Game Recap

With ace Adam Wainwright sidelined for the year with Tommy John surgery, the St. Louis Cardinals are going to need someone to step up and pitch them deep into ball games this year, and the best candidate for that is last year's rookie sensation, Jaime Garcia.

Today he didn't disappoint, throwing a complete game shutout, leading the Cards to their first win of the year, 2-0 over the Padres. It was the first Major League shutout thrown this season. 

Here’s a look at the unheralded players who played well yesterday.

Chicago White Sox at Cleveland Indians
Gordon Beckham went 2-for-4 with a run and 2 RBI. Brent Morel went 1-for-4 with two runs and a stolen base. Edwin Jackson picked up the win while allowing two earned runs in six innings. He struck out seven. Chris Sale struck out a pair in 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. Rafael Perez struck out a pair in a scoreless inning of relief for the Tribe.

Solid pitching and waiting for the A’s to implode—such has been the formula for success for the Mariners in their first two games this season.

The first part of that equation was Jason Vargas’ impeccable performance on the mound Saturday night that kept the M’s in the game. Showing impressive command of his pitches, Vargas nearly rivaled King Felix’s gem Friday night. He mixed his different pitches with success and kept the A’s off balance all night.

Entering the 2011 season, the Oakland Athletics bullpen was projected to be one of the deepest and most solid relief cores in baseball. After the first two games of the season, the bullpen looks anything but what was projected.

Saturday night the Mariners roughed up the Oakland bullpen for the second night in a row to give the A's an 0-2 start for only the second time in their past 12 seasons.

Welcome to BoxPlus, where I give you just a little more than the box score does.

Phillies 9, Astros 4

Game 2 of the Phillies' young season saw a bit more of an offensive attack to back ace No. 2, Cliff Lee. 

Solid pitching and waiting for the A’s to implode—such has been the formula for success for the Mariners in their first two games this season.

The first part of that equation was Jason Vargas’ impeccable performance on the mound Saturday night that kept the M’s in the game. Showing impressive command of his pitches, Vargas nearly rivaled King Felix’s gem Friday night. He mixed his different pitches with success and kept the A’s off balance all night.

Cain throws six shutout innings in 10-0 victory over Dodgers.

The San Francisco Giants earned their first win of the year the way they drew it up all season long.

The Twins struggles continued into the weekend as they received another lashing at the hands of the Blue Jays. The pitching wasn't quite as putrid as it was it was last night, but the bats weren't any quicker or louder. 

By all accounts Brett Myers pitched a strong seven innings for the Astros during yesterday's disappointing loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. Myers threw a quality start, pitching seven innings and allowing two earned runs on three hits, three walks and no strikeouts. However, a closer look at yesterday's box score, radar gun and pitch/FX data show that Myers' stuff may have regressed. 

The Boston Red Sox won the offseason, adding Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Bobby Jenks and Dan Wheeler to a team that was already capable of making a playoff run.

On Opening Day in Arlington, facing the defending American League champion Texas Rangers, all the attention was on the new faces in the lineup and bullpen. However, after falling to a 9-5 defeat, the blame fell squarely on two players who have been in Boston for years: Jon Lester and Daniel Bard.