Blue Jays 7, Astros 5



- Clint Barmes might get flak for committing a sixth inning error that sparked a Jays rally, but the error should have been charged to whoever decided it would be a good idea to pitch to Jose Bautista with two on and only a four run lead. Bautista also popped a solo shot in the eighth because hey, why not.

- neither starting pitcher was particularly sharp. Brett Myers was cruising until that sixth inning, but would up giving up six runs (five earned) on eight hits. Brandon Morrow made it through six innings and gave up four runs on nine hits and three walks, while striking out his usual six.

- Chris Johnson went 2-for-3 with three RBI and is starting to look like the player he was last season, going 11-for his last-26 over his last eight games.

- with Frank Francisco getting a breather Jon Rauch was handed the save opportunity, but handed it right back after recording just one out and giving up a run-scoring double to Angel Sanchez. Octavio Dotel had to come in and clean up Rauch's mess.

W: Casey Janssen (1-0) SV: Dotel (1) HR: Bautista 2 (18), Yunel Escobar (4) SB: Cliff Lee (2), Bautista (5)





White Sox 9, Dodgers 2



- Jon Garland got welcomed back to the South Side with an 11-hit, seven-run explosion from the White Sox bats in just 3.2 innings. Thanks for coming, Jon. Part of the problem may have been a blister on his thumb that didn't allow him to throw his curve though.

- Mark Buehrle, meanwhile, glided through seven innings allowing just two runs on seven hits and no walks. And one whole strikeout.

- the biggest bats for the Sox were wielded by Paul Konerko (3-for-5, three RBI) and Alexei Ramirez (3-for-4, two doubles, two runs, two RBI). Adam Dunn lost his invitation to the party though, going 0-for-4.

- Jerry Sands connected on his first big league home run. His numbers are disappointing so far, but a 12:19 BB:K ratio in 27 games indicates he hasn't been overmatched. The Dodgers are being patient with him, and so should you.

W: Buehrle (4-3) HR: Sands (1), Alexis Rios (4), Brent Lillibridge (4)





Cardinals 3, Royals 0



- Jake Westbrook tossed eight straight clean frames at Kansas City, allowing just four hits and three walks while striking out three.

- Nathan Adcock matched Westbrook for five innings in his first big league start, giving up just three hits and a walk while striking out four.

- the game was decided by one swing off the bat of Matt Holliday. It's just his sixth swat of the season, but that's about the only disapoointing thing in his .356/.447/.568 line.

- Fernando Salas continues to lock down the Cards' closer gig, giving up a hit and striking out one in a scoreless ninth to rack up his sixth save.

W: Westbrook (4-3) SV: Salas (6) HR: Holliday (6) SB: Chris Getz (8) CS: Yadier Molina (3)





Indians 2, Reds 1



- Homer Bailey looked good again, giving up two runs on four hits in seven innings with a 4:0 K:BB ratio, and he really only made one mistake (the seventh inning pitch to Travis Buck that got deposited in the seats.)

- Josh Tomlin was just as tough, getting touched for one run on three hits and a walk while striking out three. He's now tied for the major league lead with six wins, and his 2.41 ERA has him in the AL's top ten.

- Chris Perez's control issues continued, as he walked two batters before nailing down his 12th save. That's six walks in his last four innings, but the velocity drop he was showing earlier in the season was nowhere to be seen in this game, as he sat comfortably in the 93-95 mph range with his fastball. If there is something wrong with him Vinnie Pestano, who struck out three batters in the eighth and now has a 21:6 K:BB ratio in 17.1 innings, is probably the guy to own as insurance.

W: Tomlin (6-1) SV: Perez (12) HR: Buck (1)





Orioles 8, Nationals 3



- Jeremy Guthrie got his first win since Opening Day, throwing seven innings and giving up just two unearned runs on five hits and a walk while striking out four.

- John Lannan had a very un-Lannan-like outing, in that he struck out six guys in six innings. The six runs on nine hits and a walk were a little more in line with his usual.

- every Oriole got at least one hit, but it was the new guys who led the charge from the bottom of the order. Nolan Reimold hit his first major league home run of the year in his first start, while Brandon Snyder went 2-for-4 with a double and run scored out of the nine hole.

- there have been some bad interleague DH mismatches over the years, but Vlad Guerrero vs Matt Stairs has to be among the worst.

W: Guthrie (2-6) HR: Reimold (1)





Marlins 5, Rays 3



- Javier Vazquez finally had his first good start in a Marlins uniform, giving up three hits and two walks over seven shutout innings while K'ing seven. His ERA is still 6.41 on the season though, so don't get too excited yet.

- David Price walked Emilio Bonifacio to lead off the game and it was all downhill from there. He eventually gave up five runs on six hits and a walk over 6.2 frames, striking out four.

- Hanley Ramirez hit his second home run and had his third multi-hit effort in his last four games. It's coming in fits and starts, but his production is slowly returning to expected levels.

W: Vazuez (3-4) SV: Leo Nunez (17) HR: Ramirez (4), Omar Infante (1) SB: Eliot Johnson (4)





Pirates 6, Tigers 2



- Max Scherzer came up short in his bid to become the majors' first seven game winner, allowing three runs on seven hits over 5.2 innings with a 7:0 K:BB ratio.

- Kevin Correia joined him in the six-win club though, giving up two runs on seven hits over 6.2 innings with a 4:0 K:BB ratio

- Andrew McCutchen had a great game on both sides of the ball, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and robbing Austin Jackson of extra bases on a warning track drive to straightaway center field.

- Ronny Cedeno continued his quiet climb back to adequacy, going 2-for-4 to give him a .414 average (12-fo-29) over his last nine games.

- Ryan Perry, the one-time Tigers closer of the future, had another awful outing in which he gave up three runs on three hits and a walk (to relief pitcher Jose Veras no less) in a third of an inning, to give him a nice tidy ERA of 10.00. Meanwhile Al Albuquerque, the new guy on the block, struck out another two batters in a shutout inning of work.

W: Correia (6-4) SV: Joel Hanrahan (13)





Cubs 9, Red Sox 3



- the Cubs' eight run rally in the eighth was overshadowed by Marlon Byrd being taken to the hospital after being hit by a pitch in the face. He only stayed in the hospital overnight, but he's almost certainly headed to the DL.

- David Ortiz hit his 300th home run as a Red Sox, joining Ted Williams, Jim Rice, Carl Yastrzemski and Dwight Evans as the only players to do so.

- Alfredo Aceves pitched pretty well in a spot start, lasting five innings and allowing just one run on three hits and two walks while striking out two.

- Matt Albers took the brunt of the Cubs' fury, eventually getting charged with six runs (five earned) on three hits and two walks while failing to retire a single batter. His ERA is only 4.15 after that disaster though, which tells you how solid he'd been up to now.

W: Sean Marshall (2-0) HR: Ortiz (9) SB: Kosuke Fukudome (1), Dustin Pedroia (9), Jacoby Ellsbury (15) CS: Carlos Pena (2)





Brewers 3, Rockies 2



- Shaun Marcum turned in another gem, getting touched for just one run on four hits and two walks over eight innings while striking out eight. Zack who?

- Clayton Mortensen wasn't bad either for the Rox, giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks over 6.2 frames while K'ing five.

- Jonathan Lucroy went 1-for-3 with a home run, and is hitting an outstanding .320/.373/.490 on the season with 18 RBI in 29 games. Given the state of catching these days, those are very nearly elite fantasy numbers.

- Dexter Fwoler went 1-for-4 but his misadventures on the base paths continued, as he got caught stealing for the sixth time against just two successes. Colorado really needs to think about giving him a red light until he figures out what he's doing wrong.

W: Marcum (6-1) SV: John Axford (11) HR: Carlos Gonzalez (6), Lucroy (4) CS: Fowler (6), Ryan Braun (1)





Yankees 7, Mets 3



- the Yankees pummelled Chris Capuano for six runs in 5.1 innings on six hits, including four home runs. For what it's worth, he did strike out five.

- A.J. Burnett was good enough again, allowing three runs on six hits and three walks over 6.1 innings while striking out four.

- Jose Reyes continues to enhance his trade value, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and his 17th steal of the season.

- Derek Jeter also swiped one, tying Rickey Henderson for most career steals in a Yankee uniform.

- Justin Turner went 1-for-4 with an RBI, tying the Mets' rookie record with a seven game RBI streak

W: Burnett (5-3) HR: Russell Martin (8), Mark Teixeira (12), Curtis Granderson (15), Alex Rodriguez (9) SB: Reyes (17), Jeter (3)





Giants 3, A's 0



- Tim Lincecum was his usual freakishly brilliant self, holding the A's to just three measly singles in a six-K shutout.

- Brett Anderson wasn't bad either, giving up one run on five hits and a walk over five frames while striking out five.

- Joey Devine finally made his return to a big league mound after two years of injury trouble, allowing a Mike Fontenot double in a scoreless inning of work. He's in middle relief right now, but Devine was sitting nicely at 91-93 mph with his fastball and if the Oakland closer job goes up for grabs again at some point, he'll be a dark horse candidate.

W: Lincecum (4-4)





Phillies 2, Rangers 0



- Cliff Lee stuck it to his former club, reeling off eight shutout innings and striking out 10 while giving up just five hits and two walks. Oh, and just to rub it in further he went 1-for-3 and stole a base as well.

- Colby Lewis was solid but couldn't keep pace with Lee, surrendering two runs on seven hits over 6.2 innings with a 6:2 K:BB ratio.

- Domonic Brown hit second for the Phillies and went 0-for-4 with two K's and a caught stealing in his 2011 big league debut. Look on the bright side, he could have struck out all four times and made a throwing error on top of it all.

- Michael Young was the only Texas hitter to have any success on the day, going 3-for-4

W: Lee (3-4) SV: Ryan Madson (9) HR: Ryan Howard (10) SB: Ian Kinsler (9), Lee (1) CS: Mitch Moreland (1), Brown (1)





Braves 5, Angels 4



- figures the Angels would lose on the day the Rapture fizzles.

- Jason Heyward was a late scratch due to his shoulder acting up. Good thing too, as that forced Atlanta to start Joe Mather in his place, and Mather only went 4-for-6 with a home run and four RBI.

- Brian McCann went 2-for-4 with an RBI, but was all but helpless against the Angels on the base paths, as LAA of A went 5-for-6 on steal attempts.

- Joel Pineiro tossed six shutout innings. Unfortunately he then came out for the seventh, and the Braves hung a four-spot on him. His final line: four runs on 11 hits in 6.1 innings with a 2:0 K:BB ratio.

- Tommy Hanson fought his control, getting tagged for four runs on five hits and four walks over six innings, but he did strike out seven.

- Bobby Abreu had a very Abreu-like game, going 1-for-3 with two walks, two runs, two RBI, a home run and two steals.

- Alexi Aramista may have written his ticket back to the minors, going 0-for-4 to drop his batting average to .143 and committing two errors.

W: Scott Proctor (1-0) SV: Craig kimbrel (12) HR: Mather (1), Abreu (2) SB: Freddie Freeman (1), Alberto Callaspo (1), Abreu 2 (7), Erick Aybar 2 (12) CS: Mather (1), Torii Hunter (1)





Team 0, Team 0



- figures the Padres would lose on the day the Rapture fizzles.

- Michael Pineda is going to have the AL Rookie of the Year award sewed up by the All-Star break at this rate. He tossed seven shutout innings, giving up only two hits and a walk while striking out nine, to drop his ERA to 2.16 with a 61:14 K:BB ratio in 58.1 innings so far.

- Michael Wilson showed a flicker of life at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI.

- Jamey Wright pitched a shutout ninth, giving up two hits and striking out one, and remains the default closer option in Seattle if Brandon League falls apart any further,

W: Pineda (6-2) SB: Chase Headley (5) CS: Ichiro Suzuki (4)





Diamondbacks 9, Twins 6



- Glen Perkins strained his right oblique in the eighth inning and was on the DL before his cleats hit the dugout steps. If there's one thing Minnesota's been good at this season, it's efficiently placing players on the DL. The Twins were forced to bring in Matt Capps from the bullpen cold to face a string of left-handers when Perkins went down, and bad things happened as a result. Like, Kelly Johnson grand slam bad.

- Micah Owings scratched his way through 5.1 innings in his return to the D-backs rotation, giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits, including two home runs, and a walk while striking out three.

- Scott Baker wasn't a whole lot better, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks in just five innings while striking out seven.

- Danny Valencia swung the big bat for Minny, going 3-for-4 with three RBI and one of those homers off Owings.

- an Arizona first baseman actually had a good game, as Juan Miranda went 2-for-3 with two doubles and three RBI. While they putz around with their mediocre three-headed first base hydra of Miranda, Russell Branyan and Xavier Nady, Brandon Allen is hitting .322/.435/.544 at Triple-A.

- speaking of putzing around, J.J. Putz rang up his 11th save by striking out two in a perfect ninth inning. Top that segue!

W: Aaron Heilman (3-0) SV: Putz (11) HR: Valencia (5), Jason Kubel (5), Johnson (5)