FanHouse Javier Lopez

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the Indians offense apparently busts out every 10 days, just like clockwork.

Cleveland scored 22 runs at Yankee Stadium on April 18 – and then scored 23 total in the next eight games.

The offense reversed course again Tuesday as the Tribe rallied from deficits of 5-1 and 7-3 to win 9-8 on a run in the bottom of the ninth inning and end Boston's 11-game winning streak.

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From now until the regular season begins, Fantasy Flings is where you'll find interesting story lines about your favorite teams from Spring Training. If there is a position battle, a nagging injury, a comeback story or a youngster making a surge for the "big club" we'll let you know the fantasy implications.

Boston Red Sox
What's the strength of this Red Sox club so far in spring? By looking at the numbers, it's their bullpen. The seven projected relievers in the bullpen (Jonathan Papelbon, Takashi Saito, Ramon Ramirez, Justin Masterson, Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima and Javier Lopez) have combined to give up only one run on six hits in 13 innings of work. Last season the Red Sox bullpen produced 34 wins and these seven pitchers struck out 456 batters. What does all of this mean for your fantasy club? It means that Paps is still a solid, lock down closer. It also means that if you're looking for cheap wins, strikeouts, low ERA's and WHIP's you should start by scouring the Red Sox pen. And if your fantasy league uses holds, the value from this list just went up.

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

Bad news for Boston fans Monday night. The Red Sox will place designated hitter David Ortiz on the disabled list after an MRI revealed the slugger had a torn tendon sheath in his extensor carpi ulnaris -- a muscle in the wrist. Ortiz is certain to miss at least a few weeks, though the Boston Herald has reported that he will miss at least a month and could face season-ending surgery.

Manager Terry Francona did not indicate the injury was quite that serious, though he will confer with Ortiz, GM Theo Epstein and the team's medical staff tomorrow in Boston.

Big Papi struggled in April, but he was his usual slugging self in May putting up a line of .318/.409/.617 (AVG/OBP/SLG) over the last month. No team in baseball is prepared to replace that kind of production, but the Red Sox are deeper than any other organization in the game and are prepared to make do while Ortiz gets healthy. Francona said after the game that reserve first baseman Sean Casey would likely see additional time while Ortiz is sidelined, but the most likely lineup Francona will put out there will probably feature Manny Ramirez at DH and Jacoby Ellsbury, Brandon Moss and maybe even Bobby Kielty or Kevin Youkilis splitting time in left field.

When asked about seeing more time as a designated hitter, Ramirez said "I love it. I love to DH," though he then went on to joke that if he played there too much it might hurt his chances at getting the Gold Glove he so covets. "It's nice to give him a blow and still keep his bat in the game," said Francona of playing Ramirez at DH.

If the Red Sox were merely losing Ortiz for a few weeks, there wouldn't be much to worry about, but Big Papi's injury is just at the top of a long list of concerns for the reigning champs.

Boston will miss Ortiz, but they'll do a very good job of filling the void in the short-term

Boston made its way into the record books late Saturday night, though it was for an incident for which they're certainly not proud. The Red Sox bullpen gave up seven runs in the top of the 11th, allowing the Indians to take a 13-6 lead. The seven runs were the most ever in LCS history for an extra-inning, no surprise. Eric Gagne crapped out once again for Boston, putting two men on after getting the first out in the inning. Javier Lopez followed only to surrender an RBI single to Trot Nixon of all people, wild pitch another run home, intentionally walk Victor Martinez, and give up an RBI single to Ryan Garko. Jon Lester allowed an RBI double to Jhonny Peralta, and a three-run home run to Franklin Gutierrez, for good measure.

Joe Borowski on the other hand, closed out the seven run lead without allowing a run in the 11th. Now exactly what twilight world are we living in? Wasn't the Boston bullpen supposed to be a strong suit, while the Cleveland pen was full of question marks? Whatever the reason, the Indians grabbed the coveted road split and now head home to the Jake tied up with the Red Sox in the best of 7 at 1-1. Jake Westbrook will go for Cleveland on Monday, while Dice-K counters for Boston. Given how poorly Sabathia pitched in Game 1, the Indians have to be pleased with where they stand.