Imaginary Diamond

Monday’s games began early with a couple of doubleheaders in Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Both doubleheaders featured shutouts in Game 1, as three Pirates combined to blank the Atlanta Braves 5-0 and the Tribe beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-0 on a five-hitter by right-hander Fausto Carmona. 

The night ended with a couple of American League West shootouts and yet another three-hit effort from world’s hottest hitter Lance Berkman. In between, the Cubs smacked the Padres, Rays pitcher Matt Garza shut down the Yankees, and the following stories unfolded.

Asdrubal Cabrera Turns Unassisted Triple Play
Indians second baseman single-handedly got starting pitcher Cliff Lee out of a jam in the fifth inning, turning the 14th unassisted triple play in major league history on a Lyle Overbay liner. Toronto had Kevin Mench and Marco Scutaro in motion on the play, and Cabrera made a diving catch to his right, forced Mench out at second base and tagged Scutaro for the third out.

Blue Jays, Indians Exchange 3-0 Shutouts
The Toronto Blue Jays, shut out by Carmona in Game 1 and by Cliff Lee through 9 innings of Game 2, scored three runs off Indians reliever Rafael Betancourt in the 10th to win, 3-0. A Shannon Stewart sacrifice fly off Betancourt snapped a 31-inning scoreless streak for Toronto, which scored a combined four runs in losing three of four games in Cleveland.

Shaun Marcum was brilliant for the Jays, allowing just two hits and striking out five over eight scoreless innings in a no-decision. Closer B.J. Ryan worked a scoreless ninth to pick up his first win of the year, and Scott Downs struck out two in the 10th to earn his fourth save.

Ryan Braun Has Second Straight Multi-HR Game
Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun hit two homers for the second straight night, and the Brewers won their four-game series with the Cardinals, 8-3. For Braun, who lifted his season average to its highest point since April 2 (.288), the 2-for-3, 2-RBI effort was his fourth straight multi-hit game.

Marlins’ Win Streak Snapped at Seven
A pair of two-run homers by Jeff Keppinger and Brandon Phillips in the seventh gave the Cincinnati Reds the lead for good as they snapped the Florida Marlins’ seven-game winning streak, 8-7. Florida had three homers of its own, back-to-backs by Jeremy Hermida and Hanley Ramirez in the first and Dan Uggla’s 12th of the year in the fourth.

The Marlins sit atop the the National League East standings with a 23-15 record, which ties for best in the majors with Arizona and the Chicago Cubs. Uggla leads the majors with seven home runs in May, and he’s just half a stride behind Chase Utley as the most productive second baseman in fantasy.

Berkman Stays Obscenely Hot
Houston Astros outfielder Lance Berkman is on some kind of a roll. He went 3-for-4 with his 13th home run and 16th double of the season to help the Astros beat the Giants 7-3. The three hits raised his batting average to a whopping .641 in May and .393 for the year, good for second-best in baseball (Chipper Jones, .406).

Berkman ranks either first or second in the majors with 13 homers (T-1st), 38 RBIs (2nd), 16 doubles (1st), .800 slugging percentage (1st), .470 on-base percentage (2nd) and 1.258 OPS (1st). He has been by far the best hitter in baseball over the opening six weeks, a far cry from where he stood at this point last season when he finished May 12 action with a .286 average, five homers and 20 RBIs.

Three of Four AL West Teams Crack Double Digits
The Texas Rangers blew a four-run ninth-inning lead, but bounced back to beat Seattle 13-12 on a walk-off home run by Ramon Vazquez in the bottom of the 10th. The Mariners’ struggling offense plated five runs off Vicente Padilla in the top of the first, but ace left-hander Erik Bedard couldn’t get out of the third inning as the Rangers took the lead 6-5.

Seattle reliever Brandon Morrow struck out the first four batters he faced, but Vazquez hit a 1-0 pitch out to deep right to break a 12-12 tie. Major league RBI leader Josh Hamilton hit his eighth homer of the season and drove in four runs to lead the Texas attack. The Mariners had nine extra-base hits and three home runs, including rookie Wladimir Balentien’s second in four games.

Los Angels rookie right-hander Nick Adenhart gave up 4 runs on 9 hits and walked 3 in 5.2 innings, but still managed his first career win when the Angels scored four runs in the fifth and sixth innings of a 10-7 win. Adenhart has been less than impressive in his three starts and is headed back to Triple-A Salt Lake for more seasoning when John Lackey returns from the disabled list on Wednesday.

More thoughts …
Sports Yenta compares Cabrera to a suave British agent.

Nine Bo Jacksons rates Berkman on its Week 5 review of first basemen.

Rich Lederer of Baseball Analysts stood next to Cliff Lee on the subway.

Dustin Hockensmith is editor of ImaginaryDiamond.com. He can be contacted dhockensmith[at]fantasysports101.net.