Another day, another reminder about just how great baseball can be. We had masterful pitching performances from the likes of David Price, big hits by Eric Hinske and Jhonny Peralta, defensive wizardry, four extra-inning games, eight one-run games and two walk-offs. Baseball is a beautiful thing.
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Jose Altuve, Astros. The only thing better than the Astros' throwback uniforms was the guy wearing it at second base. Not only did Altuve hit a three-run homer in the Astros' 5-4 victory over the Cardinals, he also made a big play in the ninth inning to help seal the victory. With a runner on first in the ninth inning, St. Louis' Jon Jay hit a ball toward Altuve at second. Instead of making the easy catch, Altuve let the ball drop and started a double play. The 5-foot-5 Altuve is hitting .360/.404/.550 on the season.
Henderson Alvarez, Blue Jays. The 22-year-old right-hander recorded the first shutout of his career, allowing six hits and striking out three. Alvarez recorded his fifth quality start in six outings this season and has 11 in his last 16 starts. Alvarez's gem came the night after Brandon Morrow threw a three-hit shutout against the Angels. It was the first time Blue Jay starters threw back-to-back shutouts since Jack Morris and Al Leiter did it in 1993.
David Robertson, Yankees. It wasn't a save situation, but there were still plenty of eyes on Robertson as he took the mound to close out the game against the Royals. Robertson showed exactly why many see him as the natural successor to Mariano Rivera -- striking out all three batters he faced. Robertson needed 15 pitches to retire Eric Hosmer, Jeff Francoeur and Mike Moustakas in order.
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Albert Pujols, Angels. For perhaps the first time in his career, Albert Pujols was booed by the home fans. Pujols officially dropped below the Mendoza line, going 0 for 4 and seeing his average drop to .194 on the season. He's also seen his homerless streak extend to a career-high 108 at-bats. I guess $240 million doesn't buy what it used to… But hey, at least Pujols' struggles have given us the great "Has Albert Pujols Homered Yet?" Tumblr.
Heath Bell, Marlins. In his return to San Diego, Bell blew his fourth save of the season -- and it only took two batters as Jesus Guzman and Cameron Maybin hit back-to-back doubles to tie Friday's game in the ninth inning. Bell got out of the inning, but his continued struggles show the Padres that they made the right decision to not give him big money to stay.
Ed Rapuano, umpire. It's been a rough week or so for MLB umpires -- and I feel like the calls for replay are falling on deaf ears -- but Rapuano made two bad calls in the Giants' three-run sixth inning against Zack Greinke and the Brewers. First he called San Francisco's Angel Pagan out at first for the first out of the inning and then he called Emmauel Burriss safe three batters later. Replays showed he got both calls wrong. It's a shame that we have to keep going over this, but the bottom line is the most important thing is getting the calls right. We have the technology, why not use it? I'm constantly amazed at how often umpires get it right and I think they're as good -- if not better -- than ever, it's just that we have so many more tools to judge them than ever before. Why not use those tools to get the calls right on the field?
Natitude, Part 2. The Nationals have put a special emphasis on this weekend's series with the Phillies. Not only is Philadelphia the reigning division champ, the team's fans have invaded Nationals Park in recent years, taking over. On Friday, the team hung a banner at the stadium declaring it "Natitude Park." Manager Davey Johnson said the best marketing is winning -- something the team did on Friday, beating the Phillies 4-3 in 11 innings. Washington has a pretty good chance at another win on Saturday as they send Gio Gonzalez to the hill. The lefty is 2-1 with a 1.82 ERA. However, he's facing Vance Worley, who has a 2-1 record with a 1.97 ERA himself. 1:05 p.m. ET
Cooking in Beantown. Right-hander Aaron Cook will make his Red Sox debut, replacing Josh Beckett, who is out with a right lat injury. Cook was signed to a minor-league deal and had an out clause in his contract if he weren't on the big-league roster by May 1. Cook went 3-0 with a 1.89 ERA in five starts at Triple-A Pawtucket before the team promoted him. The 33-year-old is 72-68 with a 4.53 in his 10-year career. 1:10 p.m. ET
The Chipper factor. Fredi Gonzalez has to be cautious just how often he uses 40-year-old Chipper Jones in his final season, but it has to be difficult for him to keep Jones on the bench. The Braves are 12-2 in games that Jones starts this season and 3-9 when he doesn't. Jones started Friday and hit his fifth homer of the season in the Braves' victory. In what would be a rarity for Jones these days, if he does start on Saturday, he'll face a pitcher older than he is in Rockies right-hander Jamie Moyer. Jones is .333/.379/.593 with a homer in 29 plate appearances against Moyer in his career. Meanwhile, Moyer had already won 19 games (and lost 19) in the big leagues when Braves starter Mike Minor was born. 8:10 p.m. ET
• Huff opens up. Aubrey Huff, who left the Giants after suffering panic attacks last month, opened up to Hanry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle about what happened in New York before the Giants were scheduled to play a doubleheader. A must-read story. Really.
• Delmon Young and the rabbi. No, it's not the start of a weird joke, but it actually happened. Young, who was accused of making anti-Semitic comments last week in New York, met with Rabbi Joshua Bennett, who is the vice president of the Michigan Board of Rabbis. He said he and Young had a "wonderful conversation." While the arrest and whatever happened that morning is awful, give the Tigers credit for taking this kind of action and Young for accepting it, along with Bennett for being open enough to hear Young out. Let's hope something positive comes from this negative situation. [Detroit News]
• The Bull on the Cubs. Fred Mitchell of the Chicago Tribune talks to Leon Durham about his relationship with the Cubs and Cubs fans.
• Artful baseball cards. Amelie Mancini makes beautiful, fun letterpress baseball cards at Left Field Cards. The latest series is all about baseball mustaches, a worthy subject. The native of France spoke to The Classical about her cards and her introduction to baseball.
• On the road to recovery. Last year the Rangers drafted Georgia outfielder Johnathan Taylor in the draft despite the fact he'd been paralyzed in an on-field accident. Texas drafted his college teammate, Zach Cone, earlier in the draft and thought it'd be a nice gesture to draft Taylor, too. This video catches up with Taylor, who is doing rehab in Atlanta.
• Cat Memp. Why I find this hilarious, I don't know. I just do.
• That's not Jonah Hill. The Harvard Crimson has a long profile on Paul DePodesta, the former Dodgers' general manager that was the basis for the Jonah Hill character Peter Brand in Moneyball. DePodesta said he knew the movie couldn't be 100 percent accurate, so he didn't want to be portrayed in a way that wasn't factually accurate.
