Notables
• Cleveland went house on Kansas City tonight, 15-4. Among the housiest of the Indians was Jayson Nix. Boom: 5 PA, 2 2B, 1 HR. The nice thing is he didn't strikeout, either. He entered the game with a line of .266/.317/.473. He's better than that now.
• Gregor Blanco was 4-for-4 with a walk. Throw your hands in the air, America!
• In case you didn't know, Jed Lowrie's triple-slash entering play tonight: .282/.393/.507. He didn't do so much today, but those are sweet numbers -- esp. for a guy with a .283 BABIP.
• Is Chris Johnson for realz? The .411 BABIP says probably not. The 4.2|PERCENT| BB rate and 23.3|PERCENT| K rate say probably not. Still, he went 2-for-3 tonight with a 2B and BB.
• Woah: Jay Bruce hit three dongers tonight, bringing his season total to 16. My gut says he's gonna be great. My gut also say, "More beer!"
• Woah, in a different way: Chris Narveson pitched kinda well tonight. Line: 7.0 IP, 27 TBF, 8 K, 1 BB, 8 GB on 18 BIP (44.4|PERCENT|). That's probably Narveson's best.
• Andres Torres was only 0-for-3 with a BB tonight, yet remains incredibly talented and handsome.
Caution, Warning
• Don't be afraid of James McDonald's 6 ER tonight. Look at the this, instead: 6.1 IP, 27 TBF, 7 K, 2 BB, 8 GB on 17 BIP (47.1|PERCENT|). The Ws might not be there on this particular version of the Pirates, but they could be more interesting next year. For real, playa.
Stolen Bases
• B.J. Upton (37), Brett Gardner (36), Cliff Pennington (22), Drew Stubbs (21, 22), Rogearvin Bernardina (12), Trevor Crowe (12), Jamey Carroll (11), Sean Rodriguez (10), Jeff Francoeur (8), Omar Vizquel (7, 8), Brian Roberts (7), Jose Bautista (6), Ramiro Pena (6), Michael Brantley (5), Scott Podsednik (5), Ryan Zimmerman (4), Don Kelly (3), Carlos Beltran (1), Jason Repko (1).
Caught Stealing
• Nyjer Morgan (15), Michael Bourn (11), Jay Bruce (4), Sean Rodriguez (3), Matt Treanor (2), Aaron Miles (1).
Kinda Weird Save Chances
• Hisanori Takahashi, converted (2). Line: K, H.
• Koji Uehara, converted (3). He appears to be the O's closer now.
Mostly Normal Save Chances
• Ryan Franklin, converted (22).
• Kevin Gregg, blown (5). Austin Jackson led off with a triple. Johnny Damon drove him in. Bada-bing.
• Jonathan Papelbon, converted (33). Strikeout, walk, strikeout, walk, strikeout.
• Hong-Chih Kuo, converted (6). Line: 1.1 IP, 2 K.
Closers, Other Appearances
• Billy Wagner pitched an inning with the Braves up 7-1. Line: 1.0 IP, 2 BB, K. No big whoop.
• Andrew Bailey pitched with the A's down 3-7. Line: 1.0 IP, 1K. No big whoop.
• John Axford pitched with the Crew up 7-2. Line: 1.0 IP, 3 K, nothing else. Blam!
• David Aardsma entered with his Mariners down 2-6 versus Minnesota. Line: 1.0 IP, 3 K, 1 BB, 1 H.
Lineup-ology/Injury Junk
• Allen Craig batted leadoff today for the Cardinals. For the first time in his career, looks like.
• Alberto Gonzalez batted leadoff for the Nats today -- against the Cards. Here's a thing to say: Alberto Gonzalez ISN'T as good as Allen Craig.
• Travis Snider batted leadoff today for the Blue Jays. Here's the thing about him: he's still only 22 years old. I'd forgotten that; don't you make the same mistake!
• Ruben Tejada started at short for the Mets tonight while Jose Reyes nursed an oblique injury. FYI, Reyes could be out even after the weekend.
• Chris Valaika started at second base and batted second tonight for the Reds, in place of the injured Brandon Phillips. Not much to see here: Phillips mayn't go to the DL; Valaika has serious contact issues.
• Corey Patterson played CF tonight, as Adam Jones missed his third consecutive game with a shoulder thing. It's reported that the injury is no big deal.
The Young and Potentially Restless
• Cameron Maybin hit a HR in 4 PA tonight. He was .338/.407/.508 in 130 Triple-A ABs. With Cody Ross gone, he'll get his share of playing time.
• Eric Young Jr played second and led off tonight. He's been doing that lately.
• I didn't watch the game, but Peter Bourjos probably had, like, 11 sweet catches tonight.
• Matt Tuiasosopo started in LF for Seattle tonight.