Hanley Gate:

- Hanley Ramirez first fouled a pitch off his shin in the first inning and stayed in the game, then dogged it when chasing after his own error in the second inning before getting yanked. A suspension from the team doesn't seem likely, though it's possible he won't start on Tuesday. Anything beyond that would be a case where the Marlins are needlessly handicapping themselves. Prepare for a barrage of character assassination. Whether it's deserved or not, I don't really care, and I'm already tired of how Ramirez's approach to the game hurts "the clubhouse" (or variants thereof). It's not possible for that aspect of his game to hurt the team anywhere close to counteracting what he does on the field to help it. Yes, he needs to hustle, I get it. Now move on. /crankiness.

Major Injury Report:

- Asdrubal Cabrera fractured his left forearm when colliding with Jhonny Peralta while diving for a groundball. This collision happened in small part because the Indians were in a shift against the Rays' Hank Blalock. He'll hit the DL immediately. Luis Valbuena, originally out of the lineup on Monday, replaced him, but Jason Donald might be the ultimate beneficiary of the injury.

The S.S. Wrigley, Sinking:

- The Cubs are moving Carlos Zambrano from set-up work to long relief. Yeah, that's progress, really.

Notables:

- Javier Vazquez struck out the only batter he faced with the Yankees down two in the top of the ninth and vultured a win when the Yankees rallied in the top of the ninth.
- Johnny Cueto followed up his complete game shutout against the Pirates with seven strong innings against the Brewers, allowing one run on seven hits and a walk, striking out seven. His counterpart, Yovani Gallardo, once again failed to get deep into the game, needing 120 pitches to get through six innings, walking six while striking out five. He only allowed one run, but turning the game over to the bullpen in the seventh inning once again cost the Brewers.
- Edwin Jackson managed to have a 12-strikeout game go under the radar thanks to the Hanley Ramirez incident. He threw eight shutout innings to lower his ERA by over a run.
- Eric Hinske remains on fire - he went 3-for-4 with a homer in the Braves' loss to the Mets.
- Mike Pelfrey's win on Monday was the first win by a Mets starter in May.
- Clayton Richard lowered his ERA to 2.94 by holding the Giants to one run over seven innings.
- John Ely has become an extreme strike-thrower, having not allowed a walk in his last three starts. This was really the perfect storm - a control artist like Ely against a team that doesn't bother walking anyhow.

Save Chances:

- Jonathan Papelbon, blown (1), badly. Papelbon gave up a two-run homer to A-Rod to tie it and then a two-run homer (after hitting a batter) to Marcus Thames to lose it. While it seems like a panic after a high profile loss, it's worth noting that Papelbon's strikeout rate was already way down before this game, with a 14:9 K:BB in 18.1 innings (and the same now after 19 innings). He might not be broken, but he's also not functioning at his historical rate.
- Joakim Soria, converted (10). One hit and two walks (one intentional), but no runs. Soria has had trouble with his command all season, particularly on his breaking pitches.
- Francisco Cordero, converted (13). Cordero got the save thanks to Daniel Herrera allowing two runs in the ninth while protecting a five-run lead.
- Francisco Rodriguez, converted (6). One walk, one strikeout.
- Carlos Marmol, blown (2). This one deserves an asterisk - he walked in the tying run in the eighth, but only after stepping in to a bases-loaded, one-out situation thanks to the mess left by John Grabow. He then ended the eighth by inducing a double play from Ian Stewart, and then struck out the side in the ninth. Even if the Cubs had a second option to close games, he wouldn't be a threat to lose his job.
- Neftali Feliz, converted (10). One strikeout in a clean inning.
- Heath Bell, converted (11). Two strikeouts, one hit (a double by Aubrey Huff).

Other Closer Outings:

- Kerry Wood and Rafael Soriano both threw scoreless innings in a tie game for the Indians and Rays respectively, before Jamey Wright picked up a controversial loss. John Jaso reached first base on a disputed call at first base and later scored the winning run. He wouldn't have reached at first if not for a double-clutch by Luis Valbuena on a grounder to shortstop.
- Matt Capps gave up two runs on three hits in his first outing in five days.
- Ryan Franklin came on to pitch the ninth after the Cards removed his save chance by scoring twice off Capps. He allowed two hits before finishing his scoreless inning.
- Andrew Bailey pitched a scoreless inning protecting a four-run lead.

Non-Closer Outings:

- Tony Sipp last allowed an earned run on April 18. He threw another scoreless inning with two more strikeouts against the Rays.
- Todd Coffey gave up five runs to break open a 1-1 tie against his former team, the Reds. His ERA jumped from 2.65 to 5.00.
- Aaron Heilman pitched the ninth with the Diamondbacks up 5-0 and allowed his first run since April 23.
- Drew Storen made his major league debut, getting two outs (striking out one) while hitting a batter.

Lineup-o-logy:

- Delwyn Young started in place of the slumping Akinori Iwamura both at second and in the leadoff spot, going 1-for-4 with a homer and a stolen base. Iwamura pinch-hit and made another out; he's hitless in his last 27 at-bats.
- Felipe Lopez came off the DL to start at shortstop/leadoff. He'll play fairly regularly, starting mostly for Brendan Ryan at shortstop, at least until the Cardinals tire of his defense there, but occasionally at second as well. Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday swapped spots in the order.
- Jimmy Rollins batted third in his return to the lineup, with Chase Utley out. He went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.
- Alcides Escobar hit second in the order again - if that sticks, he could run a lot more (see below).
- Jeff Francoeur didn't start for the second game in a row. Chris Carter started in his place and batted fourth, ahead of David Wright.
- The Rangers aren't quite ready to commit to Max Ramirez as the current starter - after a two-hit game on Friday, he had just one at-bat the next two days in Toronto - but he got another start on Monday night. He still got replaced by Matt Treanor for defensive purposes late, and of course, those A.J. Pierzynski rumors are lingering.
- Dexter Fowler hasn't started since Thursday and basically has been relegated to spot duty since the return of Brad Hawpe from the DL.
- Josh Hamilton was given the night off after going 1-for-13 nine K's in the Rangers' three games in Toronto, and with the Rangers facing lefty Scott Kazmir. David Murphy, another lefty, went 0-for-4 in his place.
- With A's lefty Gio Gonzalez on the mound, Matt Tuiasosopo started in left field ahead of Michael Saunders. With Mike Sweeney resting his back, Ken Griffey Jr. not only stayed in as the DH, but inconceivably hit fifth in the order.
- Geoff Blum started at shortstop in place of the slumping Tommy Manzella (3-for-35 over last 13 games).

Tough Days:

- Daisuke Matsuzaka gave up five runs in the first inning and ultimately gave up seven runs on nine hits and three walks. At least he helped mitigate the damage by lasting until two outs in the fifth. Meanwhile, Jeremy Hermida was the only starter on either team not to get a hit (0-for-4).
- Lyle Overbay committed two errors, went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and had Jays' fans chanting the name of Brett Wallace in his final two at-bats.

Late Injuries:

- Chase Utley was a late scratch with flu-like symptoms.
- Travis Snider's DL trip due to his sore wrist temporarily solves the Jays' playing-time (and roster) crunch with Edwin Encarnacion coming back this week. Jose Bautista goes out to right field to make room for EE.
- Mark Reynolds was scratched due to illness.
- Jorge Posada sat out with a sore right foot.
- Bobby Abreu was a late scratch with back stiffness. He pinch-hit in the ninth but struck out to end the game.
- Adam Dunn's illness once again kept him out of the lineup, though he struck out in a pinch-hit appearance.
- Andre Ethier (finger) didn't take batting practice or catch any throws before sitting out on Monday night. Reed Johnson once again started in Ethier's place.
- Freddy Sanchez requested more at-bats on his rehab assignment instead of coming off the DL, so the Giants replaced Mark DeRosa with Eugenio Velez on the roster, though Matt Downs got the start at second base.

Stolen Bases:

- Scott Podsednik (14); Corey Patterson 2 (2); Shane Victorino (6); Greg Dobbs (1); Nick Punto (3); B.J. Upton (10); John Hester (1) - I almost wrote "Jesse" by habit; Jose Reyes (9); Ramiro Pena (1); Delwyn Young (1); Mark Grudzielanek (2); Trevor Crowe (1); Alcides Escobar (1) - got credit for a SB when previously in the inning Craig Counsell advanced on defensive indifference, with the Reds leading by three in the ninth; Chris Coghlan (5); Jason Bay (5); Starlin Castro (1); Nelson Cruz (6); Yadier Molina (5! - he stole nine last year) - could he be any different than his brothers?; Franklin Gutierrez (5); Jose Lopez (3); Cliff Pennington (5); Rajai Davis (13); Will Venable (10).

Caught Stealing:

- Mike Aviles (2); Martin Prado (3); Willie Harris (2); Will Venable (1); Russell Martin (1).

Home Runs:

- Alex Rodriguez (5); Marcus Thames (2); J.D. Drew (6); Kevin Youkilis (6); Victor Martinez 2 (4,5); David Ortiz (7); Delwyn Young (1); Ryan Howard (7); Jayson Werth (8); Justin Morneau 2 (10, 11); Delmon Young (4); Jose Bautista (11); Corey Hart 2 (6,7); Jonny Gomes (5); Eric Hinske (2); Aramis Ramirez (4) - this was a game-winner in the bottom of the 11th off of Matt Belisle; Torii Hunter (5); Michael Napoli (3); Matt Tuiasosopo (1); Kevin Kouzmanoff (3); Adam Rosales (3); Adrian Gonzalez (8).

Managing By the Save Rule?

- Manny Corpas had pitched the last two days and might not have been available anyhow, but he never got into the game in the Rockies' 11-inning loss to the Cubs. Instead, Matt Belisle was asked to pitch a third inning in relief and gave up the game-winning homer by Aramis Ramirez with one out.

I'm Not Dead Yet:

- Madison Bumgarner threw seven shutout innings on Monday and has a 1.54 ERA over his last six starts with a 29:11 K:BB covering 35 innings. He's made a mechanical adjustment to regain his velocity and has also started throwing a cutter, according to MiLB.com.

Note of Importance to Basically Only Me:

- Alex Rodriguez not only hit the game-tying homer off of Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth inning, but almost as important to me, he played his third game at DH. In my original AL-only league, a player has to qualify at DH rather than simply be a UT. Justin Smoak's early callup left me with four corners and three spots to play them (A-Rod, Smoak, Evan Longoria and Russell Branyan), but we only need three games to qualify at a position. So now I can slot A-Rod at DH, Branyan (who had been on my bench) at CR, and can bench the rotting remains of Ken Griffey Jr.'s career instead of DH'ing him. Yay me!