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Sunday's Scores
Red Sox 13, Jays 0 - Will Middlebrooks summed up his day pretty well after the game: "Three homers, two streakers and about seven paper airplanes on the field. It was a crazy day all around." R.A. Dickey got clobbered again.
Yankees 7, Tigers 0 - CC Sabathia at least briefly righted the ship for the Yankees, throwing seven shutout innings and out-dueling Justin Verlander. Detroit's bullpen-by-committee imploded yet again.
Mets 4, Marlins 3 - A sterling MLB debut from Marlins youngster Jose Fernandez was spoiled in the ninth when closer Steve Cishek gave up a two-run, walk-off single to Marlon Byrd. Fernandez struck out eight in five innings.
Reds 6, Nats 3 - Stephen Strasburg was uncharacteristically wild, walking four batters in 5⅓ and giving up all six of the Reds' runs. Sean Marshall made his first appearance of the year for Cincy, throwing a scoreless frame.
Braves 5, Cubs 1 - No Upton brother heroics Sunday, but the Braves still completed their sweep of the Cubs. Jeff Samardzjia struck out an incredible 13 batters in 5⅔, but still got hung with the loss.
Royals 9, Phillies 8 - Billy Butler racked up seven RBI on the day off of Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels, including a fifth-inning grand slam. The Royals made things interesting by giving up four runs in the ninth, but managed to hold on.
Twins 4, Orioles 3 - Rookie center fielder Aaron Hicks' second big-league hit -- an RBI single in the seventh -- ended up being the game-winner for the Twinkies. The O's are now 0-3 in one-run games. Regression is a pain sometimes.
Indians 13, Rays 0 - The Tribe demolished Rays ace David Price on Sunday, mashing 10 hits and two three-run home runs off the southpaw. Mark Reynolds and Carlos Santana combined to go 8-for-9 with three home runs, three doubles, and seven RBI.
D'Backs 8, Brewers 7 (F. 11) - The nightmare continues for right-hander John Axford. Milwaukee tied the game up in the ninth only to watch Axford implode again. He's now given up four home runs in three dismal appearances.
A's 9, Astros 3 - The Astros continued to demonstrate their impressive ability to not make contact on Sunday. A's southpaw Brett Anderson K-ed 10 in six innings of work, helping Oakland to their first sweep of the year.
White Sox 4, Mariners 3 (F. 10) - Dayan Viciedo launched a mammoth shot to left-center in the 10th to give the ChiSox the walk-off win. M's outfielder Mike Morse hit his league-leading fifth big fly on the day.
Dodgers 6, Pirates 2 - Hyun-Jin Ryu earned his first big-league victory, holding the Bucs to three hits and two runs in 6⅓ innings. Adrian Gonzalez had three hits (though all singles) and four RBI on the day for the Dodgers.
Rockies 9, Padres 1 - The hot start continued for Dexter Fowler and the Rockies on Sunday. Fowler hit a double and his fourth long ball of the year to give Colorado an easy sweep of the struggling Friars.
Cardinals 14, Giants 3 - St. Louis rained on the Giants' World Series celebration parade Sunday with a nine-run fourth inning, knocking Matt Cain out early. The Cards managed to plate 14 runs with just three extra-base hits (no home runs) on the day.
Rangers 7, Angels 3 - Yu Darvish got his second win of the season, blisters and all, with help from big flies off the bats of Lance Berkman, David Murphy, and Ian Kinsler. Jered Weaver left early with an elbow strain on his non-throwing arm after falling awkwardly.
The Big Three
1. Josh Hamilton finally decided to make an appearance Sunday night for the Halos -- racking up three hits in five at-bats -- but his emergence was overshadowed by Jered Weaver leaving the game in the sixth after falling awkwardly and straining the elbow in his non-throwing arm. While Weaver's left arm is definitely something to keep an eye on, the bigger concern for the Halos should be his sustained drop in velocity. Weaver hit 89 on the gun a few times in his debut in Cincinnati, but the right-hander maxed out at 88 miles per hour Sunday night and had an average fastball velocity of just over 85 mph on the evening. For a guy who hit 90 mph on a regular basis just two years ago and relies heavily on change of speeds to be effective, a drop to the mid-80s could be catastrophic. Memories of Scott Kazmir's quick and painful fall from grace come to mind.
2. The Colorado Rockies acquired right-hander Aaron Harang from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for catcher Ramon Hernandez over the weekend, but they're not likely to keep him long. The club has already designated the veteran for assignment, and are now hoping to work out a trade so that someone else can carry the burden of his $3.5 million in salary still owed for 2013. If the Rockies are able to deal him before his waiver time expires, which they should be able to considering his now-reduced salary, it'll be a solid money-saving move for the club. Dodgers GM Ned Colletti, on the other hand, has done nothing to improve his reputation for taking on albatross salaries. If Ramon Hernandez can't hit in Coors Field, there's no way in hell he can hit in Dodger Stadium.
3. The Atlanta Braves are off to a fast start, but will have to get through the next couple weeks without first baseman Freddie Freeman. The first baseman strained his oblique during a workout right before Opening Day, but had been playing through the injury for the first week. If his oblique was bothering him, he sure didn't show it in his numbers. Freeman was hitting .412/.474/.647 with a home run through his first four games. The youngster was apparently pretty upset about being placed on the DL but there's not much he can do about it now. Chris Johnson filled in at first for Freeman on Sunday (with Juan Francisco getting the start at third) and will probably continue to do so for the next few weeks.
In Injury News...
1. The Milwaukee Brewers are well on their way to becoming the New York Yankees of the National League. Not because they're spending gobs of money or setting up for a postseason dynasty, but because they too cannot seem to escape the injury bug. Aramis Ramirez is the latest Brewer to go down, the third baseman hitting the DL with a right knee sprain. New city slogan... "Milwaukee: Where Knees Go to Die."
2. Rays right-hander Jeff Niemann flew to Texas over the weekend to get his sore shoulder examined. Niemann dealt with an array of injuries last year -- including a shoulder problem -- and could be on his way to missing significant time yet again. Niemann lost out on the fifth starter job to Roberto Hernandez.
3. Red Sox right-hander John Lackey left his Saturday start after just 4⅓ innings with an apparent injury to his throwing arm. The club is still awaiting his MRI results, but considering he's just coming back from Tommy John surgery, there's a good chance the news is going to be of the bad variety.