The Sport Spy Sunday MLB Report - Winning Info Inside!

Saturday MLB Recap
-DH Jason Kubel hit the Twins' 10th home run in six games to help them win their fifth straight game.
-Five games into the season, the White Sox are 5-for-35 with runners in scoring position and are batting .186 on the season.
-Detroit manager Jim Leyland rested closer Jose Valverde along with relievers Joel Zumaya and Phil Coke.
-The Chicago Cubs rallied from a three-run deficit to claim its ninth win in the last 12 games against Cincinnati.
-Cubs SP Carlos Zambrano gave up three earned runs in seven innings, after allowing eight earned in 1 1/3 innings in his first start of the season. His nine strikeouts matched his season high from 2009.
-Cincinnati OF Jay Bruce was 0-for-3, dropping him to 1-for-18 on the season.
-Cubs' lineup has been relying on the long ball this year, scoring 12 of its 17 runs by virtue of the home run. Five of Saturday's starters came in batting .200 or less.
-Washington OF Willy Taveras drove in all four runs for the Nationals - hist first career 4 RBI game.
-Mets OF Jason Bay continues to struggle as he's failed to knock in a run for the 5th consecutive game.
-Milwaukee SP Yovani Gallardo is 0-3 with a 6.59 ERA in five career starts against the Cardinals.
-Brewers sluggers Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder went a combined 0-for-8.
-Seattle scored three runs in the top of the ninth for the victory. In 2009, Seattle trailed entering the ninth inning 66 times and won once without forcing extra innings.
-Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira snapped a 0-for-17 skid, which was the longest hitless streak to begin a season in his career.
-Toronto SP Dana Eveland allowed five hits in 7 1/3 innings, as the left-hander permitted only two runners to get past second base and retired 13 of the final 15 batters he faced.
-The Blue Jays are 2-0 at Camden Yards this year, after going 1-8 in 2009.
-Baltimore 2B Brian Roberts did not play and expects to be sidelined for the next several days. He's replaced by Julio Lugo - who had two hits on Saturday.
-Philadelphia leads the majors with 41 runs and is hitting .337.
-Houston is 0-5 for the first time since the 1983 team lost its first nine games.
-Dodgers manager Joe Toree said that C Russell Martin, OF Andre Ethier and OF Manny Ramirez will all be given the day off on Sunday.

Los Angeles Dodgers
-The Dodgers have enjoyed great success in this stadium over the last four seasons, winning 11 of the last 15 games that have been played here since 2006.
-SS Rafael Furcal leads the team with a .381 average and has scored at least one run in all five games this season.
-SP Charlie Haeger impressed during spring training, going 2-0 with a 2.20 ERA over six games (two starts).
-Haeger limited batters to a .188 average in 2009, while left-handed batters are batting just .203 against him in his career.

Detroit Tigers
-The Tigers posted a 4-2 win over the Cleveland Indians on Saturday, marking the club's eight straight victory over the Indians dating back to September 1, 2009.
-Detroit's pitching staff is tops among all American League clubs with a 2.54 ERA.
-OF Magglio Ordonez enters today's game hitting .324 during his career against Jake Westbrook. Ordonez is tied for the lead among all active players with three home runs against him.
-The Tigers have turned eight double plays in the club's first five games this season - the most in the American League.
-SP Justin Verlander posted a 4-0 record and 0.90 ERA in four starts against the Cleveland Indians during the 2009 season. He topped all major league pitchers with a 0.90 ERA and 41 strikeouts against them.
-Verlander is second among all active American League pitchers with 35 wins at home since the start of the 2009 season (Roy Halladay 39).

Cleveland Indians
-Four of the top 7 teams in Team ERA in the American League are in the AL Central.
-The Indians bullpen has allowed just 4 runs on 5 hits in 18 innings of work thus far, limiting hitters to a .093 average against.
-Offense is currently 14th in the American League in runs scored with just 14 runs in 5 games. Cleveland has hit just 1 home run in 5 games (last in the AL)
-SP Jake Westbrook is 29-37 with a 4.62 ERA in 101 career outings (80 starts) on the road, while his career ERA at home is 4.03
-Westrook is 4-8 with a 6.05 ERA in 20 games (17 starts) against the Tigers, including a 3-5 mark and 6.00 ERA at Comerica Park. He's held Tigers 3B Miguel Cabrera to 3-for-20 hitting against him.

Chicago White Sox
-The White Sox have lost four straight games as they conclude a season-opening, six-game home stand this afternoon. Four losses have come by a total of six runs and two have come in extra-innings.
-Chicago is 1-4 versus the American League Central, after going 34-38 in 2009.
-Through the first turn in the rotation, the White Sox pitchers own a 2.32 ERA, second-best in the American League behind Texas (1.76). Jake Peavy is the only member of the rotation without a quality start.
-Rank last in the American League with a .143 average (5-for-35) with runners in scoring position, including 2-for-17 in this series.
-SP Mark Buehrle is 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA in his last four starts against the Minnesota Twins. Overall at home, the left-hander is 13-7 with a 3.54 ERA in 21 starts.

Baltimore Orioles
-OF Nick Markakis is 9-for-18 with five HRs and six RBI against Shaun Marcum in his career, while 3B Miguel Tejada is 6-for-13 with 3 HRs and 7RBI.
-The Orioles and the Minnesota Twins are the only teams in the major leagues without a fielding error this season. The Birds have turned the second-most double plays in the AL.
-Baltimore has allowed at least one run in the 8th inning or later in each of their five games this season, a total of seven runs in the 8th or 9th innings.
-Team has had 12 men reach base via walk (10) or hit by pitch (2) in the two games against Toronto, but only three of those runners have come around to score.
-The O's are 8-for-46 (.174) with runners in scoring position through five games and have left 39 runners on base. Baltimore batted .284 with RISP in 2009 - finishing 2nd in the AL.
-SP Kevin Milwood is 2-4 with a 5.33 ERA in nine career starts against Toronto. He shut out the Jays for 7.2 innings in his last start against them (7/11/09).

Philadelphia Phillies
-The Phillies have collected 63 hits over their first five games, which ties the club record for most 10-plus hit games to start a season.
-Philadelphia's 41 runs over their first five games this season are the most for the team over the last 60 years.
-Team has struck out 26 times in 187 at-bats in 2010, which is tied for the fewest among all MLB teams with (CWS).
-Last season against NL Central teams, the Phillies went 23-16 (COL, 31-11).
-In 2009, the Phillies finished 28-17 in day games, as their .622 winning percentage led all National League teams.
-SP Roy Halladay is 17-8 with a 3.02 ERA in 35 career games (31 starts) against NL teams.

Florida Marlins
-Earned their first come-from-behind win of the season last night against the Dodgers at Sun Life Stadium. Since manager Fredi Gonzalez took over as skipper in 2007, Florida has tallied 127 come-from-behind wins, which is tied with the Angels for the fourth-most in the Majors in that span.
-The Marlins are 2-1 vs RHP and 1-1 against LHP early on in the 2010 season.
-SP Anibal Sanchez is mkaing his first start and appearance of 2010. The right-hander was 1-3 with a 6.38 ERA in six spring starts. This will be his third career start against the Dodgers, going 0-1 with a 1.50 ERA. He last faced them in 2006 when he held Los Angeles scoreless on just three hits on August 15.

Boston Red Sox
-A win today gives Boston its 1st series victory of 2010 and 5th straight win or split of a set versus the Royals. The Sox have won or split the season set vs KC in 8 of the last 9 years since 2001.
-The Red Sox lead the Majors with a 73-36 (.670) mark versus the AL Central since the beginning of the 2007 campaign.
-Josh Beckett improved to 6-0 with a 2.26 ERA in his 8 career starts against the Royals, with wins in each of the last 5 contests.
-SP Clay Buchholtz made 5 starts during spring training, going 2-1 with a 6.75 ERA. He has two career starts against the Royals, both coming at Kauffman Stadium (1-1, 2.84 ERA).
-Buchholtz lost just one of his final 10 starts of the 2009 regular season, going 6-1 with a 4.07 ERA beginning August 19.

New York Yankees
-The Yankees are now 3-2 on their season-opening road trip, after beating the Rays, 10-0, at Tropicana Field on Saturday.
-C.C. Sabathia picked up his first win in five starts against Tampa Bay as a Yankee. 1B Mark Teixeira (3-for-4) snapped a career-worst 0-for-17 start to his season.
-Saturday's game marked the 16th time in 204 all-time regular season games the Yankees have shutout the Rays and the second most-lopsided shut out win in thie history of the series.
-Over the last four games, the bullpen has given up just 1ER and 0BB in 11.2 IP, going 2-0 with a 0.77 ERA.
-SP AJ Burnett owns a 11-4 record and a 2.77 ERA in 21 career starts against Tampa Bay - marking his most wins and starts against any opponent. He went 4-0 with a 1.97 ERA in five starts against the Rays in 2009 and is undefeated in his last six starts against them.

Tampa Bay Rays
-The Rays are 3-2 on the homestand with all three wins of the come-from-behind variety. A victory today will match the club's best-ever record after six games.
-Embark on a 10-game, 11-day road trip after today's game. Tampa finished 17 games below .500 on the road in 2009, as their .247 home-road differential in winning percentage was the largest in the majors.
-Tampa Bay has never won a series against the Yankees (3 or more games) in April.
-1B Carlos Pena has hit 15 home runs against the Yankees and Red Sox since joining the Rays in 2007 - the combined total is 13 more than any other player.
-SP James Sheilds is 0-4 with a 5.61 ERA in 4 career starts against the Yankees at Tropicana Field.

Chicago Cubs
-The Cubs have held a lead in all five games this season.
-Chicago has homered in four of its first five contests and the team's eight long balls this season rank tied for second in the NL and tied for third in baseball. Chicago's eight homers have been hit by seven players. Through five games last season, the Cubs had hit 10 home runs.
-Todays game is the third (1-1) in a stretch that sees Chicago play nine-straight games against the NL Central.
-RP Carlos Marmol has converted his first two save opportunities of the season. Dating back to August 3 of last season, he has successfully converted his last 14 save situations.
-SP Tom Gorzelanny combined to go 7-3 with a 5.55 ERA in 22 games (7 starts) for Pittsburgh and Chicago. He recorded a 5-2 mark with a 4.22 ERA on the road last season.

Atlanta Braves
-The Braves trail 22-13 in the series in games played at AT&T park - their worst winning percentage at any ball park since that time. For the Braves, this is the third game of a six-game, seven-day road trip to San Fran and San Diego.
-Atlanta scored in each of the last four innings to post a 7-2 win over the Giants last night. SP Derek Lowe allowed a career-high seven walks (two intentional).
-Team has out-hit their opponents in four of their five games and rank tied for fourth in the majors with 78 baserunners this season. The Braves rank tied for third in majors in runs (30) and fourth in on-base percentage (.368)
-Pitching staff leads the majors in team ERA (2.40) and ranks second in fewest base runners allowed, with just 50 through the first five games.
-SP Kenshin Kawakami is 0-4 with a 3.71 ERA in six career starts against the NL West.

Houston Astros
-The Astros have enjoyed success against Philadelphia in recent seasons. They were 6-2 vs Philadelphia in 2009, which included a 4-game sweep vs them at Minute Maid Park.. Additionally, since 8/17/04, the Astros are 26-15 vs Phi.
-Houston's 15-11 records on Sunday's last season was their best on any day.
-SP Roy Oswalt's 3.23 ERA since 2001 is 2nd in the majors behind only Roy Halladay (3.13)
-OF Hunter Pence has 9HR and 19RBI in 19 career games versus the Phillies. He's hitting .338 (25-for-74) in those games.
-Oswalt's current 6-game winning streak vs Philadelphia ties as the 2nd-longest in franchise history.
-The right-hander is 40-24 with a 3.51 ERA in 82 career games (76 starts) during the day.