Nine innings and nine items to get you going. Ladies and gentleman of the Stew, take a sip of morning Juice.
1. Thanks ? they needed that: Down a run in the bottom of the ninth, the Los Angeles Angels were staring at the business end of a four-game sweep at the hands of the Texas Rangers. Lose again, and they'd be eight games out in the AL Central. And then rookie Mark Trumbo came to bat against Mike Adams and connected for a thrilling two-run homer, sending the Angels to a desperately needed 2-1 victory.
Trumbo, who has 23 homers, a .488 slugging percentage and a .785 OPS, continues to push for AL Rookie of the Year. The Angels, who hadn't been pushing the Rangers very hard, still have a pulse.
"Hopefully this is going to propel a nice little run for us," said Trumbo, who's on track to become the first rookie to lead Los Angeles in homers and RBIs. "We've been scuffling and a lot of people are frustrated, myself included. That road trip wasn't very good, and it didn't help our momentum going into this crucial series. But we'll take what we can get."
2. Somebody's been stealing their lucky charms: The Giants offense did nothing against Mike Minor to help Tim Lincecum, who allowed a solo home run to Chipper Jones ? and that's it ? in the Braves 1-0 victory.
"We've just got to find our luck," Lincecum said. "We've got to find it soon."
3. Backup plan: Reserve outfielder John Mayberry (home run) and reliever David Herndon (three scoreless innings) each played key roles for the Phillies in their 4-1 win against Arizona.
4. Dodger phew: Clayton Kershaw did his thing, tossing eight scoreless innings for the Dodgers to help them avoid a sweep in a 5-1 victory at Milwaukee.
5. Climb that hill: Apparently those dastardly Royals make the mound in the visitors' bullpen much steeper than the one used for the game, but Josh Beckett worked around the inconvenience and led Boston to a 4-3 victory. Also: Oh, baby Youk to the DL.
6. TV's not so bad after all: Video replay helped the New York Yankees this time, and umpires overturned a Justin Morneau home run that probably was the best chance for the Twins. Instead, behind CC Sabathia and with Joe Mauer in right field for Minnesota, the Yankees won 8-4.
Shin-Soo Choo (pictured) asks that you hold your applause.
8. Jays slay A's: Ricky Romero tossed a three-hitter and Trevor Cahill got knocked around in Toronto's 7-0 victory at Oakland.
9. Nats where it's at: Home run for Jonny Gomes and another strong outing for Jordan Zimmermann in Washington's 3-1 win against the Reds.
10. So the only other game doesn't feel left out: Tim Stauffer allowed a run over seven innings to lead the Padres past the Marlins 3-1.
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