth inning.

Nate Robertson picks up an error on a throw to first, because he faked out his own first baseman. Nate takes off his hat and is wiping his brow when he throws quickly to first. Casey, seeing Robertson apparently taking a moment, takes off his glove for an adjustment. The ball sails by, and Ozuna ends up at second. He's at third after a single, and ties the game on a sacrifice fly by Thome.

Jose Contreras throws seventeen pitches in the first inning, fifteen of them for strikes. The only ball thrown, however, hit Gary Sheffield to load the bases. That set up a grand slam by Carlos Guillen to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead after one inning. The opposition is now 10 for 23 in the first inning against Jose with two home runs and ten RBI.

Jeff Karstens faces Josh Beckett as the Yankees and Red Sox continue their weekend series. Karstens career is starting out in a similar fashion to Chien-Ming Wang's. In the minor leagues, Jeff posted very good walk numbers and decent strikeout numbers. But in the majors, the strikeouts fell, although he remained stingy with the free passes. The results are a good number of hits, but an ERA below 4.00. Hitters only slammed one home run against Josh Beckett so far this season. Last year, he allowed six in April. His ERA reflects that. At 1.50,his ERA is fifth in the American League. With a win, he'll become the first four game winner in the majors.

A nice matchup in Milwaukee tonight as Chris Capuano host Wandy Rodriguez. The lefty Capuano keeps lefties and righties off base with equal excellence in 2007, but righties do hit him for power. Opponents are hitting just .209 off Rodriguez, 70 points lower than his career average. The Astros only scored four runs for him so far, however, which is why he hasn't picked up a win.

San Diego at Colorado wins the nomination for slugfest of the day. Clay Hensley sports an ERA over 12 and is averaging less than five innings per start. Righties pound Jeff Francis, and they've accounted for about 70% of the at bats against him.

Finally, Ian Snell faces Brad Penny in a matchup of sub-2.00 ERAs. Snell is striking out a batter per inning, helping him hold opponents to a .181 batting average. Like Beckett, a win puts Penny at 4-0. Brad's put men on base this year, but opponents are only 1 for 14 against him with runners in scoring position.

Enjoy!

The Marlins find themselves on a six game losing streak. They depend on their infield for much of their offense, and while Hanley Ramirez keeps getting on, the other two big bats went silent. Miguel Cabrera is out with an injury, but Dan Uggla can't buy a hit. He's just 3 for 26 during the losing streak, but with 12 strikeouts. He's striking out at a rate 1/3 higher than last season. Either pitchers found a weakness, or there's something wrong with Dan as well.

Randy Wolf appears rejuvenated with his move to the west coast. Always a good strikeout pitcher, Wolf fanned ten Pirates in six innings last night helping Los Angeles to an easy 10-2 win over Pittsburgh. The former Phillies pitcher now has 25 strikeouts in 24 innings, with just six walks. The control is impressive, since for most of his career Wolf's K/BB was a bit over two.

What happens when a bad offense goes up against a good pitcher? Chris Young and the Rockies demonstrated that last night as Colorado scored just one run for the second night in a row. Young dominated, throwing 72 of 101 pitches for strikes and picking up seven Ks without walking a batter. He had been a bit wild entering the game with 10 walks in his three previous starts.

The Rockies now rank 25th in the majors in runs per game at 3.71. One reason is rookies Troy Tulowitzki and Chris Iannetta haven't found their strides. Both are hitting under the Mendoza line and doing little else offensively to make themselves valuable.

Going into last night, the Ponson/Perez matchup in Kansas City looked like a slugfest in the making, and the game didn't disappoint as the Royals took the contest 11-7. The old men rose up last night, as Grudzielanek, Sweeney and Sanders all homered. Neither Ponson nor Perez pitched well, Sidney pushing his ERA to 9.39 and Perez to 8.64. One wonders how many more starts either will get.

The Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers entered the ninth inning tied at two, and nearly doubled their run output for that game in the final frame. The Brewers failed to go for the sure out on a sacrifice bunt, and that loaded the bases. Biggio delivered a grand slam to put the Astros up 6-2. Craig is now 55 hits short of 3000.

And in what appeared to be a confidence building move, Brad Lidge starts the ninth. He walks the first two batters then Fielder takes him deep.

"It wasn't good enough, put it that way, obviously," Lidge said of his 1-2 slider to Fielder. "It should have been down more. He's a good hitter.

"I would classify it this way -- I got ahead of him, so for me to put it anywhere in the strike zone I think is a mistake. I should have thrown it lower. I probably tried to throw it too hard, overthrew it a little bit and left it up in the zone."

It wasn't enough, however, as Qualls closed out the game.

Lidge is older than I thought, mostly because he hasn't bee around that long. He's 30 years old, an age when pitchers go through a transition as they lose something off their fastballs. If that's the case, Brad isn't adjusting to it well. Of course, since he came up late in his career, maybe his peak was just very short. Looking at his minor league numbers, it's surprising he didn't reach the majors sooner.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

The Red Sox and the Reds aren't the only teams to mount comebacks tonight. The Toronto bullpen failed to hold a 4-2 lead passed on by A.J. Burnett. Markakis singled in both the 8th and the 9th inning, his second giving Baltimore the 5-4 win as they score three runs in the last two innings.

The Washington Nationals took an early 5-0 lead over the Marlins, but Florida fought back and tied the game in the bottom of the ninth at five on a Ross home run. The teams are still tied in the12th.

And the White Sox fell behind Detroit 4-2, but scored two in the sixth and one in the seventh for a 5-4 lead. The bullpen allowed just two hits in 4 1/3 shutout innings, holding off the Tigers long enough for the comeback.

Update: With a man on first and none out in the top of the 13th, Robert Fick tries to sacrifice. The runner is thrown out a second, but Fick takes his time running to first and he's easily doubled off. If he's running hard out of the box, he's safe. The MASN team is much too easy on that lack of hustle.

Mariano Rivera blows his second save of the season. Myers and Vizcaino couldn't get the job done, so Rivera came into the 8th with men on 1st and 3rd and a three run lead. Varitek singled, Crisp tripled and Cora singled to put the Red Sox on top 7-4. Mo is now 0-2 in save opportunities. Okajima will try to save the game for the Red Sox, as Papelbon is unavailable. He'll face Jeter, Abreu and A-Rod.

Update: Jeter grounds out weakly to second to start the ninth. Abreu walks to bring up A-Rod.

Update: Rodriguez works the count to 3-2, then hits a line drive to the second baseman. Now, both Giambi and Posada are out of the game, so it's up to Thompson.

Update: Thompson falls behind 0-2, stays alive on foul balls but finally misses a pitch in the dirt. A huge comeback victory for Boston to stay in first place in the AL East. Okajima picks up his first save and a new hero is born.

Tom Gordon enters in the ninth to try to save a 1-0 Phillies lead. He gets the first two batters, but falls behind Hatteberg and Scott mashes a 3-1 pitch into the right field seats. The teams are going to extra innings tied at 1.

Update: Phillips singles in the 10th with the bases loaded to give Cincinnati a 2-1 win. The Phillies are really snake bit this season.

Travis Buck his first ML home run, driving in two more to bring his total to five RBI on the night. Buck's two hits tonight are both for extra bases, and seven of his eleven ML hits are long ones.

Jon Lieber makes a terrific first start of the year, allowing one hit and one walk in 5 2/3 innings. He alos struck out five. Myers takes his turn as a reliever in the 8th. He walks one, but strikes out two. The Phillies hang on to a slim 1-0 lead.

Brandon McCarthy continues to get clobbered as a starter for Texas. He did not get a batter out in the second inning, allowing the first five batters to reach. They all scored, as well as three others, and Oakland scores eight in the second inning for an 8-0 lead. Buck drove in three and already walked and doubled.

I wonder if McCarthy is head back to the minors. His ERA now stands at 10.20.