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Sunday was chock full of great pitching performances. We didn't even get a chance to mention the likes of Jonathon Niese, Tommy Hanson, Phil Hughes, Drew Hutchison, Chris Sale, Vin Mazzaro, Matt Harrison Trevor Cahill or Barry Zito in 3 Up. Any one of them would be a worthy candidate most any night of the season. The circumstances for the guys below -- as well as Zito and Cahill shutting down what equate to Triple-A teams -- separated these three by the slimmest of margins.

Full Sunday scoreboard with recaps and box scores for every game

3up3down





3 UP

Carlos Zambrano, Marlins. The man called Big Z stepped to the plate in the top of the third inning of a scoreless game and powered up, crushing a solo homer to left-center. And though his teammates came through with four more runs on the afternoon, Zambrano didn't need that much support. He worked 7 2/3 innings, allowing only four hits and one run while striking out seven in a 5-1 Marlins win.

Alex White, Rockies. One of the centerpieces of the Ubaldo Jimenez trade last July, the 23-year-old right-hander entered Sunday with a career line of 4-7, 6.75 ERA and 1.63 WHIP. White was also carrying the burden of easing the workload on an overworked bullpen and facing the first-place Dodgers (yes, we know Matt Kemp is out; they're still in first). White went out and gave the Rockies 6 2/3 strong innings, allowing only two hits and two runs. The five walks were bad, but he worked around them enough to propel the Rockies to a 3-2 win. And the Rockies have won six of their last seven.

Jordan Lyles, Astros. The Astros entered Sunday with no listed starting pitcher and an eight-game losing streak. They were also facing a red-hot Reds team. Lyles was summoned from Triple-A to make the start and allowed only five hits and two runs in seven innings, shoving his Astros back into the win column, 5-3.

3 DOWN

Daniel Bard, Red Sox: This was a rare outing where both teams desperately wanted the starting pitcher out of the game. Bard lasted just 1 2/3 innings. He walked six and only allowed one hit, but it was a three-run home run. He also hit two batters. In fact, the last three batters he faced went: Hit-by-pitch, bases-loaded walk, hit-by-pitch. He blatantly had no clue where the ball was going. Bard was then mercifully removed from the game and showered with boos from the Blue Jays fans -- and probably any Red Sox fans in attendance, too.

Justin Verlander, Tigers. The 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young winner has now lost three straight starts. In his last two outings, Verlander has given up 19 hits, 10 runs (eight earned) and six walks in 12 1/3 innings. Sunday it was a 5-1 loss to the Yankees. I wouldn't stress much about Verlander -- especially since he's only gotten five runs in support in these last three outings -- but more about the Tigers in general. When you're only 6-6 through 12 Verlander starts, that's just not good enough.

Oakland A's offense. Well, that nine-run game Saturday was sure washed away quickly, huh? After a 2-0 loss Sunday to the Royals, the A's have now been shut out 11 times in their first 53 games. Per CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler, the A's join the 1954 Pirates as the only team to be held scoreless this often, this early since 1918.

On Deck





Return of Vanimal: The Phillies are in last place, but they're still over .500 (28-27) and are only 3.5 games back. They're just waiting on getting some pieces back from injury. Vance Worley (3-2, 3.07) is one of them, and he'll return to the hill Monday night after being activated from the DL. His offensive teammates will have their hands full, because they're facing off against Clayton Kershaw (4-3, 2.42) of the Dodgers. Of course, the Dodgers need a win pretty badly, as they've lost eight of 11 and have a certain rival approaching in the rearview mirror. 7:05 p.m. ET

Giants take on a Shark: The Cubs have dropped 10 consecutive road games and now it's Jeff Samardzija's turn to try and stop the bleeding. Of course, pitching hasn't been the problem, as the Cubs continue to waste gem after gem from their staff. It's the hitting. So Samardzija (5-3, 3.09) better be prepared to throw a shutout. The Giants, meanwhile, are playing really solid baseball and have crept to within three games of the Dodgers in the NL West. Ryan Vogelsong (3-2, 2.36) takes the mound in hopes of leading his team to a sweep. 3:45 p.m. ET

Escape from New York: The Cardinals have been outscored 19-1 by the Mets in three games, and that includes having been no-hit by Johan Santana, shut out by R.A. Dickey and struck out 10 times by Jonathon Niese. They're surely desperate to get out of Queens, only they have another game to play. Monday, the Mets go for the four-game sweep of the reeling defending champs. A win for the Mets means first place in the NL East (they're tied with the Marlins and Nats, both of which are idle Monday). A loss for the Cardinals means they'll be below .500 for the first time all season. Dillon Gee (4-3, 4.69) will get the ball for the Mets while Kyle Lohse (5-1, 3.36) starts for the Cardinals. 1:10 p.m. ET

Monday's probable pitchers

What's Hot





• Homegrown hero: Outfielder Mike Baxter made a no-hitter-saving catch for Johan Santana Friday night. He also sacrificed his body in doing so, crashing into the left-field wall, and he'll miss about six weeks with injuries to his collarbone, sternum and ribs. Kevin Kernan of the New York Post has a great story on Queens native Baxter and his background.

• Gaining Steam? Earlier this week, Eye On Baseball's C. Trent Rosecrans called for a better replay system in baseball, and looked to how the NHL uses replay as a fine example of what can be done. Sunday, Wendy Thrum at SB Nation did the same. Assuming this wasn't a total ripoff -- and I trust it wasn't -- this is a sign that the Internet is starting to get some momentum with the idea. Let's hope it continues. If the talk gets loud enough, commissioner Bud Selig will have to listen. At least in theory.

• New York Daily News vs. St. Louis Post-Dispatch: After Johan Santana's no-hitter Friday night, the Post-Dispatch ran their article with an asterisk, due to a missed call. The Daily News fired back, strongest with "apparently, the Post-Dispatch couldn't find the asterisk key while Mark McGwire was swatting 220 steroid-aided home runs while a member of the Cardinals and setting bogus records in St. Louis." Zing!



• More accountability please: I've long bemoaned the fact that major-league umpires scream back at managers, coaches and players, making them the only officials in sports who do so. There was another run-in Saturday night when Yankees manager Joe Girardi and hitting coach Kevin Long got pretty heated with -- shocker alert -- Bob Davidson. Davidson has already been suspended for one game this season and has a penchant for making himself the center of attention. Sunday, Yankees center fielder -- also one of the most eloquent players in the league -- asked for more accountability from the umpires.

“It’s interesting across the board,” Granderson said (nytimes.com). “You’ve seen a lot of missed plays. They’re humans back there. They’re going to make some mistakes. But part of the game is, sometimes there have to be some consequences for it. As players, if we make mistakes, there are consequences for us. You get errors, you get pulled out, possibly sent down. Different stuff happens to us. There has to be a similar type of situation on the other end. The one thing I’ve seen consistently, the umpire can be as loud and as animated as he wants, and the umpire gets to stay in the ballgame.”

• Big Z's lumber: More on Zambrano's home-run prowess: He's now tied for sixth all-time with 24 home runs as a pitcher. The record-holder is Wes Ferrell, with 38. Remember, this is home runs as a pitcher, so Babe Ruth has already been passed (he only hit 14 as a pitcher). [Fish Tank Blog]

• Powerful Sunday: In addition to great pitching, another storyline Sunday was prodigious home runs. Zambrano's shot was 431 feet. And then there's this:
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