Catching the Killer:
- Jim Thome took Wade Davis yard twice, and in the process passed Harmon Killebrew for 10th place on the all-time home run list. Next up: Mark McGwire, who's only nine ahead of him, and Frank Robinson, who's three ahead of McGwire.
Welcome To Bizarro World:
- feared sluggers Travis Ishikawa, Brett Gardner and Matt Joyce all hit grand slams today, and perennial Cy Young candidate Bruce Chen threw six perfect innings before giving up an Erick Aybar single to start the seventh.
Our Long Great Lakes Regional Nightmare Is Over:
- Matt LaPorta went 3-for-5 with two RBI, including the game-winner, and after the game the Indians called up Michael Brantley.
Notables:
- Saturday was supposed to be Stephen Strasburg's day, as he made his national teevee debut, but like Carrie at the prom RA Dickey went and ruined everything. Dickey's knuckleball danced through seven innings, during which he gave up just two unearned runs on six hits and two walks with four K's and completely upstaged Strasburg. Poor kid may never get another chance to be in the spotlight.
- Francisco Liriano struck out 10 Rays in seven innings, giving up one run on four hits and a walk. His bullpen all chipped in and got him a no-decision as a thank-you gift.
- Matt Joyce's first home run of the season was a game-winning grand slam. Are we supposed to be impressed or something, Matt? Show-off.
- Jim Edmonds had a decent day for an old timer. 4-for-6, a home run, a steal, three runs scored and three RBI.
- Pedro Alvarez hit his first career home run. He's no Matt Joyce, but it's a start.
- Kyle Kendrick turned in a complete game win. It wasn't great (four runs, three earned, on 10 hits and two walks) but hey, it's Kyle Kendrick.
- Jon Lester got his 10th win, striking out seven in seven innings and giving up just one lonely run.
- Justin Verlander also got his 10th win, but struck out 10 in seven one-run innings. In your face, Lester!
- Tommy Hanson struck out eight and gave up just an unearned run over 6.2 innings.
- Clay Mortensen was entirely decent in his season debut filling in for Dallas Braden, giving up four runs (three earned) in six innings with a nifty 7:2 K:BB ratio.
- Johnny Cueto threw five shutout innings, but needed 101 pitches to do it. Walking a batter an inning will do that to you.
- Randy Wells took a no-hitter into the seventh, eventually giving up a run on five hits in 7.2 innings with a 5:1 K:BB ratio.
- Bud Norris threw seven shutout innings, giving up three hits and three walks while striking out five. Kevin Correia also threw seven shutout innings, giving up five hits and two walks and striking out four. Since they did that in the same game, neither of them came away with anything to show for it except slightly lower ERAs.
- Chris Johnson continued to impersonate a real prospect, going 3-for-3 and boosting his average to .361.
- Clayton Kershaw was a model of inefficiency, lasting just 5.2 innings and 105 pitches. They were very good innings (no runs, eight K's), though.
- Mark Reynolds went 2-for-4 and hit a crucial solo home run in the bottom of the ninth for the D-backs, closing the gap on the Dodgers to 13 runs.
Save Chances:
- Heath Bell, converted (23). Two K's and a hit in a shutout inning.
- Neftali Feliz, converted (22). He struck out both batters he faced.
- Joakim Soria, converted (22). Soria gave up a run on two hits and a walk, just to see what it would feel like. He is... the Most Interesting Closer In the World.
- Brian Wilson, converted (22). One walk and two strikeouts in 1.1 frames.
- Rafael Soriano, converted (20). One hit in a routine day at the office.
- Billy Wagner, converted (17). Two K's in one smooth inning.
- Carlos Marmol, converted (15). Walked one and struck out one in 1.1 innings.
- Francisco Rodirguez, blown (4). One out, three hits, three walks, three runs, sayonara victory.
Other Closer Outings:
- Matt Capps pitched a perfect inning, striking out one, then fell into a win when K-Rod k-sploded.
- Kerry Wood threw a scoreless ninth, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one. Chris Perez pitched a scoreless eighth, walking one.
- Jonathan Broxton came on to protect a 14 run lead and gave up that pity home run to Reynolds.
Non-Closer Outings:
- Manny Corpas, pitching in the seventh inning, failed to record an out and gave up two runs on three hits.
- Chad Qualls pitched in a situation with the least amount of pressure possible (down by 14 in the ninth) and responded with two K's in a shutout inning. Maybe next time, he'll be entrusted with a single-digit deicit.
Lineup-o-logy:
- Josh Thole got the start at catcher for the Mets, going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI. If he keeps hitting, he could start taking playing time away from Rod Barajas, although it's hard to imagine the Mets would want Barajas' .277 OBP out of the lineup. You just can't buy that kind of outmaking consistency. Actually, on second thought, you probably can.
- Neil Walker was back in action after a concussion, hitting second and going 1-for-4.
- Mike Napoli got another start at first base, going 0-for-3 with an RBI. He's now played more than 20 games there, giving him first base eligibility in 2011, if you're the kind of person who likes to buy three catchers in your AL-only league's auction just to be a bastard.
- Casey Kotchman got a start at first base instead of Russell Branyan and went 2-for-4.
- Miguel Cabrera was back in the lineup and went 1-for-2 with a double and two runs scored.
- Matt Kemp hit second for Joe Torre, which I guess is better than eighth. At least he was in there somewhere. He went 2-for-6 with a double and a homer.
Tough Days:
- Wade Davis, in addition to Thome's historic blasts, also gave up one to Justin Morneau. He managed all this in just 4.1 innings.
- Chris Carpenter lost just his second game of the season, but it was a doozy. Eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits and two walks in just three innings. Given the way his defense played behind him, only one unearned run seems way harsh.
- Paul Maholm was a titch worse than Carpenter, giving up eight runs (seven earned) in three innings, but on 10 hits and two walks.
- Chipper Jones went 0-for-3, and is now hitting just .249 on the season. He's still 39 hits short of 2500, and it looks like it'll be a bigger struggle to get there than anybody figured.
- Michael Stanton struck out twice more, and now has 35 K's in 21 games (82 at-bats). This is getting Brandon Wood-bad, or even Chris Davis-bad. Didn't the Marlins used to know how to develop prospects properly?
- Ricky Romero got hammered for eight runs on seven hits and two walks in 2.2 innings, spiking his ERA up by more than half a run.
- Ubaldo Jimenez threw five shutout innings. Unfortunately, they were sandwiched around a seven run third.
- Kevin Kouzmanoff is now 0-for his last-29. I should probably put that under a 'Tough Weeks' header, but I didn't feel like starting a new section just for him.
Injuries:
- Ian Stewart got plunked in the elbow by a Barry Zito fastball, and after toughing it out for a couple of innings finally got pulled. It doesn't seem too serious, but expect him to sit on Sunday at least.
- Shin-Soo Choo's thumb injury landed him on the DL.
- Roger Bernadina's back wouldn't even allow him to pinch-hit for the Nationals.
- Adrian Gonzalez sat with a stiff neck. If he'd stop hitting the ball so far, he wouldn't need to crane his neck to see where they land.
Home Runs:
- Jose Bautista (21), Albert Pujols (20), Mark Reynolds (19), Justin Morneau (17), Kevin Youkilis (16), Alex Gonzalez (15), Aubrey Huff (15), Carlos Gonzalez (14), Matt Kemp (14), Rickie Weeks (14), Andre Ethier (13), Jim Thome 2 (10), Jim Edmonds (4), Rafael Furcal (4), Brett Gardner (4), Jimmy Rollins (4), Ryan Church (3), Jake Fox (3), Jason LaRue (2), Jeff Mathis (2), Jayson Nix (2), Pedro Alvarez (1), Travis Ishikawa (2), Ben Francisco (1), Matt Joyce (1)
Stolen Bases:
- Scott Podsednik (24), Nyjer Morgan (18), Andres Torres (15), Corey Patterson (14), Albert Pujols (9), Cody Ross (8), Coco Crisp, (4), Tyler Colvin (2), Alex Cora (2), Jim Edmonds (2), Jon Herrera (1)
Caught Stealing:
- Hunter Pence (5), Omar Infante (2), Oscar Salazar (2), Tony Abreu (1)