Tuesday marked an interesting point in the schedule where some teams were turning to their first starter for the second time this season while others were turning to their fourth or fifth starters, often in the same game. This is your annual reminder that aside from the first couple of games in the season and the first few after the All-Star break, it's no guarantee that your ace will match up against other aces during the course of the season. You shouldn't try to game the system and downgrade one particular starter because you think he will face other aces or upgrade another starter because he will face other third starters. Just look at some of Tuesday's matchups - CC Sabathia faced the Twins' #5 starter Brian Duensing, Jered Weaver faced the Rays' #4 starter Jeff Niemann, among other examples.

Cubs 6, Diamondbacks 5

- The lead story here has to be Andrew Cashner. He pitched very well before leaving, allowing just one run over 5.1 innings, giving up two hits and a walk (on the final batter he faced), but that's not the headline, unfortunately. On that last pitch, he felt some tightness in his shoulder. What was worrisome was how quickly the Cubs' trainer came out of the dugout to check on Cashner - it was an immediate reaction to how he dropped his shoulder after that walk. Cashner will have an MRI on Wednesday.
- Tyler "Bunny" Colvin started in place of the injured Carlos Pena at first base and legalized two-run homers for the home team to right-center. He also drew his third walk of the season against three strikeouts - it's early, but last year that ratio was 30:100.
- Sean Marshall picked up the save because both Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood had been used three days in a row prior to Tuesday. So while it was nice to get that save, that's not what you're buying Marshall for - it's not a great bet to happen even one more time. You'll still |STAR|probably|STAR| get good component numbers, however, and lots of innings compared to other relievers.
- The fact that the Cubs couldn't use Marshall until late in the game hurt them, though. The combination of Jeff Samardzija, Marcos Mateo and James Russell conspired to blow Cashner's win, and if Cashner has to miss significant time, that's one more link in the chain the Cubs might have to take out of the bullpen.
- Willie Bloomquist already has four stolen bases while subbing in for Stephen Drew and batting leadoff.

Padres 3, Giants 1

- Aaron Harang held the Giants to one run over six innings, striking out six while allowing six hits and two walks. Can Harang sustain numbers like this in his home starts? It wouldn't be the first time I've underestimated the restorative powers of Petco. I still won't touch Harang on his road starts.
- Brian Wilson (oblique) will come off the DL on Wednesday.
- Mat Latos felt fine after Monday's simulated game and will probably come off the DL to face the Reds next Monday.
- Andres Torres had his first stolen base of the season after stealing 26 last year. I'm a believer that his results last year were legit - a product of opportunity, maturity and conquering of his attention deficit disorder. If there's something that might fall off, it would be his power.
- SB: Jason Bartlett (1); CS: Cedric Hunter (1); S: Heath Bell (2).

Angels 5, Rays 3

- The big news is Jordan Walden's save - his promotion to closer occurred even faster than I expected. I was hoping I'd get a discount of a unit or two at my home league draft Friday night, but that's not happening. Because Walden has been successful and converted his first chance with a dominant performance, there's less of a chance he'll have to share opportunities with Scott Downs once Downs is off the DL.
- The other big news is the Rays' continuing offensive woes. Their three runs Tuesday doubled their season total, and they still haven't scored more than one run against an opposing starter. Sabermetric darlings John Jaso, Dan Johnson and Matt Joyce are hitting .000, .067 and .091 respectively. Yeah, it's four games, but if you wanted to cook up a formula that gets Desmond Jennings to the majors quicker, this is it.
- Sean Rodriguez started at third base and hit a homer in place of the injured Evan Longoria.
- Johnny Damon returned after missing Sunday's game with a calf injury.
- Hank Conger got his first start and hit his first major league homer. Knowing Mike Scioscia, that probably means we won't see Conger again until next week. Then again, he was willing to pull the trigger on Walden quickly - maybe continued success from Conger will encourage him to do the same here.
- SB: Damon (1); Maicer Izturis (2); Bobby Abreu (1); Torii Hunter (1); Peter Bourjos (1); HR: B.J. Upton (1)

Twins 5, Yankees 4

- Rafael Soriano had a token bad day, allowing four runs in the eighth, on the basis of three walks and a hit. He caught a bit of a bad break - he left with one in, two outs and the bases loaded, and all three inherited runners scored on a bloop double that scooted away from Nick Swisher after an ill-conceived sliding attempt to catch it.
- Mark Teixeira's hot first week is illustrative of why more often than not analysis suggesting that "Player X is a slow starter, which is why he is starting slow" is pseudo-science (and circular) at best and most likely nonsense. Tuesday's homer was his fourth, and his first from the right-hand side.
- Joe Nathan looked far better in getting the save (2) than he did on Sunday.
- Justin Morneau didn't start for the first time this season because of his track record against CC Sabathia, but later was able to pinch-hit.
- Andruw Jones homered in his first Yankee at-bat.

Mets 7, Phillies 1

- Chris Young held the Phillies to one run over 5.1 innings, striking out seven in the process, and also had three hits, including two in the Mets' six-run inning against Cole Hamels.
- In that inning, Hamels wasn't good, but his defense didn't help matters - Carlos Ruiz had a passed ball, and Mets runners took the extra-base on Raul Ibanez.
- Chase Utley still isn't ready to start jogging. I tried to be doom-and-gloom about Utley in spring training once the news came out about him, but I didn't go far enough.
- SB: Jose Reyes (1); Angel Pagan (2); David Wright (1); Jimmy Rollins (2); Wilson Valdez (1).

Indians 3, Red Sox 1

- That Josh Tomlin shut down the Red Sox on Tuesday diminishes Matt Harrison's dominance against them on Sunday, at least a little bit. The Red Sox will come around eventually, but it just hasn't clicked yet.
- Grady Sizemore is starting up his minor league rehab assignment.
- SB: Michael Brantley (1); Asdrubal Cabrera (1); Matt LaPorta (1) - opposing teams are having their way running against Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
- S: Chris Perez (1) - it was a little bumpy, as he gave up a hit and a walk before getting out of the inning without allowing a run. It was interesting to see that Tony Sipp pitched the eighth as the primary set-up guy.

Blue Jays 7, A's 6

- Bad day for me in the RotoWire Staff Keeper League - I had both Rafael Soriano and Grant Balfour going for me. My team also went 4-for-41 at the plate. Balfour got the first chance for an A's save and promptly blew it against just two batters, allowing a single and Yunel Escobar's walk-off homer. Brian Fuentes did not pitch because of a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand.
- The A's were supposed to be strong defensively, but they kicked it around again, committing two more errors, including Kevin Kouzmanoff's fourth of the season already.
- Andy LaRoche picked up a token start at shortstop for the A's and went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
- Jose Bautista will return to the lineup Friday against the Angels after the birth of his daughter.

Marlins 3, Nationals 2

- Winner in the Overreact To Small Sample Sizes Contest? Jim Riggleman, who benched Ian Desmond on Tuesday and said that he'd move him down in the batting order Wednesday after Desmond went hitless in three games against the Braves over the weekend. The Nats also benched Danny Espinosa.
- The game-winning inning started on a dropped fly ball by Jayson Werth and then was followed by an intentional walk to Hanley Ramirez, so we can hardly blame either Drew Storen or Sean Burnett for this one.
- Chris Coghland had a Jim Edmonds-like diving catch in center - it looked spectacular, but there were plenty of other center fielders that could have caught it without having to dive in the first place.
- Donnie Murphy returned from a hand injury to hit the game-winning single. He's your normal starter at third base for the Marlins, at least for now. Matt Dominguez is hurt, too, so it's going to be awhile before the Fish have a permanent solution at third base.
- Michael Stanton still hasn't cleared his hamstring tightness and won't start until the weekend, though he did draw a walk in a pinch-hit appearance.
- HR: Ryan Zimmerman (1); Logan Morrison (2); SB: Rick Ankiel (1).

Reds 8, Astros 2

- J.A. Happ's line isn't going to look good, but he was dealing with a very tight bottom portion of the strike zone, leading him to walk five guys. He's a nibbler, and if he's not getting that call, then he either ends up walking hitters or leaving the ball up. Neither is a good result.
- Chris Heisey picked up a token start in right field, giving Jay Bruce the day off against the lefty Happ. He drove in three runs with a walk, hit-by-pitch and then a single, and also made a couple of nice plays in right field.
- Brandon Phillips had to leave the game early after being out of breath following an awkward and unneccessary head-first slide into home plate.
- Mike Leake landed on a soft spot to start the 2011 season, facing the punchless Astros. He gave up two runs in six innings.
- SB: Drew Stubbs (2); Brandon Phillips (1).

Rangers 3, Mariners 2

- Alexi Ogando was superb in his first start, shutting out the Mariners over six innings. He developed a blister on his index finger in the start, so watch to make sure he can make his next outing. He threw 90 pitches, so he might have gotten pulled after his six innings anyhow.
- Once again, the Rangers' set-up guys had troubles, this time Mark Lowe giving up three hits and two runs while retiring just one batter. Darren Oliver got out of the jam, but only because of a diving catch by Julio Borbon Jr. in center field.
- Michael Pineda picked up the loss in his debut, but this was a pretty tough draw and he held his own, giving up five hits and walk to lead to three runs, striking out four.
- Neither Nelson Cruz nor Ian Kinsler homered. They stink.
- Nelson Cruz might have scored anyhow on Mitch Moreland's big triple, but a gratuitous wall-climb by Michael Saunders turned a double into a triple on that play.
- S: Neftali Feliz (2).

Royals 7, White Sox 6

- Adam Dunn played despite needing an emergency appendectomy Wednesday morning. He had been bothered by the injury earlier in the week.
- "Swiper, no swiping!" The Royals are running, running, running. They had three more stolen bases after swiping nine over the weekend. Jeff Francoeur (2), Alcides Escobar (2) and Matt Treanor (1)(!) were the runners Tuesday.
- The Royals have played 25 innings in their last two games, sandwiching an off-day Monday. Their relievers threw six scoreless innings Tuesday.
- We had our first "Manage By the Save Rule, Save Chance Never Comes" moment with the White Sox, as Matt Thornton never got into the game, this despite the White Sox getting Monday off.
- Alex Gordon is looking great, homering off of Gavin Floyd and hitting two doubles to boot. It's nice to see him get off to a good start for once.
- HR: Paul Konerko (1); Alex Gordon (1); Billy Butler (2). SB: Juan Pierre (1); Brent Lillibridge (1); Brent Morel (1).

Brewers 1, Braves 0

- The Brewers made two lineup changes Tuesday, sitting Yuniesky Betancourt for Craig Counsell and sitting Carlos Gomez for Nyjer Morgan, with Mark Kotsay getting the start in right field. Neither are permanent changes, at least for now, but Gomez in particular could be on the hot seat once Corey Hart returns from the DL.
- Yovani Gallardo not only shut out the Braves yesterday, but he also scored the Brewers' only run.
- Derek Lowe had another fantastic start, allowing just one run over six innings while striking out seven. He's been on a roll ever since August last year.
- SB: Counsell (1); CS: Dan Uggla (1).

Cardinals 3, Pirates 2

- After a rough first inning, giving up a two-run homer to Lyle Overbay, Kyle McClellan shut down the Pirates the rest of the way. He struck out seven while walking one over six innings.
- James McDonald was just ok, but remember that he missed time in spring training with an abdominal injury. He's still a good source of cheap K's as the season progresses.
- Matt Holliday appears as if he's going to come back from his appendectomy as early as Friday, after having a light workout on Tuesday.
- Allen Craig once again started in left field with Holliday out, ahead of Jon Jay, and went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
- SB: Jason Jaramillo (1)(!); CS: Andrew McCutchen (1); S: Ryan Franklin (1).

Rockies 3, Dodgers 0

- Jhoulys Chacin picked up where he left off last year, shutting out the Dodgers over seven innings, outdueling Clayton Kershaw, who gave up just two runs, but both on solo homers to Troy Tulowitzki and Chris Iannetta.
- Casey Blake will come off the DL Wednesday, making one spot in the lineup for the Dodgers less-weak.
- S: Huston Street (2).