Obligatory Father's Day Note:

- David Aardsma will be unavailable Sunday as his wife goes into labor

Obligatory Father's Day Note #2:

- why haven't we had a "Big Daddy" in the majors since the days of Cecil Fielder and Rick Reuschel? It's not like plus-size physiques have gone out of style. Granted, it would be a bit awkward to call Prince Fielder "Big Daddy" since his daddy was also a "Big Daddy" but goodness gracious, CC Sabathia has been just standing there without a nickname at all for a decade now. It's a travesty.

Funny Name Synchronicity of the Day:

- Yunel Escobar and Yuniesky Betancourt each committed their eighth error of the season in Saturday's Braves-Royals game.

Back Atcha, Erickson:

- Saturday's games were brought to you by the number 14, as four big-time sluggers and three speedsters each hit that mark.

Notables:

- Yovani Gallardo struck out nine and walked only one over six one-run innings.
- Carl Crawford went 4-for-5 with a triple, a steal, three runs scored and an RBI.
- Brian McCann celebrated kicking his energy drink habit by hitting his seventh home run of the season. Seriously, how much of that crap do you need to drink on a daily basis for it to affect your eyesight? Perhaps the better question is, which medical professional was it who suggested he undergo LASIK surgery (twice!) for a problem that apparently required only a dietary change to fix?
- Felix Hernandez struck out nine in a complete game win, giving up just one run on five hits and a walk.
- Colby Lewis strick out nine in a complete game win (didn't I just type that?), giving up just one run on two hits.
- Justin Smoak went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. He's homered in two straight games, and has a .311/.408/.574 line in June so far. The bandwagon has officially begun boarding.
- Lastings Milledge was a home run short of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with four RBI.
- Pedro Alvarez picked up his first big league hit, an RBI double. Tell me the 2010 rookie class isn't going to end up being the greatest of all time. Alvarez, Strasburg, Heyward, Smoak, Feliz, Posey, Stanton, Castro, Santana, Latos, Matusz, Arrieta, Tabata, Cashner... it's ridiculous.
- Jesse Litsch's second start of the season was a wee bit better than his first, as he threw seven shutout innings, getting as many strikeouts as baserunners allowed (three).
- Jake Peavy tossed a three-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking two. The optimistic would call that "vintage" form; the pessimist would call it "retro".
- Jose Reyes cranked two home runs, and is hitting .438 (21-for-48) over the course of an 11-game hitting streak.
- Howie Kendrick went 3-for-6 with a home run and three RBI.
- Jered Weaver struck out 11 over seven shutout innings, surrendering just two hits. Raise your hand if you pegged him to lead the majors in strikeouts in June. Liar!

Save Chances:

- Kevin Gregg, converted (18). Zeros across the board in an inning of work.
- Mariano Rivera, converted (16). One strikeout in a perfect inning.
- Alfredo Simon, converted (7). Ones across the board -- one inning, one run on one hit and one walk, and one K.
- Jason Motte, converted (2). Ryan Franklin couldn't buy an out, so Motte replaced him and struck out two while giving up one hit. Franklin's job isn't in jeopardy, but Tony LaRussa has a lot more confidence in Motte now than he did in April 2009.
- Rafael Betancourt, converted (1). Manny Corpas started the ninth with a four-run lead and gave up a three-run home run to Corey Hart; Franklin Morales then walked the only batter he faced, prompting the call to Betancourt. He didn't do any better, loading the bases with a hit and a walk, but eventually managed to stumble into the final out of the game.
- Aaron Heilman, converted (1). Gave up a run on two hits in 1.1 innings, striking out two. No, that's not especially great, but do you have any better ideas? If you do, please drop AJ Hinch a line.
- Andy Sonnanstine, converted (1). Struck out two in a scoreless 11th inning to notch the save. He was the Rays' ninth pitcher of the game, which tells you roughly how likely he is to get another save chance any time soon.
- Jon Rauch, blown (3). He served up a solo shot to Ross Gload to tie the game in the 10th, but then made it through the 11th unscathed to get the win.
- Brad Lidge, blown (1). PS3 spokesmodel Joe Mauer took him deep for a two-run shot in the ninth.
- Rafael Soriano, blown (1). He came on in the eighth and allowed an inherited runner to score to tie the game. His final line was great (two innings, zero runs, hits or walks, three K's) but he still gets saddled with the BS. Just like life, official scoring rules can be cruel.

Other Closer Outings:

- Ryan Franklin gave up two hits and a walk to start the ninth inning and promptly got yanked for Jason Motte. Franklin eventually got charged with two runs, so it was probably a good thing the Cards began the ninth with a three run lead.
- Manuel Corpas. See Betancourt's entry above.
- Leo Nunez pitched a scoreless ninth in a tie game but he hardly dominated, giving up two hits and a walk.
- Billy Wagner picked up his fifth win of the season with a scoreless ninth inning, giving up one hit.
- Jonathan Papelbon picked up his second win, giving up a hit over a scoreless ninth inning.
- Jonathan Broxton gave up a hit to the only batter he faced, allowing a run to cross and saddling "No, For the Last Time, I Didn't Create Bleepin' Magnum PI" Ronald Belisario with the loss.

Non-Closer Outings:

- Carlos Villanueva gave up three runs on two home runs in a third of an inning. Remember when he was a potential closer for the Brewers? Good times.

Lineup-o-logy:

- Jonathan Herrera, and not the newly called up Chris Nelson, got the start at second base for the Rockies. Herrera went 4-for-5 too, so Nelson's first big league start could have to wait another day or two.
- A's starting outfield: Rajai Davis leading off in center, Conor Jackson hit third in left, and Ryan Sweeney hit fifth in right. Guess which of the three has the most home runs. Go on, guess.
- Miguel Montero DH'ed and hit cleanup, and homered for the second straight day.

Tough Days:

- Michael Stanton struck out three more times in four at-bats. He's only managed |STAR|not|STAR| to whiff once in 10 games, and has 17 K's in total. Maybe he needed some time in Triple-A after all.
- Kevin Slowey added three-quarters of a run to his ERA, giving up seven runs in 1.2 innings.
- Ryan Zimmerman donned the Golden Sombrero, and not the tasty kind made of nachos with a cheese-filled crown.
- Ted Lilly got battered around for eight runs (six earned) in 5.1 innings. The silver lining, tarnished though it might be, was a 7:3 K:BB ratio.

Injuries:

- Hanley Ramirez was having a rather nice day Saturday (double, home run, three RBI) before tweaking a hamstring in the ninth inning. He's iffy for Sunday but shouldn't be on the shelf too long.

Home Runs:

- Corey Hart (18); Mark Reynolds (16); Troy Glaus (14); Ryan Howard (14); Justin Morneau (14); Kevin Youkilis (14); Torii Hunter (12); Jayson Werth (12); Hanley Ramirez (11); Mark Teixeira (11); Aaron Hill (10); Seth Smith (10); Russell Branyan (9); Adam Jones (9); Victor Martinez (9); Miguel Olivo (9); Matt Holliday (8); Manny Ramirez (8); Justin Smoak (8); Michael Young (8); Howie Kendrick (7); Brian McCann (7); Curtis Granderson (6); Jim Thome (6); Raul Ibanez (5); Jose Reyes 2 (5); Chris Coghlan (4); Michael Saunders (4); Ross Gload (3); Joe Mauer (3); Ichiro Suzuki (3); Miguel Montero (2); Andrew Butera (1); Wilson Valdez (1)

Stolen Bases:

- Rajai Davis (26); Carl Crawford (24); Andrew McCutchen (18); Myjer Morgan (15); Chone Figgins (14); Denard Span (14); Drew Stubbs (14); Corey Patterson (10); Cody Ross 2 (7); Garrett Jones (6); Conor Jackson (5); Julio Lugo (5); Jamey Carroll (4); Russell Martin (4); Cristian Guzman (3); Gaby Sanchez (3); John Jaso (2); Emilio Bonifacio (1); Manny Ramirez (1); Juan Rivera (1)

Caught Stealing:

- Matt Kemp (10); Jason Kendall (7); Carl Crawford (6); Julio Lugo (5); Angel Pagan (5); Ryan Spilborghs (4); Mark Kotsay (2)