Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz hit two HRs yesterday and now has 10 this season.  That total ties him with three other players (Josh Hamilton, Mike Napoli and Carlos Quentin) for the American League lead.  Since beginning the year 3-43, Big Papi has hit .312 and is hitting 354/447/692 in the month of May.  If there is a chance of buying Ortiz for less than a 2nd round pick, it is very small.

In the marquee pitching match-up of the day, Cliff Lee of the Cleveland Indians and Edinson Volquez of the Cincinnati Reds faced off.  Lee entered with a 0.67 ERa and Volquez with a 1.12.  Cliff Lee circa 2007 showed up and left the game with a 1.37 while Volquez saw his ERA rise just a smidge to 1.33 despite walking four to bring his season total to 30 in 54.1 innings.  I wonder if the Cliff Lee owner would trade him for Edinson Volquez and vice versa.

The Seattle Mariners sent C/DH Jeff Clement to AAA following yesterday's game.  He was just 8-48 with 20 Ks so I can't argue that he deserved to stay up.  I wonder how much rope RF Wladimir Balentien has.  He is only 14-64 so far with 23 Ks and just four walks.  Clement drew seven free passes - one less than Jose Lopez and Yuni Betancourt combined with 329 ABs.  There's a hint to the M's offensive problems here somewhere.

St. Louis Cardinals' rookie reliever Chris Perez picked-up his 1st major league win.  He pitched the 9th inning of a tie game which the Cards won in their final AB.  Ryan Franklin has a lock on the interim closer's role, but he has just 11 Ks versus 10 BBs in 22 innings of work.  Additionally, he has more fly outs than groundouts, too.  If Jason Isringhausen struggles all season, I'd bet on Franklin's peripherals that Perez gets a closing shot by season's end.

When the season began, who projected the Tampa Bay Rays would enter interleague play at 24-17 and in 1st place?  Probably not the St. Louis Cardinals who likely figured this series to be a favorable one.

The Rays likely felt the same way about the Cardinals who enter tonight's play at 24-19.  While not in first, the team is much stronger than anyone could have imagined given the rotation, outfield, and infield troubles that fed the pre-season projections for a miserable season.

The big fantasy question entering tonight's game is how the Cardinals structure their bullpen following the disabling of closer Jason Isringhausen.  Ryan Franklin has gotten the initial save opportunities, but the team just called-up their top reliever prospect, Chris Perez .

Perez was a 1st round pick out of U. of Miami in 2006.  He has always been a reliever.  Even back in at Miami, he managed just five starts over 70 appearances with no starts in his final season there.

He started his second full season at AAA Memphis where he struck out 22 batters in 18.2 innings of walk.  For his minor league career, he has a 11.65 K/9 and has allowed just 55 hits in 101.2 innings pitched.  That explains his closer-in-waiting status.

The question is how long before he closes.  Will tonight's game provide any clue?