The Pittsburgh Pirates got a big boost from Travis Snider against the Milwaukee Brewers Thursday night.

Here’s a clip of his big home run:

– Rick Green

Want to know how much money a team is paying players on the disabled list?

The New York Times has an online graphic that can tell you.

Check it out at http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/05/13/sports/baseball/money-on-the-bench.html?ref=sports&_r=3&

It’s a pretty slick running calculation.

For example, the Yankees have, as of this posting, have paid $399,454 to players on the disabled list on Thursday alone. The Pirates, by comparison, paid $44,400 and the Indians paid $46, 930.

– Rick Green

There’s a light schedule Thursday, with the first game at 1:45 p.m. The matchup of the day is Darvish-Verlander at 8:05 p.m.:

AL
Seattle (Harang 1-4) at N.Y. Yankees (Pettitte 4-2), 7:05 p.m.
Boston (Doubront 3-1) at Tampa Bay (Cobb 4-2), 7:10 p.m.
Detroit (Verlander 4-3) at Texas (Darvish 6-1), 8:05 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Quintana 2-1) at L.A. Angels (Williams 2-1), 10:05 p.m.
NL
N.Y. Mets (Niese 2-4) at St. Louis (Wainwright 5-2), 1:45 p.m.
Milwaukee (Burgos 1-1) at Pittsburgh (Liriano 1-0), 7:05 p.m.
Cincinnati (Latos 4-0) at Miami (Fernandez 2-2), 7:10 p.m.
San Francisco (M.Cain 2-2) at Colorado (Chacin 3-2), 8:40 p.m.
Washington (Strasburg 1-5) at San Diego (Volquez 3-3), 10:10 p.m.

Here’s who I like — and don’t:

Must start
Can you believe Stephen Strasburg is 1-5? I’m still going with him. … Others to go with include Alex Cobb, Justin Verlander, Yu Darvish, Mat Latos and Adam Wainwright.

Good start
I like Andy Pettitte vs. the Mariners about as much as I dislike Aaron Harang today. … Jerome Williams is a nice option if you’re streaming. … If you’re a White Sox fan, I could see giving Jose Quintana a shot.

Neutral
I think the Nats get by Edison Volquez. … I’ve dropped Cain big time today. He’s struggling and at Colorado. … Jhoulys Chacin has a good ERA, but I’m leery in Colorado. … Jose Fernandez has been solid for Marlins’ standards, but I won’t go with him. … I still want to see more from Francisco Liriano before I jump on board. … Hiram Burgos might get an avoid, but the Brewers manage to play well vs. the Bucs.

Avoid
Don’t like Jon Neise at the Cards today. … Repeat: I don’t like Harang today. … Feeling lucky? Felix Doubront has a 6-plus ERA.

– Rick Green

Andrew McCutchen was Mr. Clutch for the Pirates late Tuesday night.

McCutchen hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 12th to give the Pirates a much-needed win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Here’s the blast:

– Rick Green

Here’s a look at Wednesday’s games. First game is at 12:35, so set your lineup early.

AL
San Diego (Marquis 4-2) at Baltimore (F.Garcia 0-1), 12:35 p.m.
Cleveland (Kluber 2-2) at Philadelphia (Hamels 1-5), 1:05 p.m.
Houston (Keuchel 0-1) at Detroit (Scherzer 5-0), 1:08 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Axelrod 0-3) at Minnesota (Pelfrey 3-3), 1:10 p.m.
Texas (Ogando 3-2) at Oakland (Straily 1-1), 3:35 p.m.
Seattle (Iwakuma 4-1) at N.Y. Yankees (P.Hughes 2-2), 7:05 p.m.
San Francisco (Vogelsong 1-3) at Toronto (R.Ortiz 0-1), 7:07 p.m.
Boston (Lester 5-0) at Tampa Bay (Price 1-3), 7:10 p.m.
Kansas City (W.Davis 2-3) at L.A. Angels (Enright 0-1), 10:05 p.m.

NL
San Diego (Marquis 4-2) at Baltimore (F.Garcia 0-1), 12:35 p.m.
Cleveland (Kluber 2-2) at Philadelphia (Hamels 1-5), 1:05 p.m.
Atlanta (Hudson 4-2) at Arizona (Kennedy 1-3), 3:40 p.m.
Milwaukee (Gallardo 3-2) at Pittsburgh (W.Rodriguez 3-2), 7:05 p.m.
San Francisco (Vogelsong 1-3) at Toronto (R.Ortiz 0-1), 7:07 p.m.
Cincinnati (Leake 2-2) at Miami (Sanabia 2-5), 7:10 p.m.
Colorado (Garland 3-3) at Chicago Cubs (Samardzija 1-5), 8:05 p.m.
N.Y. Mets (Marcum 0-3) at St. Louis (S.Miller 5-2), 8:15 p.m.
Washington (Detwiler 2-3) at L.A. Dodgers (Greinke 1-0), 10:10 p.m.

Here’s who I like — and don’t:
Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a look at Tuesday’s pitching matchups:

AL
Cleveland (Kazmir 2-1) at Philadelphia (Pettibone 2-0), 7:05 p.m.
San Diego (Cashner 2-2) at Baltimore (Tillman 3-1), 7:05 p.m.
Seattle (F.Hernandez 5-2) at N.Y. Yankees (Sabathia 4-3), 7:05 p.m.
San Francisco (Zito 3-1) at Toronto (Dickey 2-5), 7:07 p.m.
Houston (Harrell 3-3) at Detroit (Fister 4-1), 7:08 p.m.
Boston (Lackey 1-3) at Tampa Bay (M.Moore 6-0), 7:10 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Peavy 4-1) at Minnesota (Correia 4-2), 8:10 p.m.
Kansas City (Guthrie 5-0) at L.A. Angels (Vargas 1-3), 10:05 p.m.
Texas (D.Holland 3-2) at Oakland (Colon 3-2), 10:05 p.m.

NL
Cleveland (Kazmir 2-1) at Philadelphia (Pettibone 2-0), 7:05 p.m.
Milwaukee (Lohse 1-4) at Pittsburgh (Locke 3-1), 7:05 p.m.
San Diego (Cashner 2-2) at Baltimore (Tillman 3-1), 7:05 p.m.
San Francisco (Zito 3-1) at Toronto (Dickey 2-5), 7:07 p.m.
Cincinnati (H.Bailey 1-3) at Miami (Nolasco 2-4), 7:10 p.m.
Colorado (Francis 1-3) at Chicago Cubs (Villanueva 1-2), 8:05 p.m.
N.Y. Mets (Gee 2-4) at St. Louis (Gast 0-0), 8:15 p.m.
Atlanta (Teheran 2-0) at Arizona (Corbin 5-0), 9:40 p.m.
Washington (Haren 4-3) at L.A. Dodgers (Kershaw 3-2), 10:10 p.m.

Here’s who I like — and don’t:

Read the rest of this entry »

Former Erie SeaWolves outfielder Avisail Garcia is on his way to Detroit.

The Tigers placed Austin Jackson on the DL Monday with a bad hammy and recalled Garcia from Triple-A Toledo.

Garcia was hitting .432 with one homer and four RBIs in eight games for the Mud Hens.

Garcia hit .312 with six home runs and 22 RBIs for Erie last season. He played in 12 postseason games and had 23 at-bats with the Tigers in the playoffs last season.

– Rick Green

The Pirates got the bounce — and break — they needed to beat the Mets Sunday night.

Here’s a clip of the play made by second baseman Brandon Inge after Lucas Duda hit a hard grounder down the first-base line. The ball hit the bag at first and caromed into the air. Inge fielded it and fired to first to retire the Mets, who had runners on second and third.

If the Mets score two, the Pirates likely lose.

Like they say, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.

– Rick Green

I’ve been catching up on some things after an opening-day visit to Cedar Point to ride its new coaster, GateKeeper (it’s pretty cool, by the way).

Joba Chamberlain

One thing that stood out to me was the way Joba Chamberlain treated future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera before the Yankees’ game Saturday.

Rivera was speaking with the media before the Yankees-Royals game while Chamberlain was talking with his family.

According to an Associated Press account, Rivera told Chamberlain to lower his voice. Once Rivera was done with his interview, Chamberlain told Rivera in front of reporters, “Don’t ever shush me.”

Wow. Talk about respecting your elders.

Chamberlain should know better than that. Whatever disagreement they had should have been handled behind closed doors. He should not have tried to show up Rivera.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a look at Monday’s starting pitchers for fantasy baseball players in daily leagues:

AL
N.Y. Yankees (D.Phelps 1-1) at Cleveland (Masterson 5-2), 12:05 p.m., 1st game
N.Y. Yankees (Nuno 0-0) at Cleveland (Bauer 1-1), 3:35 p.m., 2nd game
Houston (B.Norris 4-3) at Detroit (Ani.Sanchez 3-3), 7:08 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (H.Santiago 1-1) at Minnesota (P.Hernandez 1-0), 8:10 p.m.
Kansas City (Mendoza 0-2) at L.A. Angels (Blanton 0-6), 10:05 p.m.
Texas (Grimm 2-2) at Oakland (Griffin 3-3), 10:05 p.m.

NL
Milwaukee (Estrada 2-2) at Pittsburgh (A.J.Burnett 3-3), 7:05 p.m.
N.Y. Mets (Hefner 0-4) at St. Louis (Lynn 5-1), 7:05 p.m.
Colorado (Nicasio 3-0) at Chicago Cubs (Wood 3-2), 8:05 p.m.
Atlanta (Minor 4-2) at Arizona (Miley 3-1), 9:40 p.m.
Washington (Zimmermann 6-1) at L.A. Dodgers (Beckett 0-4), 10:10 p.m.

Here’s who I like — and don’t:
Read the rest of this entry »