MLB

The 2007 and 2008 seasons saw Matt Cain dominate at times and somehow leave the ballpark with a loss. His record in the previous two seasons was 15-30 and yet he still ranked in the top 20 in ERA both years.

That doesn't make much sense now does it?

When asked about if Cain was ready to take that next step to the kind of pitcher people thought he could be before the year began, there was always the statement, “Yeah, but...” and then usually a tilt of the head.

CitiField is not a hitters park—no cheap home runs at all, and David Wright has been running instead of slugging even though two of his three home runs were hit at CitiField.

Entering last night's game, Wright had only 10 career triples. With his triple last night, his total is now 13.

With his caught stealing last night, he now has five stolen bases and six caught stealings.  This is not a good percentage, but it does show that he is trying to put himself in the best possible scoring position. 

Oakland Athletics designated hitter Jack Cust knows a thing or two about hitting home runs through the thick bay air in Oakland Coliseum. Last week, he said sometimes all you can do it wait for the weather to warm up.

Perhaps he's right, as the A's relative surge in power this past week or so has come just as Oakland enjoyed sunny skies, less wind, and warmer evenings during this homestand. After showing some signs of life sprinkled with awful at bats, the A's busted loose last night on the surge of a three-run homer by Cust to crush the visiting Royals, 12-3.

I was in NYC yesterday.  I know…how could I possibly visit the city of the Phil’s arch-rival so fresh off our losing series with them. 

Jayson Werth, who rode my fantasy bench all week to make room for my awesome outfield—who did nothing but suck on Tuesday, I might add—stole bags yesterday like Dane Cook steals jokes.

Filed:May 12th, 2009

Rich Harden delivers a pitch against the Padres Tuesday (Cubbie Nation/file)

Click here for the photo gallery of Tuesday's game.

He came. He pitched. He lost.

Some reasonably available players to assist you in the Runs and/or RBI categories.

Runs

Yunel Escobar, SS, Atlanta Braves-  Yunel scored 8 Runs last week while going 9 for 30 (.300) with a HR and 4 RBI. On the year he’s hitting .306 with 19 Runs, 3 HRs, and 17 RBI.  He is owned in 66 percent of Yahoo!, 35 percent of ESPN, and 76 percent of CBS Sportsline leagues.