Notables:

- Max Scherzer (5.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 14 K) is back!  The 14 strikeouts are the most he's ever had in any game at any level.  I'm sorry for trying to trade you and I take back all the nasty things I ever said.  Please take me back, I'm begging you Max. 
- Jon Lester (7 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 5 K) worked in and out of jams against the Royal for his 6th win.  He's allowed 2 earned runs and struck out 23 batters in his last 22 innings. 
- Adam Wainwright (7 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 8 K) earned his 7th win.  He's averaged 9.3 strikeouts in his last 3 starts and has yet to allowed more than 3 walks in any of his starts this season.  My condolences to the opposition. 
- A.J. Burnett (8 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 8 K) got his 6th win of the season, this one against the Indians. 
- Clayton Kershaw (5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 9 K) improved to 5-3, after a win against the Rockies.  The 9 strikeouts tie a season high for Kershaw. 
- Ricky Romero (9 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 7 K) went the distance against the Orioles.  He's allowed 3 or fewer runs and struck out at least 6 batters in 8 of his 11 starts this season. 
- Justin Masterson (6.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 8 K) got back on the horse after a string of decent to bad outings.  The 1 walk is the fewest he's given up since May 1st. 
- Mike Leake (6 IP, 0 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 3 K) seems to make it into this section every time he pitches now.  He's only given up more than 3 earned runs once in his 10 starts and that was over a month ago.
- Anibal Sanchez (6.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 7 K) has quietly put together a string of 8 really good starts.  He hasn't allowed over 2 earned runs in a game since April 16th.  With today's win, he's won each of his last 4 starts.
- Jamie Moyer (6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K) continued his up and down month with a good start.  In his previous 5 starts he had given up 5, 0, 4, 2, and 4 earned runs.
- Miguel Cabrera (4-5, 4 RBI, 1 R) is on an absolute tear right now.  Against the A's, he smacked his 6th homer in 10 days (3 of those days he was gone for the birth of his daughter). 
- Albert Pujols (3-3, 4 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB) hit his 10th, 11th, and 12th homers of the season.  He eliminated those baseballs because he is a machine. 
- Magglio Ordonez (2-4, 2 RBI, 1 R) is batting .322 as he continues to put 2009 in the rear-view mirror. 
- Mark Teixeira (2-4, 3 RBI, 1 R) hit his 8th homer of the season on Sunday.
- Ryan Zimmerman (2-5, 2 RBI, 2 R) hit 2 solo shots against the Padres.  He's up to 12 RBI in his last 10 games now.  That number would be a little bit higher if Nyjer Morgan and Adam Kennedy could figure out how to get on base consistently. 
- David Ortiz (1-1, 3RBI, 1 R, 2 BB) continues to turn things around.  He's up to 11 homers and wonders what all the fuss was about in April.
- Alex Rios (3-5, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 SB) stayed hot against the Rays.  He's up to 11 homers and 16 stolen bases now, with a .312 batting average. 
- Jose Bautista (1-3, 1 RBI, 2 R) went yard for the 16th time.  According to STATS LLC, Bautista "has 12 hits, 7 of which have been home runs and 10 of which went for extra bases" since May 16th.
- Billy Butler (2-3, 1 R) and his .348 batting average continue to be one of the few bright spots for the Royals this season.
- Howie Kendrick (2-5, 4 RBI, 2 R) hit 2 homers, one of which was a walk-off game winner.  The celebration at home plate wasn't the bone breaking mosh pit that Kendry Morales experienced last night, but the Angels still did some bouncing around. 
- Rickie Weeks (3-4, 3 RBI, 2 R) also hit 2 dongers, giving him 8 on the season.  Now if he could only do something about that .251 batting average of his.
- Buster Posey (3-5, 1 RBI) now has 6 hits in his first two games, both at first base.  I wouldn't be shocked if Brian Sabean viewed him as their first baseman of the future.

Save Chances:

- Jonathan Broxton, converted (13)... Gave up 1 earned run on 1 hit.  That makes for 1 save in April and 12 in May.
- Jon Rauch, converted (12)... gave up 2 hits in a scoreless 9th inning. 
- Matt Lindstrom, converted (11)... Struck out 1 and gave up 1 hit in a scoreless 10th inning. 
- Leo Nunez, converted (10)... Struck out 2 in a scoreless 9th inning. 
- Billy Wagner, converted (7)... Struck out 1 in a scoreless 9th inning. 
- Joel Zumaya, converted (1)... Struck out 2 and walked 1 in 2 scoreless innings. 
- Chad Qualls, blown (4)... gave up 2 earned runs on 4 hits.  To say the Diamondbacks bullpen has been bad this season is an understatement. 

Other Closer Outings:

- Trevor Hoffman pitched a clean 8th inning.
- Mariano Rivera, Heath Bell, Francisco Cordero, and Francisco Rodriguez each pitched scoreless 9th innings.
- Brian Wilson struck out 2 in a scoreless 10th inning for a win.
- David Aardsma gave up 3 earned runs on 2 hits and 1 walk, in a loss to the Angels. 
- Matt Capps came on in the bottom of the 11th in a tied game with the Padres and gave up the game winning hit to Nick Hundley.
- Will Ohman gave up 2 solo home runs and struck out 1 batter in an inning of work. 

Non-Closer Outings:

- Luke Gregerson got his first win of the season, after pitching 2 scoreless innings against the Nationals.  He struck out 3 batters in the process.
- Fernando Rodney and Brandon Lyon each pitched scoreless 9th innings for wins.
- Sergio Santos, Matt Thornton, and Tony Pena (in that order) combined to throw 3 2/3 scoreless innings.  Thornton got 7 of those outs. 
- Jason Motte and Kyle McClellan each threw a scoreless inning for the Cardinals.
- Tyler Clippard struck out 3 batters in 2 scoreless innings against the Padres. 
- Frank Francisco and Arthur Rhodes each pitched 1.1 scoreless innings.
- Mike Adams, Takashi Saito, and Jose Mijares each struck out 2 in an inning of scoreless work.
- Clay Hensley pitched a scoreless 8th inning for the Marlins.

Tough Days:

- Derek Holland (1 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 3 BB) left the game with numbness in his pitching hand.  His injury is one to watch. 
- Jake Peavy (5.1 IP, 5 ER, 10 H, 0 BB, 5 K) was hit up in a win.  He has a 40:5 K:BB ratio in his last 40.2 innings, but he remains too hittable. 
- James Shields (5.1 IP, 7 ER, 11 H, 1 BB, 3 K) was also hit around in the same game.  The 7 earned runs are the most he's given up since July 17th of last season. 
- Joe Saunders (4.1 IP, 7 ER, 10 H, 3 BB, 1K) was lit up by the Mariners.  Saunders has a 24:25 K:BB ratio in his last 42 innings... not exactly a great formula for success. 
- Carlos Pena (0-4, 1 BB, 3 K) is now batting .177 after today's hitless game.
- Jayson Werth (0-4, 4 K) wore the Golden Sombrero.  He needs to grow that beard back ASAP. 
- The Indians 4-5-6 hitters (Austin Kearns, Russel Branyan, and Jhonny Peralta) went 0-11 with 8 strikeouts.  They're batting .302, .242, and .235, respectively. 

Lineup-ology:

- Carlos Zambrano will rejoin the Cubs rotation on Wednesday.  Tom Gorzelanny will move to the bullpen.
- Brian Tallet will rejoin the Blue Jays rotation on Tuesday.
- David Huff (head) could make his next start.  Amazing considering the line drive he took off of A-Rod's bat.
- Ryan Braun hit second, Alcides Escobar ninth, and pitcher Randy Wolf eighth for the Brewers.  No word on if the move is permanent or temporary.
- Nick Punto (finger) was back starting for the Twins.
- Melky Cabrera started over Eric Hinske in left field for the Braves.
- Maicer Izturis hit second for the Halos on Sunday.
- Neil Walker played third base over Andy LaRoche.  Walker has been shifted back and forth between third and second, as the Pirates look for a way to keep his bat in the lineup.
- Gordon Beckham sat in favor of Omar Vizquel for the White Sox.  Beckham doesn't have an extra-base hit in over a month.
- Miguel Cairo started for Joey Votto who's been battling a neck injury.
- David Ross filled in for Brian McCann (quad), who is thought to be day-to-day.

Comings/Goings:

- Recalled: Max Scherzer (Tigers), Robb Quinlan (Angels), Jensen Lewis (Indians), Andrew Cashner (Cubs), & Craig Gentry (Rangers).
- Optioned: Aaron Laffey (Indians).
- Designated for Assignment: Dontrelle Willis (Tigers).

Injuries:

- Watch: Orlando Hudson (left wrist), Derek Holland (hand), Bobby Jenks (calf), Jason Bartlett (hamstring), Placido Polanco (elbow), Nick Swisher (shoulder), Mark Teahen (finger), David Robertson (back), & Ryan Rohlinger (left hamstring).
- DL Bound: Kendry Morales (broken lower left leg) & Nelson Cruz (strained left hamstring).
- Surgery: Grady Sizemore (left knee) will get scoped.  At that point it will be determined if he'll need microfracture.
- Back Soon: Brad Lidge (elbow).

Chicks Dig the Long Ball:

- Jose Bautista (16), Miguel Cabrera (14), Albert Pujols (10, 11, & 12), David Ortiz (11), Alex Rios (11), Alex Gonzalez (11), Ryan Zimmerman (9 & 10), Mark Teixeira (8), Rickie Weeks (7 & 8), Hideki Matsui (7), Troy Glaus (7), Lyle Overbay (7), Jason Varitek (7), Chris Snyder (7), Brandon Inge (6), Aubrey Huff (6), Geovany Soto (5), Jeff Clement (5), Howie Kendrick (3 & 4), Ben Zobrist (4), David Freese (4), Angel Pagan (4), Daric Barton (3), Carlos Guillen (2), & Jayson Nix (1).

Stolen Bases:

 - Rajai Davis (20), Brett Gardner (18), Michael Bourn (17), Carl Crawford (16), Alex Rios (16), B.J. Upton (15), Evan Longoria (10), Erick Aybar (7), Hanley Ramirez (6), Chris Coghlan (6), Jeff Francoeur (6), Cliff Pennington (6), Kelly Johnson (5), Nate McLouth (4), Nick Punto (4), Brendan Ryan (3), Mark Teahen (3), Skip Schumaker (2), Melky Cabrera (2), & Luis Valbuena (1).

Caught Stealing:

- Michael Bourn (6), Bobby Abreu (5), Cesar Izturis (5), Alex Rios (4), Alexei Ramirez (3), Julio Borbon (3), Jason Heyward (2), Kelly Johnson (2), Trevor Crowe (2), Willie Bloomquist (2), Omar Vizquel (2), Chris Denorfia (2), Joe Mauer (1), Carlos Gomez (1), Ian Desmond (1), & Paul Janish (1).