The Red Sox clearly have an issue behind the plate. The Rangers went nuts yesterday, stealing 9 bases before the end of the 5th inning. Victor Martinez was replaced later on by a pinch runner, but it is becoming very clear to opponents that he simply cannot throw out very many baserunners. Nelson Cruz had 3 steals last night, Elvis Andrus had 3, and even Vladimir Guerrero got in on the act and had 2 as well. This development could very well signal the end of David Ortiz's starting job, as they may need to shift Martinez to DH and have Varitek catch. And since Ortiz is hitting worse than Varitek is at this point, this may actually improve the team overall.
Edit: I didn't notice when I wrote this up that Tim Wakefield had pitched, which clearly didn't help matters either.
Onto Tuesday's top performers...
Hitters:- Elvis Andrus (TEX): 0-2, 3 SB, R
- Nelson Cruz (TEX): 2-4, R, RBI, 3 SB
- Vladimir Guerrero (TEX): 1-4, 2 SB
- Victor Martinez (BOS): 3-4, R, RBI
- Darnell McDonald (BOS): 2-2, R, HR, 3 RBI
- Jose Reyes (NYM): 4-5, 2 RBI
- Alex Rodriguez (NYY): 1-2, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI
- Kurt Suzuki (OAK): 2-4, R, HR, 2 RBI
- Miguel Cabrera (DET): 2-5, 3 RBI
- Kendry Morales (LAA): 3-4, 2 R
- Howie Kendrick (LAA): 1-3, 3 RBI
- Troy Tulowitzki (COL): 2-4, 2 R, HR, RBI
- Jorge de la Rosa (COL): 2-3, R, 3 RBI
- Christian Guzman (WAS): 4-5, R, RBI
- Ryan Zimmerman (WAS): 3-5, R, HR, 2 RBI
- Rickie Weeks (MIL): 2-3, R, 2 RBI
- Ryan Braun (MIL): 1-3, R, 2 RBI
- Willie Bloomquist (KC): 3-4, R
- Alberto Callaspo (KC): 2-3, R, RBI
- Vernon Wells (TOR): 3-4, 2 R, HR, RBI
- Chase Utley (PHI): 2-5, R, 2 RBI
- Matt Kemp (LAD): 2-5, R, HR, 3 RBI
- Casey Blake (LAD): 2-5, R, 4 RBI
- Joey Votto (CIN): 2-3, R, HR, 3 RBI
- Jorge Cantu (FLA): 2-4, R, HR, 2 RBI
- Hunter Pence (HOU): 2-3, 2 R
- J.R. Towles (HOU): 2-4, 2 RBI
- Carl Crawford (TAM): 3-4, R, HR, RBI
- Paul Konerko (CHW): 3-4, R, HR, 2 RBI
- Andruw Jones (CHW): 2-4, R, HR, RBI
- Justin Morneau (MIN): 2-3, R, RBI
- Ryan Ludwick (STL): 3-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI
- Kelly Johnson (ARI): 3-6, R
- Mark Reynolds (ARI): 1-2, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI
- Gerardo Parra (ARI): 2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI
- Ichiro Suzuki (SEA): 2-4, R
Pitchers:
- Carlos Zambrano (CHC): 6 IP, 9 K, 2 ER, 9 BR
- Mike Pelfrey (NYM): 7 IP, 6 K, 0 ER, 3 BR, W
- Scott Kazmir (LAA): 5 2/3 IP, 7 K, 2 ER, 6 BR, W
- Kevin Jepsen (LAA): 1 IP, 3 K, 0 ER, 2 BR, HLD
- Dave Bush (MIL): 7 IP, 2 K, 0 ER, 7 BR, W
- Kyle Kendrick (PHI): 8 IP, 2 K, 0 ER, 6 BR
- John Danks (CHW): 8 IP, 9 K, 1 ER, 4 BR, W
- Kevin Slowey (MIN): 8 IP, 9 K, 1 ER, 5 BR, W
- Jonathan Sanchez (SF): 7 IP, 10 K, 1 ER, 4 BR
- Mat Latos (SD): 7 IP, 2 K, 0 ER, 5 BR, W
- David Hernandez (BAL): 6 1/3 IP, 2 K, 3 ER, 9 BR
- Jason Vargas (SEA): 7 IP, 5 K, 1 ER, 5 BR, W