Regulators, Mount Up:
- Starlin Castro followed up his massive debut with a more pedestrian 1-for-4 effort, also committing his first error, although the hit was at least a double. That drops his career SLG to 1.400.
- Future potential Braves closer Craig Kimbrel also didn't follow up a great debut, walking two of the three batters he faced on Saturday.
- The D-Backs Cesar Valdez has a rough second start, giving up seven runs on nine hits in just four innings, but he still struck out seven Brewers while walking just two. He's not a big-time prospect, but Arizona is desperate enough for starting pitching that Valdez should get a long look.
- Jaime Garcia gave up one run and struck out seven over six innings. That bumped his ERA up to 1.18.

Notables:
- Ryan Braun went 2-for-4 with his sixth home run, and RBI 25 through 28. He doesn't seem to be content with merely being a top five fantasy pick, and appears to be aiming for at least the top three on those early 2011 cheat sheets.
- Scott Baker finally started pitching like Scott Baker, striking out eight and walking nada while giving up just one run over eight innings.
- Jake Peavy finally started pitching like Jake Peavy, striking out eight and walking nada while giving up two runs over eight innings, after starting the game off with 5.1 perfect frames.
- Mark Teixeira started hitting like Mark Teixeira, cranking three home runs and getting his batting average over .200. That sound you just heard was the window on trading for him at any kind of slight discount slamming closed.
- John Buck and Alex Gonzalez kept hitting like Mike Piazza and Alex Rodriguez, cranking their eighth and 10th home runs. Paul Konerko, still hitting like Mark McGwire, answered with his 13th blast.
- Ryan Hanigan went 3-for-4 with a grand slam, and five total RBI, pushing his batting average on the season to .409. The Reds might be hoping Ramon Hernandez keeps getting banged up.
- Francisco Cervelli also racked up five RBI, and bumped his batting average up to .429 with a 3-for-4 game.
- Henry Blanco went 3-for-5 with his first home run of the season, an extra-inning walk-off shot. It was a very good day to be a $1 catcher.
- Aaron Harang and Tom Gorzelanny traded nine-K efforts, giving up five runs between them over six-plus innings. The Cubs' bullpen was feeling a little more generous, coughing up that many runs in the seventh inning alone.
- Jeff Karstens tried to save his rotation spot with six shutout innings, and his first win of the season.
- Unlikeliest pitcher's duel of the day: Jon Garland throws seven shutout innings, topping Felipe Paulino's 11-K, zero walk, two run (one earned) effort.
- Kris Medlen threw 88 pitches over just 4.1 innings in his first start, scattering nine hits (as much as you can call averaging two hits an inning 'scattering') but only getting tagged for one run.
- Brian McCann's blurry vision didn't stop him from starting behind the plate and going 1-for-2 with two walks. The Phillies went 2-for-2 against him in stolen bases though. This situation could be worth keeping tabs on. What, you thought I was going to say something else?
- Matt Chico (making his first big league appearance in almost two years) became the latest Nationals starter to be implausibly decent, allowing two runs on six hits and no walks in five innings, striking out three. Apparently, there's something to this whole "pitch to contact" business.

Save Chances:
- Neftali Feliz, converted. One hit, no K's. He topped out at 94 mph against the first two batters he faced, but then found another gear and popped 98 mph before getting Scott Podsednik to fly out to end the game.
- Octavio Dotel, converted. Two K's, one walk. He's shaved over four runs off his ERA over his last four appearances. This has been your "don't take small sample size numbers too seriously" reminder of the day (and that works no matter which way you interpret that).
- Heath Bell, converted. One walk, one K.
- Andrew Bailey, converted, working a perfect innings with no K's.
- Billy Wagner, converted. One K.
- Matt Capps, converted. One K in a perfect inning for his 12th save.
- Jose Valverde, converted. One K in a perfect inning.

Other Closer Outings:
- Chad Qualls did about as well as his owners could hope getting some mop-up work in a blowout, giving up four |STAR|un|STAR|earned runs on four hits in two-thirds of an inning, with both outs coming via strikeout.
- Matt Lindstrom threw a perfect inning, striking out one.
- Francisco Rodriguez worked two innings in an extra-inning game, walking two and striking out one. In the same game, Giants closer Brian Wilson didn't see the mound.
- Kerry Wood was not welcomed back into the Indians bullpen, giving up two runs and walking two in two-thirds of an inning. Chris Perez's job as temp closer would seem to be safe for a bit longer.

Non-Closers of Note:
- Hisanori Takahashi pitched a perfect 11th, striking out two, to win his third game of the season out of the 'pen. His screwball has now gotten him 28 North American strikeouts in 19.2 innings.
- Tyler Clippard struck out three in 1.1 innings, but gave up a Gaby Sanchez home run to blow the save. He was rewarded with his fifth win of the season.

Tough Days:
- Gil Meche gutted it out through eight innings, walking seven. He ain't healthy, folks, no matter what he says.

Late Injuries:
- Ryan Ludwick got hit on the hand by a Joel Hanrahan pitch, but while he had it heavily wrapped after the game it didn't seem to be broken. He'll still likely miss a couple of games.
- Brian Schneider, getting a start to give Carlos Ruiz a breather, strained his Achilles tendon and left the game after four innings.