Pitch Count Watch:

- While acknowledging that pitch counts can be overanalyzed, I don't think it's the case with Justin Verlander. Verlander threw 117 pitches in Tuesday's loss, giving up the go ahead runs in the eighth inning. Before that he was excellent. He ended up allowing five runs over 7.1 innings, giving up seven hits and two walks along with eight strikeouts. He threw by par the most pitches in the majors last year and seems to be well on the path to doing so again this year.

Interesting Pickup Ideas of the Day:

- Luis Durango has been called up by the Padres and will start on Wednesday, batting leadoff. He had 44 stolen bases for Double-A San Antonio last year and knows how to take a walk (81:69 BB:K last year, 19:22 at Triple-A this year). He's also stolen 18 bases at Triple-A Portland already this year, but has also been caught 10 times.
- Neil Walker (see below).

Notables:

- Six of the eight hits by the White Sox on Tuesday were doubles, yet they scored only three runs. Part of the problem? Zero walks.
- Anibal Sanchez threw his sixth quality start in his last seven games, holding the Braves to two runs over 6.1 innings, lowering his ERA to 3.23 on the season.
- Kenshin Kawakami gave up three runs over six innings, enough to drop to 0-7 on the year. The Braves have given him more than two runs of support just twice in nine starts.
- Paul Maholm threw seven shutout innings against the Reds, getting a no-decision. He has thrown 13.2 innings against them this year, allowing two earned runs.
- Jon Lester shut the Rays out over six, allowing just one hit while striking out nine and walking five. He was dealing with an especially wide strike zone, one that got both Carl Crawford and Rays manager Joe Maddon ejected by Balkin' Bob Davidson. It's possible that a suspension might be forthcoming, if it's ruled that Crawford made contact with the umpire.
- The Phillies were shut out for the second time in three days, this time going against R.A. Dickey. They've faced pitchers with either funky deliveries (Daisuke Matsuzaka) or that threw primarily knuckleballs (Dickey and Tim Wakefield) in their last three games.
- Ryan Dempster was dominant against the Dodgers, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out seven in eight scoreless innings. Opposing pitcher Clayton Kershaw allowed just one unearned run over six innings.
- Scott Baker and A.J. Burnett worked five innings without allowing a run before the game was delayed and ultimately suspended due to rain.
- Jon Garland struck out seven while throwing seven scoreless innings. Adam Wainwright's gem (one run over seven innings, with 12 strikeouts) went unrewarded.

Save Chances:

- Octavio Dotel, converted (10). Dotel one hit and struck one out in a scoreless ninth.
- Jon Papelbon, converted (11). Papelbon struck out one and walked one.
- Raul Valdes, converted (1). This was merely a three-inning save - no need to throw a FAAB dollar here.
- Carlos Marmol, converted (10). Two strikeouts in a perfect ninth - he now has a whopping 46 K's in 23.2 innings.
- Neftali Feliz, converted (13). This despite finding a way to walk Jose Guillen. Before that, Billy Butler flew out pretty deep to right center, up against the wall - that might have gone out in a different ballpark.
- Manuel Corpas, converted (4). Corpas needed 21 pitches to get out of the ninth, but got out of it allowing just one hit while striking out one.
- Heath Bell, converted (13). Bell allowed a hit and a walk but escaped without allowing a run. He needed 28 pitches to get through the ninth, throwing just 14 strikeouts.
- David Aardsma, converted (10). Struck out one in a perfect ninth.
- Brian Wilson, converted (11). Struck out the side.

Other Closer Outings:

- Leo Nunez allowed two runs in a non-save situation, coming in with a four-run lead after the Marlins scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Non-Closer Outings

- Because the O's haven't yet named a closer with both Alfredo Simon and Kohi Uehara going on the DL, we'll classify Will Ohman's perfect ninth inning with a four-run lead here. He struck out two, improving his K:BB to 17:8 and lowering his ERA to 1.15 over 15.2 innings. That puts him first in line for O's saves now, though that's a pretty tenuous hold given his previous lefty specialist role beforehand.
- Joel Hanrahan gave up a tying homer to Brandon Phillips but got the vulture win when Ryan Doumit homered in the ninth. Nick Masset has struggled essentially since we touted him in this space last week. He gave up the game-winning homer to Doumit.
- Joaquin Benoit threw a scoreless inning, but broke his consecutive strikeout streak at nine when walking a hitter to lead off his inning of work. He's starting to get worked into higher-leveraged situations, this time coming in with a two-run ninth inning deficit.
- Carlos Villanueva pitched the eighth inning with the Brewers up 6-0. He struck out two while giving up a hit in a scoreless inning. Is he back in a set-up role?

Lineup-o-logy:

- Gabe Gross started in center with Coco Crisp out and went 3-for-3.
- Former first-round pick Neil Walker got the call on Tuesday to replace Steven Pearce on the roster and Andy LaRoche (back) in the lineup and had an RBI double. After stalling out at Triple-A the last two-plus years, Walker was on-fire this year, hitting .321/.392/.562 in 168 at-bats. There's some speculation in the Pittsburgh media that he eventually could be a part of the second base solution if the Bucs want to pull the plug on Akinori Iwamura.
- J.J. Hardy was back off the DL and starting at shortstop for the Twins, batting eighth.
- Felipe Lopez was back in there at shortstop and leadoff for the Cardinals, going 2-for-4.
- Torii Hunter missed the game to attend his son's high school graduation. Reggie Willits started in his place.
- With Miguel Cabrera away from the Tigers for two days, Donald Kelly got the start at first base.

Tough Days:

- Jake Peavy gave up six runs over six innings against the Indians. It was the fifth time in 10 starts that Peavy has given up six or more runs.
- Drew Stubbs went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and had a key defensive mishap, losing a routine flyball in the lights for a leadoff triple in the eighth, leading to the first run of the game.
- Rafael Furcal came off the DL on Tuesday to go 0-for-4 with two K's, two errors and at least one other defensive misplay.
- Rich Harden couldn't hang on for the win after being given a 6-2 lead, ultimately allowing six runs (five earned) over 5.1 innings.
- For the 11th time this year, the Astros' offense failed to score a run while their starting pitcher was still in the game.
- Ricky Romero had a rare bad outing, giving up seven runs on 11 hits over 5.1 innings. Much of the damage came early, with five runs and eights coming through the first two. He almost slid into the damage-mitigation category but allowed two more runs in the sixth. On the plus side, he struck out eight.

Injuries:

- Coco Crisp was a late scratch with a sore chest muscle. After the game he said: "I'm pretty sure I'm on the DL. … It's a bad stroke of luck here."
- Dallas Braden left with a sore left ankle after four innings, allowing one unearned run. Braden said afterward that he initially injured the ankle two weeks ago.
- Luke Scott has a strained left shoulder and was replaced by Garrett Atkins.
- Grady Sizemore is getting second and third opinions on his knee in Colorado and New York. MLB Network suggested that he and the Indians are hoping for a mid-June return. That seems overly optimistic at this point.
- Jacoby Ellsbury was a late scratch after experiencing soreness in his side. Mike Cameron came off the DL and started in center with Ellsbury out.
- Aramis Ramirez remains out with his sore thumb. Jeff Baker got the nod at third and went 0-for-3.
- George Sherrill went on the DL with tightness in his back.
- Yuniesky Betancourt left with dizziness after a collision at the plate.
- Carlos Gonzalez missed the win over the Diamondbacks with a sore right wrist. X-rays were negative and he was able to come in as a defensive replacement late.
- Fred Lewis was a late scratch because of a bunion on his left foot - he had to have surgery for a similar injury in 2008.
- Brandon Wood went on the DL with a hip flexor injury and was replaced by Maicer Izturis, who returned from his shoulder injury and stepped right into Wood's spot at third base. Izturis went 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.
- Edgar Renteria tweaked his hamstring in the seventh inning and is due for an MRI on Wednesday.

Stolen Bases

- Gregor Blanco (1); Jose Reyes 2 (10,11); Jason Bay (7); Russell Martin (3); Ryan Theriot (9); Denard Span 2 (11,12) - because the game was suspended, you might not get credit for the steals until the game is completed on Wednesday; Matt Treanor (1); Kelly Johnson (4); Yorvit Torrealba (3!).

Caught Stealing:

- Hanley Ramirez (3); Jason Kendall (3); Jonathan Lucroy (1); David Freese (1).

Home Runs:

- Nick Markakis (3); Jason Donald (1); Shin-Soo Choo (7); Cameron Maybin (4); Ryan Doumit (5); Brandon Phillips (6); Derrek Lee (6); Vladimir Guerrero 2 (11,12); Josh Hamilton (9); Nelson Cruz (10) - all four Rangers homers were off Gil Meche; Ryan Braun (8); Rickie Weeks (6); Brad Hawpe (4); Troy Tulowitzki (5); Jerry Hairston Jr. (1); Jose Bautista (15); Aaron Hill (6); Jeremy Reed (1); Michael Napoli (7); Brandon Inge (5); Franklin Gutierrez (5); Milton Bradley (3).

Depressing Thought For the Day:

- That is, if you're a Royals fan. Chris Ray walked Scott Podsednik in the eighth, essentially pitching around, and Rangers broadcaster Josh Lewin approved, saying something to the extent that "... you don't want to let Podsednik beat you here...." While Pods is having a pretty good year and did have a big homer against the Rangers earlier this year, that's still a very telling statement. We're talking about a player that is slugging .371 and has a .722 OPS - not exactly pitching around Barry Bonds territory here. I mention this not as a criticism of Lewin - he's actually one of my favorites - but as a telling example of the Royals, that he's one of their more dangerous hitters. But they can't find room anywhere for Alex Gordon somehow ... not that I'm bitter or anything.