Jonathan Papelbon gave up two hits and no runs in the month of April and converted all eight of his save chances. His April power brought May showers, though, in the form of Travis Buck and the Oakland A's. The A's got three hits off the closer in the ninth, including Buck's two-run, game-tying home run, to blow Curt Schilling's win. Brendan Donnelly gave up another run in the top of the 10th to give Oakland the 5-4 edge and Huston Street had no problems doing his job for Oakland and notched his seventh save of the year. Schilling was philosophical about the loss on his blog, his brief trip to the pen acquainted him with blown saves quite well.
- My preseason pick in the NL Central for two years running, the Brewers may actually make me look bright this year after last season's snooze trip. They pounded the reeling Cardinals for the second straight night, 12-2, and hold a four-game lead over the rest of the division. Ben Sheets gave up two runs in six innings and Tony Graffanino hit a three-run homer for the Crew while the Cardinals remained out of step. They didn't cover the right bases, made errors and remained in a fugue state about how to play the game.
- Olmedo Saenz singled home Rafael Furcal in the bottom of the ninth for a 2-1 Dodger win. The win snapped a five-game Diamondback winning streak and bailed out Andre Ethier. Ethier made an ill-advised dive at a sinking Eric Byrnes liner with L.A. clinging to an 1-0 lead in the eighth which led to the tying run and ruined Brad Penny's chances for a win after he threw six shutout innings.
- The Angels have won four straight games after Tuesday's 7-5 win in Kansas City. They did it with four straight hits to start the game, culminating with a Vladimir Guerrero grand slam. The victory spoiled the debut of the latest Royal phenom Billy Butler. He had a pair of hits and is a blue-chip prospect with the bat to go with Mark Teahen and Alex Gordon in the improving K.C. lineup.
- Chris Young of San Diego has pitched at least seven innings in three of his six starts, including last night against the Nationals. For the second time he didn't give up a run in one of his starts, an eight-inning, eight K gem that handed the Friars a 3-0 victory. Two struggling Pods, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Oscar Robles, had RBIs and Trevor Hoffman saved his 488th career game.
(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
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