A respectful nod to Paul Konerko and the double-dose of history he provided us with, but this particular Lineup mostly belongs to the pitcher ...
Full Wednesday scoreboard with recaps and box scores for all 15 games
3 UP
Lance Lynn, Cardinals - After Wednesday's gem against the Cubs (8 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 7 K, 2 BB), Lynn dropped his ERA for the season to 1.33. He's given up only one run in each of his four starts, and each of his four wins has come immediately after a Cardinal loss. It may be someone not named Lance Lynn who loses his rotation spot when Chris Carpenter returns from the disabled list.
Oriole pitchers - It's not often that praise is heaped upon Baltimore hurlers, but here we are, doing just that. The Orioles have given up just three runs total over their last three games, and they've surrendered only one home run over their last 46.0 innings pitched. Wednesday night saw Jason Hammel spin seven shutout innings against the Blue Jays.
Adrian Beltre, Rangers - Against the Yankees on Wednesday, Beltre, in his second game back after missing time with a hamstring injury, went 3-for-5 with three RBI. Chief among his hits was a second-inning bomb off Phil Hughes that covered 441 feet. Beltre's now hitting a strong .313/.348/.516 on the season.
3 DOWN
Phil Hughes, Yankees - On a night when the Yankees needed at least a taste of certainty from the rotation, Hughes failed to provide it. Again. The Rangers torched him for five hits and four runs in 2.2 innings of work. Hughes's ERA now stands at 7.88. In his best start of the season he didn't even last five innings, and his career ERA as a major-league starter is now 5.02.
Shane Victorino, Phillies - Yes, the Phillies won comfortably in Arizona, but Victorino, batting third for the first time in 2012 and just the eighth time in his career, went 0-for-5 and managed to leave six runners on base.
The Twins - While the Royals have been roundly mocked for starting the season 0-10 at home, the Twins, after Wednesday's loss to Boston, find themselves only a half-game ahead of KC in the standings. As well, the Royals' run differential is -19, while the Twins' is, at -38, exactly twice as bad. This is the worst team in baseball right now.
Humber's encore: In his first start since spinning a perfect game against the Mariners, Philip Humber of the White Sox returns to Chicago to take on the Red Sox (winners of three straight!). At this point, I'm duty-bound to invoke the name of Johnny Vander Meer. No one's ever thrown two perfectos in a row, and Vander Meer still stands as the only pitcher to craft back-to-back no-hitters, which he pulled off back in 1938. 8:10 p.m. ET
Falling Angels: Albert Pujols is mired in an 0-for-19 slump and is still homer-less on the season. The offense has scored a total of four runs during the three-game losing streak. They're already 8.5 games out of first place. Can the Angels stanch the bleeding and avoid the sweep in Tampa? Or will gifted rookie Matt Moore lift the Rays to their fifth-straight victory? 1:10 p.m. ET
Tiger troubles: Detroit wasn't banking getting swept at home by the seemingly lowly Mariners, but that's exactly what could happen on Thursday. In advance of a big weekend series in the Bronx, the Tigers will try to salvage a getaway-day win against Seattle when they trot out Rick Porcello, who recorded just three outs in his last start. 1:05 pm EST
Full schedule for Thursday's games
• Midnight sun: Is the Cubs' new scoreboard so bright during night games that bullpen catchers can't see what's coming? That's what some teams are saying, reports the Chicago Tribune. Yes, the terminally aggrieved Cardinals are among those teams, but they're not alone.
• Good grades, bad grades: Richard Lapchick, the University of Central Florida professor who annually grades major sports leagues on grounds of diversity, has given Major League Baseball an A for race hiring but a C+ for gender hiring, which marks a decline from last year's B- and a B+ mark in 2010. “It was primarily at the team level,” Lapchick said of the declining gender grade. “There was a significant drop in the percentage of women in professional positions at the team level.” [Washington Post/AP]
• Death to the DH?: Fear and loathe the DH rule? The venerable Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle has hatched a plan to rid us what some regard as a blight upon polite society. His idea? A 27-man roster. Expanding rosters from 25 to 27 would accommodate the larger pitching staffs common to the modern era and allow for more platoon arrangements. As well, it might placate the MLBPA, who, understandably, wouldn't want to sacrifice the high-paying DH spot for nothing. It's a thought.
• D-backs yes! Red Sox no!: When it comes to the essential business of purchasing and quaffing beer, the D-backs are the most accommodating of MLB teams, as they offer wholesome, nutritious beer at a price of $0.29 per ounce. The hifalutin Red Sox, meanwhile, see fit to charge the hard-working people a whopping $0.60 per ounce. SaveOnBrew.com has the numbers on every team.
• An affair to remember: Nationals right-hander Chien-Ming Wang recently admitted to having an affair. I am hereby admitting to having watched an animated fictional retelling of Chien-Ming Wang's affair. Please join me:
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