The More I Know, the Less I Know

- Rich Harden had issued 23 walks in 23.2 innings entering Monday night's play. Naturally, he took a perfect game into the sixth inning on Monday and didn't allow a walk over seven innings against his former team, striking out nine in the process.

Notables:

- Jaime Garcia shut down a potent Phillies lineup on Monday, holding them to one run on three hits and four walks, striking out six. He now has a 1.12 ERA over 32 innings, with a 23:13 K:BB. If you're drafting today, how early would you take him in a mixed league format? How much would pay for him in a 12-team mixed auction? How about in an NL-auction?
- Joe Blanton allowed four runs on 10 hits over 6.2 innings in his 2010 debut. He essentially matched Garcia through six, then gave up a leadoff homer to Nick Stavinoha to start the fateful seventh. He left with the bases loaded, and Nelson Figueroa allowed all three inherited runners to score.
- Colby Rasmus had yet another monster game, going 3-for-3 with two RBI. David Freese had the critical knock in the game, a bases-clearing double that put the game out of reach.
- Brett Cecil struck out 10 Indians while allowing just one run over eight innings.
- Michael Bourn had two more hits to raise his average to .326 and stole his 11th base in 14 attempts.
- Wilson Ramos started again behind the plate for the Twins with Joe Mauer out and went 3-for-4. He's now 7-for-9 in his major league career.
- Austin Jackson had three more hits to raise his average to .377. A correction is coming, right? I wish he'd hurry up with it, as I got shut out on him.
- Jake Peavy got the perfect tonic for his woes - the Royals. He threw seven shutout innings, giving up four hits and, most importantly, one walk, while striking out nine.
- Justin Smoak hit his second homer of the year, a shot hit all the way to the A's long-proposed new stadium location, Fremont. He has hit one from each side of the plate.
- Ubaldo Jimenez struck out 13 in his seven innings of work. As Andrew Martinez (who writes the Sunday recap) pointed out, Jimenez was averaging 113 pitches per game before this start, where he got up to 120.

Save Chances:

- Neftali Feliz finished Monday's save chance with a 99 mph strikeout of Jake Fox, pitching a perfect ninth while striking out two. He was only needed thanks to Frank Francisco giving up a two-run homer, followed by a walk to Eric Chavez. He has pitched on three of the last four days, so keep an eye out for reports on his availability for Tuesday's game. Francisco has had a similar workload lately, as has Darren O'Day. We might see Darren Oliver in a save chance on Tuesday.
- Joba Chamberlain got the save on Monday with Mariano Rivera unavailable, striking out one while walking one in a scoreless inning.

Other Closer Outings:

- Ryan Franklin came on to get the last two outs, thanks in part to Trever Miller serving up a homer to Chase Utley. He struck out both Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez to finish the game. It wasn't a save because he didn't start the inning and didn't come in with the tying run on-deck.
- Kevin Gregg allowed a hit and a walk but didn't allow a run in his first game since Thursday while protecting a four-run lead.
- Francisco Cordero threw a scoreless ninth in a tie game, allowing one hit while striking out one.

Non-Closer Outings

- Sammy Gervacio faced two batters, allowing a two-run single before retiring a batter, and then was sent down to Triple-A after the game. I'm convinced that his arm isn't yet all the way healthy, and this move will give him the time to get back on a more managable pace.
- Nick Masset has a really crazy stat line. He threw two shutout innings to get the win on Monday in extra innings, lowering his ERA to 9.69. Despite the ERA, he has three wins on the year, and a 22:9 K:BB in 13 innings.

Closer Non-Outing:

- Francisco Rodriguez didn't pitch in the Mets' 11th inning loss to the Reds. He |STAR|did|STAR|, however, pitch on Sunday night with the Mets trailing 11-5 in a "get-work" outing. Given Mets manager Jerry Manuel's disgraceful usage of him in the Mets' 20-inning game earlier this season, it's logical to assume that once again he was saving him for a save chance, this time for one that never came.

Tough Days:

- Joe Saunders continued his duties as a Fantasy Assassin, giving up seven runs on nine hits and four walks (one intentional) over just four innings. Matt Palmer and Brian Stokes threw gasoline on the fire afterward, giving up 10 runs over a combined three innings.
- David Ortiz missed out on the party in the Red Sox slow-pitch softball win, and instead saw his replacement, Mike Lowell, go 4-for-4 with three doubles. Yeah, he's not going to be starting against lefties anytime soon.
- Felipe Paulino had eight K's in his six innings, but also walked four (two intentional) and hit a batter, and gave up four runs to drop to 0-4. He's now 3-15 dating back to last year. As has become common, he got a whopping one run of support, this time against Cesar Valdez, who was making his major league debut. The Astros have lost seven in a row.
- Max Scherzer allowed 10 runs on 8 hits and 4 walks against the Twins.

Lineup-o-logy:

- Randy Winn started in left with a righty on the mound, batting ninth. He had the big blow in the Yankees' win, a three-run homer off of Jeremy Guthrie.
- Hunter Pence sat out Monday's game in favor of Cory Sullivan, who went 2-for-4.
- Juan Pierre was back in the leadoff spot, scored two runs and stole two bases without getting caught - he's now up to 12 bags on the year.

Late Injuries:

- Kelvim Escobar will need shoulder surgery again and is out for the season.
- Mike Pelfrey had an MRI for a tight pitching shoulder, but is expected to start over the weekend.
- Mariano Rivera didn't pitch in a save situation on Monday due to a stiff left side. He first started feeling it on Friday, and isn't likely to be available on Tuesday either.
- Jorge Posada left Monday's game with a tight left calf and probably will be out for a handful of games.

Bag Report

- Colby Rasmus was caught by Carlos Ruiz for the third time in six attempts.
- Shane Victorino was caught by Yadier Molina, his first time caught in four attempts.
- Fred Lewis was caught by Lou Marson, his first time caught in four attempts.
- Torii Hunter and Maicer Izturis were both caught by Victor Martinez, who has thrown out the last five runners who have attempted to steal against him. Hunter is now 3-for-5, Izturis 3-for-4.
- Luis Castillo stole his fourth base in five attempts.
- Justin Upton was caught for the second time in six tries, by Humberto Quintero.
- Andruw Jones stole his fifth and hasn't been caught. Alexis Rios and A.J. Pierzynski were both caught by Jason Kendall.
- Chris Getz stole his fourth in five attempts.
- Tony Gwynn got his sixth (in seven chances) and Will Venable his seventh without getting caught.
- Carlos Gonzalez was caught by Yorvit Torreabla - the third time he's been caught in seven attempts.

Royals Report

- The Royals are moving Alex Gordon to left field in the minors. Maybe this makes sense, if they intend to call him back up fairly soon. Going with Alberto Callaspo at third base because he's swinging a hot bat really isn't evidence of a long-term plan. Mike Moustakos profiles at third base, in which case this might make the tiniest semblance of sense. But I still don't understand how Chris Getz gets a long leash and Gordon doesn't.