Orioles 3, @Rays 1 — Baltimore’s 2-run burst with two outs in the 2nd stood up behind Ubaldo Jimenez and three RPs who got 10 outs to sweep the carpet clean, giving the O’s their second night alone in first place. Coming off his first good outing of the year, Jimenez was nicked right off the bat, walking leadoff man Ben Zobrist to trigger Tampa’s opening run. But in the next half, after David Price brushed aside the first two, J.J. Hardy doubled to the gap, and Steve Pearce whistled a full-count fastball to the seats.

The Rays filled up for Longo in the 5th, but Hardy strong-armed his chopper in the hole, and Pearce laid out to dig up Schoop’s swift turn, threat nullified. The same three struck in the 9th, turning over Desmond Jennings after Tampa’s first two singled off Darren O’Day.

• With Manny Machado back and Schoop switched to his natural home, Balto has the fixin’s of a fine defensive infield. Hardy ranked 3rd in SS dWAR over the past three years, Machado #1 at third for 2012-13; Schoop has a left-side arm, and turned 40 DPs in 57 games with just 2 errors at 2B last year in the minors.
• Stupid question, probably: But could Price be throwing too many strikes? From 2010-12, his ERA was 2.93 with 2.8 walks per 9 IP. He cut his walks in half last year, and passed just six through eight starts so far — but his Cliff Lee-like 1.2 BB/9 since 2013 has come with a 3.60 ERA. On three-ball counts, he’s given up 6 HRs in the last year-plus, after none in his Cy Young season. Either way, the pitch to Pearce had too much plate for two outs and first base open.
• Brad Boxberger got four outs, 3 Ks for Tampa. If you type “box” into the B-R search field, the only other hit is Ice Box Chamberlain, the ambidextrous star pitcher of the 19th century.

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@Blue Jays 12, Phillies 6 — Five home runs fueled the Jays’ 5th straight win. Adam Lind came off the DL with a ‘scuse me blast, and Colby Rasmus hit his 5th this month. Edwin Encarnacion homered for the third straight day (a mammoth milestone), then doubled up, and Juan Francisco doubled down on the next pitch.

• R.A. Dickey struck out eight, and four straight starting with Domonic Brown and tying ducks afloat to end the 5th.
• Two were aboard ’cause Ryan Howard couldn’t score from first on a 2-out double to CF. He’s taken just one extra base while on the sacks — first-to-home on one of three doubles, one base advance on all nine singles.
• Bautista kept his on-base streak alive in his 4th trip, now two shy of Toronto’s season mark (38, Carlos Delgado, 1998).
• Jose Reyes stole twice, his second straight game with a SB. He had just one in his first 16 full contests.
• 14 home games, 28 homers for the Jays. That lineup can be scary when it clicks.
• Just have to laugh: Esmil Rogers, starting the 9th with a 9-run lead, walked the first man on four pitches. Howard wound up with a 3-run shot, but there it ended.

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@Cleveland 9, Minnesota 4 — Big games from Michael Brantley (now batting 3rd) and Asdrubal Cabrera helped close Cleveland’s 5-2 homestand with a third straight win. Brantley’s 2-out double in the 1st led to a run, and Cabrera made it 2-0 with a solo in the 2nd, first of his 4 hits. Brantley’s bomb in the 5th cashed Nick Swisher’s third straight walk, and Cabrera doubled in the midst of Cleveland’s 3-run 7th, after the lead was shaved to one.

• Cabrera second career game with 3 long hits, first time this year with 2. His BA’s shrunk the last two seasons, but he’s still 4th in total bags per hit among SS regulars since 2011 (Tulo, Han-Ram, Hardy).
• Brantley leads all LFs with 29 RBI — 16 more than he’s ever had through 35 team games. Early production from the 5th spot got him bumped up, as Terry Francona tries to solve his 3/4 problem (.200 BA before today).
• Minny bats have cooled, 3.2 R/G in their last 10 (3-7); Joe Mauer’s batted once in the last five.
• Twins SPs are 29th in ERA. The four December signees have ERAs of 4.72 (Hughes), 5.64 (Nolasco), 6.34 (Correia) and 7.99 (Pelfrey).

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Astros 6, @Tigers 2 — Dallas Keuchel cooled off the hottest team, and Houston rallied to halt their 5-game skid and Detroit’s 8-win ride. Keuchel kept it close early by keeping bases clear in front of Miguel Cabrera, setting down Detroit’s top third three straight times in 7.2 IP. Jose Altuve’s lead-seizing 2-run double capped a 2-out rally off Drew Smyly in the 5th, and Houston’s bottom half kicked in 8 times on base and 3 HRs, including George Springer’s first (nice oppo).

• Keuchel has 5 QS in 7 outings, and 40 SO/11 BB in 44 IP.
• Victor Martinez has 7 HRs, and 5 strikeouts in 126 PAs. The last qualifier with a K rate under 4% was Tony Gwynn in 1998 (also 1984, ’90-93 and ’95). V-Mart won’t sustain this, of course, but anyway: HR>SO and at least 5 HRs, expansion era — only Barry Bonds (45/41, 2004) and George Brett (24/22, 1980).
• … or could he? Martinez has been on a contact binge since last August. In his last 80 games (including postseason), 12 HRs and 14 Ks in 328 PAs, .359 BA.

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Cubs 12, @White Sox 5 — Three pitches from Scott Carroll in the 3rd: Triple, single, gone. Anthony Rizzo’s HR gave the Wrigley pack their first lead of this 4-game set, and they piled on to end their third 4-game skid this year.

• 13 hits for ChiSox, all singles — most hits with no XBH since they laid 14 on the Tigers last August.
• Attendance: 26,332. South Side rivalry fatigue? From the 1997 birth of interleague play through 2010, virtually every game hosted by the ChiSox in this series drew a capacity crowd (just under 40,000 in recent years). The only one below 38,500 was the inaugural, on a Monday afternoon. But those crowds have been dwindling since 2011. The last nine games there averaged about 31,000, ranging from 36,005 (91% of capacity) to Wednesday’s 21,075. It could just be that both teams are in down periods, but the Sox were over .500 for 2012-13 combined.
• Slams for Cubs against White Sox: Ricky Gutierrez, Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee, Travis Wood, Mike Olt.
• Olt has 14 hits (.184), 6 HRs, 16 RBI, and 28 Ks in 85 PAs.
• Jose Abreu has 24 extra-base hits, and 14 singles (1.84 XBH/1B). Only Barry Bonds (2001) and Junior Griffey (’03) had as many hits in a season with at least 1.71 XBH/1B.

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@Padres 1, Marlins 1 (10th) — Ian Kennedy’s home run and career-high-tying 12 Ks in seven one-run innings weren’t enough to win. Derek Dietrich drove home Christian Yelich with two outs in the 6th. Pads left the bags full in the 1st, wasted a leadoff double in the 3rd, hit DPs in the 4th and 5th. Meanwhile, the Fish fanned in 17 of their first 30 outs.

• Kennedy’s first career homer, but he’s shown power before: 9 of his 32 hits are for extras, including a 3-run triple.
• SD’s right-side infielders Yonder Alonso and Jedd Gyorko are hitting over .300 — if you add them together.

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@Rangers 5, Rockies 0 —

• Laugh if you must, but Rougned Odor became the youngest player in the bigs tonight, and started a sharp DP on his first defensive chance. The Venezuelan second baseman is 20 years, 94 days old, and hit .305 last year at A+/AA, with 58 XBH, 32 steals. (Not many walks, so spike those Eddie Stanky quips.) Odor went oh-fer tonight, but hit the ball each time.

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@Mariners 1, Royals 0 — Hisashi Iwakuma polished off eight sterling frames with just 93 pitches, no walks. Fernando Rodney promptly walked the 9th-place hitter leading off, but wriggled out of it. Seattle’s run came in the 3rd: Zunino leadoff double; sac bunt by #1 hitter Michael Saunders, to set up Stefen Romero (14 hits, 16 Ks in his 58 at-bats), who whiffed (no!); walk to Cano; Cory Hart delivers. No hits in Seattle’s other seven raps.

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@Dodgers 1, Giants 1 (8th) —

I haven’t had much chance to hear Vin Scully since he left the national stage, so I’m glad for MLB-TV’s regional coverage. He’s still wonderful — right on top of game situations, filling some still moments with asides but mostly just covering the action, adding relevant extras aimed at all fan levels. In the few innings I heard, he worked in Buster Posey’s low caught-stealing rate and his habit of bouncing throws, along with the overall rise in SB success during the years he’s broadcast. For novices, he casually and concisely defined “splits.” If I can talk baseball that well when I’m 86, I’ll be a happy man.

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Wednesday

@Athletics 2, Mariners 0 —

• Starts of exactly 5 IP and no runs: One such in many seasons, most lately 1962 (Bill Stafford, no hits, no whiffs). Twelve already this year, on pace for all-time high.

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@Marlins 1, Mets 0 — Fish broom Mutts in Miami, last two by shutout … but hey, we missed Jose Fernandez! First 1-0 walk-off in their new park, by the way. The run: single by Stanton, walk to McGehee, advancing flyout, sac fly.

• Second game this year where both sides had 3 hits or less, 7th since 2013 — 4 involving Atlanta.
• Marlins’ four rotation regulars have ERAs of 1.74, 1.99, 2.62 and 2.78.
• They’re 17-5 at home, 2-10 away. Now the test: 11 games in California, no off day (not even heading out there).

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Royals 8, @Padres 0 —

• Royals’ two high-hit games came in a trio at Petco, 16 hits and 14.
• 14 third basemen have at least 1,500 PAs since 2011. Each has an OPS+ of at least 102, except Mike Moustakas, 82. There seems to be a sense that he’s gone backward, but really he’s just never hit like his peers. Year by year, among 3Bs with 350+ PAs (or qualified this year), he ranked #22/26, #23/24, #28/30, and last of 22.

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@Tigers 3, Astros 2 —

• Can’t be sure that Miggy’s found his power stroke until we see it against big-league pitching. But a bomb to right is a good sign.
• Detroit’s 20-9 start ties for 2nd-best in club searchable history, along with 1961 (ended 101-61 but 8 games back) and 1978 (faded to 86-76). Here’s one outside the Play Index: The 1911 Tigers started 21-2, maxed their lead at 9 games at 29-8, still well on top at 59-24; but drifted to 89-65, and the Mackmen lapped ’em … Anyway, this year’s model now has the best record around. They’re the only team that’s been in 1st place every day of the season.
• You wouldn’t guess it, but Detroit is 7-2 in one-run games.

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St. Louis 7, @Atlanta 1 —

• When Peter Bourjos jacks a first-pitch homer, you know it’s not Atlanta’s night.
• But just seeing Waino warming up sent the same message: He’s beaten them 8 of 10 starts, and 4/5 in Turner Field (all quality starts).
• For 2013-14 combined, Atlanta’s winning percentage is +.092 compared to the rest of the NL (.585 to .493).
  In games where teams do hit a home run, Atlanta’s edge is even larger, +.147 (.744 to .597). But in games where they don’t homer, Atlanta is -.058 worse than the rest of the NL (.300 to .358).

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Random notes from other games:

Every Jays starter scored a run, team first since 2011. Think of how dead Toronto has seemed at times — and now they’re .500, in the thick of their race. Mark Buehrle has 6 of their 17 wins … The first ALer to 6 wins. Guess he wants to take care of that “at least 12 wins” streak ASAP. (Next in the league is … Rick Porcello?!)

This Rangers-Rockies two-here, two-there series — does that mean they’re interleague “rivals” now, with Houston in the AL? Yeah, ’cause the Rox need another hitter’s haven.

A DH for Travis Wood just doesn’t seem right — especially when you look down that roster. But Mike Olt did homer, so what do I know….

Despite all the Harper kerfuffle, seems like the Nats are a quiet 19-15.

Twenty steals for Dee Gordon through 35 team games. Only two comparable starts this century: Carl Crawford ’09 had 22 (with a 6-SB game), finished with 60. Reyes ’07 had 20, en route to 78. Rickey ’88 was last with more in a year than Jose: He had 32 SB and 9 CS through 35 team games, but soon hit the DL, needed 51-3 in the second half to make his number.

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Yankees 9, @Angels 2 —

• Hector “Blantiago”: After 7 starts last year, Joe Blanton was 0-6, 5.66 for the Angels, losing #6 in team game #33. This year, Santiago is 0-6, 5.19 through 7 starts, also dropping #6 in game #33. Just two Astros in the past two years were so quick to 6 losses — Philip Humber, 0-7 last year, and Brett Oberholtzer, 0-6 this year.
• I look away for a few games, and suddenly Trout’s in a 2-for-20 slump?
• Before Wednesday’s homer, Derek Jeter had six runs in 26 games. He hasn’t hit well, but his .333 OBP is well above AL average for the #2 spot. New York was 4th in OBP from that spot, but last in runs. Jete’s 60% XBT would be his best ever, and 2 outs on base isn’t a high number. Ahhh … their #3 spot has been wretched: .233/.613, 2 HRs.
• Check this out: AL #2 hitters have a .317 OBP, leading only the 7th and 9th spots. But they must be “bat-control” guys, right? Not exactly: That spot is tops in total strikeouts, with a 20.3% K rate.

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Late Tuesday

@Rockies 12, Rangers 1 — Bud Selig announced Wednesday that the humidor has been decertified. Henceforth, Coors Field baseballs will be kept in a mayonnaise jar on Funk & Wagnall’s front porch, until noon on game day.

To further fight runaway inflation, batters now must keep the weighted donut on, and any batted ball that strikes wood first will be an out. The Rockies will be unilaterally handicapped by certain rules of 1873, when the Coors Brewing Company was founded: Opposing pitchers will hurl from 45 feet, with 9 balls for a walk, while opposing batsmen may command a high or a low pitch.

It was not Colorado’s .355 team batting average that spurred these actions, said the Commissioner, but that of a single player: “Any conditions that permit Drew Stubbs to bat .432 must be eradicated from Major League Baseball.”

Meanwhile, Ron Washington announced that Mitch Moreland is his #4 starter, and will platoon at shortstop.

• Colorado’s home stats through 18 games look a lot like Hank Aaron’s 1959 season:

• Shin-Shoo Choo reached three times, hiking his OBP to an even .500. He did not score. This is becoming a problem for Texas: their #2-3 men are hitting a combined .222 with 2 HRs, .275 OBP, 12 GDPs.
• Not Moreland’s first rodeo: He fanned 3 of 9 batters in 2 minor-league mound stints.
• Last player to pinch-hit, hit safely, and pitch in the same game was Dewayne Wise, 2012. Last to do that with a perfect inning or more was Luis Ayala, 2005.
• Texas was 14-8 after conquering the Coliseum; they’re 3-8 since.

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Yankees 4, @Angels 3 —

With the tying run on third and two outs in the 8th, Shawn Kelley went 3-and-0 on Albert. During Albert’s reign as the most feared man on earth, ball four surely would have followed: From 2003-10, almost 80% of his PAs that began 3-0 ended in a walk — and that rate was no doubt even higher in a situation like this one. But Kelley went for it: He slipped in two strikes while Albert watched, and another was fouled away. Then he hung a slider, and Albert lined it so hard past Jeter, there wasn’t even time for a dive.

Frieri got hurt by a lefty, but it’s been righties driving his decline. Since his rookie 2010, his OPS to RHBs has gone .469, .596, .706, .826 and 1.268. He still has a good BA against LHBs, but 10 of 30 hits the last year-plus have left the yard.

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Late Monday

@Padres 5, Royals 4 — The teams least likely to knock one out combined for three home runs in the toughest park for that purpose. Yordano Ventura was humming along with a 2-hit shutout and a 3-0 lead in the 6th, looking to be the first Royal with three straight scoreless starts since Zack Greinke’s 2009 Cy Young season. But lightning struck after Will Venable went down looking. Everth Cabrera singled on a 3-1 pitch, the third hit in Ventura’s four 3-ball counts. Seth Smith doubled, and Ventura tried a 1-2 curve to Yasmani Grandal: Hanger; tie game.

Ventura punched out the next two on seven pitches, his 10 Ks surpassing the personal best of 10 days before. And when Eric Hosmer scraped the wall with first homer this year, Ventura was back on the highway to victory. Dale Thayer kept the Pads close in the 8th, pitching past his own wildness. Greg Holland came on for his specialty act, saving the one-run win; he leads all relievers since 2013 with 23 such saves, and in Win Probability Added. Grandal’s short fly made nine straight Padres put out since his blast. Twenty-three outings had passed since Holland’s last blown save or home run, and Jedd Gyorko had never produced a tying or lead RBI from the 9th inning onward. But Gyorko got hold of a 1-0 heater that tailed in from its target, and he knew right away he’d done good.

KC’s 11th-hour bid was rejected hands-down by Alexi Amarista, the CF/2B in a rare start at the hot corner. He smoothly backhanded a smash down the line and cut down Lorenzo Cain at home. (Cain’s four hits in his DL return all went for nought, and one for a nut.) But the Royals broke through with two outs in the 12th, when Mike Moustakas clotheslined Tim Stauffer’s hanger, cashing Salvy Perez’s second double. Moose’s hit picked up Alex Gordon, whose 0-for-6 stretched his recent spiral to 7-43, looking at a third straight year of offensive decline.

So, last prayer for the Friars. Chris Denorfia punched a single to center, and Amarista bunted him up. Sunday’s “groundout hero,” Yonder Alonso, hadn’t started the game, but still went 0-for-3, dropping him to dead last among all qualifiers in OBP, SLG and OPS+. But he got a piece of Tim Collins’s 3-2 pitch and ducked it into the dead zone back of third base; Denorfia had to play safe and stop at third on the bloop double. Then came Venable: 0 for 5 on the night, .185 on the year, sans RBI in his last 20 games — but the SD leader with three walk-offs since 2011. Perez gave a high 0-and-2 target for the 6′ 3″ Venable, and Collins would have hit the glove — but Venable’s short stroke sent a long drive over Cain’s head, and both runners waltzed home for the win.

• It’s just the second won-from-behind for the Padres in the last six-plus years — fewer than all but the Cubs in that span. Denorfia had their last one, stunning Aroldis.
• Eric Stults gave 11 hits in 4.2 IP, but skated by with just 3 runs. The 11 hits made just 12 total bases, and he walked none.
• Still, 15 strikeouts through 7 starts (max. of 3 in a game) is putting immense pressure on Stults’s defense, and the damage is mounting: 52 hits in 33.1 IP, a .356 BA, plus 7 HRs. Somehow, they’ve gone 4-3 in his games.
• Three Pads relievers finished with ERAs under 0.70, ranked 6th through 11th among RPs with 12+ innings.