Around The Majors- Friday

All the scores from today, a preview of tonight's action, the news and notes, and something that every Reds fan must see.

Day Games
-Who knew that Tigers and winless go in the same sentence, it must be since I picked them to win the World Series. AJ Pierzynski was out of his mind today, homering and driving in 5 as the White Sox trounced the 0-4 Tigers 8-5 at Comerica. AJ's 3 run blast off of loser Jason Grilli proved to be the winner, as Dotel, Linebrink, and Danks closed the door after another awful start from Jose Contreras. Pudge Rodriguez drove in a pair in the loss as Carlos Quentin also homered for Chicago.
-The Brewers home opener was a success as the jolted the Giants 13-4 at Miller Park. Johnathan Sanchez did his best Barry Zito impression (at a fraction of the price!), allowing 7 runs over 4 innings to take the loss. Bill Hall homered twice and drove in 6 in the Milwaukee win, as Prince Fielder drove in 3 while Gabe Kapler knocked home a pair. Bengie Molina homered for Frisco, who couldn't do much against winning pitcher Carlos Villanueva. Salmon Torres pitched the final 3 innings to exploit the rediculous loophole in the saves rule.
-Rich Hill and Chris Sampson put out good starts for Houston and the Cubs, but a two run 8th off of Jon Lieber gave the Astros a 4-3 win over Chicago at Wrigley. Houston took the lead in the 4th on a 2 run JR Towles blast, but the Cubs tied the game in the 7th on a two run Geovany Soto single. Go Catchers! But then Miguel Tejada went throwback and TRIPLED home Lance Berkman for the 3-2 lead and then scored on a Ty Wigginton sac fly for the 4th run that would hold up. Jose Valverde gave up a homer to Mark Derosa but still picked up the save. Arizona and Colorado are still in progress.

Friday Night Hardball
Washburn and Trachsel are the starters as Seattle plays Baltimore, as the game will go slower than a Friday at the office. Sonnanstine and Kennedy will pitch as the Yankees and Rays will be warned at the first hint of a beanball affair. Spikes up, everyone! Tim Wakefield will pitch for Boston in Toronto, Scott Baker goes for the Twins against the unbeaten Royals, and Texas takes on the Angels in LA. Paul Byrd takes the hill for Cleveland in Oakland. Kyle Kendrick makes his first start of the year against Cincinnati, Morris and Olsen go in Miami, and Tim Hudson faces John Maine as the Mets and Braves renew their rivalry from the Ted. Odalis Perez and Braden Looper pitch in the STL, and Hiroki Kuroda makes his big league debut as the Dodgers face Justin Germano and the Padres.

News & Notes
-Toronto has finalized Alex Rios' 6 year deal worth 64 million, and 2B Aaron Hill has signed a 4 year deal worth 12 million that could be worth 40 million if the team exercizes an insane number of options.
-Sidearming grandpa southpaw Randy Johnson allowed 5 runs in 4 innings for the AAA Tuscon Sidewinders in a loss. To put that in perspective, Bartolo Colon pitched 5 shuout innings for AAA Pawtucket, and even the lowly Kei Igawa pitched 6 perfect innings for AAA Scranton while striking out 7.
-I usually don't feel bad for people, but Mike Hampton is back on the DL again with a strained pectoral muscle and will find a way never to play again. Gary Sheffield has a torn tendon in one of the fingers on his right hand, and will try to play once the swelling goes down. Rondell White had a similar injury when he was on the Yankees and had an awful season, so I don't know how well Sheff will do this year. My thanks to Yanks broadcaster John Sterling, who brought this point up yesterday.
-Inside sources have told SprungOnSports that a pack of wild pigeons near Yankee stadium have attacked three school children ironically named Davida Ortiz, Margie Ramirez, and Joan Papelbon. Take that, Red Sox scum!!

Fantasy Spin
-Johnny Cueto has the chance to be a truly amazing pitcher, and could win NLROY. His awe inspiring 10 strikeout, 1 run performance over 7 innings wowed the baseball world. Should we be getting carried away in a whirlwind of hype? ESPN baseball genious Jerry Crasnick will take us on a literary journey for our answer:
"Let's see -- Johnny Cueto is a 5-foot-10 Dominican pitcher with electric stuff, excellent control and a real feel for pitching." Crasnick told SOS. "I see dozens of Pedro Martinez comparisons in his short-term future. The kid looks great, but maybe we should give him a month before we get too carried away."
But getting carried away is the most fun part about doing the fantasy spin? Reds fans have a big reason to get excited, as do Cueto owners, but perhaps we should take this one day (or start) at a time.