Notables:

-Johan "Hole-in-one" Santana threw a four-hit shutout (all singles) which included 10 strikeouts, his second double-digit strikeout game for the month.  The key to his sudden uptick in Ks can be traced to his changeup, which he has effectively used as his out pitch.  Teammate Francisco Rodriguez was suspended by the Mets for two games for an altercation involving his father-in-law, Carlos Pena.  Again it was his father-in-law, not the guy whose link is attached.  Troy Tulowitzki went 2-for-4 in the game and is officially in the middle of a hot streak, going 14-for-29 (.483) over his last eight games.

-Casey McGehee might be showing signs of breaking out of his midseason slump (.223 BA in June, .266 in July), going 4-for-4 with a home run and recording his franchise record ninth straight hit.  I'm guessing he'll be in the lineup tomorrow against Jorge De La Rosa.

-Pat Burrell had two more homers today to make it a season total of 12.  I made a cheesy AARP joke about him last week, so maybe he's been motivated.  You'd think a guy moving to a pitcher's park with a weaker lineup wouldn't have this kind of success, but kudos to him for turning things around.

-Michael Brantley went 4-for-5 with a stolen base.  What, regular playing time without looking in the rearview mirror helps instill confidence?  Isn't this the Matt LaPorta story?  Jeanmar Gomez threw six strong innings in the same game allowing only one earned run.  Gotta admit, he wasn't on my radar and after looking at his minor league numbers, he shouldn't be on yours.  Do not be tempted here.

-Jon Garland threw six shutout innings, lowering his ERA to 3.41.  His road ERA is 4.52 in case you resemble Patrick Star.

-Francisco Liriano threw 5.2 scoreless innings and has given up only one home run in his last 95.2 innings.

-Eastbound and Down returns on September 26.  This is a baseball column, right?  It was shot in Puerto Rico (on the show they'll say it's Mexico) and the only regular who doesn't have a cameo from last season other than Kenny Powers is Stevie Janowski (one of my favorite characters on TV, period).

Save Chances:

-John Axford, converted.  Axford on paper reminds me of John Rocker.  Except Rocker doesn't have a sweet 'stache.  And Axford is probably a tad more tolerant.  And Rocker was left-handed.  But both closers seem to be "wildly effective" as evidenced by Axford striking out the first two batters he faced, then walking the bases loaded, then getting a double-play ball to get save #17. 

-Jonathan Papelbon, blown for the first time in 25 tries against Toronto.  I still think Bard's closing by midseason at the latest in 2011.

-Heath Bell, converted.  Save numero 34.

-Jonathan Broxton, blown.  HBP, walk, walk, error, double=blown save.

-Chris Perez, converted.  A clean ninth for save 14 and lowered his ERA to 2.33.

-David Robertson, converted, barely.  See below, not in any type of impressive fashion when you face three batters and get only one out.

Other Closer Outings:

-Kevin Gregg notched his first win of year with a scoreless ninth frame with his team down three.

-Brian Wilson got the win by throwing a scoreless ninth and the Giants got a run in the bottom of the inning.  Jerry Manuel, take note.  You don't need a save situation to use your closer.  Brian Wilson, take note.  Your hair plus John Axford's mustache on the cover of a romance novel would sell millions.

-Joel Hanrahan (he's the closer, right?) tossed a scoreless frame with his team down three, two Ks one walk.

-Joakim Soria threw a scoreless ninth with his team down a run. 

Non-Closer Outings:

-Zach Braddock walked three in .1 innings.  He's still learning but the talent is there.

Lineup-ology:

-Derrek Lee is expected back in the lineup on Friday.

-Andres Torres (leg tightness) was held out of the starting lineup but hit a bases loaded single to get his team the W.

-The Royals are going to use Brayan Pena more over the final six weeks of the season.  They should impose the same rule for Alex Gordon and Kila Ka'aihue for the rest of the season.  It's ridiculous when I see Willie Bloomquist in place of either.  This is why your team is terrible.

-Alfonso Soriano (suckiness) and Aramis Ramirez (ribs) got the day off on Thursday. Oh, wait Soriano popped up as a pinch-hitter. 

-Johnny Cueto was suspended seven games for going all Pele on the Cardinals a few games ago.  Managers Tony LaRussa and Dusty Baker got two games each and there has been no confirmation that LaRussa shouted a "nice work with Prior/Wood" joke during the incident.

-Matt Kemp returned to the lineup while Jay Gibbons returned to the bench.  Yes, that Jay Gibbons was playing over Kemp.  Kemp promptly hit an RBI single in his first AB and connected for his 19th home run in a 3-for-5 day.  Next year, I've already got Carlos Gonzalez ahead of Kemp, which is stating the obvious at this point.

Tough Days:

-Randy Wells gave up seven runs (six earned) over five innings.  The odd thing was this was in San Francisco, not Chicago so the three homers given up are slightly disturbing.

-Chase Headley, 0-for-4, 2Ks.

-Delwyn Young 0-for-4, 4 LOB.

-Guillermo Mota, zero innings thrown, two runs.

-Ronald Belisario outdid Mota with no innings, four hits and four earned runs accumulated.

-Gavin Floyd is starting to come back into the atmosphere, allowing six runs over 6.2 innings.  His first bad outing in a very long time (see May 4th).

-C.C. Sabathia.  What you say?  He got the win!  Yes and David Robertson allowed two inherited runners to score thwarting a 8.2 innings-pitched game with allowing only one run.

Injuries:

-Chipper Jones has a torn ACL and is likely done for his year and possibly his career.

-LaTroy Hawkins was sent to the 15-day DL with shoulder tightness.

-Bobby Jenks left after his back acted up; notice I didn't include Jenks in the closer section.  Grab J.J. Putz as I see a DL stint here.

Stolen Bases:

-Jose Reyes 2 (23), Corey Hart (6), DeWayne Wise (3), Jacoby Ellsbury (7), Jed Lowrie (1), Michael Brantley (3), Aaron Rowand (5), Chris Denorfia (6), Jamey Carroll (8), Jayson Werth (8), Shane Victorino (21)

Caught Stealing:

-Aaron Hill (2), Starlin Castro (4), Nick Markakis (2-not one to start rumors, but how has he digressed since he was 22-23 while he K rate has gone down?  Was he training with Brady Anderson a few years back?), Nick Swisher (2), Willie Bloomquist (4), Hanley Ramirez (8-did I see him hustle on a defensive play last week?)

Home Runs:

-Casey McGehee (18), Stephen Drew (8-second day in a row), Jose Bautista (36-where the heck do you rank him next year?), Pat Burrell 2 (12), Pablo Sandoval (7-another where do you rank him next year?), Jed Lowrie (1), David Ortiz (25), Ryan Ludwick (14-three homers in his last three games), Mike Stanton (12-that's 33 total between the minors and bigs.  If someone mentions him as a sleeper next year, never ever never read again what they write), Matt Kemp (19), "O-face/dog" Orlando Hudson (5), Jason Kubel (17), Austin Kearns (9)

Lastly:

-Ricky Nolasco has tossed six scoreless innings, which included striking out Adam Dunn with the base loaded on a sick curve ball.  He's always a sleeper but never delivers.  He'll cash in some day.  I'll add more comments in the morning on this game.