— Wade Miley held the Marlins hitless into the 6th inning, picked up his third win and dropped his ERA to 1.29. Joining the rotation after Daniel Hudson went down, Miley has not allowed an earned run in two starts totaling 12.1 IP, 3 hits, 3 walks and 13 Ks.

• Only two other pitchers have two games this year of 5+ IP and 2 hits or less (Gio Gonzalez 3,  Matt Cain 2).
• Josh Johnson remained winless, allowing 10 hits and 5 runs in 5 IP. It’s the third time this year he’s yielded 10+ hits, something he’d done just once before this season.
• 36-year-old Cody Ransom started his 5th game at 3B today as the Snakes look for some production from the position, with Ryan Roberts hitting .159. Ransom officially qualified for the Hall of Fame last week, appearing in his 10th season — but he just crossed 400 career PAs. He has over 5,700 PAs in 15 seasons in the minors.

— Bartolo Colon was 2 outs away from a shutout, but the Orioles dropped a nickel on him and Grant Balfour, completing a 5-1 homestand. Two infield singles and Colon’s throwing error put the tying runs in scoring position, and Matt Wieters cashed them in with an opposite-field double off Balfour. After an intentional walk, Balfour fell behind 3-1 to Wilson Betemit and then grooved a fastball. “Happy flight!” (Or do they bus it up to the Bronx?)

• Betemit has been in the majors since 2004, and has pinch-hit 175 times — but this was his first walk-off RBI.
• Pedro Strop‘s last 8 games: Loss, Hold, Win, Hold, BS/Win, Save, Save, Win.
• How many parks are there where you can rob a HR with both feet on the ground?
• Does Nick Markakis have the best RF arm in baseball right now? He’s been in the top 5 in outfield assists 4 of the past 5 years.
• Mark Reynolds deserves his iron-glove rep, but give credit when due — this is a great play.
• The upcoming 3-game set in New York will be a bit of a litmus test for the first-place O’s, who were swept at home by the Bombers in the opening week.

— After a leadoff single, Matt Garza got 19 straight outs before a walk broke the string. He finished with a season-high 10 strikeouts in 7 innings. The Phils didn’t get a man to 2nd base until Carlos Marmol started walking the ballpark in the 9th.

• Tony Campana sparked the Cubs’ attack with 2 hits, 2 runs and his 6th steal without being caught. He’s 10 for 23 at bat this year, and he’s 29-for-31 in SB attempts for his career — the best percentage of any active player with 25+ steals.
• In 7.2 IP, Marmol has allowed 9 walks and 7 hits, with just 6 Ks. Today was his 13th relief outing with 3+ walks in an inning or less — 4 more than any other pitcher since 2006. It was the 12th time he’s walked in a run; 5 pitchers have more since ’06, but they’re all starters.

Derek Lowe and the bullpen held the Angels to 3 singles in the Halos’ 4th shutout loss, tied for the MLB lead, as Cleveland claimed sole possession of first place.

• The Angels have lost 6 of 7 series, and their 7-15 start is tied for the worst in club history after 22 games (1976).
• Ervin Santana didn’t allow an earned run over 7 IP, but still became the first Angel in 21 years to lose his first 5 starts. The franchise record is 7 by Joe Grahe.

— Boston has 10 games of 6+ runs (9.6 R/G, 8-2 record) — but also 10 games of 3 runs or less (1.6 R/G, 1-9 record). They’ve scored every number from 0 to 13 except for 8 and the optimal 5.

— Two more hits plus two walks for Derek Jeter, who leads the league in hits and times on base. He has a hit in 18 of 21 games, has reached safely in every game but one, and his 36 hits are the most he’s ever had through 21 team games.

• With 2 RBI, Alex Rodriguez passed Willie Mays for #10 on the career list. The ribbies came on an infield single and a fielder’s choice, but those runs count just as much as a 2-run HR.

— The 16-6 Dodgers are 8-4 when Matt Kemp doesn’t hit a HR.

• The teams combined for just 7 hits, 4 by the Nationals. It’s the fourth game this year in which both teams had 4 hits or less; Washington has been involved in two of them.
• Chris Capuano (9 Ks in 6.2 scoreless IP) became the first pitcher to strike out you-know-who.
• Washington was shut out for the first time this year. Their pitching hasn’t faltered during the 4-game skid, allowing just 11 total runs, but the bats have turned to icicles — 6 runs on 19 hits

— Atlanta won their 6th straight series since being swept by the Mets and moved into a tie for first, ending the Nats’ 16-day reign as the clear leader.

• After a slow start, Michael Bourn is 27 for his last 66 (.409), raising his season mark to .344.
• Tim Hudson returned to active duty with his 182nd career win.

— Todd Helton‘s pinch-slam was his second career PH HR and his first since 1999. Before Tim Byrdak hung a 2-strike slider today, Helton was just 7 for 48 as a pinch-hitter, and lefties against Byrdak this year were 1 for 13 with 8 Ks.

• The resilient Mets blew a 4-0 lead in the 8th and another lead in the 10th (on this CarGo ball-buster), but still eked out the win.
• The Nieuw Kid made another brilliant catch, saving a run, and put the Mets in front in the 10th with his third hit, an opposite-field double.
• Ruben Tejada went 10-17 in the series and became the second Met since 2004 with three straight games of 3+ hits. The Mets record is 4, by Brett Butler in his one partial season with the club.
• David Wright reached in 5 of 6 trips, lifting his OBP to .506 and his OPS+ over 200 in 19 games played.
• As a PH this year, Mike Baxter is now 5-11 with 2 walks, 3 doubles, 3 RBI and 4 runs.
• It took 11 innings and 6 ABs, but Ike Davis got his first 3-hit game in over a year, and the last hit was the sweetest.

— As we near the end of April, the teams currently holding playoff spots are:

• AL East – Orioles/Rays; Central – Indians; West – Rangers; Wild Cards – O’s/Rays and Yankees.
• NL East – Nationals/Braves; Central – Cardinals; West – Dodgers; Wild Cards – Nationals/Braves and Mets.