FanHouse OrlandoHudson

ARLINGTON, Texas -- At the start of this three-game series, there was a thought this would have been a good test for the up and coming Rangers, who lead the AL West.

It turned out to be a nice test -- and confirmation -- for the Dodgers, who own the best record in the game.

After three humid days and nights at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Los Angeles took two of three games here and will head back to Southern California happy.

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

There's an awful, awful fantasy baseball stigma that's attached to players who struggle in April and May. See: Papi, Big. Although his is much worse because he's a bulky DH declining swiftly; additionally, he's not a pitcher with the potential to be labeled "inconsistent" or "a slow starter."

Like, say, you know, CC Sabathia. Or Cole Hamels. Or Dontrelle Willis. Okay, scratch that last one -- he's just kind of insane kooky. But the point is this: Tuesday night was a suddenly wonderful bit of relief, because we got to see some big pitching names come through with nice outings.

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 are trying to find rock bottom.

"It would be nice to win some of these games," pitcher Cliff Lee said. "I think a lot of them we could have won if we had done some things a little different."

Cleveland has lost four straight games to fall to 14-26, blowing leads in three of them, including a seven-run lead last Friday and a four-run lead Tuesday.

The latter included letting a three-run lead in the ninth inning at Kansas City evaporate, as closer Kerry Wood (right) allowed two homers and a triple in a four-run rally.

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From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.

I think we can all agree that it's far too early to start voting upon who the best 2009 players are when it's only the middle of May. That being said, there are certainly some shining stars at this point who deserve some props. Plus, Major League Baseball recently released their All-Star ballots for our voting pleasure -- we vote on who will start the All-Star Game. If that's not important, I don't know what is. Let's take a gander.

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 Cubs put an ugly finish to an ugly 2-4 road trip, losing 10-0 to the Diamondbacks. It's early, and they are 10-10, but so far the Cubs have not looked like the runaway best team in the National League that they were supposed to be. Manager Lou Piniella knows something is wrong.

"We're beginning to find out those other teams want to kick our butts. You're not going to win without playing with intensity every day, and the quicker that sinks in, the better."

Besides simply playing poorly, the Cubs have had to deal with Milton Bradley's issues and injuries, and now a problem that might land Aramis Ramirez on the DL. This weekend the Cubs will play the schizophrenic Marlins, so we'll see which team shows up, on both sides of the field.

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MLB Power Rankings: Where we care what you've done for us lately when we break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world each week.

HAVE YOU HEARD? YANKEE STADIUM HAS A WIND TUNNEL!!! Does it matter/is it real? Probably not. In fact, it might actually be on the other end of the spectrum of importance when compared to MLB Power Rankings. This week, we welcome another brand new No. 1 at the top of our rankings, although, all spoiler alerts aside, it's from the same division as last week! Debate the quality of your team, after the jump.

LOS ANGELES -- Manny Ramirez came bouncing down the stairs, baggy uniform and dreads flapping, and Dodger Stadium erupted.

They had been waiting all winter, through months of contract negotiations that ended precisely where they began, to see this sight. The love affair between Ramirez and Los Angeles has picked up right where it left off.

LOS ANGELES -- Orlando Hudson needed only six innings to do something that no one had done in nine innings in Los Angeles Dodgers history.

Hudson hit for the cycle in his first four at-bats, starting with a single, then a homer, then a double then a triple against the Giants. The only other LA player to hit for the cycle was Wes Parker, who did it in 10 innings on May 7, 1970 at Shea Stadium in New York.

The last Dodgers player to hit for the cycle in a nine-inning game was Gil Hodges, who did it for Brooklyn on June 25, 1949.

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Diamondbacks began 2008 white-hot and were considered a legitimate World Series contender, storming out to record 12 games over .500 on May 18. They then proceeded to slap together two straight sub-.500 months, managing a 22-33 record in May and June, scoring just 90 runs in the latter monht.

When the Dodgers finally acquired Manny Ramirez, well, things snowballed and Arizona suddenly found itself out of the playoffs altogether.

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Los Angeles Dodgers.

When Manny Ramirez first suited up for the Dodgers on Aug. 1, they were muddling along at 54-54, two games out in the NL West and with a team OPS of .697.

Then Manny was Manny as much as he's ever been, and over the final two months the Dodgers went 30-24 with a .798 team OPS. They won the division and swept the Cubs in their NLDS before losing to Philadelphia in the NLCS.