Cubs 8, @Nationals 2: Stephen Strasburg retired the first 11 Cubs, as if we’re impressed by that any more, and matched zeroes through 4 with Edwin Jackson (which is far more remarkable). With two down and a clean slate in the 5th, Ryan Zimmerman made his daily throwing error …

… and Strasburg let the inning unravel for 4 runs, keyed on Jackson’s first career 2-bagger. Jackson got his first win in his 8th start, while the Nats have lost 6 of 8 behind Strasburg (they went 19-9 last year).

The runs are unearned, but the onus falls on Strasburg. After the error, he had 2-and-2 on #8 man Darwin Barney, but walked him with the next 2 pitches. Jackson started 0-and-2, then watched 3 balls go by before clubbing his drive. David DeJesus walked on a full count, Starlin Castro beat one out, and Anthony Rizzo capped it with a 2-run single on 0-and-2. He used 42 pitches in that inning — hello, Davey? — and only 16 came before the error; he should have had enough gas to get out of there.

• I don’t think Strasburg is 100%, and here’s one little reason: Before this year, opposing pitchers were 4 for 72 against him, with one double. This year, 4 for 15, 2 doubles. And I think he’s grappling with “phenom hangover.” He hasn’t pitched badly this year, but he’s 1-5 and has yet to post a signature game; his best was Opening Day, 7 scoreless but with just 3 Ks. They haven’t scored much behind him. New phenoms like Harvey and Miller have seized the national attention. When you’ve been the hottest brand name for so long, it’s hard to settle down to anything less.
• Silly move by Rizzo, thrown out stealing to end that inning. Strasburg was on his last batter for sure; he was pitching to a power hitter at the end of a very long inning; and it was possible his spot would come up in the home 5th (it did). Besides taking the bat out of Soriano’s hands, Rizzo might have saved the Nats a pitching changes. It didn’t matter in the end, because the Cubs hung another 4-spot in the 6th off Zach Duke. But it’s not smart baseball.
• I know, I know — I shouldn’t have said “daily throwing error” for Zimmerman. He made another one later….

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@Giants 10, Braves 1: San Francisco had scored 3 runs or less in 6 of 7 starts by Madison Bumgarner (and 4 in the other), but once they broke that barrier, they just kept going. Pinch-hitter Gregor Blanco broke it open with a well-placed 3-run double on the 2nd pitch from reliever Cory Gearrin, capping a 4-run 5th, and Bumgarner mowed down the Braves with ease and Ks, 11 of them in his 7 stanzas.

• Paul Maholm blew up for the 2nd time in 4 games, but he wasn’t helped by Gearrin, who needed one big out to escape Maholm’s loaded mess. The long man had stranded 13 of 15 inherited runners before Blanco’s big hit.
• Blanco came in with 3 doubles out of 23 hits and the 6th-lowest ISO out of 241 players with 80 PAs, but he doubled and tripled in 2 times up, setting a career mark with 4 RBI.

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@Reds 13, Brewers 7: Rookie Hiram Burgos had begun his career with 3 good starts, but he’ll try to forget this one: 12 runs on 11 hits in 3 innings. He’s the first to allow 10+ this year, and the 13th in searchable history to allow 12+ in 3 IP or less. There were no such games from 1949-99. No style points as Mat Latos improved to 4-0 (7 runs, 9 hits in 6 IP), but it was a day for hitting, and he went 3-2-2-2 at bat.

• 4 hits for Jean Segura, with his 6th HR (.352/.974), and Carlos Gomez edged up to .374 with 2 hits and 2 ribs. Given some of these unexpected performances, the continued growth of Norichika Aoki and the usual brilliance of Braun, it’s hard to believe the Crew are 4 games under, and 4-11 since their 9-game streak. But Yuniesky Betancourt has come back to earth, Rickie Weeks has been dead weight since game 6 (.135, 1 HR, 8 RBI in 29 games), and above all, the pitching is last in the NL.

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Blue Jays 3, @Red Sox 2: Darren Oliver blew the lead after Mark Buehrle’s 7 scoreless innings (starting with a walk in a 2-0 game, booo!). But Adam Lind bailed them out with his 2nd HR of the year, both in the last 3 games. Casey Janssen allowed a leadoff double in the 9th — his first hit in 9 games, and just the 4th all year — but he got the next 3 men on 6 pitches. No cheapies for Jansen: Of his 10 saves, 4 protected a 1-run lead, the rest a 2-run lead.

• Lind had 3 hits and 2 runs, and now has a .405 OBP. He’s walking more than ever before, and striking out less. Whether he can still be a power hitter with this approach is the big question; a leadfoot DH who can get on but not mash has limited value to a team that already plays a should-be DH in the field almost every day.
• Mike Napoli has 1 RBI in his last 10 games.
• Jacoby Ellsbury‘s 4th triple keyed Boston’s rally in the 8th, but the home-run stroke he flashed in 2011 is a distant memory. He has 5 dingers in almost 500 PAs since then. I think no career has featured a 30-HR season and no others with 10+, but he’s got one going.

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@Cardinals 3, Rockies 0: Shelby Miller retired the last 27 Adam Wainwright retired the first 22 Rockies and finished with a CG one-hitter two-hitter. Colorado has 4 hits or less in 4 straight games for the first time in their history. The last longer streak in the majors was 5, by the 2004 Mets.

Does it mean anything in the grand scheme? Look at this year’s Pirates: They started 1-5, with totals of 21 hits and 8 runs, including 4 straight losses with 4 hits or less. The next day, they got just 5 hits, but won, 5-3 — and from that day forth, they’ve hit over .270 and averaged 4.7 R/G. In those first 6 games, opposing starters included Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu, T.Wood and Samardzija. The Rox have faced Sabathia, Miller and Wainwright. Tip your cap, and move on.

• Wainwright is the first with 2 shutouts this year. His 88 strikes was the 2nd-most this year, but he only fanned 7.
• In his first start off the DL, Matt Adams came up with a clutch 2-out hit in the 5th, growing the lead to 2-0.

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Yankees 3, @Royals 2: The Andriano pipeline delivered again, as the Yanks improved to 50-25 in Kansas City since 1995, the rookie year for the tall lefty and the slender righty, and 107-42 against KC overall since then. Vernon Wells continued his remarkable comeback, drilling a 2-run HR off James Shields to give Pettitte a 3-2 lead in the 5th, and closing it out by tracking down a Moustakas drive in the gap that read “game tied” off the bat. Andy Pettitte is 10-0 in his last 14 starts against the Royals; the last time KC beat him, their lineup featured Johnny Damon, Carlos Beltran and Jermaine Dye.

• Even when the Royals got 10 runs off Pettitte, the Yanks came back to win.
• Mariano Rivera has converted 36 of 38 save tries against the Royals, with 28 straight since 1999. They haven’t scored off him in 14 games since 2004.

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@Twins 8, Orioles 5: After the two starters were riddled for a combined 18 hits and 11 runs in 9.1 innings, two of the league’s best bullpens went at it, and Minnesota’s won this round with 3.2 scoreless innings. They got 11 outs from 11 batters, starting with a clutch DP from Brian Duensing against Nick Markakis with the tying run at 3rd. Joe Mauer had 3 runs and 3 hits, with his 14th double, and Justin Morneau drove in 3 with a pair of 2-out hits.

• Just 25, but in his 9th pro season, Baltimore’s Steve Johnson made his season debut with today’s start, allowing 6 runs and 4 walks in 4 IP. He was very effective last year in 4 spot starts, 3-0, 2.86, and overall fanned 46 in 38.1 IP. But the walks have always been a problem — 3.8 BB/9 on the farm, 4.2 last year with Balto.
• No sense wondering if Mauer will ever hit 28 HRs again, or “justify his contract.” But a solid defensive catcher who bats .320 with a .400 OBP and some doubles, and runs well enough to bat 2nd, is still quite an asset. Mauer has bounced back from last year’s throwing woes, nailing 6 of 10 in SB attempts. He has a 10-game hitting streak with 9 doubles, and if they ever got someone on base at the top of the order, he could drive in some runs. Minny’s leadoff OBP is .238, last in the majors by 30 points, so Mauer’s only had 21 ABs with RISP (8 for 21, 10 RBI). He’s a career .330 hitter with RISP (counting sac flies as ABs).

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@Rays 8, Padres 7: A 6-run inning for the hosts, a 5-run comeback by the guests, and in the end, the franchise player did what franchise players are supposed to do. Before the Longo HR, Huston Street had 1-and-2 on Ben Zobrist with a chance to end it — but he walked him.

• It’s the ninth 2-out walk-off HR in Rays history (2nd for Longo), and their first in come-from-behind fashion since 2007, when B.J. Upton did it in the pinch. Longoria broke a tie with Upton for the franchise lead with his 5th walk-off HR.
• 5 HRs and 8 ER off Street in 14.2 IP this year, but just one blown save. With modern usage patterns, it’s just not that hard to have a good conversion rate.
• Jesus Guzman’s pinch-slam is the first one that tied or made a lead in almost a year. There was another one exactly a year ago. It’s the first slam for Guzman, and the 2nd pinch-slam for SD since 1996. (Remember Josh Barfield?)
• SD’s Burch Smith isn’t the first debutante to work a clean 1st and then fall apart. After he missed on a full-count pitch to Evan Longoria, early surprise James Loney clocked his next one over the wall in right. Another full-count walk, a full-count single, then 3 quick hits before the youngster was dismissed. He’ll be back; he’s just a 3rd-year pro, and his minor-league stats last year and this are impressive, with excellent SO/BB data.
• Given how rarely Loney homers, this ought to count for two. He came in with a .416 BAbip, against a prior average of .305. But who am I to say he won’t be hitting .370 at the end of the year? By the way, the franchise record is .320 by Jason Bartlett. Longoria’s hitting .333; he’s never hit above .294.

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Rangers 8, @Astros 7: They can’t take the perfecto away from Philip Humber, but they’re doing just about everything else that can hurt him — like, hitting for the cycle in one-third of an inning. Erik Bedard brought a 3-1 lead into the 6th, on two HRs by Matt Dominguez, but gave way to Humber after a leadoff hit. He fanned Adrian Beltre, but served up a tying HR to Nelson Cruz (who really likes Houston and Minute Maid Park). And then: triple, double, walk, triple, out, single, mercy.

The Astros didn’t give up. It was 7-3 when Humber left, 8-3 when they started their comeback. They got a run in the 8th, and cut off a Rangers run at the plate to end the top of the 9th. Houston put 2 aboard to start the 9th, so with a phony save situation, here came Joe Nathan. He gave up a hit and a walk, and power threat Chris Carter got to the plate as the tying run, but popped out on a 2-1 count to end it.

• The 5-run outburst left Humber with a 9.59 ERA, a .356 BA, and an 0-8 record. That ties the most losses at this point in the season since Chuck Stobbs had 9 for the 1957 Senators.
• Lance Berkman‘s 14 games as a visitor to Minute Maid: 26 for 55, 6 HRs, 19 RBI, 14 runs.

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Phillies 3, @D-backs 1: The Phils needed a stopper. Cliff Lee said, Get me 2 runs, you cheap –. Easy, big fella, they said. You know how it is out there … Those Snakes are tough. We can’t promise anything, but we’ll try. Maybe you could chip in? …

It wasn’t easy: The first run came in the 5th, on a walk, Lee’s sacrifice, a wild pitch and a J-Roll sac fly. Another came in the 7th, a single and steal, another Lee bunt, and a quail by Rollins. The 8th was a bonus, 2 walks setting up Domonic Brown’s ribby hit. Cliff’s 7 scoreless were deemed enough, but then Bastardo tried to give it away — “Suppose I just go ahead and walk this leadoff man?” So with the tying run up, Radical Charlie Manuel went to his closer for — I kid you not — a five-out save. And Pap pulled it out.

• The Phillies are 13th in NL scoring, 3.53 R/G.
• The D-backs are 3rd in run prevention, 3.63 R/G.

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Pirates 11, @Mets 2: You couldn’t have asked for a better Pittsburgh debut from Francisco Liriano, or a meeker opponent. The Mets fanned 9 times in his 5.1 innings and 16 in all, and trailed by 9-0 before they finally scratched in the 6th. Bucs 2B Jordy Mercer homered twice, matching his career total. Jon Niese‘s stock continued to plummet (2-4, 5.93) with his 2nd straight disaster, totaling 15 runs and 9 walks in 8.1 IP.

• Jose Tabata went 5-3-4-3, with a HR and double off Niese. He came in 1 for 20 off lefties.
• Mets go into a Harvey start on a loss for the 5th straight time, all Niese outings.
• John Buck fanned 3 times in 4 hitless ABs, now hitting .228 with a .262 OBP. Daniel Murphy’s slump reached 6 for 50, and 1 XBH in his last 19 games.
• Try to guess the last Pirate second baseman with 2 HRs in a game. He only hit 3 for the Bucs and 34 in his career.

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Indians 7, Tigers 6: The Tribe led all the way, as much as 6-1, but it came right down to the wire — the winning runs on base, and deadliest clutch hitter striding up. There was ease in Miggy’s manner as he stepped into his place, and why not; he’d batted .336/1.105 against the Tribe, with 85 RBI in 95 games, and he was 4 for 8 off Chris Perez, with a walk-off HR in their last meeting.

Perez split the plate with a fastball at the knees. That ain’t my style, said Miggy; strike one. He chased a smoker, up; 0-and-2. Now Perez aimed away, but Miggy stands so close, his hands practically over the plate, that there’s no strike he can’t reach and drive, and he knows this. Perez kissed the glove with another fastball, but Santana had set up off the plate; ball one. Another fastball, then a breaker, both went wide; full count. The payoff came, and Miggy swung; but he topped one slowly toward third, and it did not become his second infield hit of the year.

Down by 5 in the 7th, Detroit had rallied within a run, helped (as such things usually are) by a couple of walks. But the inning died with you-know-who on deck. Cleveland rebuilt the lead to 2, handing Perez a 9th that looked almost comfortable; with the bottom of the order up, there seemed but little chance of Miggy’s getting to the bat. But it turned into the highest drama.

Perez got Peralta staring at three strikes, but an easy tap to third wound up with Brayan Pena safe when Swisher muffed the throw. After Omar Infante lined a single into left, Austin Jackson smacked a bouncer up the middle, just past Perez and ticketed for center. But Jason Kipnis lunged and gloved it, then made a ridiculous behind-the-back feed to Asdrubal Cabrera for the force; there was a chance for the DP, but he had to twist and throw as the astonished Infante came standing into second, not expecting a play, and the toss pulled Swisher off the bag. Torii Hunter bounced the first pitch through the hole to right, and the stage was fully set.

The pitching matchup hinted at another Tigers win to follow Friday’s blowout: Justin Verlander (4-2, 1.55) vs. Ubaldo Jimenez (2-2, 6.37). JV has faced the Tribe more than any other team, and his results divide into two neat groups: From 2005-08, they beat him like a gong, a 6.70 ERA and 4-10 record in 15 starts. But as Verlander blossomed in 2009, the worm turned: 10-3, 2.80 in his next 15 starts against Cleveland, with 10.8 SO/9.

But today, he could not command his heat at all. He gave up 3 runs in the first 2 innings, on 4 hits and 4 walks, forcing in one run and yielding loud RBI doubles to Swisher and Cabrera. He relied on his curve in 3rd and 4th, fanning 4, but he was using a ton of pitches. In the 5th, a leadoff walk and a botched rundown on a should-be DP set up Mark Reynolds for a 2-out ribby hit. He left after 110 pitches in 5 innings, just the 3rd time in the last 3 years that he’s not begun the 6th, walking 5 for the first time since 2010.

And Jimenez was sharp. He fanned 8 in 6 innings (many with his darting sinker), walked just 1, and was hurt only by Jhonny Peralta’s solo HR. His departure after 93 pitches was rued by the Cleveland broadcasters, more so when Nick Hagadone loaded the bases on a double and 2 walks in his brief stay. Detroit scored 4 that inning, keyed by Infante’s gapper triple.

But Al Alburquerque walked Kipnis on 4 pitches to start the 8th — his 5th leadoff walk in 14 chances (no hits) — and he eventually scored on a sac fly. Those tack-on runs….

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Sorry if I didn’t hit your team.