Orioles 9 - Rays 3
- Jake Arrieta turned in another quality start with 2 earned runs allowed over 6 innings. He struck out 7 and improved his strikeout rate to 8.06 K/9, which is much higher his 4.66 K/9 from last season. He also gave up a homer for the 5th straight game.
- Andy Sonnanstine got hit around for 4 earned runs in 5 innings. It was his second start of the season and at neither time did he show an ability to miss bats. He's still filling in for Jeff Niemann as he deals with a lower back strain. With all the options the team has in the minors, it's doubtful Sonnanstine's leash is long.
- Matt Joyce stayed hot with his 6th homer on the season and 4th in his last 6 games. Should Johnny Damon still be hitting 3rd with Longoria back and Joyce this hot? Joyce is batting .368/.424/.615 on the season.
- Nick Markakis went 3-5 with a homer as all the Orioles starters got a hit, with the exception of Luke Scott. (Insert political joke about Scott here.) Markakis is still batting just .245/.308/.348, but I don't see any reason why that can't rise to his career norm of .295/.365/.456.
- W: Jake Arrieta (5-1), L: Andy Sonnanstine (0-1)
- HR: Nick Markakis (4), J.J. Hardy (2), Matt Joyce (6), Elliot Johnson (1)
- SB: Adam Jones (5); CS: Sam Fuld (5)
Blue Jays 11 - Twins 3
- Jose Bautista with a 3 homer game to run his season total up to 16. He's batting a mind boggling .368/.520/.868, which makes you wonder why teams are even pitching to him. I can't think of a hotter hitter in the game right now.
- Brandon Morrow wasn't great with 3 earned runs allowed over 5 innings, but then again he didn't have to be against the offense starved Twins. He was doing fine until the 5th, when he gave up 2 runs on two RBI doubles. He isn't working deep into games, but the strikeouts are there. Through five starts he's only given up 1 homer, which is encouraging.
- Brian Duensing was pretty, pretty, pretty bad as he gave up 7 earned runs in only 3 innings. Kevin Slowey came on in relief and gave up 4 earned runs in 6 innings. The Twins are last in the AL in team ERA at 4.88 and 2nd to last in the AL in walks, which isn't like the Twins teams we've seen recently.
- Delmon Young took the collar with 3 strikeouts and is now batting .203/.250/.246. I remain optimistic as his walk rate is up a bit, but it'd be nice to see him hit for some power soon.
- W: Brandon Morrow (2-2), L: Brian Duensing (2-3)
- HR: Jose Bautista (14, 15, 16)
Rangers 5 - Angels 4
- C.J. Wilson pitched 5 innings with 4 runs (2 earned) allowed. Just as in his last start, his command was off with 4 walks and 2 strikeouts. It was his shortest outing of the season, but that really speaks to how deep he's been working into games as he's gone at least 7 innings in 6 of his 8 starts, coming into today.
- Ervin Santana aka Big Erv, also took a no-decision as he allowed 4 earned runs over 7 innings. A 3-run bomb by Adrian Beltre and solo shot by Chris Davis accounted for all of the damage. The home run ball has been a problem for him this season as his HR/9 is 1.27.
- Erick Aybar went 3-4 with a double, solo homer, and 3 RBI. He working on a 13 game hitting streak with a .351/.370/.491 batting line.
- Elvis Andrus stole his 13th base of the season and still has not been caught.
- W: Mark Lowe (1-0), L: Rich Thompson (1-2), SV: Neftali Feliz (8)
- HR: Erick Aybar (2), Adrian Beltre (10), Chris Davis (2)
- SB: Elvis Andrus (13); CS: Howie Kendrick (1), Jeff Mathis (1)
White Sox 4 - A's 3
- Mark Buehrle registered his 4th straight quality start with 6.1 innings and 3 earned runs allowed. He struck out a season high 6 batters as he walked 3 batters. After a rough start, his ERA is now 4.07.
- Trevor Cahill allowed 4 runs (2 earned) over 7 innings, but still took the loss here. He committed an error in the 7th that led to 2 runs eventually scoring, so he wasn't free from guilt defensively. He only struck out 1, which is somewhat surprising. The batter he struck out was Adam Dunn, that is not at all surprising.
- Alexei Ramirez went 3-4 with a solo homer. He usually gets off to a slow start, so it's encouraging to see him keep his April start up.
- Josh Willingham went 0-5 with 4 strikeouts for the Golden Sombrero. Yeah, there wasn't much offense to speak of in this game.
- Alex Rios went 1-4 with a run and strikeout. He continues to flounder with a .201/.264/.302 batting line. The first half of last season is looking more and more like an outlier.
- W: Mark Buehrle (3-3), L: Trevor Cahill (6-1), SV: Sergio Santos (5)
- HR: Alexei Ramirez (5), Coco Crisp (2)
- SB: Coco Crisp (11, 12)
Red Sox 7 - Yankees 5
- Jon Lester picked up his 6th win, after he pitched 6 innings and allowed 4 earned runs. In a game that dragged on for most of the night, Lester struck out 7 and walked 4. He gave up the 4 runs in the first two innings and then settled in for 4 scoreless innings. He also gave up 2 homers which puts him at 6 in his last four games.
- Freddy Garcia pitched 5.1 innings and allowed 5 runs (4 earned) for his third loss in his last four starts. A 3-run homer by Kevin Youkilis and solo shot by Papi did most of the damage here. His ERA is now 3.22, which isn't bad at all considering his stuff and the competition he's faced.
- Jorge Posada made a pinch hit appearance and walked. He was cheered by the fans when he came up to bat and has apparently apologized to Girardi and Brian Cashman.
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia went 2-4 with a homer. It was his first homer since August of '09.
- Derek Jeter went 0-4 with a run. He's batting .260/.313/.320. Are Yankees fans ready for him to start hitting 9th yet?
- Curtis Granderson hit his 13th homer of the season. The knock on him for a while has been that he can't hit lefties. He now has 6 homers off of southpaws this season. His previous career high was 5 back in 2008.
- Jonathan Papelbon nailed down his 7th save with a perfect 9th. He now has 21 strikeouts and 2 walks in 16.2 innings.
- W: Jon Lester (5-1), L: Freddy Garcia (2-3), SV: Jonathan Papelbon (7)
- HR: Kevin Youkilis (7), David Ortiz (7), Jarrod Saltalamacchia (1), Curtis Granderson (13), Andruw Jones (2)
- SB: Dustin Pedroia (7); CS: Brett Gardner (6)
Reds 9 - Cardinals 7
- Travis Wood allowed back-to-back solo homers in the 2nd inning and that was it as he improved to 3-3 on the season. In all, he pitched 6 innings, struck out 3, and walked 1. After a series of up and down starts, he now has three straight quality starts.
- Chris Carpenter got blasted for 8 runs (7 earned) in 6.1 innings as the Reds finished off a 3-game sweep of the Cards. His ERA is now 4.95 and he's given up 42 hits in his last four starts. I'm really not worried about Carpenter and have traded for him in two leagues as a result. It just sucks to get one of his worst outings as soon as I get him on my team.
- Aroldis Chapman is someone you should be worried about if you own him. He came into this game and walked 4 of the 5 batters he faced. Only 5 of his 23 pitches were for strike. It wouldn't shock me to see him get sent down to get his confidence back or go on the DL with some sort of ERA (6.92) related issue. He is clearly not right as he's being sent in almost every 5th day now and can't find the strike zone in any of those appearances.
- Paul Janish went 0-4 and is hitting .138/.161/.207 this month. There's got to be someone else that can hit 2nd for the Reds right now other than whoever plays SS (Renteria/Janish) for them.
- Scott Rolen hit a triple in his 2-4 effort on the day. He's now 7-13 since coming off the DL on Friday.
- Chris Heisey smacked a pinch-hit homer in the 8th off Mitchell Boggs. It'd sure be nice to see him in there more than Gomes and Lewis.
- W: Travis Wood (3-3), L: Chris Carpenter (1-3), SV: Francisco Cordero (7)
- HR: Lance Berkman (11), Yadier Molina (3), Ramon Hernandez (6), Chris Heisey (4)
Braves 3 - Phillies 2
- Roy Halladay took the complete game loss here as he threw 8 innings of 3-run ball at the Braves. This was the Civil Rights game, so if you see highlights and both teams are wearing throw-backs, you know why. Halladay struck out 7, walked 2, and allowed 8 hits, the biggest of which was a solo shot by Dan Uggla in the 8th to put the Braves up for good.
- Tim Hudson held the Phillies to 2 runs over 7 innings for a no-decision. He walked 5 and struck out 3, which obviously isn't ideal, but he kept his team in the game against Halladay, which is a tall order for any pitcher.
- Jonny Venters appeared in his MLB leading 23rd game with a clean 8th inning. His ERA is now 0.77, which is pretty impressive.
- Eric Hinske went 2-4 and is now batting .327/.345/.600. He's got 4 homers and 11 RBI, which isn't all that sexy, but he's been invaluable to the Braves in his limited at-bats.
- Dan Uggla went 2-3 with his 7th homer of the season. He had gone hitless in his last 3 games, so this was a welcomed performance.
- W: Jonny Venters (3-0), L: Roy Halladay (5-3), SV: Craig Kimbrel (10)
- HR: John Mayberry Jr. (2), Dan Uggla (7)
- SB: John Mayberry Jr. (2), Pete Orr (1)
Nationals 8 - Marlins 4
- Javier Vazquez got shelled again, this time for 6 earned runs over 4 innings. There are few if any positives to take away from this outing or really any of his outings this season.
- Jason Marquis gave up 4 runs (2 earned) over his 6.2 innings with just 1 walk. His control has been pretty outstanding thus far with 2 or fewer walks in all of his starts this season. If he keep this up, the Nats will have a decent trade chip come the All-Star break.
- Mike Stanton went 2-2 with two doubles, a sac-fly, and hit by pitch. He's batting .246, but slugging .508, which sounds about right for the slugger.
- Hanley Ramirez's struggles continued as he went 0-4 with a strikeout. His batting line is down to .213/.302/.298. He has 3 extra base hits this month.
- Laynce Nix hit clean up again and went 1-4 with a RBI and run. He's now hit 4th in three of the Nats last four games. I'd check his availability in your NL league if I were you.
- W: Jason Marquis (5-1), L: Javier Vazquez (2-4)
- CS: Emilio Bonifacio (3)
Mets 7 - Astros 4
- Chris Capuano held the Astros to 2 runs over his 5 innings of work with 6 strikeouts and 3 walks. His ERA is now 4.78, but he's pitched much better as of late. Still, it'd be nice if he started working deeper into games.
- Aneury Rodriguez threw 4 innings of no-hit ball, then the 5th inning came and he and the Astros imploded. A pop-fly that Carlos Lee dropped after he tripped on the mound started things. 4 runs ended up scoring on a 2-run double, RBI single, and a double steal. Then Brad Mills sent Rodriquez back out for the 6th, where Justin Turner clocked a 3-run homer. This wasn't all Rodriguez's fault, but he is still yet to pitch more than 5 innings in his 3 starts. I remain optimistic for the Rule-5 pick.
- Justin Turner went 2-4 with a 2-run double and 3-run homer. With Ike Davis out, Daniel Murphy is playing first and Turner has started at second. Check his availability in your local NL league.
- Clint Barmes hit his first homer as a member of the Astros. A pull hitter, Barmes sent it into the Crawford Boxes (left field).
- W: Chris Capuano (3-4), L: Aneury Rodriguez (0-2), SV: Francisco Rodriguez (12)
- HR: Justin Turner (1), Clint Barmes (1)
- SB: Jose Reyes (13, 14), Jason Pridie (2); CS: Michael Bourn (1)
Brewers 9 - Pirates 6
- Zack Greinke gave up 5 earned runs in the 5th inning, but held on for the win as the Brewers offense carried the day. He kept the Pirates scoreless through the first four, but then a Neil Walker homer shook him and he never recovered. He did strikeout 5 and walk just 1 to push his K/BB to 20/2 in his three starts.
- Kevin Correia took the loss as he allowed 6 earned runs in just 4 innings. He served up a 3-run homer to Ryan Braun and a solo shot to Casey McGehee in the first inning and that was pretty much the beginning of the end for Correia. After starting out hot, he's now given up 10 earned runs in his last 10.1 innings. His 24 strikeouts in 56.2 innings should tell you all you need to know about his ability to miss bats.
- Pedro Alvarez went 2-4 with a run and strikeout. He's knee deep in a sophomore slump that has him hitting .210/.277/.286. Striking out in over a 1/3 of his at-bats isn't helping things. How much of this is a sore quad and how much of it is him adjusting to the majors is tough to tell.
- Andrew McCutchen went 1-4 with a RBI-triple and a walk. I fully expect for him to turn it on soon and go back to the McCutchen of the last two seasons.
- W: Zack Greinke (2-1), L: Kevin Correia (5-4)
- HR: Neil Walker (5), Ryan Braun (12), Casey McGehee (3), Jonathan Lucroy (3)
- SB: Jose Tabata (11), Rickie Weeks (4, 5)
Padres 8 - Rockies 2
- Mat Latos finally got his first win of the season, after holding the Rockies to 2 runs (1 earned) over 5.2 innings. He struck out 5, walked 3, and gave up yet another home run. His HR/9 is now 1.62, which is one of the highest rates in baseball. His HR/FB rate is only 12.1|PERCENT|, so it's not like he's getting that unlucky.
- Jason Hammel got rocked for 6 earned runs over 6.1 innings. A 3-run homer by Ryan Ludwick in the 4th did most of the damage, with the rest of it coming in the 7th, before he was pulled.
- Carlos Gonzalez went 0-2 with a walk and strikeout. He's still struggling with a .234/.316/.372 batting line. The sooner he and Tulo get back to hitting, the sooner this Rockies team will get back to winning.
- Brad Hawpe went 1-3 with a run, RBI, walk, and strikeout. Jorge Cantu went 2-5 with a run and strikeout. The two combine to have 1 bad dream about Anthony Rizzo taking their job a night.
- W: Mat Latos (1-5), L: Jason Hammel (3-3)
- HR: Ryan Ludwick (6), Todd Helton (6)
- SB: Will Venable (11), Seth Smith (2), Jose Lopez (2); CS: Eric Patterson (1)
Diamondbacks 4 - Dodgers 1
- Ian Kennedy held the Dodgers in check for 6 innings with 1 run allowed and 8 strikeouts. He walked only 1 as he has shown improved control this season with a 2.44 BB/9 walk rate. It was yet another game in which Kennedy did not serve up a homer, which is where he has really made strides in this early season. His HR/9 is 0.46, which is nearly a third of what it was last season.
- Ted Lilly wasn't as fortunate as he gave up 4 earned runs over 6 innings for a loss. Despite his struggles this season, he really hasn't pitched that much differently than he did last season.
- Xavier Nady went 1-4 with a 2-run homer. The menage a trios that is the D-Backs first base situation continues. We're now up to 15 starts by Juan Miranda, 12 by Russell Branyan, and 12 by Nady. Why not invite Brandon Allen and make it a full blown parade?
- Jerry Sands went 0-2 and is now down to a .194/.280/.292 batting line. I don't imagine he'll stay up much longer, then again what better options do the Dodgers have at LF? Tony Gwynn Jr. is batting .224/.268/.328 if you were wondering.
- Outside of Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, this Dodgers lineup is pretty awful. Only San Fran has scored fewer runs in the NL.
- W: Ian Kennedy (4-1), L: Ted Lilly (3-4), SV: J.J. Putz (9)
- HR: Xavier Nady (1), Ryan Roberts (7)
- SB: Stephen Drew (2), Jamey Carroll (4), Aaron Miles (1); CS: Chris Young (3)
Mariners vs. Indians, Royals vs. Tigers, & Giants vs Cubs were postponed due to rain.