FanHouse Ryan Sadowski

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

You Oughta Know ...
That every once in a blue moon, a pitcher doesn't even have to throw a single pitch to get a win. How? Rockies reliever Alan Embree demonstrated Tuesday night against the Nationals. He entered the game with two outs in the top of the eighth and the score tied at 4-all and Washington outfielder Austin Kearns standing at first base.

Embree caught Kearns leaning off the base a little early and ensnared him in a rundown -- a rundown in which the southpaw hurler ended up making the putout.

The Rockies scored in the bottom of the inning and the journeyman gave way to closer Huston Street, who locked up what became easily the least work-intensive victory of Embree's career.

"Then I end up with the ball [in the rundown] somehow, and I'm going, 'What just happened?'" Embree said. "And then I came in and they went, 'You're done. Do you think you can go tomorrow?'

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Ryan Sadowski's mere presence in the major leagues is a testament to his persistence.

As the 26-year-old Giants right-hander prepared to try to extend the 13-inning scoreless streak to start his career, he said he wasn't even sure he'd be here.

"You have doubts every day," he said, "especially when you have overcome a few things."

A few things?

On Monday, we shared Ryan Braun's request for action from the Brewers' front office after a rough trip to Wrigley Field exposed the shortcomings of their starting rotation.

Although Braun's impolitic handling of his teammates was acknowledged, it was hard to see his comments as anything more than a player in a leadership role making an honest assessment of his team's needs.

General manager Doug Melvin feels differently.

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 milestones keep coming for Albert Pujols. He went into the record book in grand fashion Friday night, belting his 31st home run of the season. The drive was his fourth grand slam of the season and 10th of his career, both Cardinals' franchise records. The latter mark nudges him past Stan Musial on the club list.

"He broke Stan Musial's career record?" manager Tony La Russa asked. "I'll go bow to his feet here in a second. That's a serious point to make."

Pujols is on pace to finish 2009 with 61 home runs. And just in case that's not enough for you, it came in the eighth inning with the Cardinals down 3-0 to the Reds. St. Louis went on to beat Cincinnati 7-4.

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Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

"This concludes our test of the emergency attendance enhancement system. We now return to the regularly scheduled season."

Yes, the 13th season of interleague play wraps up Sunday, except for a Cubs-White Sox makeup game. We have survived six San Diego-Seattle games (that's more zeroes than an A-Rod paycheck).

We didn't learn much we didn't already know: the system has inherent flaws and the American League rules.

For the sixth straight year, the AL has had** the better record in interleague play – 129-108 going into today.

Take out Cleveland and Oakland, and the AL is 119-84.

"It probably is" as big a gap between leagues as in past years, one AL team official said, "until you get to the World Series. Then it doesn't matter."