Nine innings, nine items to get you going. Ladies and gentleman of the Stew, take a sip of morning Juice.
1. Two-run home run derby: The Detroit Tigers took a 2-0 lead over the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field on Brennan Boesch's first-inning blast. Gordon Beckham later tied the game with a fifth-inning shot. But Miguel Cabrera's homer off Jesse Crain in the ninth inning put the Tigers ahead for good, breaking the White Sox's four-game winning streak with a 4-2 victory.
Should you have pitched to Cabrera with first base open and two outs in the inning, Ozzie Guillen?
"Cabrera is one of the best hitters in the game, but in the meanwhile there is a guy (Victor Martinez) behind that has been swinging the bat good against the White Sox," Guillen said. "We made the same decision last night. Tonight worked, today doesn't and I don't have any regrets."
Justin Verlander allowed two runs and seven hits over eight innings. He's gone 4-0 in his last seven starts, which includes his no-hitter on May 7.
2. Drew was due: J.D. Drew found redemption after striking out in his first four at-bats against the Oakland Athletics on Saturday. Understandably, the A's intentionally walked Jed Lowrie to pitch to him in the bottom of the 14th. But Drew singled to drive in Carl Crawford, giving the Red Sox a 9-8 walkoff win. That also bailed out Jonathan Papelbon, who blew a four-run lead in the ninth and got ejected from the game, along with Jason Varitek.
3. Shutout Saunders: The Arizona Diamondbacks only managed four hits against Livan Hernandez, but still scored two runs. That was enough for Joe Saunders, who pitched seven shutout innings in the D-Backs' 2-0 win over the Washington Nationals. Arizona regained first place in the NL West with the victory, taking a half-game lead over the Giants.
4. He's got your Slumpbot right here: Albert Pujols apparently didn't like being included in the latest Slumpbot .200 post. Since then, he's batted 6-for-12 with three homers and six RBI. Two of those home runs and four of those RBI came in the St. Louis Cardinals' 5-4 win over the Chicago Cubs. Pujols' second homer was a walkoff shot off Jeff Samardzija in the 12th inning.
5. CC gets the W: The New York Yankees had to win to keep first place in the AL East to themselves. CC Sabathia made sure of that, allowing one earned run over 8 2/3 innings. Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez each hit home runs to provide the offense. And Mariano Rivera only needed one pitch to close out a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
6. The Tulo show: Troy Tulowitzki went 3-for-4 and Jhoulys Chacin allowed only one run over six innings, as the Colorado Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants, 2-1. Chacin and Tulowitzki also prevented the Giants from possibly scoring more runs in the fifth inning, hooking up to pick Andres Torres off second base. Madison Bumgarner took the tough-luck loss, despite allowing just one earned run.
The Giants got more bad news after the game, announcing that Brandon Belt is going on the 15-day DL with a fractured wrist.
7. Hometown hero allows zero: Ohio native Derek Holland returned home to pitch a five-hit, complete game shutout, leading the Texas Rangers to a 4-0 win over the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Fausto Carmona didn't fare nearly as well for the Tribe, serving up two-run homers to Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz. The Indians' lead in the AL Central over the Tigers has shrunk to 3 1/2 games.
8. Gee, he's good: Maybe Jeffrey Toobin should've asked Fred Wilpon about Dillon Gee. The New York Mets rookie (6-0) allowed four hits over seven shutout innings for his fourth consecutive win. Jose Reyes broke the game open in the seventh with a three-run triple (his 10th of the season), as the Mets beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-0.
9. Yovani keeps winning: Yovani Gallardo finished the sixth inning with his Milwaukee Brewers trailing the Florida Marlins, 2-1. But Prince Fielder's solo home run and a RBI double by Yuniesky Betancourt in the seventh gave the Brewers an eventual 3-2 win. Gallardo has won six consecutive starts, and his eight overall wins are tied for the major-league lead.
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