Notables:

- Jon Niese returns to the Mets rotation with seven strong innings, allowing one run with a 6:1 K:BB
- Recently called up Tommy Hunter threw a complete game in beating the Rays, giving up just one run on a Sean Rodriguez solo shot and striking out four without walking anyone. Someone doesn't want to ride the damn bus no more.
- Torii Hunter (no relation) went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI
- Colby Rasmus went 3-for-4 with a double, a steal and three RBI including the game-winner in the 11th
- Jamie Moyer threw a complete game too, allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out one. I suppose I should include an obligatory 'dang, he's ancient' line in here somewhere but really, they've all been done. The last guy to come up with an original "Jamie Moyer is so old..." joke opened for Archie Armstrong in Toledo. (See what I did there?)
- Despite allowing five hits and four walks, Dontrelle Willis somehow threw six shutout innings in his return to the NL.
- Francisco Liriano struck out 10 in seven innings, giving up just one run on five hits and two walks.
- Luke Hochevar took a tough loss (not unusual for a Royals pitcher), putting up an identical line to Liriano aside from a loose single.
- Andrew McCutchen went 4-for-5 with two doubles, three runs scored and a solo shot.
- Mike Leake ran his record to 5-0, allowed just one unearned run, and struck out five without walking anyone, giving him an ERA of 2.22. And he still gets about 2|PERCENT| of Stephen Strasburg's press coverage. I fully expect him to start nervously adjusting his tie on the mound, muttering "No respect, no respect..."
- Kevin Youkilis went 3-for-5 with two doubles and a home run, and three RBI.

Save Chances:

- Chad Qualls, converted (10). No K's, no walks, no hits, no drama. Booooring.
- Jon Rauch, converted (15). Two strikeouts in a shutout inning.
- Jose Valverde, converted (12). He needed to get five outs for this one, but did it in 15 pitches (13 of which were strikes). Now's that efficient.
- Kerry Wood, converted (4). Another plain vanilla shutout inning with no strikeouts or hits or anything. C'Mon, Kerry, at least give us a HBP or something.
- Carlos Marmol, converted (12). He only needed to get two outs for his save. Valverde's laughing at him.

Other Closer Outings:

- Ryan Franklin struck out the side in a perfect 10th innings.
- Kevin Gregg also struck out the side in the 10th inning, sandwiching the K's around a hit and a walk.
- John Axford took the loss in the 11th, giving up three straight hits to bring home Aaron Miles.
- Octavio Dotel gave up a run on two hits and two walks, striking out two while protecting a four run lead. The damage could have been a lot worse, but for a diving catch on the warning track by Lastings Milledge.
- Bobby Jenks pitched a shutout ninth with the White Sox down by two.
- Francisco Cordero struck out two protecting a four run lead.
- Orioles "closer" Will Ohman came in with the team down two runs and failed to record an out, with all four baserunners he parked eventually coming around to score. Soon, he will be the club's "ex-closer".

Non-Closer Outings:

- Joba Chamberlain struck out three in 1.1 shutout innings
- Carlos Villanueva threw two shutout innings, giving up one hit, striking out two and looking better than John Axford
- Craig Kimbrel struck out three, and more importantly walked none, in an inning of work. He also gave up two hits and an unearned run, but hey, nobody's perfect

Lineup-o-logy:

- Catcher John Jaso and his plus-.400 OBP hit leadoff for the Rays. He went 0-for-4, thus proving beyond a doubt that pointy-headed stat geeks don't know baseball at all.
- Kevin Russo got another start in left field for the Yankees. $49 billion payroll, and they can't go seven deep in the outfield with All-Star caliber players? For shame.
- Ryan Theriot was back at leadoff again for the Cubs and again went 0-for-4, although this time he did draw a walk. I doubt a .200 OBP is going to allow him to keep the job.

Tough Days:

- Adam Lind went 0-for-6 with four K's in Toronto's extra-inning win over the Yankees. Not one to back away from a challenge, Mark Teixeira went 0-for-6 with FIVE K's.
- Jon Garland cooled off in a hurry, giving up six runs on 10 hits in seven innings.
- Chris Iannetta, who can't really afford to be putting any doubts in the heads of the Rockies front office folk about his fitness behind the plate, committed a throwing error and watched the D-backs go 4-for-4 against him on steals.

Injuries:

- David Freese left in the sixth inning with an ankle injury.
- Justin Morneau wasn't in the starting lineup due to the flu, but drew a key pinch-hit intentional walk in the ninth. Good job just standing there, buddy!

Home Runs:

- Miguel Cabrera (17); Vernon Wells (14); Albert Pujols (13); Alex Gonzalez (12); Kevin Youkilis (12); Josh Hamilton (11); Troy Glaus (11); David Wright (10); Jayson Werth (10); Rickie Weeks (9); Andrew McCutchen (7); Ryan Doumit (6); Derek Jeter (6); Tyler Colvin (6); Aramis Ramirez (5); Sean Rodriguez (2); Humberto Quintero (2); Jeff Keppinger (1)

Stolen Bases:

- Brett Gardner (20); Michael Bourn (19); Carl Crawford (18); Alexis Rios (17); BJ Upton (16); Chone Figgins (12); Shin-Soo Choo (10); Andres Torres (9); Franklin Gutierrez (7); Colby Rasmus (7); Chris Young 3 (7); Troy Tulowitzki 2 (6); Matt Holliday (5); Milton Bradley (4); Stephen Drew (4); Dustin Pedroia (3); Ramiro Pena (2); Adam Jones (2); Andre Ethier (1); Chris Iannetta (1); Melvin Mora (1)

Caught Stealing:

- Jonny Gomes (2); Roger Bernadina (2); Hank Blalock (1); Juan Rivera (1)