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Derek Jeter took one step closer to history with a first-inning double giving him 2,998 career hits. He went hitless in his next four at-bats so he enters Friday just two hits away from becoming the 28th player in MLB history to reach the 3,000 hit mark. The New York Yankees next three games are at home against the Tampa Bay Rays. Jeter is 1-for-2 lifetime against Friday's probable starter Jeremy Hellickson and has a .309 career average against Rays pitching.

So how likely is it that Jeter can record two hits on Friday?

Of his 2,361 career games he has recorded two or more hits 881 times (37.3 percent). He has two or more hits in 19 games this season including three in his last 11 games. And he has four, two-hit games over his last nine contests versus the Rays.

Elsewhere around the league two teams got down early but refused to lose in the end.

The Chicago Cubs overcame an 8-0 deficit by scoring 10 runs in the final four innings to defeat the Washington Nationals. It's the first time the Cubs have erased an eight-run deficit to win since May 30, 2008 against the Colorado Rockies. The Elias Sports Bureau tells us that prior to Thursday’s victory, the Cubs were 0-567 all-time in road games in which they trailed by eight or more runs in the sixth inning or later.

Over in the American League, the Cleveland Indians scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays thanks to a walk-off grand slam by Travis Hafner. Entering Thursday, Hafner had hit only one home run in his previous 81 at-bats in Late-Inning Pressure Situations, dating back to September 2009. It was the second walk-off grand slam this season; the other was also by the Indians, on April 29 versus the Detroit Tigers by Carlos Santana. Oh and the last team to have multiple walk-off slams in a season? The Indians in 2002.

Finally we head west to highlight an ace that is making a strong case to start this year’s All-Star game.

Since Los Angeles Angels starter Jered Weaver suffered a four-game losing streak in May he's gone 5-0 with a 1.27 ERA. Thursday he recorded his fourth complete game of the season, tied for third-most in MLB. His 1.86 ERA through 19 starts is the second-best in Angels' history.

Weaver has also now gone five straight starts with 7+ IP and 1 ER or fewer allowed, which is tied for the third-longest such streak in Angels' history and longest since Mike Witt had a five-start streak like that in 1986. The only longer streaks are two six-start streaks, by George Brunet in 1968 and Dean Chance in 1964.

Today’s Trivia: On Monday, the Los Angeles Angels' Jered Weaver looks to become the first American League pitcher since Zack Greinke in 2009 to win each of his first six starts. Who was the last American League pitcher to lose each of his first six starts in a season?

Weaver is off to one of the hottest starts in the American League, but there are several others who are not:

• The New York Yankees' Brett Gardner is hitting .140, which ranks last among 187 qualifying hitters. He’s 0-for-21 with 10 strikeouts on at-bats ending in an off-speed pitch.

• Gardner’s teammate Nick Swisher is 4-for-43 (.093) against right-handed pitches, a year after hitting a career-best .285 with 25 home runs against them.

• As a member of the Washington Nationals last season, Adam Dunn hit .314 with 24 home runs on at-bats ending in a fastball. In his first season in the American League, Dunn’s hitting .067 with two hits in 30 at-bats.

• The Chicago White Sox's Alex Rios is hitless in his last 20 at-bats, and has seen his batting average drop to .160. Last season, on pitches down the middle, Rios hit .392. This season? 1-for-12 (.083).

• The Angels Vernon Wells is 1-for-29 (.034) with two strikes in the count.

• Boston Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury already has struck out looking 11 times this season, tied for the most in the majors.

• The Oakland Athletics' Daric Barton is 0-for-19 this season on pitches located up in the strike zone or above the strike zone. Last season, he hit .315 (34-108) on those pitches.

• With a 29.4 swing percent, Cleveland Indians catcher Carlos Santana has been swinging at fewer pitches than anyone else in the league. (He was at 38.7 last season.) But the bigger discrepancy is his swing percent at pitches in the strike zone. Last season it was 61.9. In 2011, it’s just 47.2, fifth lowest in the majors.

Sunday was Derek Jeter’s first four-hit game before the month of May since April 9, 2001, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Jeter now has 36 four-hit games in his career, tied for third among Yankees in the Live Ball era (since 1920). Lou Gehrig has the most with 53 followed by Earle Combs’ 37.

Staying with the Yankees, A.J. Burnett is 8-0 in the month of April as a member of the Yankees, and 18-24 after April. The Yankees will be facing Phil Humber tonight at Yankee Stadium. Opponents are hitting just .061 (2-33) against Humber’s off-speed pitches this season.

Trivia Answer: In 2007, Jered’s brother Jeff Weaver was 0-6 after six starts for the Seattle Mariners.

WHY THEY WON…
How Red Sox starter Jon Lester improved to 12-0 lifetime against the Orioles:
- Lester got 13 groundballs against 5 fly balls. At 72.2 pct, that’s his highest percentage since April 23 (also against Baltimore).
- The Orioles did not put 1 of Lester's 13 two-strike fastballs in play and struck out 4 times against the pitch.
- Lester got 6 of his 7 strikeouts on pitches low in the strike zone. He kept the ball out of the middle of the zone vertically, with 92 of his 100 pitches judged by Inside Edge to be either up in the zone, down in the zone, or out of zone high or low.

How Tigers starter Justin Verlander beat the Mariners:
- He had a miss pct of 27.9 (2nd-best this season).
- His chase pct was 34.0 (2nd-best this season).
- He threw and offspeed pitch on his first pitch 34.5 pct of the time (2nd-most this season).
- His offspeed stuff set up his heater: 8 swings-and-misses (2nd-most this season) and 7 K (most this season) vs fastball.


WANT MORE…
Ubaldo Jiménez had a rough 3rd Inning. How rough?

- Allowed 1st career grand slam (Travis Ishikawa).
- Allowed as many earned runs (7) as he did in April and May combined.
- Had given up 7 ER in a start just twice in career prior to Saturday
- ERA rose from 1.83 to 2.33<>Through 3rd inning (not after)

Stephen Strasburg struck out 5 in 5 innings. His 53 strikeouts in his first 6 games are 3rd-most all-time.



Saturday’s Longest No-Hit Bids
Saturday was the 2nd day this season that 2 pitchers each took a no-hit bid into the 7th inning. The 1st was June 13, when Ted Lilly and Gavin Floyd did it in the same game. Randy Wells and Bruce Chen each made it through 6 full innings before allowing a hit leading off the 7th. Chen had been perfect through 6, which was the first time in 7 starts this season that he took a perfect game bid beyond the 1st inning. In all 6 of his previous starts, he allowed a hit in the 1st inning.

Rolling Rookie
How about the consideration for a rookie, with 3 weeks of major league experience to make the All-Star team? We’re not talking about Stephen Strasburg, but Indians rookie Carlos Santana, who ranked 2nd among the teams’ hitters in WAR. The catcher position for the American League, with injuries to multiple players of significance, is a bit on the depleted side, and there’s a vacancy for an Indian with Shin-Soo Choo headed to the disabled list. Santana was 0-for-3 Saturday, but his 2 walks gave him 17 in 21 games and kept his on-base percentage well above .400

Managing similarity
Saturday was Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson’s 2nd game. In his 2nd game as a player, his team won, 14-1. Today in his 2nd game as manager, his team lost, 14-1.


LOOKING AHEAD…
CHICAGO CUBS
Mike Leake has allowed a .529 (9-17) opp BA (league average: .314) on 1st pitches during his current 4-game losing streak.

NEW YORK YANKEES
Mark Teixeira has not had a hit against Toronto's right handed-pitchers (0/8). He is batting .111 when behind in the count (1/9), batting .000 when ahead in the count (0/5) and 2 of his 3 hits against Toronto in 2010 came off the 1st pitch of the at-bat.

Quick Hits: The weather is heating up and so are the hitters. Here’s a look at a few players who are crushing the ball in the month of June.

• Marlon Byrd is batting .516 (16-31) this month, raising his average on the season to .329.
• Victor Martinez, who hit just .238 in April and .276 in May, is batting .486 in June.
• Julio Borbon, who got off to a terribly slow start this season, is on fire in June, batting .467.
• Carlos Pena already has 5 home runs this month, two more than he had in all of May and matching his total from April.
• Josh Hamilton may be the month’s hottest hitter, he’s batting .436 with 4 home runs a league-leading 15 RBI.

Today’s Trivia: In what has already been a great week for rookies, top catching prospect Carlos Santana has been called up to make his debut for the Indians tonight. Who was the last Indian to win the rookie of the year award?

Today’s Leaderboard: Luke Gregerson and Mike Adams each pitched a perfect inning of relief in the Padres win in game one of their double header on Thursday. Gregerson and Adams lead the majors in perfect relief appearances of at least one inning.

Key Matchups: Jim Thome and Tim Hudson will likely face off for the first time since 2005 tonight. In his career against Hudson, Thome is batting .563 (9-16) with 4 home runs, 9 RBI and 2.057 OPS.

David Ortiz is slumping again, batting .037 with 0 home runs in his last 8 games. Maybe facing Jamie Moyer will wake him up again. Ortiz is batting .361 with 5 home runs against Moyer. The only pitcher which Ortiz has taken deep more often is Roy Halladay (6 home runs).

Trivia Answer: Current Indians first base coach Sandy Alomar Jr. won the award in 1990, in what turned out to be a great rookie class. Among others receiving votes: Kevin Appier, John Olerud, Travis Fryman and Robin Ventura.

You don't always have to settle for a patch -- sometimes it pays to go with a whole new suit. Take the Astros' predicament while Lance Berkman was out. Pedro Feliz or Geoff Blum at first base -- what were the Astros thinking? Their hands were somewhat forced by the seven-man bullpen and the 40-man roster, but let's face it, when the in-house alternative is a non-rostered repeat reject Chris Shelton, it wasn't like they had a Plan B. That said, a number of teams have problem positions -- but also on-hand aid they should plug and play.

Atlanta Braves
Problem: Corner offense from a lineup with a .255 True Average (11th in the NL).
Solution: More Eric Hinske (.280 TAv 2008-10).

Troy Glaus has had a fine career, but he's 18 months and a major shoulder surgery removed from everyday play at first base, and he's struggling. Melky Cabrera's gone from leading off on Opening Day to someone the Braves don't trust. Whether spotting for Glaus at first base against tougher right-handers, or for Cabrera in left when they can risk Hinske's DH-worthy outfield glove when ground-ballers Derek Lowe or Tim Hudson take the bump, the lineup needs more of the lefty slugger.

San Francisco Giants
Problem: Todd Wellemeyer in the rotation.
Solution: Anybody else.

Whatever black magic veteran hurlers benefit from while working with Dave Duncan in St. Louis, Wellemeyer wasn't getting any benefit there last season (5.89 ERA), and watching him get lit up now (9.58 ERA) should remind people that by April, you really need to take down the Christmas tree. Even if prospect Madison Bumgarner isn't ready, the Giants can easily turn to organizational soldiers Joe Martinez or Kevin Pucetas, and get back that 40-man roster slot spent on Wellemeyer.

Cleveland Indians
Problem: The Lou Marson Era behind the plate.
Solution: You can't go wrong playing some Santana.

The Indians are in the mediocre AL Central, so you have to consider them contenders by default. And with a .233 team TAv that ranks 28th in the majors, they can't afford to skip scoring all season. Marson was supposed to be a good catch-and-throw guy with just enough offense that maybe he'd stick around. He's been hopeless at the plate (-.117 TAv), and scouts haven't been impressed with his receiving skills now that he's handling big league pitchers. Meanwhile, all-world catching prospect Carlos Santana is destroying the International League, hitting .341/.413/.683, which translates to a .351 TAv in the bigs. The Indians are obviously trying to delay his service time, but they're minimizing their already slim playoff chances in the process.

Chicago White Sox
Problem: Getting offense at DH and Catcher.
Solution: It's springtime, so plant Flowers.

It's already just a matter of time before left-handed-hitting catching prospect Tyler Flowers arrives to stay in The Show. He's already off to a decent start at Triple-A Charlotte (translated .261 TAv), and the South Side needs runs, ranking 27th in MLB in True Average at .243. A.J. Pierzynski (.145 TAv) is cold at the plate and in the walk year of his contract. And while Mark Kotsay is a popular bench player, he's not a starting DH (.127 TAv). Between the DH at-bats against right-handers and the opportunity to sit Pierzynski to get Flowers time behind the plate, the Sox should squeeze in Flowers as soon as possible.

Oakland Athletics
Problem: Offense from outfield and DH.
Solution: Play Jake Fox now or Chris Carter and Michael Taylor later.

Fox may be a bad defender at all five corners (since he's also the club's backup catcher), but his PECOTA-projected .275 TAv shouldn't go to waste while Travis Buck, Rajai Davis, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Eric Chavez are all struggling. Davis has to play center with Coco Crisp on the DL, and Bob Geren's been mixing and matching, but he may as well give Fox some more reps as there is a good chance he's the best hitter of the bunch.

Christina Kahrl is an author of Baseball Prospectus.

Starting today we are going to start unveiling our top 25 players in the majors under the age of 25.

The criteria to make the list:

- Must be under 25 years old on Opening Day 2010.
- Must have MLB experience.
- MLB results matter more than projected future stats or “talent” level. (If we were doing a list based on potential, Jason Heyward, Carlos Santana, Buster Posey and Austin Jackson etc. would be on this list).
- Our 25-man "team" must carry ordinary MLB requirements (two catchers, all positions and DH covered plus a bench and 12 pitchers).

We'll unveil the bottom 5 today and work our way up the next 4 days.

25. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, TEX, 24
2009: .233 BA, .290 OBP, 9 HR in 84 games.
-In danger of earning the dreaded lifetime prospect distinction, “Salty” should start behind the plate for the Rangers this season. His tools can’t be ignored, and legitimate power-hitting catchers are not easy to find. But legitimate power-hitting catchers do not have a .180 WHAvg, .371 SLG% nor an OPS of .661, and his 33% chase percentage and 31% K% do not help his case either. But every team needs two catchers, and this one is no different. A strong season from Saltalamacchia could do well to justify his spot on this list; otherwise, he’s a mere placeholder for the likes of Carlos Santana or Buster Posey in 2011.

24. Elvis Andrus, TEX, 21
2009: .267 BA, .329 OBP, .702 OPS, 33 SB
-Of the top 14 stolen base leaders in the American League last year, only Ian Kinsler (.327) and B.J. Upton (.313) had worse OBP numbers then Andrus. In a Texas system that should produce some top notch offensive talent in the next couple years (ESPN’s Keith Law ranked the Rangers’ organization as the number one farm system in baseball), Andrus can improve his runs scored and stolen base totals significantly if he can make better contact in the zone (.662 OPS on pitches in strike zone last year) and work some walks with a little more frequency (7.4% BB% in 2009). With Julio Borbon at the top of the order, there won’t be too much pressure on Andrus to produce offensively, particularly given his ability with the leather.

23. Asdrubal Cabrera, CLE,
2009: .308 BA, 68 RBI, 81 runs, 17 SB, .799 OPS
- Cleveland’s switch-hitting shortstop took some solid steps forward in 2009, but was still vulnerable against breaking pitches from both sides of the plate. Cabrera hit .125 on 198 curves and sliders on the inside part of the plate last season. Pitchers needed to work the inner third effectively, because Cabrera hit .333 on the outer third. However, even with the 49-point average jump from 2008, Cabrera’s OBP only saw a 15-point spike, and his walks percentage (7.6%) is still well behind the league average of 8.9%. However, he can get away with it at times because he’s so hard to finish off. Cabrera only strikes out in 31% of 2 strike at-bats, missing 17% of swings with 2 strikes, and won’t help pitchers early, chasing only 15% of pitches in non-2 strike counts. Those numbers will almost certainly help him improve on his walks percentage in 2010, showing why he’s a very viable option to lead off the Cleveland order.

22. Daniel Bard, BOS, 24
2009: 3.65 ERA, 63 strikeouts in 49.1 IP
- While Bard’s ERA might not impress you for a reliever, the 3:1 K/BB ratio certainly will. Daniel’s 100MPH fastball coupled with a crafty slider allowed him to effectively work out of jams, keeping 76% of inherited runners from scoring. 52 percent of Bard’s innings were completed in 1-2-3 fashion, and 22 percent of his outs recorded came via a 4-pitch or fewer strikeout.

21. Neftali Feliz, TEX, 21
2009: 1.74 ERA, 39 strikeouts and 8 walks in 31.0 IP
- Feliz had a tremendous, but brief stint in the majors this past season. In 20 appearances, Feliz held opposing batters to a .124 batting average. Feliz turned 2-strike at-bats into outs 89 percent of the time (league avg. = 72 percent). With a WHIP of .677 and a K/BB ratio of nearly 5:1, Feliz represents the Rangers as their closer of the future, and perhaps present.

Check back tomorrow for players 16-20.

The name Carlos used to evoke an image of power and strength. But no more.

Carlos Delgado is hurting. Carlos Beltran is hurting. Carlos Quentin and Carlos Zambrano were hurting (Zambrano showed power and strength in attacking a Gatorade cooler). Carlos Pena led the AL in home runs, but is coming off a season with a .227 batting average, and I’ve read some say he’s heading into a decline coming into his free agent season. Carlos Lee produced, with a .300 batting average and 26 home runs (his fewest since 2002), but his teams win total declined by 12 from 2008 to 2009 and finished with just 75 victories. Carlos Guillen played in his fewest games (81) since 2000.

Over the last three seasons, the Carlos’s have slugged 502 home runs. Only one first name has slugged more home runs than that, and we’ll note which that is at the conclusion of this post.

What we’re left to wonder for 2010 is a question which we pose to you.

Can you tell us which Carlos will hit the most home runs in 2010?

The lead candidate for the top spot would seem to be Pena, and his three straight 30+ home run seasons (a Carlos has hit 30+ every year since 1997), but is it not possible that Lee could maintain the consistent level necessary to wrest away the top spot (he’s hit 25+ in eight straight seasons)?

Or could Quentin hit home runs at the same rate that netted him 36 in 2008? Beltran would seem to be a longshot, and Zambrano would be good for some yuks, but a fun pick might be a year or so away- top Indians catching prospect Carlos Santana hit 23 in Double-A last season.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section, or vote in our "Carlos" poll.

And by the way, the first name with most home runs over the last three seasons: Ryan, with 617.