"Hey Rocky, Watch Me Pull This Loss Out of My Hat!"

- Monday night was a hot mess for the Rockies. Troy Tulowitzki was out with his quad injury, Carlos Gonzalez was in Venezuela, Todd Helton got the night off, and Melvin Mora was playing second base with Clint Barmes sliding over to shortstop. For the second time this season, Mora's failure to convert a double play opportunity cost the Rockies later in the inning, and he went 1-for-5 while batting fifth in the order - somehow Eric Young Jr. couldn't find his way into the lineup at all on Monday. Seth Smith committed an error in left field, and Brad Hawpe had one in right field. Meanwhile, the bullpen situation just got murkier - just as we were starting to warm up to the idea of trusting Manuel Corpas again, he served up a four-run ninth in a tie game to pick up the loss. Included in the damage was a wild pitch, a hit-batter, and Ross Gload's back-breaking three-run homer. Huston Street threw a bullpen session on Monday, and his return can't come soon enough for the Rockies. Neither Franklin Morales nor Rafael Betancourt pitched.

Badly Blown Save of the Night

- Brian Fuentes, blown (2), badly. Fuentes coughed up a 4-1 lead in the ninth, giving up three runs on three hits, a walk, a hit batter and a wild pitch (and was saved another wild pitch by Michael Napoli making a really nice play behind the plate). Fuentes was already among the shakier closers in the AL heading into this outing, and this outing jacked up his ERA to 7.04. This can't last - the question is do the Angels once again turn to Fernando Rodney or go with Kevin Jepsen? My bet is on Rodney, who did well in the role when Fuentes was hurt.

Strange Things Are Afoot at the Circle K:

- Justin Upton was moved up to the second spot in the batting order on Monday. He went 1-for-4 with another strikeout, his 44th on the season. The Diamondbacks far-and-away lead the majors in strikeouts, K'ing 301 times in 33 games. While I think too much can be made out of strikeouts, at least individually, when it's done collectively like the Snakes are doing, it's a problem. Check out the top six in the Arizona order on Monday night and their respective K totals:

Kelly Johnson - 28 (3 on Monday night)
Justin Upton - 44 (1)
Adam LaRoche - 29 (2)
Mark Reynolds - 42 (2)
Stephen Drew - 21 (1)
Chris Young - 29 (0)

Offensively, this has the effect of making the whole add up to less than the sum of their parts. They're sixth in the majors in runs scored, yet I think that they're a bit of a feast-or-famine offense.

Mixed Signals:

- Ted Lilly took a no-hitter into the ninth inning, but he also struck out just one Marlin in his seven innings of work. The Marlins are fourth in the majors in strikeouts, having struck out 251 times so far in 32 games. Lilly isn't a hard-thrower and has been even less so since returning from the DL this year, but he's always had decent K-rates with the Cubs before. Maybe he still needs more time getting back up to speed, so to speak, but color me concerned that he's not going to get all the way back, at least for a while. He's also allowed five homers already in 24 innings, though that isn't necessarily a trait unique to this season for him.

Quantrill's Raiders:

- Jay Jaffe first pointed this out on Twitter (@Jay|UNDER|Jaffe), but Joe Torre is at it again, working Ramon Troncoso at an extremely high rate. Monday's appearance while protecting a five-run lead in the ninth was his 19th appearance of the season in 32 games for the Dodgers. Torre has done this act before, riding the few non-closer relievers he trusts hard such that their shelf life expires sooner than it might otherwise, for both Paul Quantrill and Scott Proctor.

Managing By the Save Rule?

- Rafael Soriano never got into the game in the Rays' 11th-inning loss to the Angels, and he hadn't pitched since Friday and then last Tuesday before that. However, I'm not so certain this was as objectionable, as the losing pitcher was Grant Balfour, who was asked to get four outs - Balfour hasn't pitched badly at all this year. Dan Wheeler pitched the bottom of the ninth in a tie game after getting the final out in the eighth.

Notables:

- Tommy Hanson threw eight shutout innings against the Brewers, striking out eight while walking one and allowing four hits.
- Martin Prado knocked in five, four of them coming on his second homer to break open a close game against Doug Davis.
- Carlos Ruiz went 4-for-5 with his second homer of the season and had the go-ahead RBI in the ninth.
- Sergio Mitre wasn't all that great while subbing in for Andy Pettitte, giving up four runs (three earned) in 4.1 innings, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out four. While Javier Vazquez's start on Tuesday will be scrutinized carefully, I don't see Mitre as a viable alternative.
- Ivan Rodriguez went 4-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base, virtually ensuring that we get a "cameo" from Dilbert's pointy-headed bossCandyman Sirius/XM Executive Producer Matt Deutsch on Tuesday's edition of RotoWire Fantasy Sports Today. By the way, did we mention that we'll have Albert Pujols on the show? Yes, we are. His interview should happen around noon ET.
- Chad Billingsley has been pretty good in three of his last four outings (and had just a bad first inning in the other one). He still hasn't gotten into the seventh inning this year, but as Jon Weisman suggests, maybe he should have been allowed to go deeper on Monday, after getting lifted in the sixth with two runners on and Billingsley at 90 pitches. Weisman also points out Billingsley's high workload over the first half of 2009 (and remember, he broke his leg in the offseason prior to the 2009 season, so he had less time than others in spring training to get up to speed) and suggests that Billingsley's struggles since might be a product of fatigue. What does that portend for us, the fantasy owner? At least it gives us a reason. Does it mean that with proper rest that Billingsley might recover, or does it mean that he's at least partially broken? I think that you can interpret it both ways, but I'm probably not going to put him on my "buy-low" target lists (and I didn't already have any shares of him this year).
- Andre Ethier remains mildly hot, going 3-for-5 with two more knocked in.
- Joel Pineiro was superb, throwing 6.1 shutout innings. He struck out seven, walked one, gave up five hits and induced seven ground ball outs.

Save Chances:

- Jose Valverde, converted (9). Struck out the side in a perfect inning, going through the meat of the Yankees' order.
- Francisco Cordero, converted (11). Cordero walked two but still converted the save.
- Jon Papelbon, converted (9). 1-2-3 inning, one strikeout.
- Miguel Batista, converted (1). This one was solely a function of both Matt Capps and Tyler Clippard not being available. Clippard owners can scarcely complain about him not getting a save chance, given that he's already provided six wins this year, the last three coming last week, all of the vulture variety.
- Leo Nunez, converted (6). Nunez struck out two to convert a perfect ninth.
 
Other Closer Outings:

- Carlos Marmol pitched for the first time since Wednesday. He gave up a hit and two walks, but also struck out the side to prevent any runs from scoring. His last save chance was on May 1.

Non-Closer Outings:

- Phil Coke and Ryan Perry handled the most critical situation of the Tigers' win over the Yankees, with Coke coming into the game with a 2-run lead, the bases loaded and nobody out in the eighth inning. Coke got Brett Gardner on a run-scoring fielder's choice and Randy Winn on a pop-out, then Perry got the final out when Derek Jeter lined out to right.
- Joba Chamberlain struck out the side with the Yankees trailing by a run in the eighth.
- Evan Meek pitched the seventh and eighth innings for the Pirates, trailing 1-0, while Joel Hanrahan pitched the ninth with the Bucs down 2-1. Meek gave up an unearned run.

Lineup-o-logy:

- Laynce Nix started in left fielder over Jonny Gomes, despite Gomes' recent hot hitting at the plate, due to Gomes' defensive shortcomings, particularly in Monday night's venue, PNC Park. Nix went 1-for-4 but knocked in the first of the Reds' two runs. He also made a nice running catch in left-center against Akinori Iwamura.
- Andy LaRoche is off to a nice start at the plate and seems pretty well settled in the second spot in the lineup, but he's not doing much with the glove to convince the Pirates that he should stick at third and Pedro Alvarez should move across the diamond to first base. He committed his fourth error in as many days on Monday night, and this one led to what ultimately was a vital insurance run.
- Is it possible that Edwin Encarnacion will be the one to lose playing time rather than Jose Bautista or Fred Lewis once Encarnacion is off the DL? Lewis is batting leadoff and hitting .300 with an .829 OPS. Bautista is only hitting .216, but with seven homers and 19 walks. I've long been an Encarnacion apologist, but it's not entirely clear that he's more deserving of playing time, especially when you consider his defensive reputation.

Tough Days:

- Brandon Morrow demonstrated both his upside and his potential for disaster in Monday's short outing against the Red Sox, striking out four of the five batters he retired, but also walking six en route to giving up six runs. Five of those walks came in a four-run second inning. Afterward he said he was struggling with finding his release point.
- John Lackey wasn't all that great, either, allowing six runs of his own, albeit in six innings. That disaster-mitigation, the ability to hang around when he didn't have his best, at least made this an acceptable outing, though he gave up 11 baserunners. As colleague Scott Pianowski frequently points out, pitching in the AL East will take its toll on nearly every starter.
- The Jays scored six runs despite their 2-3-4 hitters (Aaron Hill, Adam Lind and Vernon Wells) going a combined 0-for-13 with one walk. Hill in particular has struggled to get out of the gate, dropping down to .190 with two homers and six RBI in 79 at-bats this season.
- David Wright only struck out once after his eight strikeout-series against the Giants over the weekend, actually had two hits and managed to avoid getting ejected this time. However, he got doubled off of first base on a pop-up to third base after his first hit, the first of two Mets baserunning errors in their loss.
- Starlin Castro committed three errors in his Wrigley Field debut.

Late Injuries:

- Dontrelle Willis was a late scratch due to the flu. Brad Thomas started in his place.
- J.D. Drew was a late scratch with vertigo - that doesn't strike me as a short-term concern - he's dealt with the problem before. This meant all three of Boston's starting outfielders were out on Monday.
- Troy Tulowitzki (quad) didn't start on Monday against the Phillies, but probably will avoid the DL.
- Brad Lidge's elbow was stiff following Sunday's save against the Braves, so he wasn't available to pitch on Monday. Jose Contreras was the designated ninth inning guy on Monday, and pitched in a non-save situation, protecting a four-run lead.
- Henry Blanco went on the bereavement list and was replaced on the roster by Josh Thole.
- Chipper Jones aggravated his groin injury legging out an infield single. Jason Heyward sat out one more game due to his groin injury. Jair Jurrjens heard a "pop" in his hamstring while sprinting and will undergo an MRI this weekend in Atlanta - he won't be returning as originally scheduled. Kris Medlen might get at least another start, maybe multiple starts, as a result.

Stolen Bases:

- Nyjer Morgan 2 (8); Adam Kennedy (5); Ivan Rodriguez (2); Angel Pagan (4); Adam Everett (2); Chris Coghlan (4); Cody Ross 2 (2); Cameron Maybin (4).

Caught Stealing:

- Alex Rodriguez (2); Gabe Kapler (1); Erick Aybar (4) - he has only stolen successfully thrice this year; Kendry Morales (1).

Interesting Callup:

- Chris Carter (no, the other one): The Mets waived Frank Catalanotto to call up Carter, who is a little old to be a prospect. He also won't necessarily get much playing time with Ike Davis also up, but he makes for an occasional starter against lefties and perhaps a guy that can fill in at the four corners for a spot start when needed.

Sunglasses at Night:

- Brian McCann's vision issues have mostly occurred in night games - he went 0-for-4 with a strikeout. Meanwhile, Corey Hart once again didn't play for the Brewers.