Around the Horn - 5/30

Joe Torre was back in the city so nice they named it twice. But it wasn't at Yankee Stadium and the Yankees weren't playing. Torre took his Dodger blue to Shea and got pummeled by David Wright and the Mets, 8-4. Wright belted a couple of home runs off of Brad Penny to help the Mets win their 3rd. Jose Reyes has reached base safely in 29 straight games.

The Giants completed a very unexpected 3-game sweep of the Diamondbacks with a 4-3 win. The Giants tied the game in the 8th on Fred Lewis' bases loaded walk and went ahead for good in the top of the 9th on Randy Winn's home run. Barry Zito came up with arguably his best start of the season (6 IP 3 ER 6 H 3 BB 5 K) while Randy Johnson allowed 2 runs and struck out 9 in 7 innings.

The Pirates pounded the Reds 7-2 behind a big night from starter Phil Dumatrait. The lefty allowed 1 unearned run, 2 hits, and struck out 9 in 7 innings.

Kyle Lohse out pitched Roy Oswalt in the Cardinals 3-2 win over the Astros. Albert Pujols belted his 13th home run for the Cards while Carlos Lee and Lance Berkman went deep for Houston. Berkman's home run tied him with Chase Utley for the major's lead with 17.

Jody Gerut's 3-run home run in the bottom of the 8th gave the Padres a 5-2 win over the Nationals. Padres pitcher Chris Young, who was hit in the head by a liner off the bat of Albert Pujols last week, will need surgery on his septum and there is concern about a small skull fracture he suffered.

The Cubs 4th straight win sent the Rockies to their 4th straight loss. Derek Lee homered for the 2nd straight night to help the Cubs to an 8-4 victory.

The Braves pounded the Brewers 8-1. Mark Texeira homered and drove in 4 and Jose Campillo won his 2nd big league game. He also drove in 2 runs. Rafael Soriano returned to the Braves bullpen after 45 days on the DL.

Jesse Litsch has been flying under the radar for much of the season, but certainly not in Toronto. The Blue Jays starter improved to 7-1, 3.18 in the Jays 12-0 trouncing of the A's. Rod Barajas, who will be getting the bulk of playing time with Greg Zaun on the DL, capitalized on his chances with a 3-hit, 3 RBI day.

John Danks improved to 4-4 in the White Sox 5-1 win over the Rays. Joe Crede and Paul Konerko homered in a battle between division leaders.

Kevin Slowey pitched a complete game as the Twins sent the Royals down to their 11th straight loss, 5-1. Carlos Gomez was 4-5 with 2 RBI.

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Friday Hot Stove

With reports of the Yankees close to tying up Robinson Cano with a long term deal, the Twins are doing likewise with Michael Cuddyer and Justin Morneau. Cuddyer inked a 3-year, $24 million deal, and Morneau, the 2006 AL MVP, will get $80 million over 6 years.

The Yankees are close to a minor signing with veteran utility man Chris Woodard.

The A's added Jeff Fiorentino off of waivers from the Reds. The A's are Fiorentino's 3rd team in 3 weeks. The once highly thought of prospect, who's still just 24-yrs old, was released by the Orioles on January 2nd.

Buster Olney says that the Giants and Mariners are the favorites to land veteran 1st Baseman Tony Clark.

The Rocky Mountain News is claiming the Mets are close to signing Livan Hernandez. It would be great to see him as a teammate of his brother, El Duque.

Rod Barajas was supposed to be the Blue Jays starting catcher last year, but free agent talks broke down at the last moment. This time around Barajas has signed on with Toronto as a back up to Greg Zaun. Had Barajas' deal gone through last year, the Jays would have let Zaun go.

The Braves have signed reliever Rafael Soriano to a new 2-yr, $9 million contract. Atlanta decided to buy out Soriano's 1st year of free agency, by paying more than he requested in arbitration.

If the Orioles can't find themselves a closer to replace the injured Chris Ray, Andy MacPhail indicated that Greg Aquino may be the 1st option.

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