Box Score Tonight: April 20

I'm filling in for The Bright One tonight.

• Rain is again the theme of the day, as Yankees/A's and Phillies/Padres games are both postponed til July.
• The Red Sox took their turn at raping the Orioles pitching staff with a 12-1 win. Big Papi goes 2/4 (2B, 3B) with a pair of RBIs and a run scored. Is this a sign of post-Manny separation anxiety? Ortiz did blast 6 bombs with a .900+ OPS clip last September. On a disturbing note, Jason Varitek now has 3 more home runs than Ortiz.
  
• Felix Pie continues to struggle. He's now hitting .147 (5-for-34) on the season. Mother fucker is out of options and the Cubs called no trade backs. Still, he's better than Aaron Miles :(
• Lance Berkman and Carloss Lee hit useless back-to-back solo shots, as the Astros drop yet another game. Interestingly enough, Astros starters combined for 22.1 scoreless innings since mid-game Thursday and have gone 2-3 over that period of time. God their bullpen sucks.
  
• Still blotto for Votto. 2-for-5 (2B), 1 R, 2 RBI.
• Jason Marquis finally pitched like Jason Marquis, giving up 2 HR and 6 ER in 5 IP. Just wait till he's pitching at Coors in July!
• Both Upton and Iannetta manage to go one game without at least one strike out. Baby steps.
  
• Conor Jackson has not hit a home run in over 200 ABs dating back to last season. John Kruk still has faith in his 150 RBI upside, however, so no need to panic.
  
• Over/under on Todd Helton: 250 AB, 10 HR?
• Florida finally loses their second game of the season, shutout by the Buccos of all people.
  
• Andrew Miller was placed on the DL immediately after the game with a strained oblique. His fastball topped out at 87 MPH (91.5 MPH last year)
  
• Nate McLouth now has 4 HR on the season. Perhaps I was wrong about his "impending regression." Then again, his home run rate did fall by 50% post ASB. Still, a 25 or 30 home run, 20 SB season seems more plausible these days.
  
• My sick Hanley/Uggla combo continue to stuggle. Uggla is 1 for his last 14 and Hanley isn't stealing bases efficiently (33% success rate). I expect the .240 average from Uggla, but Hanley? :(
• Hanrahan finally converted a save, after blowing three consecutive opportunities. Manny Acta's basically fired the rest of the bullpen before today's game and Hanrahan's leash is ridiculously short at this point. $50 says Beimel is closing before June.
• Ryan Zimmerman signed a 5 year, $45 million contract, while Jordan Zimmerman made his MLB debut (W, 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K). In other news, the Nationals still suck.
  
• Nick Johnson (.381 AVG, .458 OBP) continues to rake in the number two hole. And yet, he only has 8 runs on the season. God damnit, the Nationals suck.