Cleveland Rocked:

- I can't watch a Cleveland Indians game any longer. Seeing them on the field nearly makes me wretch, even though I'm happy with my ownership shares of Shin-Soo Choo. From Grady Sizemore to Kerry Wood (an agnostic purchase in an AL-only league that still has managed to blow up in my face) to Michael Brantley to Asdrubal Cabrera (not only did he suffer the latest traumatic injury, but for the second time this year, he got hurt on a Monday), it's been one continuing disaster. Usually when I make a bad trade, it takes a month or so before it blows up in my face. In the case of Grady Sizemore, it took less than 24 hours, before the player ever made it to my active roster. The Indians have said it's a bone bruise for Sizemore, but it might also require surgery (and as Will Carroll suggests, that information conflicts). Either way, I'm feeling pretty snakebit by that team. Oh yeah, Kerry Wood blew up today and threw his glove in the stands. That's going to end well.

Yet Another Yankee Injury:

- Jorge Posada has a hairline fracture in his right foot and will be out 3-4 weeks. When Posada missed two-thirds of the 2008 season, the Yankees didn't come close to replacing his production at the plate, creating a huge hole in their lineup. Francisco Cervelli is a better hitter than Jose Molina et al, but I fear he'll be exposed with regular play. Joe Sheehan (just go subscribe to the newsletter - https://joesheehanbaseball.blogspot.com/ - you know it's worth it) was on our show and emphasized the point that the Yankees are an older team with fewer ready replacements for their frontline starters in case of injury. They can always trade for replacements in the case of long-term injuries, but in many cases it's not so easy to find that replacement, at least at scarce positions. Who knows, maybe they'll feel compelled to trade for Ivan Rodriguez again? Or, more seriously, they could throw their hat in the ring in the attempt to trade for A.J. Pierzynski before he becomes a 10-and-5 guy on June 14, if Cervelli starts to tank.

Carlos Zambrano Stretching Out Update:

- As part of his re-conversion to starting pitching, the Cubs stretched out Zambrano to face one batter on Wednesday, pitching him for the second consecutive day. ... Do we have a failure to communicate, or an utter lack of a plan by the Cubs regarding Big Z? For that matter, who is your choice to move out of the rotation to put Zambrano back in? They've won four in a row now, so not all is cataclysmic for the Cubs, but their handling of this situation has been abysmal.

Notables:

- Adrian Beltre hasn't yet started hitting for power, but with two more hits on Wednesday raised his average to .309.
- Clay Buchholz came up huge against the Twins, allowing two runs in eight-plus innings on five hits and a walk while striking out seven. It's interesting to see Buchholz and Philip Hughes reach a certain level of success around the same time in their respective careers.
- Jason Heyward might have a future in this game. He hit a triple and two doubles, including the game-winner in the ninth.
- Felipe Paulino finally departed with a 3-2 lead, only to see Chris Sampson immediately blow it by giving up a homer to Clint Barmes. Clearly Paulino doesn't know how to win.
- Jeremy Guthrie isn't quite matchup-proof in the AL East, but he's been pretty serviceable despite a low strikeout rate. He's lasted six or more innings in all but one of his nine starts and has given up three or fewer runs in 7 of his 9 starts - the outliers in both areas came against the Yankees.
- Joe Saunders had his third consecutive good start, allowing one run over 7.2 innings to beat the White Sox.
- Anibal Sanchez continued the Cardinals' slump at the plate, throwing seven shutout innings while striking out eight. Jaime Garcia didn't allow a run in the game either, but lasted only five innings after racking up 96 pitches, thanks in part to four walks.
- Hanley Ramirez returned to action and went 3-for-5 with an RBI.
- Ian Kennedy allowed just one run over eight innings, striking out nine while giving up three hits and three walks. I saw one wag on Twitter complain about the Yankees trading him, but keep in mind that (a) the deal was almost universally praised from the Yankees perspective when it happened, (b) you can't evaluate the trade negatively merely because Curtis Granderson got hurt, and (c) facing the Giants isn't quite the same as facing the Rays or Red Sox.
- Justin Verlander threw a 115-pitch complete game, allowing one run. He struck out five while giving up four hits and a walk.
- Adrian Gonzalez homered and had six RBI, while Will Venable had four hits. The Dodgers tried to get away with starting Ramon Ortiz again, and were crushed for their hubris.

Save Chances:

- Octavio Dotel, converted (9). One hit, one strikeout in a scoreless inning.
- Joaquin Benoit, converted (1). Benoit got the final out while protecting a four-run lead in an inning that started with an eight-run lead. Merry Christmas, mega-deep league owners.
- Carlos Marmol, converted (7). Two strikeouts and a walk while protecting a three-run lead.
- Matt Capps, converted (15). Capps gave up a solo homer while protecting a three-run lead.
- Dan Bard, converted (1). One hit, one walk. He was pitching because Jonathan Papelbon had pitched three of the last four days.
- Billy Wagner, blown (2). Gave up a game-tying homer to Chris Heisey and then allowed another hit and a walk before getting out of the inning. He got the vulture win thanks to Jason Heyward and Martin Prado in the bottom of the inning.
- Brian Fuentes, converted (5). This save wasn't a confidence-builder, though - he gave up a solo homer to Paul Konerko as well as another hit.
- Kevin Gregg, converted (12). Gregg got the save on a nice running catch by Fred Lewis after allowing a walk and an infield hit.

Other Closer Outings:

- Matt Lindstrom struck out one and allowed a hit while pitching with a four-run lead.
- Chad Qualls came in with a 12-run lead. He struck out two while while giving up one hit, a double by Eli Whiteside.
- David Aardsma threw a scoreless inning with the M's down one, striking out two.

Non-Closer Outings:

- Joel Hanrahan struck out the two batters he faced and now has 24 strikeouts in 16 innings.
- If you're trying to read the Brewers' tea leaves, Todd Coffey came into the game in the seventh inning right after the Brewers fell behind. The first batter singled in the Pirates' final run, the second had an infield hit before a double play got him out of the inning. I don't think he closes while Trevor Hoffman is on his latest "time out." Recent callup John Axford got two strikeouts in a scoreless inning afterward.
- Andy Sonnanstine gifted a save opportunity to Joaquin Benoit's owners by coughing up four runs in two-thirds of an inning while nursing an eight-run lead.
- Drew Storen joined in the Nationals' bullpen win club with his first major league victory. Tyler Clippard finally got a non-decision in his scoreless inning of work, instead getting his eighth hold.
- Fernando Nieve pitched in his 24th game of the season and gave up two runs - he's allowed a run in his last three outings.
- Esmil Rogers gave up four unearned runs in the decisive eighth for the Rockies. Clint Barmes committed a two-out error and then Seth Smith committed a throwing error on the go-ahead single. Rogers then gave up a bases clearing double to Jeff Keppinger to blow the game wide open.
- Tony Sipp threw another scoreless inning and got another strikeout. He might make for a decent speculation play, but then again, I've been missing on the Indians' bullpen since the David Riske and Fernando Cabrera days, so I give you full clearance to get your Indians bullpen advice elsewhere. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

Lineup-o-logy:

- David Wright got a night off from the starting lineup. The Mets used three other bench players besides Wright to pinch-hit; one (Alex Cora) sacrificed, the other two made outs. Fernando Tatis got the start at third base. Wright will be back in the lineup on Thursday.
- With Chase Utley back in the lineup, Jimmy Rollins batted sixth, behind Jayson Werth. This was against a lefty, Tom Gorzelanny. We'll see what the Phillies do with Rollins once they face a righty.
- Jeff Keppinger will start full-time at second base following the Astros' sinking the cost of Kazuo Matsui's contract.
- Jayson Nix started at third in place of Mark Teahen because of his history (three homers) against Joe Saunders. Gordon Beckham was dropped down to ninth in the order.
- The Giants activated Freddy Sanchez (shoulder) from the DL and immediately batted him third in the lineup. Can there be a stronger statement about the quality of the Giants' lineup than that? Sanchez went 0-for-4.
- Milton Bradley returned from the restricted list and started in left field, going 2-for-4.
- Xavier Paul batted second and went 2-for-4 while replacing Andre Ethier in right field.

Tough Days:

- A.J. Burnett did some damage mitigation by getting into the seventh after allowing six runs through the first four innings. But overall he gave up 14 baserunners (9H, 4BB, 1HBP) and combined with Francisco Cervelli to allow six steals. Plus, he now won't have Jorge Posada to kick around any longer.
- Randy Winn went 0-for-4 with a strikeout and is now hitting .182. How much longer do the Yankees wait out Winn? Could he be gone once Curtis Granderson (groin) returns from the DL?
- The Rays pounded out 15 hits against the Yankees. Carlos Pena did not have any, though he did get an RBI with a sac fly.
- Jose Reyes went 0-for-4, dropping down to .210 on the season. Either he or Luis Castillo will get Thursday off.
- Blake Hawksworth had a 2.35 ERA entering Wednesday but allowed four runs on five hits, including two homers, to get the loss.
- Todd Wellemeyer gave up three of the six homers served up by Giants pitchers against the Diamondbacks. With Madison Bumgarner coming around in Fresno, Wellemeyer's days in the rotation and perhaps on the roster are numbered.

Injuries:

- Dallas Braden left after six innings due to flulike symptoms.
- Kyle Blanks has a tendon strain in his right elbow.
- Manny Ramirez was a late scratch with an injured little toe on his left foot.
- Magglio Ordonez was scratched with a sore heel. Casper Wells picked up a token start and got two RBI with Maggs out.
- Marco Scutaro, who had two errors on Tuesday, sat out Wednesday with an elbow problem. Bill Hall got a start at shortstop.
- Kenshin Kawakami pitched through a back strain and a foot blister, lasting six innings, but could miss his next start, with the Braves off on Monday.

Stolen Bases:

- Ben Zobrist (8); Nate McLouth (2); Ryan Theriot (7); Evan Longoria 2 (6,7); B.J. Upton 2 (12,13); Shin-Soo Choo 2 (7,8); Joe Mauer (1); Nelson Cruz (7); Jason Kendall (3); Smokin' Lou Marson (3); Ryan Braun (9); Hank Blalock (1); Shane Victorino (7); Felipe Lopez (3); Mark Reynolds (3); Chone Figgins (9); Will Venable (11); David Eckstein (4); Matt Stairs! (1); Everth Cabrera (5).

Caught Stealing

- Brett Gardner (2); Torii Hunter (4); Bobby Abreu (4); Brian Barden (2); Nate Schierholtz (2).

Home Runs:

- Jason Bartlett (1) - a considerably slower power start for Bartlett compared to last year; Brian McCann (4); Angel Pagan (3) - inside-the-park job against Livan Hernandez; David Ortiz (8); Josh Hamilton (8) - Hamilton should have had a second homer, but the umpiring crew refused to even check the replay for review; Casey McGehee (9); Alex Rodriguez (6); Fernando Tatis (2); Chris Heisey (2) - a game-tying shot off of Billy Wagner; Clint Barmes (2); Carlos Lee (5) - he has three homers in the last four games, and four of his five have come in his last 10 games; Paul Konerko (14); Torii Hunter (7); Dan Uggla (11); Cameron Maybin (3); Kelly Johnson (12); Stephen Drew (4); Justin Upton (7); Adam LaRoche 2 (5,6); Chris Snyder (6); Brandon Inge (4); Casey Blake (5); Adrian Gonzalez (9); Chase Headley (3).