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Through the years, we've watched with varying degrees of interest as boaters and kayakers floated around McCovey Cove during Giants games, waiting for the often elusive home run ball to come their way.

The price they pay is steep, depending on how much importance you place on actually being able to watch the game. Although the scenery surrounding the San Francisco Bay is indeed gorgeous, the view of the game is somewhat … well, obstructed, considering that those floating in the water have no way to actually know what's happening on the field unless they are following along through (shameless plug alert), say, the MLB-com At Bat app.

What's more, the notoriously delicious eats at AT&T Park are available only to the fans inside the stadium, not out. So if a kayaker were to become hungry … Well, he's out of luck.

That is, until Sunday. Enter London Van Der Kamp, a professional kayaker who briefly stepped away from his day job at an outdoor sporting goods company and into a specially made kayak that was used during Sunday's game between the Giants and Dodgers.

Van Der Kamp, recruited by ESPN and its advertising agency, Wieden+Kennedy, was targeted to be a floating hot dog vendor for the night. His job? To serve other Cove kayakers hot dogs, free of charge, from a custom-built contraption that contains a warming compartment and bottles of mustard and ketchup.

The exercise was designed to be simple (as long as no one asked for relish) yet meaningful, given ESPN's desire to accomplish two goals: give a shout-out to the loyal fans in the Cove, and create a buzz during its popular and highly rated "Sunday Night Baseball."

In other words, don't be surprised to see #hotdogkayak as a trending topic during the telecast.

The affable and laid-back Van Der Kamp, a loyal Giants fan, was eager to participate.

"I was thoroughly enthralled by giving back to the extreme enthusiasts here at McCovey Cove," Van Der Kamp said. "I jumped on it immediately. I'm just really excited that we could make it happen. It's nice to be out giving out some hot dogs to the hard-core Giant lovers out there. They deserve it."

Logistically, there were details to work out. For instance, was Van Der Kamp responsible for putting the ketchup and mustard on the hot dogs, or could fans do it themselves?

"I think I'll leave that up to them," he said. "I'll be in the boat. I'll have a hot dog, it'll be all wrapped. Sure, I can put it on for them. Then I'll hand it off and let them enjoy."

Also, what if another kayak floats too close? Any chance of a collision?

Turns out, ESPN mapped out a way to avoid any unforeseen kayak chaos. Van Der Kamp's kayak was equipped with paddle leashes that can tie two kayaks together. That way, if there was a lull while Van Der Kamp was, say, dressing some one's hot dog with mustard, there was no danger of anyone floating away.

What if Van Der Kamp ran out of hot dogs, you ask? No worries. ESPN arranged for a second boat -- a "follow boat" if you will -- that will have an extra stash of dogs if need be.

Hints of the ESPN-generated exploit were floated through various social media mechanisms beginning early Sunday morning, but it was largely assumed that Van Der Kamp's presence was going to be a surprise to fellow boaters.

"It's very unexpected," he said. "They don't know it's coming. All of a sudden, they're just going to see me coming out of the horizon. All of a sudden, they're going to get food, and they're going to be super-happy. And I'll be happy to give back to those hard-cores."



McCovey Cove kayakers get a treat | MLB-com: News

The Florida Department of Health says it is time for Anthony Bosch to stop playing doctor.

Health department officials have sent a cease-and-desist order to Bosch, who is suspected of providing performance-enhancing drugs to Alex Rodriguez, Melky Cabrera and more than two dozen other ballplayers, the Daily News has learned.

The April 23 letter says Florida officials believe Bosch, the founder of the now-defunct Biogenesis anti-aging clinic, violated state law by holding himself out as a doctor, as well as diagnosing and treating patients. The document also says the DOH referred the matter to law-enforcement officials, although it doesn’t specify which agency.

The health department letter said it would fine Bosch $1,000 for the violations and $4,000 to cover its costs.

“Total due: $5,000,” the letter said.

The cease-and-desist order is just the latest setback for Bosch, 48, who has been at the center of a prolonged investigation by Major League Baseball since last year.

Bosch is also a defendant in a lawsuit filed by MLB earlier this year in state court that accuses Bosch and his partners of tortious interference with contracts between MLB and its players by providing athletes with banned substances.

South Florida physician Daniel Carpman, whose name was allegedly forged on prescription forms linked to Biogenesis, told the Daily News last month that he will be deposed by MLB attorneys on May 17. The alleged prescription form forgeries were first reported by ESPN.

The forged prescriptions could draw attention from the Drug Enforcement Administration and other law-enforcement agencies.

Bosch’s attorney, Susy Ribero-Ayala, did not return a request for comment. A Major League Baseball spokesman declined comment.

Bosch told ESPN last week — in his first public comment since The News first reported in January that MLB was investigating allegations that the Coral Gables businessman provided drugs to A-Rod and others — that he did not provide PEDs to Milwaukee Brewers star Ryan Braun. Bosch backed up Braun’s claim that his name appeared in Biogenesis records because his lawyers used Bosch as an expert witness in Braun’s successful 2012 appeal of a 50-game drug suspension.

Read more: Anthony Bosch, suspected of providing PEDs to MLB players, ordered to cease-and-desist by Florida Department of Health - NY Daily News

Toronto pitcher J. A. Happ was hit in the head by a line drive and taken off the field on a stretcher Tuesday night during the Blue Jays’ 6-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla. In a frightening scene at Tropicana Field, Desmond Jennings’s second-inning liner caromed squarely off the left side of Happ’s head, and the pitcher dropped face down at the front of the mound, holding his head with his glove and his bare hand.

Jennings ended up on third base with a two-run triple. Team trainers, paramedics and medical officials rushed to Happ’s aid as the stadium fell into a hush.

Jennings stood with his hands on his head, and other players clearly were concerned as Happ received medical attention. Happ, a left-hander, was strapped to a backboard and immobilized before he was lifted onto a stretcher and wheeled off through an opening behind home plate.

Just before he disappeared under the stands, Happ waved his right hand. He received a standing ovation.

The team said Happ was taken to Bayfront Medical Center, where he was alert and undergoing tests.

“I could barely watch it,” Happ’s teammate R. A. Dickey said. “You just don’t know what to think, really. It paralyzes you a little bit.”

Happ’s injury is the latest involving pitchers being hit by batted balls, and Major League Baseball has discussed ways to protect pitchers from injuries.

Oakland’s Brandon McCarthy was hit on the head by a line drive in September, causing a skull fracture and brain contusion that required surgery. And Detroit’s Doug Fister was struck on the head during the World Series. Fister was unhurt.

M.L.B. staff members have said that a cap liner with Kevlar, the high-impact material used by law enforcement and N.F.L. players for body armor, is an idea under consideration. Requiring it would be subject to the approval of the players’ union.

Referring to ideas in general, Pat Courtney, an M.L.B. spokesman, said in an e-mail, “No company has yet developed a product that has satisfied the testing criteria.”

TWINS 6, RED SOX 1 Scott Diamond (3-2) allowed three hits in seven innings, and Ryan Doumit hit his first home run for visiting Minnesota.

Boston’s David Ortiz had a single in four at-bats, extending his hitting streak to 27 games dating to August.

Before the game, the Red Sox put Joel Hanrahan on the 15-day disabled list for the second time this season, with a strained right forearm. Hanrahan was on the D.L. from April 14 to 29 with a strained right hamstring. Junichi Tazawa is expected to fill in.

ASTROS 7, ANGELS 6 Chris Carter’s three-run homer put host Houston ahead to stay in the third, and the Astros ended a six-game losing streak.

The Angels (11-21) lost for the eighth time in 10 road games.

ORIOLES 4, ROYALS 3 Matt Wieters drove in three runs, including the tiebreaker in the eighth inning, for host Baltimore.

INDIANS 1, A’S 0 Zach McAllister (3-3) allowed five hits in seven and two-thirds innings for host Cleveland.

REDS 5, BRAVES 4 Devin Mesoraco and Shin-Soo Choo hit two-out homers in the bottom of the ninth inning against Atlanta closer Craig Kimbrel (0-1), rallying host Cincinnati.

Choo’s homer was his second of the game and his seventh of the season.

CUBS 2, CARDINALS 1 Travis Wood (2-3) pitched into the seventh inning, and Nate Schierholtz hit a two-run homer as host Chicago ended St. Louis’s six-game winning streak.

PIRATES 4, MARINERS 1 Jeanmar Gomez (2-0), a late replacement after starter James McDonald was put on the disabled list with shoulder tightness, pitched five shutout innings for host Pittsburgh. Andrew McCutchen was 4 for 4 with a run-scoring double.

BREWERS 6, RANGERS 3 Yuniesky Betancourt’s eighth homer of the season capped a five-run first inning for host Milwaukee, which ended a season-high five-game losing streak.


www-nytimes-com/2013/05/08/sports/baseball/mlb-roundup-html

As prospect evaluation and player development has improved over the years, prospect projecting has become much less of a crapshoot than it once was.

However, the fact remains that not every top prospect pans out. There are still a number of future busts taken in the high rounds or signed to big international contracts each season.

With that in mind, here is a look at 10 young players on the verge of becoming MLB busts—guys who still have a chance to get their once-promising careers on track but are quickly running out of time if they hope to be the big league stars they were once projected to be.



Pictures: 10 Young Players on the Verge of Becoming MLB Busts | Bleacher Report

Major League Baseball acknowledges an "improper call" was made by umpires in the ninth inning of a game between the Cleveland Indians and Oakland Athletics. Umpires failed to reverse a disputed tying home run by Oakland's Adam Rosales after a video review Wednesday. MLB executive vice president Joe Torre says the judgment call by umpire Angel Hernandez and his crew "stands as final."

Major League Baseball issued a statement nearly two hours after Thursday's first pitch in Cleveland and indicated the call will stand.

"By rule, the decision to reverse a call by use of instant replay is at the sole discretion of the crew chief. ... It was a judgment call, and as such, it stands as final," Torre said.

"Home and away broadcast feeds are available for all uses of instant replay, and they were available to the crew last night. Given what we saw, we recognize that an improper call was made. Perfection is an impossible standard in any endeavor, but our goal is always to get the calls right. Earlier this morning, we began the process of speaking with the crew to thoroughly review all the circumstances surrounding last night's decision."

The umpires did not reverse their call despite watching video. TV replays clearly showed Rosales' ball went over the wall, and their decision shocked the A's, the Indians, 14,000 fans in attendance at Progressive Field and anyone watching the game on TV.

Athletics manager Bob Melvin brought his lineup card to home plate before Thursday's game, his first face-to-face meeting with the umpires since the ruling. Melvin was cordial and returned to the dugout after having joked earlier that he hoped he wouldn't get ejected. "I don't have much to say about it," he said. "I'm not going to talk to them about it. If they want talk about it's one thing, but I'm just going to take the lineup card out."

Helped by the disputed call, the Indians held on and won 4-3 as closer Chris Perez escaped a bases-loaded jam.

Randy Marsh, MLB's director of umpires, attended Thursday's game. Marsh would not comment specifically on the disputed play but said he was sent to Cleveland to speak with the umpires and check the replay equipment.

Melvin, who had requested that the umpires review Rosales' hit, was automatically ejected by Hernandez for charging onto the field and arguing after the video review. MLB rules state that once the review is made, the call stands.

Hernandez, who asked a pool reporter not to record his interview after the game, said there was not enough clear proof to overturn the original call.

"It wasn't evident on the TV we had it was a home run," Hernandez said. "I don't know what kind of replay you had, but you can't reverse a call unless there is 100 percent evidence, and there wasn't 100 percent evidence." Retired Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones took to Twitter to express dismay with the call.

"Snce I can't be fined for ripping umpires anymore, let me take this opportunity to express my displeasure w/ Angel Hernandez. ... Even worse than that, there were 2 other umpires looking at it with him. What the hell were they lookin at?? Musta been "get away day"

Melvin wasn't entirely familiar with the review procedure, which takes place off the field and near the umpires' dressing room. But he was confident the three umpires who left the field would see the same replays that were available to anyone watching the TV broadcasts.

Melvin said he became concerned the double would not be ruled a homer when the umpires took extra time to review the play.

"It actually worried me when it took so long because I knew all it took was one replay to see," he said. "Even the group in the suite next to us, you could see them look at the replay one time, and they all turned away and said it was a home run. When I went and looked at it in the video room, their TV announcers were saying, 'This is a home run, let's go.'"

Melvin's understanding, which Torre confirmed, is that the umpires get several camera angles when reviewing a contested homer.

"They get all the feeds from both outlets and maybe even another one, I don't know," he said. "But I don't think that MLB withholds feeds from them. Now, what they're watching it on, I don't know. I'm not in there. It came down to somebody's decision, and that was probably against the grain from what the majority thought."



MLB says umpires made wrong call in game between Oakland Athletics, Cleveland Indians - ESPN

Curtis Granderson took a big step toward the Bronx on Friday as he homered in the eighth inning of his second rehab game with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Granderson went 1-for-5, but fans at PNC Field will remember his final swing of the night.

Granderson started the game in left field and batted second for the RailRiders.

"I was able to get a good swing on it and finally hit the ball out of the infield for the first time," Granderson said of his homer, which broke a tied game and lifted the RailRiders to a 5-3 win. "I knew it was hit decent, but I didn't think it was going out."

He began his second rehab game with a hard grounder to second, but it resulted in a double play. He followed that up with a routine grounder to second in his second at-bat. He struck out in the fourth, and while Granderson hit a ball hard up the middle in the sixth, pitcher Luis Ayala knocked it down and threw him out at first.

Asked if he was frustrated by his at-bats prior to his home run, Granderson was at ease.

"Today I just hit the 30-at-bat mark for 2013, so I'm definitely not frustrated," Granderson said. "You've got to understand that you're going to run through some timing issues. Even right now, I'm still not at 100 percent in terms of my at-bats. I'm just trying to get timing down, stay aggressive, and get ready to hit."

Granderson had a quiet day in left field.

"I didn't have too much, I had a ball go off the wall, and then just two fly balls -- nothing too crazy," Granderson said. "I haven't had to make a throw from either side, so I'm waiting for that to come."

Rain in northeast Pennsylvania moved batting practice indoors for Granderson and the RailRiders.

"I just want to hit outside. When you hit in the cage, you don't get a chance to see what the ball is doing, so it kind of messes with you a little bit," Granderson said.

Granderson's rehab assignment is essentially an abbreviated Spring Training for him -- a tough adjustment for a player that's used to the slow pace of preparation throughout February and March.

"To go a full nine innings and play the same amount of innings in just over a week that you would in Spring Training is different," Granderson said. "The good thing is I felt good today physically. Regardless of what the at-bats were, I felt good, and that's a good sign. I feel, right now, ready to go for nine tomorrow."


Injured Yankee Curtis Granderson homers in second rehab game | MLB-com: News

Mom's always been here, there and everywhere. On Sunday, she's at every ballpark in the Major Leagues, receiving the recognition she deserves in so many ways.

For Mother's Day, every baseball player's biggest supporter won't only be found cheering in the stands or sitting in the driver's seat headed for another practice or playing catch in the backyard -- but on the field, right there with the best players in the world.

All day Sunday, somebody's mother represents everybody's mother at every single game, with special Honorary Bat Girls hitting the field while players pick up the now familiar pink bats and swing for the fences to help in the fight against breast cancer. Certainly, the players themselves have their mothers in their hearts as they play on Mother's Day, and some moms even get a double-dose. There's Yvonne Upton, overjoyed at watching her sons B.J. and Justin both play for the Atlanta Braves, and there's Esperanza Hairston, whose sons Jerry Jr. and Scott represent a third-generation family in the Majors.

And then there's Lisa Donaldson, a shining example for single moms everywhere. She raised her son Josh, now the third baseman for the A's, pretty much on her own after his father went to prison when Josh was 5, and the bond between mother and son remains strong to this day.

"She's always been a very hard worker," Josh Donaldson said. "She put the character inside me to say, 'You're going to have to work in order to get somewhere,' and she's led by example for a single mom. It's hard to raise a child by yourself. It's probably not fun to have to do that, but she did a great job."

And so it was just Josh and his mom on the road to the Majors.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Lisa said. "I beam ear to ear every time I think about him."

That's a mother for you, and you don't have to be a big leaguer to know just how special she is, and how much she deserves praise on her annual day to shine.

Again this year, Major League Baseball is extending that joy to 30 women, who, out of thousands, were selected in the Honorary Bat Girl contest, which recognizes baseball fans who have been affected by breast cancer and demonstrate a commitment to eradicating the disease. The winners, one per MLB club, will be recognized on the field at Major League ballparks on Mother's Day or during an alternative date for away clubs. In addition to the winners, you can read all the entries at HonoraryBatGirl-com.

Winners were selected by fan votes on HonoraryBatGirl-com, along with feedback from a guest judging panel that included Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp, Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen, Royals outfielder Alex Gordon, MLB Network host and reporter Sam Ryan and Maria Menounos of Extra TV.

During MLB's annual national day of recognition on Mother's Day, Honorary Bat Girls are taking part in pregame activities, being honored during an on-field ceremony and receiving pink MLB merchandise and two tickets to the game.

Pink bats are being used again by hundreds of Major Leaguers on Sunday, the most vivid annual show of support, as has been the case since 2006. You can personalize your own pink Louisville Slugger at the MLB-com Shop, and $10 from the sale of each bat will be donated to MLB Charities in support of the fight against breast cancer. As has been the case each year since '06, game-used pink Louisville Sluggers will be auctioned exclusively on MLB-com to raise further funds.

And, for the first time ever, MLB will introduce a new Rawlings baseball with pink stitching and graphics as the official game ball for contests on Mother's Day.

To further demonstrate their support for this cause, players and on-field personnel will wear the symbolic pink ribbon on their uniforms and will also wear pink wristbands Sunday. Commemorative base jewels and dugout lineup cards also will be pink.

The Honorary Bat Girl program was introduced in 2009 to raise additional awareness and support for MLB's annual "Going to Bat Against Breast Cancer" initiative celebrated on Mother's Day. Stand Up To Cancer, a charitable program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation and Susan G. Komen for the Cure, are supporting partners of this initiative, established to raise awareness about breast cancer and funds to support life-saving research.

"These women represent the many women that battle cancer while continuing to demonstrate the ideals of family, love and service," wrote the person who nominated Maria Heddleston, the Pirates' Honorary Bat Girl, a wife, mom and teacher who "thrives" in her ongoing battle to overcome a Stage 4 diagnosis. "I can't fully express my honor, respect and pride for this woman. Many people do not live entire lives as fulfilling and meaningful as she has led in the past year alone."



MLB set to help celebrate Mother's Day, fight cancer | MLB-com: News

The Mariners won Sunday, lifting their overall record to 18-20, and placing the team just a half game behind Oakland for second in the division. With another off day coming up tomorrow*, it's worth briefly reflecting on where the Mariners are in the season relative to two and a half weeks ago.

*High school teams play more often than the M's have over the last ten days.

Lets face it, emotions and expectations were not high for this team after they dropped two out of three to Houston -- for the second time. The roster was broken, key players were struggling, and there wasn't an imminent fix on the horizon. The season looked more or less doomed.

The funny thing is, personnel wise, not a whole lot has changed since the team left the state of Texas. Other than the return of Michael Saunders -- which I'll grant was a significant boost -- and possibly better health for Michael Morse, this is the same team that left Houston with an 8-15 record. Super performances from Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma have made up for slow starts from other rotation members, and the offense has feasted off of a poor batch of pitchers, but it's strange that all of this winning has come from the same team that incited so much anger just a few weeks ago.

Unlike the early slate of games front-loaded with prospective playoff teams, the Seattle's more recent opponents -- particularly their pitching staff-- haven't been particularly strong. It's been documented elsewhere, but just as the M's probably weren't as bad as their record suggested on April 24th, their recent 10-5 run isn't what we should expect going forward, either. We thought, coming into the season, that this could be a 75-80 win team. That still doesn't look unrealistic.

A quick Happy Mothers Day set of bullets:

Eric Wedge shook up the lineup today, dropping Kyle Seager, Kendrys Morales, and Michael Morse one slot each in the batting order.
Much has been made about how badly Brendan Ryan has performed at the plate. There's no sugar coating it. As much as I've advocated playing the 31-year-old, it must be acknowledged that no amount of defense can make up for a wRC+ that dropped to negative five today.
For those that don't remember though, his performance at this point isn't significantly worse than where he was a year ago. Take a look:

May 16, 2012:116 PA's, .137/.261/.211, 27 SO, 16 BB
May 12, 2013: 89 PA's, .128/.207/.128, 18 SO, 8 BB

Yes, 2013's numbers are a bit worse, but once you factor in that run scoring is a little down this year, that's a pretty similar looking batting line. My point isn't that he's about to go on a .242/.313/.349 "tear" over the next two and a half months (though he did do just that last season). It's that for as bad as Ryan has been at the plate thus far, recent precedent suggests he can look totally helpless for a long stretch of time and then quickly turn his performance around. The M's have rode with him this long; I don't think it's time to cut bait.
Though Tommy Milone struggled against a righty heavy lineup today, his reverse platoon splits suggest that the Mariners were a fairly ideal matchup for him. The lineup -- and particularly Kendrys Morales -- also made me wonder: would it be worthwhile for a switch-hitter, when facing a pitcher with splits like Milone, to forfeit the platoon advantage? My guess is no, just because the batter would have literally zero recent experience hitting in that manner, and that could disrupt his entire at-bat. Interesting thing to think about though.
Even after striking out six this afternoon, Joe Saunders -- Safeco Joe -- has just a 15/8 SO/BB ratio in 29 innings at home this year.

For those who haven't heard, I've been hired by the Mariners/Aquasox to do video work in Everett this summer. I'm very excited to have the opportunity to do some baseball-related work for a major league team, and ecstatic that I'll get to do it for the Mariners.

The downside is that the organization has kindly suggested that I stop blogging about the team. I can't imagine that it's a great career move to ignore advice like that, so today's recap will be my last post here, at least for the immediate future. Thank you all for reading over the past month and a half. I'll miss writing.




MLB Scores: Mariners Beat A's, Attribute Result To Superior Parenting - Lookout Landing

Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper left Monday's game against the Dodgers in the fifth inning after crashing into the right-field wall. He is day to day with a jammed left shoulder and a cut under his chin that required 11 stitches. Washington went on to win, 6-2.

The Nationals were leading, 6-0, in the fifth when A.J. Ellis led off for the Dodgers and hit a fly ball to right field. Harper lost sight of the ball. As the ball hit the bottom of the wall, Harper crashed into it face-first and was shaken up on the play. Ellis ended up with a triple.

Harper was on the ground for several minutes as manager Davey Johnson, center fielder Denard Span and head athletic trainer Lee Kuntz came to his aid. By the time he got up to leave the game, blood was seen under Harper's chin. Roger Bernadina replaced Harper.

Harper is clearly the Nats' best hitter, hitting .303 with 10 home runs and 21 RBIs.



Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper leaves game after hard collision with wall | MLB-com: News

The Dodgers haven't been the same since Zack Greinke was injured, and on Wednesday night he'll return against Washington, even though his surgically repaired left collarbone isn't fully healed.

"There is some risk. But there's also some risk starting [Clayton] Kershaw today," said Greinke, who is returning a month ahead of medical projections after being injured in the April 11 benches-clearing melee in San Diego.

"I'm sure there's a lot of risk every day. If it makes sense, you do it. If I didn't feel ready, I wouldn't do it. If it was 50/50, you don't do it. I say it's well worth the risk we're taking. If everyone in baseball had the same feeling I have, everyone would be playing. It's nothing superhero-ish. If you felt what I feel, you'd do the same thing."

With his club having fallen into last place and all parties believing that another rehab start isn't necessary, Greinke returns to a rotation that has also lost starters Chad Billingsley, Ted Lilly, Chris Capuano, Stephen Fife and possibly Josh Beckett to injury.

"I don't know how long it will take to be 100 percent crisp, but I feel good throwing all my pitches," he said. "Stuff is coming out crisp, nothing is holding me back. I'm ready to go."

To avoid a relapse of his injury, Greinke has been warned to avoid collisions and diving. While his collarbone occasionally feels soreness after a workout, he said the injury didn't hinder his pitching during the one rehab start he made Friday night for Class A Rancho Cucamonga.

He said one way to avoid a freak collision, especially covering first base on defense, is to be in the right place at the right time.

"Just do what you're supposed to do to avoid that stuff," he said. "You can't always avoid it, but it's rare. It could happen a month from now, too. You want me to not pitch another month because there's less than a one percent chance something can happen? Just play."

"He feels like he's ready," manager Don Mattingly said before Tuesday's game against the Nationals. "His stuff kind of tells us he's ready. He wants to pitch."

Greinke was injured when Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin, hit by a Greinke pitch for the third time in their careers, charged the mound and Greinke lowered his left shoulder to take the blow. Greinke had a metal plate and screws inserted into his collarbone to repair the fracture two days later and Quentin was suspended for eight games..

The Dodgers will need to clear a roster spot for Greinke on Wednesday. Mattingly said right-hander Josh Beckett is a "candidate" to go in the disabled list because he tweaked his left groin covering first base Monday and left his start after three innings.

"He's sore, kind of in both groins," the manager said. "They want to give it 24 hours to see where it's going and make a decision."

Still, Greinke's return will bolster the Dodgers' rotation. The right-hander, signed to a $147 million free-agent contract during the offseason, was 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA in two starts before his injury.

"Zack is obviously a big key," Mattingly said. "Getting him back gives you another Kershaw. And with the way Hyun-Jin [Ryu] is pitching, that's a pretty good threesome right there."

"It sounds like he'd be able to handle some kind of blow [to the collarbone], maybe not the same type of blow [as in San Diego], but he could bump into something and not actually get hurt," Mattingly said.

Greinke was able to resume throwing a week after surgery, so the Dodgers are not concerned about his arm strength and will limit him to between 90-100 pitches Wednesday.

What other limitations will Greinke have?

"He's going to be able to swing the bat," Mattingly said. "I think we'll probably limit that a little bit from the standpoint of just trying to hit homers. We don't want him to dive for a bunt. Other than that, he's pretty much OK to go. The risks are if something out of the ordinary happens. It could happen any day and it could happen to anybody."



Dodgers to activate Zack Greinke for start on Wednesday | MLB-com: News

Zack Greinke returned early from the disabled list, and the Los Angeles Dodgers' offense is starting to pick up.

The last-place Dodgers beat the Washington Nationals 3-1 on Wednesday night for their fourth win in five games.

Greinke pitched 5 1/3 strong innings in his first start since April 11 after coming off the disabled list earlier in the day. He was back three weeks sooner than expected from a broken left clavicle after a confrontation with San Diego's Carlos Quentin last month.

"It feels pretty good," he said. "I felt I was healing enough to pitch over two weeks ago. I just wasn't sharp enough. I'm not 100 percent, but it doesn't affect me at all." The right-hander was expected to be out eight weeks. He underwent surgery on April 13 to fix the injury with a metal plate used to stabilize the break.

"Definitely a boost to see him go out and pitch six innings and even drive in a run," said slugger Matt Kemp, who went 2 for 4 with two runs scored. "That was big for us. He looked pretty good."

Greinke (2-0) made one rehab appearance last Friday for Class A Rancho Cucamonga, and the Dodgers decided he was ready to rejoin them.

He proved them right, allowing one run and five hits, striking out four and walking none.

"Stuff was pretty good, just stamina needs to be a little bit stronger," Greinke said. "I was feeling pretty drained after the fifth."

Los Angeles went 10-19 while Greinke was out, but he didn't want credit for providing the team a lift.

"It takes everyone," he said. "Last time I got off the DL in Milwaukee I was thinking that and trying too hard. This time I was just trying to do the job and not make anything of it."

Greinke helped himself with a RBI single with two outs in the second that extended the Dodgers' lead to 2-0.

"He'll get stronger and stronger as he goes," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "It's pretty amazing what this guy has been able to do. It tells you about how talented he is. He worked his butt off while he was gone. He wanted to get back as soon as possible."

Brandon League pitched the ninth to earn his ninth save in 10 chances, helping the Dodgers close out the series 2-1 and giving them consecutive series victories for just the third time this season. They are 19-4 against the Nationals at home since the start of the 2006 season.

Los Angeles held Washington to one run in the Nationals' last 22 innings of the series.

"We had the right guys up there," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said. "I don't know if they were trying to do too much instead of just hitting the ball and putting it in play. But we'll figure it out. We've got the guys to do it."

Adrian Gonzalez went 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored. He is batting .460 with runners in scoring position. Andre Ethier went 2 for 2 with a run scored, too.

"A lot of good things happened," Mattingly said.

Ross Detwiler (2-4) gave up two runs and six hits in three innings before leaving because of lower back spasms. The left-hander walked two and struck out none. The Nationals fell to 3-5 when he starts. Detwiler is 0-6 in six career road starts against NL West opponents.

"I don't feel that great now but hopefully tomorrow morning I'll feel a lot better," he said. "It started spasming up and locked up. I couldn't get good extension to get the ball where I wanted to. The ball just wasn't coming out like it usually does."

Nationals star Bryce Harper returned as a pinch-hitter in the ninth for the first time since cutting his chin and hurting his shoulder in a collision with the outfield wall on Monday. He grounded out to first base.

The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the first on Gonzalez's RBI single up the middle with two outs. Kemp scored after extending his hitting streak to 14 games with a ground-rule double.

Ethier led off the second with a single. Scott Van Slyke walked and then Juan Uribe hit into a double play. Greinke followed with a single to right field, his second hit of the season.

The Dodgers made it 3-1 in the eighth on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Carl Crawford.

Washington trailed 2-1 in the fourth on Adam LaRoche's homer that extended his 12-game hitting streak.

The Nats had the tying run at third base in the eighth. Steve Lombardozzi singled off Kenley Jansen to open the inning before being replaced by pinch-runner Eury Perez. He took third on Ryan Zimmerman's single that dropped in shallow right field. Jansen then retired three consecutive batters to end the inning.

"He throws three or four different pitches, he doesn't miss over the middle too much and he did a good job," Zimmerman said about Greinke.

Notes

The Dodgers became the first major league team to top 1 million in attendance this season, doing so in 24 home games. The team is averaging 42,707, which leads the majors.
Nationals C Wilson Ramos left the game after he singled in the fourth, having re-injured his left hamstring.
Detwiler walked Van Slyke in the second, snapping a streak of 20 consecutive innings without a walk issued by the Nationals staff.
The Nats have hit at least one home run in 69 consecutive series dating to Sept. 12-15, 2011.
Since Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw threw 132 pitches in a 2-0 win on Tuesday, he will be moved back a day and will pitch on Monday in Milwaukee. RHP Matt Magill will start Sunday in Atlanta.





MLB Recap - Washington Nationals at Los Angeles Dodgers - May 15, 2013 - CBSSports-com

Major League Baseball hopes to expand video review by umpires for the 2014 season and says all calls other than balls and strikes could be subject to instant replay.

Commissioner Bud Selig and MLB executive vice president Joe Torre say they still can't commit to expanded replay for next year. Torre hopes to have proposals by the August owners' meeting.

Replay has been in place for potential home run calls since August 2008. Selig initially wanted to add trap plays and fair/foul calls down the lines, but Torre said a far larger expansion is possible.

Selig and Torre spoke Thursday after a quarterly owners' meeting. Torre made his presentation to owners following two high-profile mistakes by umpires last week.

Says Torre: "Have we had a bad week or so? Yeah."



MLB hoping for large replay expansion in 2014

Aaron Brown's strategy for MLB-com's Beat the Streak game isn't anything complicated, but it's working well for him this season.

On Friday, the 30-year-old from Sterling Heights, Mich., became the second BTS player this season to extend his streak to 40 games, when the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera went 3-for-4 against the Rangers. Picking the reigning American League Triple Crown winner has been a go-to move for Brown, a Tigers fan who lists Cabrera as one of his two favorite players, along with Detroit pitcher Justin Verlander.

"Those guys are amazing to watch and their work ethic is remarkable," Brown wrote in an e-mail to MLB-com, which often reaches out to BTS players once they approach 40 games, in an effort to shed some light on who they are and how they pick.

Now that he has the top active streak and divulged his identity and thought process, Brown will be working against the so-called BTS Jinx. Of the more than 40 BTS players who have talked to MLB-com, 76.1 percent lost his or her streak within two days.

In Beat the Streak, participants try to establish a virtual "hitting streak" by picking one or two big leaguers per day, with their run continuing as long as their selections record at least one hit in that game. Nobody has ever matched Joe DiMaggio's magic number of 56 from 1941, but an average of about three per season reach 40, with the record of 49 set in 2007.

If Brown can get to 57, he would win a tidy sum of $5.6 million. As of now, Brown said his only plans for the money are to pay off his student loans. Just like any ballplayer worth his salt, he is living by the one-game-at-a-time motto.

"First step is getting to the record -- everything else will play itself out after that," he said.

Brown is the director of school development for My Virtual Academy, an online schooling option for students in Grades 6-12. He also serves as an assistant baseball coach for Parkway Christian School.

An avid baseball fan, Brown played the game through high school and has attended Tigers game at home, as well as on the road in Boston, Chicago and New York. He went to his first MLB playoff game last year, when the Tigers hosted the A's in the American League Division Series.

His fandom comes through in BTS, which he is playing for the second year. Brown's methods might not be complicated, but he certainly knows whom to entrust with his streak.

"Usually, I just pick someone who is on the top pick list depending upon their matchup," he said. "When all else fails from that list, Miguel Cabrera or Prince Fielder have been my go-to guys this season. Hopefully, this 'strategy' gets me to 57 games."



Tigers fan's Beat the Streak quest hits 40 | MLB-com: News

The Dodgers came to Atlanta with a measurable amount of momentum on their side, having won four of their past five games. Manager Don Mattingly spoke hopefully of "a window of opportunity."

The Dodgers left the Peach State Sunday night after three disappointing, debilitating and ultimately depressing defeats. Their bullpen lost late leads in all three games. Much is expected of the Dodgers, but so far this season they have delivered only a 17-25 record.

An argument could be made that even in the midst of these losses at Turner Field, the Dodgers' starting rotation showed indications of developing something resembling good order. But, overall, there were more problems than solutions for the Dodgers in this series.

Beyond the bullpen breakdowns, there were defensive lapses and a floundering offense that continues to rank among the worst in the National League. In Sunday's 5-2 defeat, there was a particularly long stretch of futility with 19 consecutive batters being retired.

It was a dreary day in more ways than one for the Dodgers. There were two rain delays, totaling more than two hours. So it took longer than five hours of elapsed time for the Dodgers to accumulate three hits. This followed a two-hit total on Saturday night.

The bullpen will understandably take a lot of heat for being charged with its 13th defeat of the young season. But Mattingly's critique of his team Sunday was more rounded than that, pointing out that the Dodgers' offense was producing so little that the relievers were being left with little or no room for error.

"It goes back to us not being able to add on," Mattingly said.

The Dodgers did not score after the third inning on Sunday. In fact, the Dodgers mustered only one baserunner after the third, on a two-out ninth-inning walk.

When asked about the bullpen's shortcomings, Mattingly admitted there had been problems, but he also produced a spirited defense of his relievers.

"Obviously, we've got to get that thing in order," he said. "I think we've got guys who are capable and there are guys who this season have thrown the ball really good at times, but we just haven't been consistent. I mean, we've just got to get better. That's what teams do. You have some trouble, you try to get guys rested, get roles reset. We've been in kind of a little bit of disorder out there.

"I still know that Brandon League has great stuff and he's going to get people out. I know that Kenley [Jansen] has great stuff and he's going to get a lot of people out. I know Bellie [Ronald Belisario] has great stuff and he's going to get people out. I still think Paco [Rodriguez] is going to get people out. J.P. [Howell] is going to get people out. We can use Matt Guerrier more and he can get people out.

"So, I think the guys we have are capable of getting people out. That being said, we have to look at this as a team, too. We can't ask these guys -- if we're going to put the pressure on them that they can never give up a run, that's not team for me. We've got to be able to put an extra run on the board, and another run on the board that gives us a little bit of breathing room. It's a team thing. We can't sit here and say 'the bullpen's let us down.' You can say that, but when you put up two runs a day, it's not exactly fair to your bullpen and your pitching staff to say, 'Your pitching is letting you down late in the game.'

"I think we have to take this all as a group. It's not just our bullpen."

The Dodgers have obviously been hurt by injuries, but their expectations for better performances are not solo propositions. There are opponents who figure that the Dodgers are due for much better days, at least in terms of run production.

"They're a good club," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "I know they've got a lot of players on the [disabled list], but they've still got a lot of players in that lineup that scare you. [Adrian] Gonzalez, [Andre] Ethier, [Matt] Kemp. They just beat Washington two out of three. Even though they don't have all their players, you're just waiting for them to start clicking."

In the midst of three difficult losses, some progress may have been made in the area of the starting rotation. Mattingly saw the return of Zack Greinke from a broken collarbone as a major move forward because Clayton Kershaw and Greinke will give the Dodgers a top-shelf one-two combination at the top of the rotation.

Hyun-Jin Ryu gave the Dodgers another capable start on Friday night. Chris Capuano was splendid in a second straight strong performance on Saturday night.

"I think the prospects of our rotation, with Zack and Kersh and Ryu and Cap kind of stepping in -- and we're looking for that fifth -- that looks pretty good," Mattingly said.

And Sunday, Matt Magill produced the best of his four big league starts, going five-plus innings, allowing no earned runs.

"Every time out, I feel more comfortable," Magill said.

So, there is genuine promise of improvement in the rotation. But in this series, worthwhile starting efforts were undone by lapses in the rest of the Dodgers' game.

"The negative side is we've given up some games out of the back of our 'pen," Mattingly said. "We had shoddy defense in one game, and then we gave up runs, late runs. It could happen to anybody, but when it happens late in the game, it kind of hurts you."



Mike Bauman: LA Dodgers' bullpen only partially to blame for woes | MLB-com: News

All right, fine, I'll bite:

I believe in the Indians.

I believe that what's happening these last few weeks -- the wins in 18 of their last 22, the plus-54 run differential in that span, the relentless pursuit of runs, even against Cy-caliber arms and the opportunistic approach to the late innings -- is more omen than mirage.

I believe that this is a deeper, more balanced, more complex club than the ones that faded -- and faded thoroughly -- in 2011 and '12.

I believe that while a manager's in-game effect is often overstated, the best ones know how to instill a culture of camaraderie and confidence, and that's what Terry Francona has done here.

I believe Francona when he praises the job first-year pitching coach Mickey Callaway has done with the pitching staff, which is exceeding all expectations.

I don't believe that the rotation will sustain a 3.24 ERA (which is what it has posted in this 22-game stretch) over the long haul, but I do believe that it doesn't necessarily have to.

I believe a versatile lineup with a deep bench, an array of switch-hitters and a ton of speed and power is dangerous enough that you need only an average assemblage of starting arms to survive.

I believe that, one way or another, the Indians can patch together at least an average rotation, particularly with the way Justin Masterson and Zach McAllister have looked from Day 1 and the way Ubaldo Jimenez has been pitching lately.

I believe bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr. when he says this team has that "'95 style. You just come to the ballpark expecting to win and never say die."

I also believe Alomar when he compares this club to ones of recent past and says, "We have more depth. When you give guys a rest, you're not losing anything. That's the big difference between the past and now. You've got guys with track records -- like Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn and Jason Giambi -- who have been in winning situations before and can help the young guys stay on the path and keep from collapsing."

I believe that feeling rubs off on guys like Ryan Raburn and Yan Gomes and helps them make the most of their limited playing time.

I believe the Indians are not one injury away from a complete collapse at any given moment, as they were in '11 and '12.

I believe that if the Indians are still in the hunt come July, general manager Chris Antonetti will try to be as creative and aggressive in the summer trade market as he was in the winter one.

I believe his aggressiveness and creativity won't have to be quite as desperate as it was in '11, when he sold the farm for Ubaldo.

I believe that there won't be many days like Monday, when Vinnie Pestano, Chris Perez and Joe Smith each served up a late-inning home run.

I believe that the Indians were awfully lucky to win a game in which Pestano, Perez and Smith each served up a late-inning home run.

I believe it's better to be lucky than good.

I believe the Indians are both.

I believe the AL Central is more interesting than expected.

I believe the Tigers' bullpen is making it more interesting than expected.

I believe the next two days, when the Indians face the Tigers' Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander in succession, will tell us quite a bit about the current state of both clubs.

I believe we'll probably read too much into the results.

I believe it's also kind of fun to read too much into the results.

I believe that it's the eighth week of a six-month baseball season, so my beliefs are very much subject to change.

I believe that, in Cleveland especially, some part of you is always waiting for the catch, the drawback, the booby trap.

But I believe that it's hard to watch a team win 18 of 22, sometimes in the wildest of ways, and not believe.





Now may be the time to believe in the Indians | MLB-com: News

Outfielder Mike Trout has already accomplished a lot in his brief Major League career, but on Tuesday night he added something to his list of achievements -- the cycle.

Trout went 4-for-5 with five RBIs, and at 21 became the youngest to hit for the cycle since Mel Ott did so as a 20-year-old in 1929.

The reigning American League Rookie of the Year legged out an infield single in the third, tripled in the fourth, doubled in the sixth and homered in the eighth.

"I didn't really think of it until about the eighth inning. I'm in the outfield, I'm like, 'Man, I got a triple, double and a single,'" Trout said. "And I got to 2-0 there, and I said, 'Hey, if I'm going to hit one, it's going to be this pitch.' So I hit it and it went out."

Trout, who took a curtain call following his cycle-clinching homer, is the sixth member of the Angels to hit for the cycle and the first since Chone Figgins in 2006.

The feat extends Trout's torrid pace in May, as he has now collected 18 RBIs and is hitting .343 for the month.




Mike Trout adds cycle to lengthy list of achievements | MLB-com: News

When David Wright suits up for Monday's game at Citi Field, the circumstances will be special enough. It will be the first Subway Series game of the year, Yankees at Mets. That is traditionally a sellout atmosphere with loyalties apparent in the stands.

That moment will be even more special for Wright. The Mets' third baseman grew up in the military town of Norfolk, Va., and he will be among players across Major League Baseball suiting up on Memorial Day in a specially designed cap and jersey featuring an authentic military digital camouflage design licensed from the United States Marine Corps. The prominent display will honor fallen veterans and benefit today's returning military veterans and their families.

"We as players are extremely proud not only to wear these caps, but also to represent and pay our respects to our returning veterans," Wright said. "I have friends and family who have given up their lives to serve a cause. Because of these men and women, I get the opportunity to play a game and live in freedom. I hope we remember these veterans."

MLB also will conduct a moment of silence prior to all games throughout Memorial Day weekend to honor members of the military who lost their lives serving their country. On Memorial Day itself, MLB will join the National Moment of Remembrance, an initiative the league has participated in since 1997, where all games will stop for a moment of silence at 3 p.m. local time.

The Memorial Day effort is part of MLB's ongoing recognition of veterans, active military and military families. MLB has committed $23 million to Welcome Back Veterans since 2008.

"Major League Baseball considers it both a privilege and a responsibility to honor and assist our troops in any way we can," Commissioner Bud Selig said. "We are proud to support this initiative, and we ask our fans to join us on Memorial Day and beyond in this effort to raise awareness and funds for this important cause."

If you haven't seen the camo collection, then take a look at the MLB-com Shop for the full array. It is pretty dramatic and will command symbolic attention when fans watch on Monday. MLB will donate 100 percent of its net proceeds from sales of the New Era caps and Majestic Athletic jerseys to Welcome Back Veterans as part of its contribution to the program.

Welcome Back Veterans, an apolitical initiative of MLB Charities and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, provides grants to university hospitals throughout the country that provide post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) treatment to veterans and their families in a public/private partnership.

Currently, Welcome Back Veterans is funding programs at Weill Cornell in New York City, The University of Michigan, Rush University Medical Center, Duke University, Emory University, UCLA and the Red Sox Home Base Program at Mass General Hospital in Boston.

These institutions are developing new programs and strategies to improve the quality, quantity and access to PTSD and TBI treatment for veterans, particularly those returning from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

MLB clubs will have the opportunity to wear the uniforms on other days where they honor the military. There will be one home game in Canada on Memorial Day, and while the visiting Braves will be wearing their USMC digital camo designs in both cap and jersey, the host Blue Jays will wear the camo jersey, but with their batting practice cap featuring the maple leaf design.



MLB to honor military with camo uniforms on Memorial Day | MLB-com: News

As the Braves' top three relievers -- Craig Kimbrel, Jonny Venters and Eric O'Flaherty -- prepared for the start of the 2012 season, they shied away from being referenced as "The Untouchables," a nickname they gained while serving as Major League Baseball's best relief trio the previous season.

All of them essentially believed they needed to prove themselves over an extended period before earning such a title. Unfortunately, they were also in volatile roles, where it is hard to predict what tomorrow might bring.

One year later, Kimbrel is the only member of this vaunted trio who is still standing. Heavy workloads finally overwhelmed anatomical structures as Venters and O'Flaherty both underwent Tommy John elbow surgery over the past week.

"Who knows exactly what did what," said Braves pitcher Kris Medlen, who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2010. "But it's obviously just the wear and tear you get playing baseball your entire life."

There are countless questions surrounding the fact that Venters and O'Flaherty became the fifth and sixth pitchers to undergo this elbow ligament transplant procedure while pitching for the Braves over the past five seasons. Their heavy workload has been scrutinized over the past few years and they both were blessed with left-handed arms that were subjected to significant strain as they consistently threw 90-plus mph fastballs.

Some will argue the increase in Tommy John surgeries is a product of the extra wear and tear put on pitchers' arms while pitching nearly year-round on travel teams during their youth. But that argument does not fit the case of Brandon Beachy, who underwent the surgical procedure last year despite not pitching on a consistent basis before the Braves signed him late in the 2008 season.

"I don't have answers," Hall of Fame pitcher and current Braves broadcaster Don Sutton said. "Like many of you, I have a lot of questions. I don't know where to begin with the answers. I think what we're all trying to do is come up with a simple answer so that we can blame one thing. It's led to the pitch count and innings limitations. We're doing those things and the surgeries are increasing."

While totaling 756 starts and 5,282 innings over 23 Major League seasons, Sutton stood as a model of durability. Like many players of his generation, he is baffled by the amount of injuries incurred by today's starting pitchers, who have worked within the constraints of pitch counts and with the comfort of pitching once every five days.

But Sutton does sympathize with the toll placed on the arms of today's relievers, who have inherited the negative consequences of the fact that starting pitchers are not consistently working as deep into games as they did during his era.

During the 1970s, starting pitchers accounted for 72 percent of the innings completed by National League teams. That percentage has dropped as specialization and pitch counts have increased the significance of relief pitchers during the four decades that have followed. Last year, starting pitchers accounted for 66 percent of innings completed by NL clubs.

"Give the starters a little more responsibility," Sutton said. "Expect them to be better. Expect your starter to pitch the seventh and eighth innings. You're paying him a lot of money to do it."

The six percent decrease in innings completed by starting pitchers over the course of the past four decades might not seem like a lot. But it equates to approximately 85 innings per year per club. When factoring in the reality that three or four relievers are going to account for the brunt of this increased workload, a greater abundance of today's relievers are putting more stress on their arms than their predecessors.

"That's a lot to cover, when you figure you're covering it one inning at a time," Braves general manager Frank Wren said. "Even if it's spread over four guys, that's 20 more appearances each."

Venters struggled through three injury-plagued Minor League seasons after his first Tommy John surgery in 2005 and then finally proved healthy over entire season while making 29 starts for Triple-A Gwinnett in '09. The hard-throwing left-hander combined for 164 appearances with Atlanta over the next two seasons -- six more appearances than any other Major League pitcher during that span.

"What I got to do for those two or three years was awesome and I wouldn't trade it for anything," Venters said. "It's one of those things. It's part of the job and comes with the territory."

After making 276 appearances for Atlanta from 2009-12 -- seventh most in the Majors during this span -- O'Flaherty was left with a damaged elbow that progressively worsened as this season unfolded.

Another damaging aspect of the life of the reliever is not accounted for by statistics. As Medlen learned during his time as a reliever, there are numerous days when a pitcher warms up in the bullpen and never enters a game.

"It [stinks]," Medlen said. "It's like: 'Oh, he threw an inning yesterday, he's good today.' But the two days before that, I was up and I was about to go in the game. I was hot and I didn't go in the game. Then, I had to throw the next day."

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez took a lot of heat when Venters (85), Kimbrel (79) and O'Flaherty (78) all ranked in the top five for appearances made during the 2011 season that ended with an epic September collapse. This workload was heavily influenced by the reality that the Braves played 26 extra-inning games and 55 one-run games that year.

Halfway through that season while his team was in Seattle, Gonzalez spoke about the need to be more selective about when to use his top three relievers. But at the end of the day, his decisions were most heavily influenced by what would give him the best chance to win a game.

"I still subscribe to the same theory that when it's your time to go, you're going to go," Gonzalez said. "But don't go out and play on [Interstate] 75. When it's

It was a night Sean Nolin won't soon forget. And sadly for the 23-year-old left-hander plucked from double-A ball, it was a major-league debut that will go down in the Toronto Blue Jays' record book.

Nolin managed just four outs before exiting with Baltimore leading 6-1. The Orioles went on win 10-6 in a free-swinging game Friday night that saw the teams combine for 33 hits and seven home runs.

It was more like a video game than a major league contest with the announced Rogers Centre crowd of 25,104 seeing a ton of offence and not much pitching. It was 9-3 midway through the third and every Baltimore starter had scored by the end of the sixth.

For Nolin (0-1), it was a brief misadventure in the majors. He retired just three of the 11 batters he faced — he was helped by a double play — for an earned-run average of 40.50.

Informed Thursday at noon that he would be pitching, Nolin was optioned back to New Hampshire within minutes of the final out.

"It was a tough go for him, no question," said Toronto manager John Gibbons. "But you know what ... [I told him] I don't want you leaving with any negative feelings. You'll be back. Some day you'll look back and laugh at this, because you're better than that.

"You never know how debuts are going to go. That's just the way the game is sometimes at this level. So go down there and continue to work. Work your way back up. You know what, you have a bright future."

Even Tony Robbins might have a hard time seeing the positives.
Nolin ties 2 dubious club records

"Definitely not the way I envisioned it but I think I just had too much energy going," said the soft-spoken Nolin, who left the Rogers Centre holding onto the lineup card as a souvenir. "It kind of felt like I had already thrown a few innings and kind of wasted some gas without doing anything."

Still, he said he had chills as he achieved a dream to pitch in the majors.

Nolin opened with a strike, only to give up back-to-back singles followed by J.J. Hardy's ninth home run of the season. Nolin gave up another single before escaping the inning when Matt Wieters hit into a double play. The young Jay threw 21 pitches including 16 strikes in the inning.

In the second, he loaded the bases on a double, single and walk to the bottom third of the Baltimore order before Nick Markakis cleared the bases with a double for a 6-1 lead. Nolin got one more out before Gibbons mercifully brought in Ramon Ortiz.

Nolin gave up six earned runs on seven hits and one walk. He threw 35 pitches, 25 for strikes. Sadly the strikes did not seem to help.

He tied the shortest outing by a Blue Jays pitcher making his major-league debut as a starter (Mike Darr, 1977, and Jeff Ware, 1995). The six earned runs also tied the club record for most by a starting pitcher in his debut (Ware).

And while Nolin was only involved in 1 1-3 innings, the game marked the first time in franchise history that Toronto had allowed the first three batters of an inning to each score a run in three consecutive innings.

Chris Davis hit his majors-leading 16th homer of the season for the Orioles — his third home run in as many outings and fourth in five games. Danny Valencia and Adam Jones also homered for Baltimore (26-22).
Jays hit 3 homers

Orioles third baseman Manny Machado had three hits for the fifth straight road game. According to Elias, the only other player younger than 21 — Machado is 20 — with such a streak was Ty Cobb who did it 1907.

Melky Cabrera, Adam Lind and Brett Lawrie — who was later ejected with Gibbons — hit solo home runs for Toronto (20-28) as the teams combined for five leadoff homers.

The Jays did everything but place a chocolate on the Orioles' pillows. In addition to conceding 16 hits, they recorded an error, wild pitch, had two ejected and were caught stealing.

It's been a high-scoring start to the four-game series. Toronto won the opener 12-6 on Thursday in a game that produced 23 hits.

Desperate for someone to fill a hole in their injury-plagued starting rotation, the Jays hung their hat on a neophyte who had never appeared above double-A ball and were quickly punished for it.

Ortiz, 39, wasn't much better as the Orioles battered Blue Jays pitching for nine runs and 10 hits in the first three innings. Orioles leadoff hitter Markakis collected two singles and a double in those three innings.

Adding to Toronto's woes, Lawrie and Gibbons were ejected after the Jays third baseman was called out on strikes to end the third. Lawrie had dumped his helmet at home plate and then walked off, tossing his batting gloves behind him, after being punched out. He also appeared to have said something to plate umpire Dan Bellino during the at-bat.

Gibbons came to his defence and was also tossed.
Skipper tossed for 3rd time this year

"The umps these days in [at]mlb can suck it," tweeted Lawrie's sister Danielle, a former Canadian Olympic softball player.

"To everyone out there, I'm not saying what my brother did was RIGHT at all, I'm saying these umps are horrific and are not held accountable," she said in a later tweet.

It was Gibbons' third ejection of the season and first for Lawrie, upping Toronto's total to six.

Lawrie said he had done nothing wrong. But crew chief Wally Bell told a pool reporter that Lawrie was tossed for throwing his gloves towards Bellino "in a way that wasn't etiquette in baseball."

The volatile Lawrie was suspended for four games last season when, after striking out, he slammed his helmet into the ground and it hit the umpire.

Orioles starter Chris Tillman (4-2) also had his issues as he struggled with his control early. But he was able to limit the damage in lasting five innings, giving up three earned runs on 10 hits. He struck out seven, walked none and threw 109 pitches, including 74 strikes.

Nolin was the Jays' 10th starter of the season, with just three starts for double-A New Hampshire under his belt this season. He

Braves 6, Mets 0: Pitcher Mike Minor homered for his first two RBIs in the majors and struck out 10 as Atlanta won its eighth straight.

Braves 7, Mets 5: In the completion of a suspended game, Dan Uggla hit an RBI single in the 10th inning to boost Atlanta.

Red Sox 7, Indians 4: Pinch-hitter Mike Carp drove in the tying run with an eighth-inning double and then scored on a double by Dustin Pedroia as Boston rallied to beat Cleveland.

Orioles 6, Blue Jays 5: Danny Valencia hit a two-run homer and Adam Jones added a solo shot to help Baltimore beat R.A. Dickey and Tampa Bay.

Angels 7, Royals 0: Josh Hamilton and Hank Conger homered to back Billy Buckner's first major league win since 2009, and Los Angeles won its seventh straight.

Yankees 4, Rays 3: Lyle Overbay homered with two outs in the 11th inning for New York.

The Yankees put outfielder Curtis Granderson on the disabled list with a broken knuckle on his left pinkie and recalled outfielder Brennan Boesch from Triple-A.

Twins 3, Tigers 2: Joe Mauer homered to help Minnesota end a 10-game losing streak.

Dodgers 5, Cardinals 3: Adrian Gonzalez homered and drove in three runs, and Mark Ellis lined a go-ahead double in the sixth inning to spark Los Angeles.

Reds 5, Cubs 2: Todd Frazier drove in two runs with a sacrifice fly and a single, and Cincinnati won its fifth straight.

Rangers 5, Mariners 2: Nelson Cruz hit his 12th homer and Texas roughed up Seattle ace Felix Hernandez.

Padres 10, Diamondbacks 4: Everth Cabrera homered and had four RBIs, and San Diego beat Arizona.