The Sport Spy MLB Report - 4/8

Wednesday MLB Recap
-New York Yankees 2B Robinson Cano has hit safely in 16 consecutive games against Boston.
-New York Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira went 0-for-12 with three walks in the series.
-Milwaukee manager Ken Macha said RHP Jeff Suppan will get the first shot at the team's No. 5 starter slot.
-Houston Astros SP Brett Myers gave up a career-high 12 hits in his team debut.
-Philadelphia SP Cole Hamels needed 103 pitches to get 15 outs and never retired the side in order.
-Phillies 1B Ryan Howard has seven HRs and 18 RBIs in the past 12 games at the stadium - while his nine HRs at Nationals Park overall, is the most by any visiting player.
-Cubs' relievers have allowed 10 runs, eight earned, in two losses.
-Tampa Bay has started 2-0 for the second time in franchise history. The Rays are 111-53 at home since the start of the 2008 season.
-Chicago White Sox OF Andruw Jones will usually play the outfield when he's in the lineup rather than serve as the designated hitter, manager Ozzie Guillen said.
-Kansas City got three of its seven hits in the 11th inning off Jose Valverde, as the closer failed to record an out.
-Royals SP Luke Hochevar was 1-10 with an 8.21 ERA in his final 13 starts of the 2009 season. He and Monday's starter Zach Greinke have allowed one earned run in 13 2/3 innings in the first two games.
-Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu said that LHP Cliff Lee will throw 25 pitches off the rubber on Friday.

Philadelphia Phillies
-The Phillies improved to 2-0 with an 8-4 win over Washington at Nationals Park on Wednesday night. Philadelphia is off to their first 2-0 start since the 2003 season.
-Through their first two games of the season, the Phillies have scored 19 runs - the highest total since the beginning of the 1994 campaign at Colorado.
-Fifteen of the Phillies first 22 games this season will come away from Citizens Bank Park. Last season, through the Phils' first 22 games, only eight were on the road.
-Philadelphia is 13-7 in Kyle Kendrick's llast 20 road starts, as the right-hander is 8-5 with a 5.40 ERA in that span. He's allowed 3 ER or less in 16 of his 25 career road starts.

Detroit Tigers
-Detroit suffered a 3-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals in 11 innings on Wednesday night. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Tigers have compiled a 25-13 record in games played against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
-The Tigers current starting rotation averages 25.6 years in age - the youngest in the majors to open the season. Tmpa Bay has the second-youngest at 26.2.
-SP Dontrelle Willis enters with a 14-2 record and 3.33 ERA in 23 career starts during April. In his career, he has limited left-handed batters to a .204 batting average, allowing just nine home runs during his career to lefties.

St. Louis Cardinals
-SP Brad penny has made 12 career starts versus the Reds in his career, going 7-2 with a 3.36 ERA in those games. He has a seven-game winning streak versus Cincinnati heading into today's game. When pitching on the road versus Cincy, the right-hander has gone 5-1 with a 2.64 ERA in seven starts.
-The team plays six road games to kick off the 2010 season, heading to Milwaukee next. The Cardinals posted a 16-7 record in the month of April last year.

Chicago White Sox
-The White Sox were limited to just two hits in last night's 5-3 loss to Cleveland. 1B Paul Konerko homered for the second straight game to give the Sox a 3-0 lead in the third inning.
-Chicago used the same lineup in each of the first two games after using 126 in 2009.
-The Sox are hitting .148 with a 2.50 ERA and have outscored the Indians, 9-5.
-The White Sox and Phillies are the only teams in baseball to feature a pair of pitchers with 100 career sames.
-Since the start of the 2003 season, Chicago pitchers lead the major leagues with 611 quality starts - five more than the Cubs.
-SP Gavin Floyd amassed a 7.71 ERA through his first eight outings of the 2009 season, but went 9-7 with a 2.97 ERA in his last 22 starts.
-Floyd limited opponents to 14 stolen bases last year - down from a major-league high 37 in 2008.

Atlanta Braves
-A win tonight would give the Braves their first three-game sweep of the Cubs since May 2006. It would also be their first sweep to open the season since doing so in 2007 against Philadelphia.
-SP Tommy Hanson finished spring training with a 1-1 record and 2.45 ERA over 18.1 innings of work (5 starts).
-Hanson's .733 winning percentage in 2009 ranked fourth in the National League.
-The Braves leave town after tonight's ball game for a six-game, seven-day trip to the West Coast (San Francisco and San Diego).

Los Angeles Angels
-The Angels are looking to avoid a 1-3 start - which would be the slowest start after four games since an 0-4 showing to open the 1992 season.
-Following the homestand, the Angels travel to New York and Toronto.
-Angels' relievers have opened the season by tossing 10 scoreless innings, allowing just five hits while striking out seven.
-SP Joel Pineiro makes his Angels' debut tonight after posting a 4-0 record in spring training.
-Pineiro is making his 16th appearance, 15th start versus Minnesota. He's gone 2-6 with two complete games, while posting a 4.32 ERA.
-Pineiro hasn't had great success against Joe Mauer (.722) or Justin Morneau (.429) in his career.