Notables:

- Shin-Soo Choo is hitting .323/.475/.677 with three homers and three steals, yet has only five RBI. Including yesterday's three-run homer, he's had just six at-bats with runners in scoring position, and that homer was his first with runners in scoring position. Look for both to start normalizing soon.
- He was facing a watered-down Red Sox lineup (no David Ortiz, Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Cameron), but Francisco Liriano was dealing on Thursday afternoon. He threw seven shutout innings, striking out eight, including a strikeout of the red-hot Dustin Pedroia. This is the Liriano that we saw in winter ball and spring training. If you don't have any shares of Liriano this year, be afraid, be very afraid.
- Twice in the Twins-Red Sox series Joe Mauer was walked intentionally to get to Justin Morneau.
- Bud Norris (5 IP, 4H, 1R (unearned, thanks to a Carlos Lee drop), 9K, 3BB) has now had three good starts against the Cardinals dating back to last year.
- Ryan Braun had a monster game, going 4-for-5 with a homer, three RBI and two runs scored, this despite going up against Carlos Zambrano, who had a good track record against Braun before Thursday.
- Ryan Zimmerman had a pinch-hit two-run homer to put the Nats ahead of the Phillies in his first action since Saturday.
- Mike Pelfrey threw seven shutout innings in Coors Field, striking out six batters while walking none. He allowed no extra-base hits and only four fly balls. The only negative was that he had a balk - which normally we'd write off, but for his experiences last year.
- While rocking the baby blue retros (I approve of both retro uniforms, by the way), Tim Hudson got the win against the Padres while allowing two runs over 5.2 innings. But look deeper into his line - six hits, five walks, and zero strikeouts.
- Robinson Cano homered twice, giving him four homers and nine RBI while hitting out of the fifth spot. He's going to be a monster this year.
- The Marlins banged out 15 hits against the Reds, including three each from Cameron Maybin, Dan Uggla and Cody Ross. Maybin is hitting in the leadoff spot with Chris Coghlan out, and he went 3-for-4 with a walk and a homer. He's hitting .310/.396/.405 with six walks and 13 strikeouts. He's also stolen two bases. If he keeps batting high in the order, he's going to score a ton of runs - he already has 12 runs scored on the year.
- Daric Barton was on a short leash to start the season at first base for the A's, but so far he's picked up right where he left off in September. He had two doubles on Thursday, raising his line to .343/.489/.457. He doesn't have any homers, and that lack of power has always been a knock against him, but he also has 11 walks, juxtaposed against just four strikeouts.
- Ben Sheets threw six shutout innings, striking out four, walking three and allowing five hits.

Save Chances:

- Trevor Hoffman, converted. He had the benefit of working with a three-run lead, which was fortunate because he allowed a run on two doubles by Ryan Theriot and Chad Tracy.
- Matt Capps, converted. In a five-out save, Capps suffered a bumpy ninth inning, and allowed a run on three hits, including a homer against Shane Victorino. This has been the norm for Capps so far. Watch out for Tyler Clippard, who has some control issues (four walks in 8.2 innings), but also has nine strikeouts and has allowed just one run so far.
- Mariano Rivera, converted. Rivera got one of the rare save chances, coming in with a four-run lead, two outs and two men on. It's a save situation because he came on with the tying run on-deck. He got the save by inducing Bobby Abreu to ground out to end the game.
- Chad Qualls, blown. For the second night in a row, Qualls blew the save against the Dodgers. This one was a bit of a fluke, as the tying run came on the combination of an infield single and then a throwing error by Stephen Drew (and it wasn't your garden variety throwing error, but a moonshot into the stands). Still, go out and protect Qualls if you own him by adding Juan Gutierrez.

Other Closer Outings:

- Matt Lindstrom - One inning, protecting a 5-1 lead. One hit, one strikeout. He hasn't had a save chance yet.
- Ryan Madson - Gave up two runs on two hits and a walk with the Phillies trailing by a run in the top of the ninth. Those runs mattered, as the Phillies scored one run in the bottom of the ninth.
- Francisco Rodriguez - Quick quiz. Which sitaution is more important for your top reliever to be in the game? A tie game in the 10th inning, with a possibility for a save later, if you should be so lucky to (a) get to a later inning, and (b) score in that subsequent inning; or while protecting a 5-0 lead in the ninth inning? Objection, counsel, leading.
- Billy Wagner - One shutout inning, striking out two, while protecting a 6-2 lead.
- Jonathan Broxton - For once, a non-save situation paid off for Broxton's owners, as he got the win when the Dodgers scored in the 10th inning.

Closer Non-Outing:

- The Indians allowed David Huff to throw a complete game rather than bring in Perez to close out a 3-2 lead. Perez was warming up in the bullpen, however. Huff needed only 104 pitches to throw the complete game.

Lineup-ology:

- Chris Coghlan sits out again, with Brett Carroll in his place.
- Michael Napoli got his third start of the season, going 1-for-3 with a walk. The Angels have lost all three games that Napoli has started.

Tough Days:

- A rare error by Elvis Andrus set up the Indians' game-winning rally - Matt Harrison, working on fumes, gave up the game-winning homer to Shin-Soo Choo on his 117th pitch after two runners got on with errors (the other by Michael Young). Andrus committed two errors on the day.
- Carlos Lee dropped an easy fly ball, went 0-for-4 to drop to .086 and was replaced late for defensive purposes. He's still signed for two more years after this season!
- As Chris Liss tweeted, it should be unethical for Jeff Samardzija to come into a tie game, particularly with the wind blowing out at Wrigley. His ERA is now |STAR|down|STAR| to 16.20 after giving up two runs in two innings to get the loss.
- The Phillies bullpen (Antonio Bastardo, Danys Baez and Ryan Madson) allowed six runs over the final three innings. Baez gave up homers to Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman.
- Jorge De La Rosa's second outing wasn't nearly as good as his first, and he was all over the place (five walks and two wild pitches), but his line is a little deceptive. Ian Stewart was charged with one error, but could have been charged with two. One of his wild pitches arguably should have been a passed ball, when Miguel Olivo tried to backhand a ball in the dirt. Melvin Mora was slow in turning a double play. Jason Giambi didn't get to a ball that Todd Helton might have. It wasn't a terrible outing (6IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 8H, 5 BB), but it could have been better.
- Brandon Wood went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and is hitting .100 this year.
- Aaron Harang gave up eight runs on 10 hits and two walks over four innings against the Marlins.

Late Injuries:

- Mike Cameron was a late scratch on Thursday with abdominal pain, and at first the Red Sox feared that he was suffering from appendicitis. The latest diagnosis, however, is a kidney stone, which would imply a shorter absence. Meanwhile, Jacoby Ellsbury is still experiencing sharp pains while breathing due to his ribcage injury and will have further exams on Friday. Look for the Red Sox to add another outfielder to address their current shortage.
- Carlos Zambrano appeared to have some cramping in his right wrist towards the end of his start on Thursday - he might not have finished the fifth inning but for the fact that he was up against Jeff Suppan with two outs.
- Felix Pie aggravated his sore left shoulder and won't play on Friday. Nolan Reimold will get the start.

Running For the Cycle:

- In the third inning against the Rockies, Mike Pelfrey was caught in a rundown between third and home, but Ian Stewart's botched throw allowed him to score. After that, with David Wright up, the Mets had Luis Castillo on first and Jose Reyes on second. Reyes missed a sign on a double-steal, leaving Castillo hanging out to dry. Castillo was eventually tagged out at second base. Reyes subsequently was thrown out trying to steal third base. Wright failed to complete the cycle, however, striking out instead.

Pick Up of the Day, If You Can:

- Carlos Villanueva was fantastic in relief in 2008, leading some (read: me) to believe that he could sneak the closer's job away if Trevor Hoffman faltered last year. Hoffman in fact didn't falter, and Villanueva was awful. Thus, it was thought this year that when Jeff Suppan came off the DL, Villanueva might get sent down. Fortunately, he's pitched himself out of that discussion, and with LaTroy Hawkins suffering, it wouldn't be difficult to envision Villanueva or Todd COffey getting a chance to close were something to happen to Trevor Hoffman.