MLB scores and more: Heyward's appendix bursts, Myers shut down, Arrieta demoted

Monday’s scores

Red Sox 9, A's 6 - I don't think Mike Napoli's being bothered much by those decaying hips. Nap's hot hitting continued Monday with a five-RBI day, punctuated with a grand salami in the fifth. Oakland wants to know when they can play the Astros again.

Phillies 3, Pirates 2 - Jonathan Pettibone fanned six over 5⅓ in his Major League debut to lead the Phillies to a win. An RBI single from Jimmy Rollins in the sixth -- the 800th RBI of his career -- put the club in front for good.

Cardinals 3, Nationals 2 - Battery mates Shelby Miller and Yadier Molina brought down the Nats on Monday. Miller went 6⅔ strong with 8 Ks, while Molina added the go-ahead single. Anthony Rendon got his first big-league hit for the Nats.

Orioles 2, Blue Jays 1 - Watch out, everyone, the O's are winning one-run games again. A surprise pitching duel between J.A. Happ and Chris Tillman paved the way for a walk-off, bases-loaded single from Nick Markakis.

Reds 5, Cubs 4 (F. 13) - Cincy came back twice on Chicago, the Cubs' bullpen proving that Carlos Marmol isn't the only guy who can blow a save. A three-run rally in the 13th was capped by a walk-off single from Cesar Izturis.

Rays 5, Yankees 1 - Baseball doesn't make much sense most of the time. Ryan Roberts(!) hit two big flies off of CC Sabathia on Monday to lead the Rays to their fourth-straight win. Matt Moore tossed eight two-hit innings to go 4-0 on the year.

Indians 3, White Sox 2 - Asdrubal Cabrera returned from a wrist injury to deliver the go-ahead, two-run single in the eighth. Justin Masterson got back to pitching well, holding the ChiSox to four hits over seven frames.

Mariners 7, Astros 1 - Houston's starting pitching has been downright terrible in the last week, accounting for just 19⅔ innings pitched over the last seven games. Brad Peacock lasted just 4⅓ Monday, allowing a trio of home runs to the M's. Felix Hernandez went six shutout frames to notch career win no. 100.

Rangers 7, Angels 6 - So much for that sweep over the Tigers. Anaheim's BLOLpen blew a three-run lead Monday to curb the team's momentum. A.J. Pierzynski delivered the knockout punch with a solo shot off of Ernesto Frieri.

Brewers 7, Padres 1 - Ryan Braun and Yuniesky Betancourt(!) started the scoring early with a pair of homers in a five-run first. Kyle Lohse and the Brewers' bullpen did the rest, handing Milwaukee its eighth straight.

Giants 5, D'Backs 4 - Buster Posey tied it with a two-run shot in the eighth (not off of Heath Bell, surprisingly), and Brandon Belt came through with the walk-off single in the next frame, negating Wade Miley's strong outing for the D'Backs.

Postponed (Snow)

Miami @ Minnesota - It shouldn't be allowed to snow in late April. It's just not right.

Atlanta @ Colorado - Ibid.

The Big Three

1. Jason Heyward had to undergo an emergency appendectomy in Denver on Monday after his appendix up and exploded in his stomach. The Braves right fielder is fine, and didn't miss any action because of all the crazy snow in Colorado, but is likely to miss the next few weeks as he recovers from having an utterly useless organ extracted from his insides. The recovery time on appendix removals seems to vary pretty wildly, with some missing more than a month and guys like Matt Holliday missing just nine days. The fourth Upton brother, Jordan Schafer-Upton, will likely fill in for Heyward while he recovers and eats a bunch of ice cream.

2. The Cleveland Indians have shut down right-hander Brett Myers for two weeks, and may lose him for much longer than that. The Tribe originally billed Myers' injury as "forearm discomfort" but have since revealed that the veteran has a small tear in his UCL. Any time those three ominous letters appear in a pitcher's injury report, the possibility of Tommy John surgery becomes very real, but it's too early to know at this point. The Indians have replaced him with youngster Corey Kluber for now, but should Myers go down for a prolonged period of time -- especially if Ubaldo Jimenez continues to be terrible -- then Cleveland may be forced to bring Dice-K or Trevor Bauer up to help out with the rotation.

3. The Baltimore Orioles optioned right-hander Jake Arrieta to Triple-A on Monday. Though the official line from the team on his demotion is "we need bullpen help," the real reason is that Arrieta himself needs help, and Norfolk is probably the best place for him to get it. The right-hander is just the latest in a string of recent O's pitching prospects to flame out once reaching the show, joining the ranks of Brian Matusz, Zach Britton, and Chris Tillman (though Tillman has found some success lately). The inability of Baltimore's young pitchers to translate their minor-league dominance into even mediocrity in the majors seems a rather bad omen for current top prospect Dylan Bundy.

In Other News...

1. The Oakland A's acquired Casper Wells from the Toronto Blue Jays for cash, ending the outfielder's whirlwind few weeks in waiver-wire limbo. The A's already have about seven outfielders, so it's unclear at what level he'll play, but at least he can settle down a bit.

2. A May 1 return seems to be out of the question for Mark Teixeira, who is "taking it slow" in his recovery from a torn tendon sheath in his wrist. The Yankees have been playing pretty well so far without him, but Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay aren't going to play over their heads much longer.

3. The Astros as a team have played just about as badly as we all expected, though some individuals haven't been terrible. Speculation is that guys like Carlos Pena, Erik Bedard, and Bud Norris could be solid trade candidates at the deadline if they perform well for the rest of the first half.