Around The Majors- Wednesday

It was a big night in baseball, I'll go through the games, get to the news and notes, and last week's fantasy studs & duds before I check out what's on tap.

Tuesday Recap
Josh Beckett became the first pitcher to 17 wins, he outdueled Roy Halladay as Boston bested Toronto 5-3. Jacoby Ellsbury homered and drove in 2 for the Red Sox. Chien Ming Wang became the second to 17 victories as the Yankees put up 7 runs in the 7th to maul the Mariners 12-3. Jorge Posada homered twice for New York. Jon Garland pitched 7 strong innings as Alex Cintron drove in 2 as the White Sox downed Detroit 3-1. Baltimore scored 4 in the 8th to defeat Tampa Bay 8-4. Ramon Hernandez drove in 3 for the Birds. Kinsler, Botts, and Wilkerson each drove in 2 as Texas edged the Royals 9-8. Travis Hafner homered twice and drove in 4 including a sacrifice fly as part of a 2 run 11th in a 7-5 win over Minnesota. Kendrick and Anderson each drove in 2 as the Angels edged the A's 4-3.
Jesus Flores hit a 2 run double in the 9th inning off of Kevin Gregg as the Nationals shocked the Marlins 4-3. Paul Lo Duca homered twice and drove in 7 as the Mets ripped the Reds 11-7. Howard and Ruiz each drove in 2 as the Phillies beat the Braves 5-2. Carlos Villanueva pitched 6 solid innings as Milwaukee defeated Houston 5-3. Juan Pierre drove in 2 as Brad Penny pitched the Dodgers past the Cubs 6-2. Chris Duncan drove in 3 as the Cardinals beat Pittsburgh 6-2. Brad Hawpe hit the game winning single off of Brad Hennessey as the Rockies beat the Giants 6-5. Arizona took over first place as the knocked Chris Young around as they pummeled the Padres 9-1. Eric Byrnes drove in 3 runs for the Snakes.

News and Notes
- After a collision in last night's win over Seattle, A-Rod got an MRI on his right ankle and is listed as in the lineup for tonight's game against the M's.
- Jake Peavy will pitch tonight for San Diego on 3 days rest, more on this later in the blog.
- Cardinals OF Juan Encarnacion was released from the hospital, but it's unknown whether he'll have surgery of his fractured right eye socket. Encarnacion was hit with a foul ball while waiting on deck and also got a concussion, for which he's still feeling the after effects according to a source close to the St Louis Post Dispatch. I wish Juan a speedy recovery, needless to say his season is over.
- An MRI showed that Orioles ace Erik Bedard has a strained right oblique muscle, and the team will announce whether he'll pitch or not this season later in the week.
- Ruben Amaro will interview for the Astros GM position, accoridng to ESPN's Jayson Stark.
- Baltimore released Paul Shuey and Detroit activated Kenny Rogers from the DL and will join their rotation for the first time this season.
- Mets 1B Carlos Delgado will likely be out 7-10 days with a strained right hip flexor.

Wednesday On Tap
Already today, 4 Reds pitchers combined on a 3 hit shutout as Cincinnati mauled the Mets 7-0. John Maine gave up 6 runs in 4 and a third innings, and Brandon Phillips broke a franchise single season record for homers by a second baseman with his 28th, 1 more then SOS guest analyst Joe Morgan. Atlanta scored 4 in the 8th and then 3 in the 9th on a bases clearing double by Matt Diaz off of Brett Myers to lead the Braves past the Phillies 9-8. Willie Harris also had a pair of ribs for Atlanta. Fausto Carmona won his 15th as the Indians tamed the Twins 6-2. Victor Martinez and Kenny Lofton each drove in 2 for the Tribe. The A's defeated the Angels 6-2 as Mark Ellis homered and drove in 4 for Oakland. Joe Blanton got the win for the A's.
Tonight, Boston looks to extend their AL East lead when they send Curt Schilling to the hill against the always tough Shawn Marcum of Toronto. Kenny Rogers returns to the mound as Detroit takes on Gavin Floyd and the White Sox, and Jarrod Washburn looks to get the Mariners closer in the Wild Card race as they take on Phil Hughes and the Yankees. Liz and Sonnanstine are the 2 young SP's in Tampa as the O's take on the Rays.
In the NL, the Dodgers send out young Eric Stults for the sweep of the Cubs, Ted Lilly counters for Chicago at 8pm on ESPN. Milwaukee is only a half game out, they send Yovano Gallardo against Matt Albers of the Astros. Mark Mulder makes his season debut for the Cardinals, Tony Armas counters for Pittsburgh. Young Ubaldo Jimenez leads Colorado against the Giants. Jake Peavy will go on 3 days rest for the 2nd time in his career as the Padres battle the Diamondbaks for first place. Livan Hernandez pitches for Arizona.

Fantasy Studs & Duds
Hitting Studs
1) Garret Anderson, OF, LAA
2) Hunter Pence, OF, HOU
3) Carlos Pena, 1B, TB
4) Jimmy Rollins, SS, PHI
5) Ian Kinsler, 2B, TEX
Hitting Duds (min 23 ab's)
1) Nick Swisher, 1B/OF, Oak
2) Vernon Wells, OF, TOR
3) Joey Gathright, OF, KC
4) Gary Matthews, OF, LAA
5) Jose Guillen, OF, SEA
Pitching Studs
1) CC Sabathia, SP, CLE
2) Chien Ming Wang, SP, NYY
3) Jered Weaver, SP, LAA
4) Jeff Francis, SP, COL
5) Doug Davis, SP, ARZ
Pitching Duds
1) JD Durbin, P, PHI
2) Noah Lowry, SP, SF
3) Jarrod Washburn, SP, SEA
4) Antonio Alfonseca, RP, PHI
5) Andrew Miller, SP, DET