The Juice is back for its fifth season of fun! Stop by each weekday for an ample serving of news from the action, plus great photos, stats and video highlights.
May day: A new month means the Miami Marlins can turn the page on a distasteful 8-14 start to their season. Giancarlo Stanton (I always want to say ” Giancarlo Esposito “) hit a home run for the second time in three games and Ricky Nolasco kept the San Francisco Giants off the scoreboard (mostly) over 7 1/3 innings in a 2-1 victory at AT&T Park . Closer Heath Bell, who had been pitching more like Beef Hell, even had a 1-2-3 ninth inning to close out the Giants, who did not support Matt Cain very well. Ah, well, Miami can’t pause for a pity party for another team — not after the month the Marlins just endured.
”I think a lot of people took it as April’s gone,” Nolasco said. ”Hopefully we can keep it going.”
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Going to the Matts while longing for Longo: The Tampa Bay Rays went 19-12 with Evan Longoria missing from the starting lineup in 2011, and they’ll have to go through another period with him sidelined this season after learning he’ll miss 6-8 weeks because of a partially torn left hamstring . The Rays got on with life Tuesday night behind left-hander Matt Joyce and Matt Moore in a 3-1 victory against the Mariners . Joyce, batting third in place of Longoria, hit a home run and an RBI triple. Moore allowed a run and seven hits with seven strikeouts over five innings.
Send it in, Jerome!: Jerome Williams tossed his second career shutout and the Los Angeles Angels got an RBI grounder from Albert Pujols (oooooh) in a 4-0 victory against the filling-less Minnesota Twinkies. This passage from the AP story put Williams’ night this way:

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) Matt Joyce had two of Tampa Bay’s three hits, including a solo homer and RBI triple, to help the surging Tampa Bay Rays beat the Seattle Mariners 3-1 for their ninth victory in 10 games on Tuesday night.

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The Juice is back for its fifth season of fun! Stop by each weekday for an ample serving of news from the action, plus great photos, stats and video highlights.
Ryan Braun makes history : Neither pitcher nor perimeter could keep Ryan Braun inside the spacious confines of Petco Park on Monday night. The Milwaukee Brewers MVP became the first player in the park’s eight-year history to hit three home runs in one game during an 8-3 victory over the San Diego Padres . Braun also hit a two-run triple in the ninth, allowing the 2011 NL MVP to head back to the hotel with six RBI under his belt.
Braun’s monster night comes just as talks about bringing in Petco’s fences and making it less of a pitcher’s park have regained momentum. While shorter barriers might have allowed Braun’s triple to become his fourth home run of the night, they were otherwise not a problem. One of his homers hit the fourth-level balcony on the warehouse in left field.
Braun said he’d still be in favor of bringing in the fences, though:

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria left Monday night’s game against Seattle after getting up slowly following a slide into second base on an attempted steal that ended the third inning.

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The Juice is back for its fifth season of fun! Stop by each weekday for an ample serving of news from the action, plus great photos, stats and video highlights.

Can’t find a Betemit: If you had lost track of Wilson Betemit, if you weren’t sure where he was playing this season, the answer is the Baltimore Orioles. If you also lost track of the O’s, they’re in first place in the AL East after Betemit’s tie-breaking, game-ending home run capped a furious ninth-inning rally to beat the Oakland Athletics 5-2 on Sunday. The O’s came into the ninth scoreless against Bartolo Colon and, later, closer Grant Balfour. But Matt Wieters tied the score with a double and, after an intentional walk, Betemit took Balfour deep for a three-run jack and victory. And if the sound system at Oriole Park didn’t play ” Better Man ” by Pearl Jam, they missed an opportunity.
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At odds with reality: What’s even funnier about the O’s being in first place is how Coolstandings.com, which keeps track of playoff probabilities, still pegs Baltimore as the longest shot to win the division at 9.7 percent. Science and math geeks don’t respect the Orioles! Nerrrrrrrrrrrrrds !
Bryce Harper, Day 2: For his first day game, he was in full makeup (H/N: Nats Inquirer). At the plate, he got another hit (a single), and he drew a walk in three at-bats. In the field, Harper made a tough leaping grab while banging against the fence in center, which we’ll be happy to show you:

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Baltimore: Mark Reynolds started at first base for the first time this season. He had committed three errors through 10 games at third base. Reynolds spent much of the second half of the 2011 season at first base, but Chris Davis has been playing there regularly this year. … Davis became the first Oriole since June 2011 to hit a homer onto Eutaw Street beyond right field at Camden Yards when he belted a seventh-inning solo homer Saturday. Davis’ shot was the 59th to land near the B&O Warehouse and the 25th by an Oriole.

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The 2012 MLB regular season well underway. It is still a long road to October baseball but paths are already starting to take shape. The beginning of the year brings promise, and already memories have been created early in the season. At this point anything can still happen.

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On Friday, April 27, the Los Angeles Angels lost to the Cleveland Indians 3-2 when Asdrubal Cabrera singled in the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Following the game, the Angels released aging outfielder Bobby Abreu and called up top prospect Mike Trout from Triple A.

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The Tampa Bay Rays exacted a little bit of revenge while extending their winning streak.

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Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel knew that his job this year was going to be different than it has been in past seasons. Let’s look at how he and his team have done so far.

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