As the great Scott Cole used to say, they can't all be Picassos; sometimes you need a color-by-numbers job. There's no dominant lead item from Thursday, so we bullet the blue sky:
?�The Madison Bumgarner rejuvenation is well underway, he just needs some help from his teammates. Bumgarner's 1-6 record is a direct reflection of the Giants not scoring for him; he's currently 111th in run support in the majors (out of 113 qualifying pitchers). San Francisco only gave him three runs (and Bumgarner scored one of them) at Chavez Ravine on Thursday but the young lefty made it stand up, allowing just one run and pitching into the ninth. Bumgarner has 28 strikeouts against just eight walks over his last five turns (along with a tidy 1.60 ERA) and for the season he's getting ground balls 50 percent of the time. Everything's flowing in the right direction here. Use him at home against the Marlins next week.
?�For most of the year the St. Louis closing situation has beguiled us, but it's time to take solace in Salas. The unheralded Fernando Salas has posted a goose egg in 13 of his last 14 appearances, including Thursday's smooth save against Houston (1 H, 2 K). For the year he's got a 0.96 ERA, a 0.80 WHIP and 18 strikeouts against four unintentional walks. Don't let the ordinary fastball velocity fool you; this guy isn't intimidated by the ninth inning, and the Cardinals trust him (five of his last six appearances have come in the final frame). Go home, Motte apologists, and give it up, Sanchez youth. Salas is taking this job and running with it.
? Justin Turner wasn't exactly heroic in New York's 1-0 victory over Washington, but he reached base twice and he drove in the only run of the day. He's got a .333/.393/.490 line for his 51 at-bats, and the Mets figure to use him as the regular third baseman while David Wright rehabs his back injury. Turner only carries the second base tag for now but the third-base one is coming; he's a handy player for someone who's owned in just five percent of Yahoo! leagues. (I placed a waiver claim on Turner in the Friends & Family League, but was beaten out by Ellis Bradley Evans. Yeah, it's a deep pool. I'm hoping to recover from the emotional despair at some point this weekend.)
?�Carl Crawford was the hero in Thursday's 4-3 win over Detroit, lacing a run-scoring single to center that ended the game. It's the third walkoff hit for Crawford this month, and he's batting .294 in May. Baby steps.
Is a promotion in the batting order coming? That's up to Terry Francona to decide, but Crawford probably doesn't deserve the bump; he's only drawn two walks for the month (leading to a paltry .314 OBP) and his May slugging is a pedestrian .368. And we know Crawford hates to bat against left-handers; for his career he's got a .265/.311/.376 slash against them. Add all the numbers up and you make the call: does this sound like a top of the order stick to you?
?�Give Eric Hosmer a dashboard pass ? he's going to be parked in the No. 3 slot in Kansas City for a while. His second game there was a smash, a three-hit performance that helped spark the Royals to a come-from-behind victory over the Rangers in ten innings. Hosmer's three hits all came against lefties, for what it's worth. Mike Aviles had the game-tying hit in the ninth against Neftali Feliz ? the culmination of a classic 11-pitch at-bat ? and Jeff Francoeur (three hits) played hero with a walk-off single in the following inning. Hosmer is still owned in just 53 percent of Yahoo leagues; I realize that covers our competitive groups extensively, but it still makes no sense to me.
?�The other cleat dropped with Vicente Padilla's forearm injury; he went on the 15-day DL, retroactive to May 14. Don Mattingly says he'll use Matt Guerrier and Kenley Jansen as his main closers; Guerrier offers better control, while Jansen is a combination of electric and erratic. I'd suggest Guerrier if you need a chance at saves today, Jansen if you need to swing for the fences. Just to keep us guessing, of course, Mattingly used Guerrier in the eighth inning of Thursday's loss to the Giants (Guerrier allowed an infield single but otherwise was effective).
?�Jason Giambi was in a 3-for-26 funk before Thursday's spot start at Philly, but those season numbers were buried rather quickly. Giambi turned the game into a flashback night, homering three times and driving in all seven of Colorado's runs. Sure, he's not the first person to feast on the offerings of Kyle Kendrick and Danys Baez, but they don't ask how in this game, they ask how many. It's a shame the Rockies aren't on the road in an AL park this weekend ? it would be fun to see Giambi take some DH hacks through he weekend. We'll see how quickly Todd Helton's back recovers.
Not an Injury Blog: Ryan Braun departed early in San Diego due to a sore left shoulder, though he doesn't consider it a major setback. Braun stole his tenth base of the year (he's yet to be caught) before leaving. "I was trying to get through it," said Braun, who hurt the shoulder on a swing Wednesday. "It just got to the point where I didn't feel I could contribute. Once it gets to that point, it makes no sense to play." Stay tuned. … Carlos Gonzalez tweaked a groin muscle and was forced from the Giambi show at Philly. Jim Tracy said the injury was nothing serious but we'll see what the team learns when they reevaluate Gonzalez on Friday. … Josh Beckett worked six strong innings against Detroit before a stiff neck pushed him out. … Shane Victorino (hamstring) is headed for the DL but the Phillies probably won't call up Domonic Brown just yet. The Phillies also lost Joe Blanton (elbow), which means Vance Worley is coming back up. … Endy Chavez has a sore hamstring, which might push the Rangers to rush Nelson Cruz back (at least that's what Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News thinks). … Adam Lind (back) is eligible to come off the DL Monday but he's nowhere near ready; he'll need at least ten more days. … Howie Kendrick had three hits and a home run at Seattle, but he tweaked his hamstring during a failed steal attempt in the ninth. … Travis Hafner (ribs) will have an MRI on Friday. … Matt Holliday (quad) was available to pinch-hit Thursday and thinks he can go for the weekend series with Kansas City, but Lance Berkman (wrist) is going to need a few days. …�Brian Roberts (concussion symptoms) is on the 7-day DL, which forces the unexciting Robert Andino into the linuep. The Orioles have also lost Derrek Lee (15-day, oblique); Brandon Snyder subbed for him Thursday and went 0-for-3 out of the No. 9 slot (not where your starting cornerman is generally found).
Speed Round: Scott Downs took the loss at Seattle, allowing a ninth-inning run to snap a 1-1 tie, but it's hard to blame him. Carlos Peguero's game-winning hit was a gift from the sun gods. … Ryan Doumit isn't getting that much playing time but he's been effective when asked to play; he's got a .333 average, three homers and six walks in 30 at-bats this month. … The Twins exploded for 16 hits and 11 runs at Oakland and all of the Minnesota starters got a piece of it, so dig in. Deep-league possibility Trevor Plouffe capped off things with a three-run homer in the eighth. … It wasn't a smooth ride for the back of the Boston bullpen. Daniel Bard threw two fat sliders that wound up as souvenirs, and Jonathan Papelbon took a sharp hit off the leg (oh, the irony) in the ninth. Papelbon ultimately loaded the bases before rallying, striking out the batters who homered off Bard (Boesch and Cabrera). … The Josh Collmenter music kept playing for the Diamondbacks (6 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K), but I'm not going near a 25 year-old non-prospect with a fastball that sits under 88 mph. He's always around the plate and that's generally a good thing, but when he crashes, he's going to come with a jagged edge.
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Images courtesy US Presswire
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