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| Bobby Jenks worked a perfect ninth inning for his 10th save in 12 chances as the White Sox defeated Barry Zito and the Giants on Saturday night. |
Our View: Jenks has rounded into form nicely after a slow start. The right-hander has 12 strikeouts in 18 innings, he's allowed five walks and carries 1.96 ERA.
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| Scott Linebrink, who has become the primary setup man for the White Sox, pitched the eighth before giving way to Bobby Jenks who worked the ninth for his 10th save in 12 chances on Saturday night. |
Our View: Linebrink, after having a disappointing 2007 campaign, has returned to the form that made him the onetime closer to replace the ageless Trevor Hoffman. Linebrink has 11 strikouts in 18 innings, has allowed three runs and walked five, and his 1.47 ERA with an occasional save opportunity this season, makes him a solid option in deep formats.
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| Mark Buehrle allowed one run on seven hits, walked three and struck out one while pitching into the seventh inning as the Chicago White Sox scored a 3-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night. |
Our View: Buerhle, who has scuffled this season, dueled with Barry Zito who also pitched well enough to win. Buerhle managed to loser his 5.81 ERA over a half a run with his winning effort.
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| Boston starter Tim Wakefield gave up three runs and six hits in 5.1 innings and left the second game of the doubleheader with a 5-1 lead. Unfortunately the Sox were unable to hold the lead resulting in a no-decision for the knuckleballer. |
Our View: Wake has had an up and down 2008 campaign, but he is in the rotation to keep his club in the game and eat innings, the latter he has struggled to do.
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| Mike Timlin pitched the ninth for his first save and the Boston Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-6 on Saturday to complete a sweep of their day-night doubleheader. |
Our View: Jon Papelbon saved the first game of the doubleheader and the team decided not to bring him back for the second time.
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| Mike Lowell hit a two-run homer and doubled in a pair of runs, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-6 on Saturday and complete a sweep of their day-night doubleheader. |
Our View: Lowell has been on fire since suffering an early season slump and injury. The third baseman now has five home runs and 15 RBI in May.
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| Carlos Gomez was out of the Saturday night lineup at Coors Field with a sore right wrist, injured while making a catch against the wall in center field in the ninth inning of Friday's game. |
Our View: It was the second game in three night's Gomez has been out of the lineup. He missed Thursday's game to the flu. Consider the speedy outfielder day-to-day.
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| Todd Jones pitched the ninth for his sixth save in six chances. |
Our View: The Tigers are in for a long season with their bullpen, rotation and Jones as their closer. And while they sport a solid lineup top to bottom, it was more than obvious tonight that they're also soft at the corners defensively.
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| Armando Galarraga allowed two runs on one hit, walked five and struck out three and the the Detroit Tigers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 on Saturday, snapping a five-game losing streak. |
Our View: Galarraga took advantage of an impatient D'Backs lineup and benefited from Arizona mental mistakes to win his third game of the season. The effort will make it very difficult to pull him from the rotation once Dontrelle Willis returns to active duty.
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| Jack Cust hit a solo home run and the Oakland Athletics beat the Atlanta Braves 5-4 on Saturday night to end a season-worst four-game losing streak. |
Our View: Cust has become a popular free agent pickup of late. The A's slugger has five home runs, 21 runs scored and 13 RBI while hitting .239 on the season. Those numbers don't explain his popularity.
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| George Sherrill pitched a perfect ninth inning, striking out one, for his 17th save in 19 chances. |
Our View: Sherrill has four saves in the four Orioles games this week.
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| Brian Burres allowed two runs on four hits, walked two and struck out three and the Baltimore Orioles held on to beat the Washington Nationals 6-5 on Saturday night. |
Our View: Burres evened his record at 4-4 on the season, lowered his ERA to 3.44 and has been a pleasant surprise for the shocking 23-19 Orioles.
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| Nick Markakis homered and drove in three runs and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Nationals 6-5 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory. |
Our View: Markakis has scored 26 times, recorded 22 RBI, stole six bases and is hitting .265 on the season.
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| Vicente Padilla matched his victory total from last season by winning his fourth consecutive decision over five starts and his sixth of the year as the Rangers wore out the Rangers for the second consecutive game. The right-hander allowed two runs and five hits over seven innings. |
Our View: Padilla struggled early but the Astros were not able to get the big hit.
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| Rod Barajas pitched 6.1 strong innings and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-3 on Saturday night.
Burnett allowed two runs on four hits, walking three and striking out eight. |
Our View: Burnett and the Jays rotation continue to keep the light-hitting lineup in games, and head into Sunday afternoon's game with their best, Shaun Marcum.
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| Rod Barajas hit two homers, including a grand slam, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-3 on Saturday night. |
Our View: Barajas has played in 22 games this year and compiled 63 at-bats. The backup catcher has scored six runs, has nine RBI and is hitting .254 on the season.
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| Rod Barajas hit two homers, including a grand slam, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-3 on Saturday night. |
Our View: Barajas has played in 22 games this year and compiled 63 at-bats. The backup catcher has scored six runs, has nine RBI and is hitting .254 on the season.
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| Following up on an earlier report, Rangers' outfielder Josh Hamilton , the major league RBI leader, left Saturday night's game against Houston because of general soreness, this according to ESPN. Hamilton asked manager Ron Washington to move him to right field for Saturday night's game and had already talked about taking Sunday off as well.
"I'm sore from that first-inning catch, or almost-catch," Hamilton said before the game. "I landed on my shoulder and right hip. I must have kicked myself in my left calf or something, because it's killing me." |
Our View: Daily transaction owners might want to replace Hamilton for the Rangers Sunday afternoon game at Arlington Park.
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| Mike Jacobs was in the starting lineup for the first time since May 7, when he had a tight right quad. His triple to right-center in the fourth inning and hit his 10th home run in the seventh helping the Marlins to a 7-3 victory over the Royals on Saturday night. |
Our View: Jacobs made a splash in his first game in almost two weeks. He now has 18 runs and 27 RBI on the year.
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| Brian Bannister gave up six runs on seven hits in 6.1 innings of work falling to the Marlins 7-3 on Saturday night. The right-hander walked two and struck out five in the loss. |
Our View: Bannister was strong in the early innings, but gave up two runs in the fourth and then fell apart in the seventh.
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| Josh Hamilton was forced to leave Saturday's game in the fifth inning due to what is being reported as "exhaustion."
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Our View: For now the Ranger slugger is considered day-to-day, and we will offer more on the left-handed outfielder when the information is available.
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| The Royals extended Joakim Soria to a three-year contract with an additional three options for 2012, '13 and '14.
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Our View: This is the fashion in which the Royals will be signing their youth, and according to sources will become more of the MLB norm in the future.
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| Jonathan Papelbon got the final three outs to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Brewers 5-3 on Saturday. The right-hander recorded his 12th save, despite giving up a solo homer to Ryan Braun with two out. |
Our View: Papelbon has actually been mortal in May, but continues to get the job done.
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| David Ortiz hit a three-run home run to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Brewers 5-3 on Saturday in the opener of a doubleheader. |
Our View: Ortiz' shot was his eighth of the season and pushed his RBI total to 32 on the year.
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| Daisuke Matsuzaka remained unbeaten, holding Milwaukee to a pair of unearned runs pitching into the seventh inning and the Boston Red Sox beat the Brewers 5-3 on Saturday.
Matsuzaka, who won his seventh game of the season, gave up seven hits over 6.2 innings and tied the Angels' Joe Saunders for the AL lead in wins. |
Our View: Dice-K held the Brewers scoreless until two outs in the seventh, when Rickie Weeks reached on a fielding error and Mike Cameron homered to left.
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| Ervin Santana, who was coming off his worst outing of the season, gave up four runs on five hits in six innings in Saturday's 6-3 loss to the Dodgers. He walked three, hit a batter and struck out five.
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Our View: The Angels' right-hander was tagged for nine hits and five runs in 5.2 innings at Tampa Bay last Sunday, but was not involved in the decision.
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| Delmon Young, who was 3-for-4 on Friday night, added 13 points to his average. In 15 May games he has six multi-hit games. |
Our View: Young raised his average from .260 to .276 and currently the Twins outfielder is all or nothing in games played.
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| Dana Eveland fell a third of an inning short of recording a quality start on Friday night. The left-hander allowed two runs on six hits in 5.2 innings. |
Our View: The A's starter gave up both runs in the six inning and four of his six hits.
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| It had to eventually happen to Joakim Soria. The KC closer was finally scored on Friday night as Jeremy Hermida hit a 2-run home run in the ninth inning to pull the Fish within one run. Soria was able to strike out the next two hitters and secure his 11th save of the season. |
Our View: The two-run home run finally gave Soria something other than zero's next to his ERA. In 17.1 innings of work Soria has allowed five hits, two walks and struck out 20 and now has an 1.04 ERA and 0.40 WHIP.
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| Joey Gathright is starting in center field on Saturday night with David DeJesus in right. Gathright is leading off as the Royals square off against Florida and left-hander Scott Olsen. |
Our View: Gathright is a spark plug from the leadoff spot and leads the Royals in stolen bases.
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| Just when the closer-less Indians believed they had a replacement for the injured Joe Borowski, the player blows up in the ninth inning. Adam Dunn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off Masa Kobayashi , rallying the Cincinnati Reds to their season-high fifth straight victory Saturday, 4-2 over the Cleveland Indians. |
Our View: If the failures of Borowski, Rafael Betancourt and Kobayashi had been converted saves, the Indians at the top of the standing in the AL Central.
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| Gary Sheffield is scheduled to get Saturday night off with Matt Joyce playing left field for the second straight game. |
Our View: With the Tigers playing in an NL Park, Sheff is sitting against right-handers. It's possible that the veteran will be back in the lineup on Sunday when Arizona sends Randy Johnson to the mound.
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| George Sherrill picked up his 16th save in 18 opportunities on Friday night, pitching a perfect ninth inning. Sherrill has been good despite his lack of command. His 10 walks in 20 innings is concerning and his K Rate is south of his 2007 numbers. |
Our View: In his defense, the southpaw is in a different environment and has a different role than the one he held with Seattle, and one of this two blown saves was a game in Oakland when he entered the game with the bases loaded and one out. He proceeded to record two ordinary outs -- but gave up a game tying run in the process.
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| Joaquin Benoit earned his seventh hold of the season on Friday by setting down the side in the eighth inning. The right-hander has held opponents scoreless in seven of his eight appearances in May. |
Our View: The Rangers success in the first half of the month has benefited owners who stuck with the Rangers hard-thrower.
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| Matt Garza failed to make it out of the fifth inning on Saturday versus the Cardinals. It ended what had been a brilliant run by Tampa starters. A run in which the rotation had combined for a 1.03 ERA.
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Our View: Garza had nothing on Saturday, and his focus couldn't have been worse. He didn't trust his stuff and nibbled the entire afternoon.
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| B.J. Upton was 3-for-5 in Saturday afternoon's loss to the Cardinals. The center fielder added two runs to his stat line. Upton's power numbers can't be found. His at-bat to home run ratio is just under 50:1, far below last year when the young outfielder hit 24 home runs in 474. |
Our View: Upton was caught stealing in the fifth inning on Saturday was an easy out trying to advance to third on Evan Longoria's game-tying sacrifice fly when the throw to the plate was cut off. Both plays were ill advised, especially when he was trying to advance from second to third with two outs. Ill advised is being nice actually, it was a stupid decision and was just one of the plays that cost the Rays a win.
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| Andy Pettitte was dealt his fifth loss of the season on Saturday, as the Yankees were defeated by the Mets 7-4 at Yankee Stadium. Pettitte allowed three runs on seven hits over six innings, with two walks and seven strikeouts. |
Our View: Pettitte is now 3-5 for the season, with a 4.42 ERA. He has allowed four or more runs in three of his last five starts, and hasn't won since April 20, when the Yankees beat Baltimore 7-1.
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| Derek Jeter had a solid outing in Saturday's 7-4 loss to the Mets. Jeter went 3-for-4 with two RBI and notched his second homer of the year, which came off of Mets' ace Johan Santana. |
Our View: Jeter now has 22 hits, two homers, seven RBI, and 11 runs scored over 14 games in May.
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| Fausto Carmona is set to battle the Reds today, according to MLB.com. Carmona is 4-1 this season with a 2.40 ERA, but still has a poor 1.64 WHIP, due to 35 walks over 48.2 innings. He only has 18 strikeouts as well. |
Our View: Carmona only registered less than four walks in one of eight starts, and his control issues have prevented him from being a strong fantasy starter this season.
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| Ervin Santana will aim to remain unbeaten when the Angels host the Dodgers today, according to MLB.com. Santana is 6-0 with a 2.63 ERA and stellar 0.97 WHIP over eight starts. |
Our View: Santana is 2-2 in four career outings against the Dodgers with a 3.42 ERA. He was 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA against them in 2007. Santana should enjoy another solid outing at home, where four of his six wins have come this season.
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| Hector Luna has been recalled from Triple-A Syracuse, according to the AP. Pitcher David Purcey has been sent back to Syracuse to make room on the roster for Luna. |
Our View: Luna will hold no value as a backup infielder in Toronto.
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| David Purcey has been sent back to Triple-A Syracuse, according to the AP. Shortstop Hector Luna has been called up as well. |
Our View: Purcey got lit up for eight runs on five hits over a mere three innings in his spot start against the Phillies on Friday, and his audition to possibly stick with the team went up in flames.
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| Joe Dillon is going to start at first base today in inter-league play with the Red Sox at Fenway Park, according to the Boston Globe. Dillon will hit eighth in the order, between JJ Hardy and Bill Hall. Prince Fielder will serve as the DH. |
Our View: Dillon is 5-for-20 (.250) with no homers or RBI while contributing in a utility role. He gets to start today, but against Boston ace hurler Daisuke Matsuzaka.
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| Sean Casey is penciled in to start at first base today against Jeff Suppan and the Brewers, according to the Boston Globe. Kevin Youkilis will man third base in place of Mike Lowell, who gets the game off with three games to be played in about a 36 hour span. They are playing a double-header today. |
Our View: Casey is hitting .345 over 58 at-bats, with eight RBI. He merits consideration today if you have him, namely in AL-only leagues.
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| Jacoby Ellsbury will start in center field today against Jeff Suppan and the Brewers, according to the Boston Globe. Coco Crisp is not quite 100%, after working through his illness earlier this week, but said he can pinch run or play defense (or even pinch hit). |
Our View: Ellsbury merits a start today, and is still yet to be caught stealing over 15 tries. He has also scored 31 runs over 37 games.
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| Andy Pettitte is dueling with Mets' ace Johan Santana today at Yankee Stadium, according to MLB.com. Pettitte has made 16 starts against the Mets dating back to 1997, while going 7-3 with a 3.42 ERA. Pettitte is only 3-4 this season with a 4.40 ERA and 1.45 WHIP and is in need of a solid performance as he only lasted four innings in his last game against the Rays. |
Our View: Darrell Rasner was supposed to face Santana last night, but he was skipped in the rotation as the game was postponed due to rain.
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| Alex Rodriguez went 1-for-4 with a homer off top pitching prospect David Price over five at-bats in extended spring training, according to the NY Daily News. A-Rod also fielded three grounders at third base. He struck out twice, but this was a good day for him in his rehab from his strained right quad. |
Our View: A-Rod will play in a simulated game as a DH on Sunday, then play a third and likely final extended spring game on Monday. He is still on track to rejoin the Yankees on Tuesday.
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| Hideki Okajima has been shut down for a few days due to a sore left wrist, according to MVN.com. |
Our View: The Red Sox decided to rest Okajima for precautionary reasons. The left-hander has been complaining of discomfort for a few days, but tried to pitch through it. The team needs to be cautious with him, as he is enjoying a great season with a 0.93 ERA and 0.88 WHIP over 19.1 innings of relief, with 16 strikeouts. He has one save to his credit this season as well.
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| Dan Giese was dominant against the Louisville Bats in Triple-A, as he hurled a three-hit complete game shutout, according to MyPinstripes.com. |
Our View: Giese has been bounced around a bit between several teams including San Diego and Philadelphia, but he has a chance to stick in the New York organization if he can continue to pitch like this.
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| Rookie Doug Mathis is listed as the Rangers' starting pitcher for Tuesday against Minnesota, according to the Star-Telegram. |
Our View: Mathis has not allowed a run or a hit over three innings of work in a relief role with the Rangers this season, with one walk and three strikeouts. His numbers have been good in limited action, and could be worth a look in AL-only leagues for Tuesday if you need help in your fantasy rotation.
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| Luis Mendoza threw a bullpen session on Friday and had no problem with the blister that forced him out of his rehab start on Wednesday, according to the Star-Telegram. It was also a finger blister than landed him on the DL at the start of the season. This blister isn't believed to be as severe this time and Mendoza will make another rehab start on Sunday. |
Our View: He's been on the DL since April 25 with inflammation in his right shoulder. Mendoza said he experienced no pain in the shoulder during his rehab start.
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| Hank Blalock made it clear on Friday that his left hamstring feels fine, according to the Star-Telegram. Blalock was scheduled to make a rehab start Thursday night (for Frisco), but was a late scratch because the hamstring tightened up on him after he cooled down after batting practice. Blalock said, "There was no setback or anything and nothing grabbed on me. I just need to train through the weekend and try back again on Monday. I'm trying to stay positive." Blalock ran Friday and took batting practice.
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Our View: Blalock could be headed to Arizona on Monday to get in as many at-bats as possible in extended spring training games. He will then join the Rangers when he feels ready.
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| Infielder Michael Aubrey has been recalled from Triple-A Buffalo, according to MLB.com. The team optioned lefty hurler Jeremy Sowers to Buffalo to make room on the roster. |
Our View: Aubrey was the 11th overall pick in 2003, and displays one of the smoothest swings in the Indians' system, but has had trouble staying healthy. He will be making his debut in the majors.
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| Jeremy Sowers has been optioned to Triple-A Buffalo, according to MLB.com. The team recalled infielder Michael Aubrey from Triple-A, and Sowers was seen as expendable to open a roster spot. |
Our View: As expected, Sowers was brought up to make just one start against the Reds. He held a poor 5.23 ERA and 1.45 WHIP over 10.1 brief innings this season.
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| Right-handed hurler Freddy Garcia will be on the radar of the Red Sox, Braves, Yankees, Mets, White Sox, Rangers, and Mariners when the free agent is ready to audition, according to MetsBlog.com. |
Our View: He is already throwing from a mound and looking strong, and should be ready to return to the majors around the All-Star break. He is recovering from shoulder surgery.
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| Jose Vidro didn't start again on Friday due to his nagging back ailment, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He has been cleared to pinch hit however, and Vidro said, "I felt I had better movement today, but there's still a sore spot close to the spine. So they wanted to check that out. I was free to take some swings today, but I can't do too much. It's mostly when I bend over or lean backward."
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Our View: His limitations have allowed the team to get a good look at former first-round pick Jeff Clement, as he is getting action at DH in place of Vidro. Vidro is only hitting .200 over 32 games, and Clement has more upside as an offensive weapon.
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| Carlos Silva expects to make his next start on Tuesday, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. |
Our View: He pulled himself out of his last start due to a strained back, but has recovered favorably, and should be safe to return to your lineups.
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| Gary Matthews Jr. returned to the Angels' lineup on Friday, according to the LA Daily News. He returned to his second spot in the order. He was given the day off on Thursday so he could work with hitting coach Mickey Hatcher in the batting cage. Manager Mike Sciosca said, "Mickey said he hit the ball really well. He's just trying to get a feel and hopefully he's taken some steps toward that. Now we'll see if he can carry that into a game." Matthews has been struggling at the plate, which is why he was given the day off to work on his hitting on Thursday.
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Our View: Matthews responded well to the day off to practice, as he went 2-for-4 in the Angels' 4-2 win over the Dodgers.
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| Howie Kendrick didn't go through any of the agility or running drills Friday, according to the LA Daily News. Manager Mike Scioscia said that shouldn't be viewed as a setback, however, and added, "He wasn't supposed to run Friday. He was supposed to take a couple of days off and evaluate it and see where he is."
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Our View: His strained left hamstring is healing slowly, and the team did not specify a date when he may return to action.
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| Chone Figgins reportedly ran the bases at a good pace on Friday, according to the LA Daily News. He continued to test his strained right hamstring, and Manager Mike Sciosca commented, "Figgy ran the bases at a good pace and felt no indications of where he was. We'll see how long it's going to be when he's going to be able to run at 100 percent and see how he responds. Two weeks is not bad for somebody to be out where you can put him right back in. When you start getting close to three weeks, then there will probably be some things that we need to do."
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Our View: Figgins is on the DL retroactive to May 4, and would be eligible to return to the lineup when the Angels begin a three-game set in Toronto on Tuesday. It remains unclear if he'll be ready to play by then or if he'll need to go on a rehab assignment before returning to the Angels.
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| Jose Guillen is hot right now, and attributes his recent success to a drop in body weight, according to the Kansas City Star. He admitted that he showed up to spring training overweight and out of shape, and said, "This is all my fault. I really showed up this season completely out of shape. It took me a while to get to where I needed to be. I showed up at spring training at 235 pounds. I know better than that." He has since trimmed down to 210 pounds and remarked, "I can tell you I feel more comfortable, and it shows at the plate. That’s a big difference. I was just not ready coming into spring training."
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Our View: Guillen has 16 hits over his last 30 at-bats. He has seven doubles, one home run and nine RBI over the eight game span.
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| Kenji Johjima went 2-for-4 and delivered a two-run homer in Friday's 6-4 loss to the Padres. |
Our View: That was his second homer of the season, and he now has seven RBI over his last four games. He is hitting .341 (15-for-44) in the month of May as well.
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| Miguel Batista lost his fifth game of the season on Friday, as San Diego defeated Seattle 6-4. Batista was lit up for six runs on nine hits over 5.1 innings, with three walks and one strikeout. |
Our View: That was his fifth loss in nine starts, and his nagging foot injury has really hindered his game. His ERA climbed to 6.11, with a terrible 1.93 WHIP.
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| Alexei Ramirez connected on his first homer of the season in Friday's 2-0 win over the Giants in San Francisco. It was a two-run blast and Ramirez single-handedly carried the White Sox offense to the win. |
Our View: That was a memorable performance for him, but he only has three RBI over 12 games in May, and his average still stands at .156. He is best left to remain on your bench.
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| Gavin Floyd threw six scoreless innings in Friday's 2-0 win over the Giants. He only allowed four hits with three walks and three strikeouts. |
Our View: Floyd is now 4-2 with a 2.92 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. He is pitching well this season, and is worthy of your starting rotation if you don't mind his low strikeout totals (has 22 over 49.1 innings).
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| Joe Saunders enjoyed another solid outing in Friday's 4-2 win over the Dodgers, as he only allowed two runs on five hits over 7.1 innings of work, with two walks and one strikeout. Both runs against came on an Andre Ethier two-run homer. |
Our View: Saunders is 7-1 for the season, with a 2.48 ERA. His strikeouts are low at only 25 over 61.2 innings, but he has been strong in the other stat categories. He also held a 1.12 WHIP prior to tonight's game.
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