Around The Majors- Tuesday

Opening Day may be over for most teams in baseball, but not for all of them. I'll go through yesterday's night action, and preview today's games with the latest news and the fantasy spin of the day.

Last Night
-There were a lot of unexpected things going on between the Mariners and Rangers. Erik Bedard walked 4 in his 5 innings of work, Ichiro went hitless, and Kevin Millwood pitched six scoreless innings and lost. Jose Lopez drove in 2 for Seattle and JJ Putz closed the door on the 5-2 win from Arlington. Michael Young homered off Bedard in the first for Texas.
-For all the haters of Livan Hernandez, they were left a bit speechless after yesterday. The new Twin allowed just 2 runs over 7 innings as rookie Carlos Gomez had 2 hits, 2 runs, and 2 steals in a 3-2 win over the Angels. Jered Weaver allowed 3 runs over 6 and 1/3 frames for the loss, as Howie Kendrick had 2 hits and an RBI for LA. Pat Neshek struck out the side in the 8th, and Joe Nathan pitched the 9th for the save.
-It was a wild one at the Ted last night. Long after Ian Snell and Tom Glavine put out good efforts on the hill, the Pirates scored 4 times in the 8th and once in the 9th to take a 9-4 lead. Then Atlanta scored 5 times in the 9th off of Damaso Marte and closer Matt Capps to tie the game at 9. They then went to the 12th inning where Xavier Nady hit a 3 run bomb (his 2nd of the game) off of loser Blaine Boyer to give the Pirates a 12-9 cushion. Then Jeff Francouer homered to make it 12-10 and an RBI single by Mark Kotsay made it 12-11 before Pittsburgh finally got the final out to preserve the win. Nady and Nate McLouth each drove in 4 (McLouth also homered), and Escobar, Jones, and McCann each drove in 3 for the Braves. Atlanta's bullpen has to find a way to stop teams after their offense kept them in the game again with a 9th inning rally.
-Jake Peavy allowed no runs on 3 hits in 7 innings and had 2 RBI as the Padres blanked the Astros 4-0. Roy Oswalt allowed 11 hits for Houston but amazingly gave up only 3 runs in his 5 and 1/3 of work. Michael Bourn stole 2 bags for Houston.

Fantasy Spin
Three prominent players from last night's action; Carlos Gomez, Nate McLouth, and Michael Bourn are the subjects of today's Spin. All three are great assets in H2H leagues because of their speed, but which one is better? The one who can contribute in more than one category. ESPN Fantasy writer AJ Mass says that Pittsburgh's young OF is his man for the job: "McLouth over Gomez... due to his not being a one-cat wonder." Mass said, most likely referring to McLouth's homer last night. "I think I'd go Bourn over Gomez as well - I expect a better SB/AB rate for Bourn." As shown last night, Bourn will go almost whenever he gets on base, which will mean a lot of swiped bags if he improves his overall OBP. Another ESPN writer, Matthew Berry said that he thinks Bourn could steal over 60 bases this year. While Gomez and Bourn may only give you steals, McLouth is better than the two because he can help you out in other areas.

News & Notes
-Moises Alou said that he wouldn't have been able to catch the Bartman Ball even if the now infamous Cubs fan hadn't caught the ball. Wait...now who are they gonna blame? It looks like the 100 year old Scapegoat never gets a break. From farm fodder to Kerry Wood yesterday, it looks like the same Old Style for the Cubbies.
-The average big league salary is now over 3 million dollars, and somehow there was some sort of revelation that A-Rod makes more than the Marlins. In a sad and horrifying truth to Yankee fans, GM Brian Cashman made this astute point about the Marlins:
"They've won a championship more recently than we have as an organization. So there's many different ways to skin a cat,"
Cue the laugh track and a "ha-ha" from Nelson Muntz.
-Philadelphia has signed Olmedo Saenz off of waivers, perhaps more proof that the team wants to trade Wes Helms for relief pitching. God knows they need it. Someone who immediately comes to mind is Mike Stanton. Even if you just laughed at that notion, he can't do much worse than Tom Gordon, right? (insert truthful sounding reassurance to Phillies fans here)
-The Indians are being very secretive about Victor Martinez's injury, more on it as it becomes available. Kelly Shoppach would receive time in his absence.
-Bartolo Colon will start on Opening Day for the Red Sox in 2008, the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox. The former Cy Young award winner makes his start on Thursday. Where's Nelson?

Tuesday Night Preview
The Yankees will try again to start their season at 7 as Chien-Ming Wang and Roy Halladay go at it in The Bronx. The Mets send Pedro Martinez to the hill in Miami at 7 against the Marlins dynamic 2nd starter Rick VandenHurk. Two 8pm games include John Garlans and the Angels facing Boof Bonser and Minnesota and Colorado and St Louis opening the season for real now as Kyle Lohse faces Kip Wells in a battle from the scrap heap. There are four 10pm games today, including Boston and Oakland renewing their series from Cali as Blanton again faces Matsuzaka. Felix Hernandez takes the hill for Seattle as they play Padilla and Texas, Brandon Backe and Chris Young go in San Diego, and Cain-Lowe is the matchup as the Giants battle the rival Dodgers.