Rookie Randy Wells, right, held the Braves hitless for 6 2/3 innings and took a 5-0 lead into the eighth inning.
It got a little dicey after that, but with one out in the bottom of the ninth, Chicago was up 5-3 with no one on base. Then Kevin Gregg (5.24 ERA) struck out Garret Anderson -- except the third strike got past catcher Geovany Soto and to the backstop, so Anderson reached first. And two batters later, Jeff Francoeur hit his first homer since May 1 to tie the game.
MLB Power Rankings:Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.
Well, that took freaking forever ... but the Blue Jays finally started to stink the joint up. I swear to you, you can't stay long atop the MLB Power Rankings -- our failure by osmosis jinxing ability is just too strong, son. At any rate, it was a weird week for ranking baseball: the Cubs continued to skid, the Padres went on a tear and Toronto fell off the face of the planet. So, yeah, spiciness ensued, and you may take the jump to see how badly your team fared. Unless you're a Rangers or a Braves fan, in which case they couldn't have done that poorly.
Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.
Joe Mauer has done everything he can to singlehandedly kill spring training as we know it.
Everyone else needs seven or eight weeks to get ready. But this guy gets 15 at-bats in minor-league camp, another 15 in Class A, and then shows up in the majors and hits .500 his first 10 games.
"Everyone keeps asking me what's going on," Mauer told FanHouse. "I really don't have any answer for that."
Remember Chris Shelton's nine home runs in the first 13 games for the Detroit Tigers in 2006? Stud or Shelton examines whether currently hot players are displaying a similar mirage or will continue to play at a high level.
In taking a glance at the Washington Nationals' record right now -- 11-21 -- and you could easily surmise that every starting pitcher has a losing record. I mean, they are 10 games under .500 and it's only May 15. Glance into their starting pitching stats, however, and you see something really odd. 5-0. Yep, someone is 5-0 -- meaning the team is 6-21 when he doesn't factor in the decision. This man is named Shairon Martis. Who the hell is he, and, more importantly, will this dazzling pitching continue?
Have you heard of San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg yet? He can leap buildings in a single-bound and he throws a ball faster than a speeding bullet. And he'll immediately be the Washington Nationals staff ace when they draft him first overall in this June's draft.
Actually, that last sentence isn't too far-fetched to many baseball people. Tony Gwynn, Strasburg's collegiate coach who knows a little something about major league baseball, has said himself Strasburg would be their current ace. Gwynn also, more recently, has stated he's worried about the workload of the young phenom. He even went as far as to say that he would shut down for the rest of 2009 if he were Strasburg.
MLB Power Rankings:Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.
What a zany week for a pair of pitchers with amazing stories: Zack Greinke is America's favorite story right now, somehow managing to be hotter than Twitter. (And if Oprah starts doing him too, I'm just quitting. And I mean everything.) Meanwhile, Rick Ankiel (you may hear word of this "podcast" we're doing about him, but that's because I'm shameless like that), a former star on the mound as well, nearly decapitates himself running into an outfield wall. And yet, life goes on. Just like our Power Rankings.
After failing to come through as the Nationals everyday leadoff hitter/center fielder, Lastings Milledge has been mired in the minor leagues. He's been living out of a hotel in Syracuse since the demotion, and he's only hitting .250 with a .602 OPS. He doesn't have a home run, but he does have 4 stolen bases. He's struck out 12 times and only walked 3.
It's true that Milledge does have loads of talent, and he's only 24 years old. He showed signs of that talent with a decent 2008 campaign -- when he hit .268 with 14 home runs, 24 doubles, and 24 steals. This is the selling point for the Washington Nationals, who need to just trade Milledge and move on.
To anybody who has had a chance to see San Diego State's Stephen Strasburg, it's pretty clear the kid is the best player available in the amateur draft this summer. With his 99 mph fastball and ability to locate pitches, the only thing that could possibly keep him from being chosen first by the Washington Nationals would be fear of the money Scott Boras is going to want for him.
If you were to ask his manager, Tony Gwynn, what he thinks the Nationals should do about their possible fears, he'd tell you that the Nationals need to get over it. After all, if Strasburg joined the Nationals today, right this very second, Gwynn says he'd already be the ace of their rotation.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what's ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the Marlins have had an interesting opening three weeks. After Sunday's 13-2 loss to the Phillies, which was so ugly that outfielder Cody Ross pitched the ninth inning, the Fish have dropped six in a row. That came immediately after they started 11-1.
"We're not an 11-1 team, and we're not an 0-6 team -- we're somewhere in the middle," manager Fredi Gonzalez said.
So now the Marlins are 11-7, having scored 93 runs and allowed 89 runs. That type of run production ought to leave them at a little over .500, which is where many prognosticators figured they'd be when the season began.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
Remember 
Have you heard of San Diego State pitcher 
After failing to come through as the Nationals everyday leadoff hitter/center fielder, 
To anybody who has had a chance to see San Diego State's 
Starting Five
