MLB scores and more: Strasburg 'structurally perfect,' Youkilis DL-ed, Pirates DFA Sanchez

Tuesday’s scores

Yankees 7, Astros 4 - Twelve of the Yanks' 15 hits on Tuesday were of the singles variety, exposing the Astros' pitching staff to death by BABIP. Hiroki Kuroda wasn't at his best but still tossed seven scoreless. Travis Hafner had three RBI knocks.

Indians 14, Phillies 2 - Roy Halladay didn't have it. The Doc gave up three of the Tribe's seven(!!) home runs on the day, including two more to out-of-nowhere slugger Ryan Raburn. Delmon Young went 2-for-3 in his 2013 debut.

Blue Jays 9, Red Sox 7 - Toronto got the last laugh in a back-and-forth slugfest. Edwin Encarnacion's second two-run blast of the day proved to be the game-winner. Steve Delabar earned the awkward blown-save win.

Tigers 6, Twins 1 - Prince Fielder, Miguel Cabrera, and Alex Avila all went deep for the Tigers, which was more than enough for Justin Verlander. The ace right-hander fanned eight in seven to drop his ERA to 1.83 on the year.

Marlins 2, Mets 1 - Second walk-off in as many day for the Fish, this one coming on a wild pitch from Brandon Lyon. Miami's Giancarlo-less offense was shut out until the ninth. The teams combined for just nine hits on the day.

Braves 8, Nats 1 - Tim Hudson did it all to get his 200th career win, throwing seven one-run innings while going 2-for-3 at the plate with his first (Harper-helped) home run of the year. Atlanta's won all five match-ups against the Nats this season.

Rangers 10, White Sox 6 - Yu Darvish wasn't great on Tuesday but didn't really need to be. The Rangers put up a six-spot on the ChiSox in the sixth, Adrian Beltre putting the finishing touch on the rally with a two-run shot. Nelson Cruz and Jeff Baker also went deep for Texas.

Padres 13, Cubs 7 - Edwin Jackson's early struggles as a Cub continued on Tuesday. E-Jax and the rest of Chicago's staff helped the Friars to their best offensive day of the season, which included 17 hits.

Brewers 12, Bucs 8 - Not a lot of pitching going on in this one. Yuniesky Betancourt accounted for one of the game's seven home runs, giving him as many big flies as Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols combined. Andrew McCutchen had a four-hit day for the Bucs.

Royals 8, Rays 2 - James Shields emerged the victor in his first showdown with his former team, settling in after a shaky first to toss seven strong. Mike Moustakas hit his first of the year to lead KC's late-inning attack.

Cardinals 2, Reds 1 - Down 1-0 heading into the seventh, Jaime Garcia and St. Louis looked to be on their way to a tough-luck loss. Matt Holliday would have none of it though, launching a two-run home run off of Bronson Arroyo to give the game to the Cards.

Giants 2, D'Backs 1 - J.J. Putz blew his fourth save of the month, serving up a two-run shot to Pablo Sandoval in the ninth to take the loss. Trevor Cahill shut out San Francisco for eight frames before handing the ball to the bullpen.

A's 10, Angels 6 - Yoenis Cespedes came to the rescue yet again, smacking a double and a triple to help the A's rally ahead. Mike Trout went 4-for-4 but it doesn't really matter when Pujols and Hamilton do nothing. The Halos finish April with a record of 9-17, two losses worse than last year's abysmal start.

Orioles 7, Mariners 2 - A four-run first was all Jason Hammel and the O's bullpen needed on Tuesday. Nate McLouth led off the game with a home run, followed by a pair of doubles from Manny Machado and Matt Wieters.

Dodgers 6, Rockies 2 - Welcome back, Hanley Ramirez. Ham-Ram hit a home run and a double in his first start of the year, sending fans home happy on his bobblehead night. Hyun-Jin Ryu fanned 12 Rockies in six frames.

The Big Three

1. Fear not, Nats fans. That "forearm tightness" that Stephen Strasburg was treated for following Monday night's game? Apparently it's not that big a deal. In fact, GM Mike Rizzo went so far on Tuesday as to declare the right-hander "structurally perfect," and added that Strasburg is highly unlikely to miss his next start on Saturday. Of course, there's always a chance that the discomfort in his forearm will eventually lead to his being structurally imperfect in some way, but for now the team wants us to believe that everything's A-OK with it's star pitcher. If Strasburg does end up going down for a prolonged period of time, I can't wait for people to start complaining that the Nats didn't shut him down soon enough last year. Because that'll be hilarious.

2. The Yankees waited as long as they could for Kevin Youkilis' back to get better, but it just didn't happen. The club placed Youk on the DL yesterday with what it's calling a "lumbar spine sprain," which probably sounds a lot worse than it actually is. I'm still waiting for the day when the club's fill-in guys -- Vernon Wells, Lyle Overbay, etc. -- realize they're performing way over their heads and start falling back to earth. When that happens (soon? maybe?), the Youkilis injury will hurt. For now, however, the Yankees get to continue winning while roughly half their team (and more than half of their payroll) sits on the sidelines. New York called up infield prospect Corban Joseph to take Youk's spot on the roster, meaning that every single infielder on the team's 40-man roster is now either in the Bronx or on the disabled list.

3. Well, that sure didn't take long. The Jonathan Sanchez experiment is officially over in Pittsburgh, as the Bucs have designated the southpaw for assignment. Sanchez made four starts for the Pirates, making it to the fifth inning in just one of those outings, ending his short tenure with an 11.85 ERA and 4.6 HR/9 in 13⅔ innings. While his terrible performance alone was more than enough reason to cut ties with him, his DFA also serves as the ultimate loophole for his pending six-game suspension (for throwing at the Cardinals). As he's no longer on the roster, the team is not required to cut their roster down to 24 for a week. The Bucs have Jeanmar Gomez to fill the empty rotation spot for the time being, but don't be surprised if top prospect Gerrit Cole makes his big-league debut sometime soon.

In Other News...

1. Orioles top prospect Dylan Bundy has been shut down for six weeks after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection in his right forearm. There are definitely worse things to come from a visit to Dr. James Andrews, but this isn't necessarily a good sign either.

2. The Phillies activated Delmon Young from the DL yesterday, and seem pretty serious about him playing right field. If/when he does actually move to right, get your mp3s of Yakkity Sax at the ready.

3. Joel Hanrahan is back in the bullpen for the Red Sox after missing two weeks with a hammy injury, but no longer has his job. Andrew Bailey is back in as Boston's closer, meaning Hanrahan will set-up for the time being.