MLB scores and more: Billingsley out for the year, Valverde back as closer, Gutierrez returns to DL

Tuesday’s scores

Twins 4, Marlins 3 | Marlins 8, Twins 5 - Minnesota took the first of the double-header with help from Oswaldo Arcia, who launched his first big-league home run off of fellow rookie Jose Fernandez. Miami then demolished Mike Pelfrey in the nightcap. Rob Brantly had a three-hit, four-RBI evening, as the team rapped out 16 hits total.

Braves 4, Rockies 3 | Braves 10, Rockies 2 - No twin-bill split to be found here. The Braves mashed six big flies on the day as Upton brothers became just the second set of siblings to hit back-to-back home runs in MLB history in the nightcap. The younger Upton also homered in the day game, giving him 11 on the year. That's plenty gritty for me.

A's 13, Red Sox 0 (F. 7) - Oakland routed the Red Sox so badly Tuesday they decided to call it early. Bartolo Colon tossed a quasi-complete game at rain-soaked Fenway, holding Boston to three hits over seven frames. John Jaso, Seth Smith, and Brandon Moss provided the pop for the A's, driving in seven between them.

Pirates 2, Phillies 0 - Young southpaw Jeff Locke kept the Phillies off the board for six, and the bullpen did the rest. Brandon Inge returned from the DL to smack an RBI double. Cole Hamels is still winless in 2013.

Cardinals 2, Nats 0 - Adam Wainwright dominated the Nats on Tuesday, striking out nine in 8⅓ to go to 4-1 on the year. Washington and its high-powered offense has now lost eight of 11 to fall all the way to .500.

Orioles 4, Blue Jays 3 - Baltimore batted around against R.A. Dickey in a four-run second then held on for dear life to sneak away with yet another one-run win. Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run jack in the sixth to make it a game, but the O's bullpen hung on.

Cubs 4, Reds 2 (F. 10) - The Cubs blew yet another late-inning lead to the Reds on Tuesday, but were able to rectify this one with two runs in the 10th. Tony Cingrani was stellar in his second big-league start, fanning nine Cubs in seven innings of two-run ball.

Dodgers 7, Mets 2 - Mark Ellis single-handedly knocked out the Mets, lacing a line drive off of starter Jon Niese's leg in the third then belting two big flies off the southpaw's replacements. Ellis finished the day with four hits and and four RBI.

Yankees 4, Rays 3 - David Price and Phil Hughes were mired in a pitcher's duel for much of the day, but the Yankees finally broke through in the ninth. After Fernando Rodney walked the bases loaded, Ichiro Suzuki delivered the go-ahead, two-out single to give New York the win.

Astros 3, Mariners 2 - Hisashi Iwakuma struck out 11 Astros in five innings but still took the tough-luck loss on Tuesday. Justin Maxwell played the part of tragic hero as his bases-loaded HBP scored the eventual game-winner but also left him with a fractured hand.

Angels 5, Rangers 4 (F. 11) - Howie Kendrick delivered the Halos' second extra-inning walk-off home run in three days to cap his three-hit, four-RBI evening. The Angels have won four of five.

Brewers 6, Padres 3 - That's nine wins in a row for the Brewers. All the scoring by both teams was done in the first two innings, with Milwaukee tallying a parade of singles and doubles to send Clayton Richard to the showers in a five-run second.

D'Backs 6, Giants 4 (F. 11) - The Giants rallied for four runs in the final two frames to send the game to extras (handing J.J. Putz his third blown save), but the D'Backs managed to hang on for a win. An error and a wild pitch allowed Did Gregorius to score the game-winner in the 11th.

Postponed (Rain)

KC @ Detroit

Cleveland @ Chicago (AL)

The Big Three

1. It's now officially official. The Dodgers' wealth of starting pitching is now a dearth of starting pitching. Despite his best efforts to avoid it, Chad Billingsley and his Dodger Bum elbow will go under the knife on Wednesday to have his UCL replaced, Tommy John-style. I honestly can't remember the last time a rotation this deep was ripped to pieces this early on in the season. I didn't really expect Billingsley to hold up for the entire year, but I also didn't think that Zack Greinke and Chris Capuano would also be on the DL when his elbow started barking. If I were Ned Colletti, I'd be crying myself to sleep at night cursing Carlos Quentin under my breath while clutching a photo of Aaron Harang. Who thought the team would ever miss him?

2. I'm not really sure how necessary it was, but the Tigers hit the bullpen panic button on Tuesday. Not only did the club call up Bruce Rondon from Triple-A and toss Octavio Dotel in the DL bin, but the team also inked Jose Valverde to a one-year, big-league deal and reinstated him as the closer. While the rearranging is unlikely to have much of an effect on the Tigers' playoff aspirations when all is said and done, it seems like a pretty rash decision after spending all winter planning to move on without Papa Grande. If Valverde's velocity is truly restored then he should be effective as the club's closer, but I don't understand how a tiny three-inning sample at Single-A was enough to give the Tigers any indication that he can be successful again. We'll see, I guess.

3. Franklin Gutierrez may indeed be "Death to Flying Things," but he's also proving to be hazardous to his own health. The M's injury-prone center fielder hurt himself diving for a fly ball on Monday night, forcing Seattle to place him on the DL Tuesday for the fifth time in the last two-plus seasons. If I'm the Mariners, I just move on from Guti at this point, as he seems to be of the Nick Johnson/Rich Harden ilk of players who cannot be counted on to be healthy for an entire season. Yes, he was healthy for all of 2009 and 2010, but that was well before he turned 30. Gutierrez has a team option for the 2014 season, but the M's would be smart not to exercise it.

In Other News...

1. Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz is set to return from his 25-game amphetamine suspension on Sunday. The veteran backstop is taking part in a minor-league rehab assignment this week to get himself ready for the weekend.

2. Astros GM Jeff Luhnow has no intention to trade right-hander Bud Norris right now. Tomorrow? Perhaps. But not right now. Norris earned his third win Tuesday. I'm guessing he'll get to between 8-10 then hit the trade circuit.

3. The Toronto Blue Jays are waiver-wire addicts. The club claimed left-hander Aaron Laffey from the Mets yesterday and DFA-ed Ramon Ortiz to make room. That's 21 waiver claims and counting since October.