"I'm Not Dead Yet":

- Austin Kearns went 3-for-6 with a homer and five RBI against Joe Saunders and the Angels. How many of his former owners/proponents (self-included on both) have sworn off him by now (self-included)? After this game he's now hitting .386/.426/.659 in 44 at-bats.

Step Off the Ledge:

- Jason Bay hit his first homer as a Met. Shockingly, the Mets are in first place after losing their first four series.
- Aaron Harang got his first win of the season, holding the Astros to two runs over six innings, striking out six. Granted, it was against the Astros, but baby steps in the right direction.

Say What?

- Jays manager Cito Gaston, talking about why Lyle Overbay (age 33) has the job security that Travis Snider does not: "The kid is going to be a free agent this year," Gaston said. "To bury someone and not let him play when he is about to be a free agent, that's not the right thing to do. We believe that he deserves a chance to go out and if not play here, play somewhere else." Forget the characterization of Overbay as a "kid" for a second - isn't that a whacked set of priorities for a team in the Blue Jays' shoes? This isn't a tenure program. Why shouldn't Overbay have to earn his playing time like everyone else?

Notables:

- David Wright went 3-for-4 with four RBI in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader, raising his average to .261. He struck out once in the first game, giving him 25 K's on the season, so not all is quite well just yet.
- Robinson Cano had three more hits in a losing effort. This just in, Dalton Del Don is a very smart guy.
- Clay Buchholz held the Jays to one run over eight innings, allowing seven hits and two walks while striking out two.
- Francisco Liriano was electric again, throwing eight shutout innings against the Tigers, striking out 10 while giving up one walk and four hits.
- Cliff Pennington went 4-for-5 with a homer and four RBI.
- Jon Garland struck out 10 against the Marlins over six innings. The Marlins' 6-7-8 hitters (John Baker, Gaby Sanchez and Brett Carroll) combined to strike out eight times for the game.
- Livan Hernandez allowed just one run over seven innings to maintain an 0.87 ERA so far this season. He had just one strikeout, but only one walk.
- Ubaldo Jimenez threw six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out six.

Save Chances:

- Ramon Ramirez, converted. Jon Papelbon pitched three of the past four days and got the night off, so Ramirez converted with a 1-2-3 inning. After two great years the last two seasons, Ramirez is off to a slow start this year, with a 6.75 ERA and only three strikeouts in 9.1 innings. Typically Dan Bard would be next in line behind Papelbon, but he's been worked hard recently, too.
- Jon Rauch, converted. One hit, two strikeouts - he now has converted 7 of 8 opportunities.
- Rafael Soriano, converted. 1-2-3 inning, one strikeout.
- Alfredo Simon, "converted." On Monday, Simon wasn't on the 40-man roster. On Tuesday, he was brought into the ninth to preserve a three-run lead. He gave up a hit and a walk while retiring two hitters before Cesar Izturis' error let in one run, and a subsequent run came in on a single, but he eventually induced a fielder's choice grounder off the bat of A-Rod to end the game. Of note, though, was that Dave Trembley said before the game that no single reliever is the Orioles' closer right now. Simon could certainly get that job with a series of strong outings before Mike Gonzalez comes back, but it's more likely that Koji Uehara takes over once he comes off his own DL stint.
- Heath Bell, converted. Bell converted the save without allowing a run despite giving up two singles to start the inning, a deep fly to move the runners and, after a strikeout, a lineout to end the game.
- Trevor Hoffman, blown spectacularly. Hoffman gave up a leadoff homer to Ronny Cedeno and then a tiebreaking grand slam to Ryan Doumit with one out. Neither homer was cheap. Hoffman has allowed five homers already this season and 12 runs on 14 hits over eight innings on the season.
- David Aardsma, converted. One hit allowed, no walks or strikeouts.
- Frank Francisco, converted. Francisco threw a 1-2-3 ninth to get his first save of the year. Neftali Feliz was unavailable after pitching the two previous games. Manager Ron Washington gave Feliz a lukewarm endorsement as the closer after the game, saying that he's still the closer, with the proviso that "... anybody we put out there in the ninth inning... " is the closer. Tautalogy much, Mr. Washington?
- Jason Motte, converted. Motte was asked to get the final five outs on Tuesday in order to give Ryan Franklin the day off. He walked two without any strikeouts.
- Matt Capps, converted. 9-for-9 already this season.

Other Closer Outings:

- Jim Johnson - After Dave Trembley's pronouncement, maybe this entry should slot under "non-closer outings", but Johnson threw a scoreless eighth, allowing one hit.
- Kevin Gregg walked in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, with the run getting charged to Scott Downs, whose misery this season continues.
- Francisco Cordero - One inning, one hit, two strikeouts.
- Billy Wagner pitched for the first time in a week, striking out two while walking one. He hasn't had a save chance since April 9.

Non-Closer Outings

- Mets reliever Hisanori Takahashi has struck out 12 over 6.1 innings in his last two relief outings and might get moved into the rotation eventually.
- Luke Gregerson gave up a hit but struck out the side in his inning of work. After giving up three earned runs while recording one out in his first outing, he has allowed just one unearned run in his next 11 innings, striking out 14 in the process.
- Royals relievers not named Soria once again coughed up an eighth inning lead, giving up three runs in the eighth. Zack Greinke remains winless despite a 2.56 ERA.

Lineup-ology:

- Orlando Cabrera (.267 OBP) finally got moved out of the #2 spot in the lineup, down to the #6 spot. Brandon Phillips moves up to #2 from #4. Ryan Hanigan got the start ahead of Ramon Hernandez (.250/.348/.300) behind the plate - Hanigan has now started eight games, Hernandez has started 12.
- The Rangers recalled Max Ramirez and sent down both Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Taylor Teagarden. Salty should be back soon, but Teagarden is good and buried again. Matt Treanor of all people is still the starter, for now, behind the plate. And naturally, he went 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBI. Genius!
- Rhyne Hughes started ahead of Garrett Atkins for the third game in a row at first base.
- John Jaso, starting with Dioner Navarro suspended for two games, went 3-for-4 with an RBI double.
- Rajai Davis sat for the second game in a row, with Gabe Gross starting in center and Eric Patterson starting in left. Maybe Chris Liss' worries were well-founded after all.

Transactions:

- Travis Snider hasn't been sent down yet, but the writing appears to be on the wall for him, at least in the short term.

Tough Days:

- Edwin Jackson might have the worst pitching line of the season, giving up 10 runs on 11 hits and two walks over 2.1 innings.
- Nick Markakis went 0-for-5 and now has gone 76 at-bats without a homer. He does have eight doubles, however.
- Ryan Raburn's error allowed the Twins' go-ahead run to score against the Tigers. He also went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts at the plate.
- Ben Sheets: 8 runs on 9 hits and a walk over four innings against the Rays.
- Brandon Phillips got picked off again, giving the Reds four players in the last three games to get picked off. He also went 0-for-4 with a walk.

Late Injuries:

- Kurt Suzuki remains out with a sore side, but he's hopeful to play on Wednesday.
- Ivan Rodriguez (back) returned after sitting out on Monday.
- Justin Morneau left with a stiff back, supposedly not related to the stress fracture that knocked him out last season.
- Rick Ankiel (quad) remained out of the lineup on Tuesday.

Rehab Assignments:

- Brad Lidge struck out four in two shutout innings for Double-A Reading. His return is imminent.
- Koji Uehara threw 11 of 15 pitches for strikes. He's due for a second rehab stint on Thursday.