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Exactly one year ago, Buster Posey went from sure thing to question mark. It wasn’t because of anything he failed to do, it wasn’t because he hadn’t fulfilled every expectation for his greatness. If anything, it was a matter of professional hazard: He was a catcher protecting home plate, and when Scott Cousins took his shot at scoring, Posey was there, trying to make a play. Instants later, Posey went from the best young catcher in baseball to a young man in agony at home plate.

Giants fans were understandably devastated. Posey was the best thing to happen to catcher offense since Mike Piazza. His rookie-season performance -- hitting .305/.357/.505 with 18 home runs, gunning down 29 percent of stolen-base attempts and winning the National League Rookie of the Year award -- created a heightened expectation of what was to come. He was the new bright light on a defending champion; a first-rounder who hadn’t just lived up to his promise, he’d taken the Giants to the promised land. And then, one play at the plate later, Posey was dealing with a case of career, interrupted.

Now, one year later, we can say that interruption, however avoidable, however unfortunate, has cost Posey little in terms of what he’s able to do. One year later, and he’s hitting like the same kid catcher who provided so much joy in 2010: .297/.364/.473, not very different from the .297/.366/.479 line that ESPN Insider’s Dan Szymborski projected for him via ZiPS before the season. Posey is fourth in OPS+ and OBP among regular receivers, sixth in slugging, seventh in homers. Quibblers might note that Posey is throwing out just 22 percent of stolen-base attempts, but when people are testing you scarcely more often (0.77 attempts per nine innings) than they do Yadier Molina (0.69), that’s a sign of respect of what Posey is to this day: A big-league catcher.

Losing sight of Posey’s comeback might be easy, especially after the Dodgers’ torrid start. The Giants have had more than their share of problems beyond that: Brian Wilson’s broken beyond repair this season and Pablo Sandoval’s out with a broken hand for a few more weeks yet. Tim Lincecum has delivered just one quality start in 10 this season, and took another beating at the hands of the Fish Friday night. The long-standing Aubrey Huff versus Brandon Belt debate over who should be playing first base has been fairly pointless with both men’s bats missing in action.

But in the big picture, Posey is just the leading example of how much is going right for the Giants already. He joins Melky Cabrera’s crazy-good start, and Posey’s handling a pitching staff that, outside of Lincecum’s woes, may very well be the league’s best. In the two wild-card-team era, that’s something any skipper could work and win with.

You can consider me an interested party as an observer to Posey’s misfortune because, this time last year, I’d selected Posey in ESPN’s franchise player draft. I’d picked Posey before he suffered the injury, but the horror of this play at the plate came before we went to press. In an act of generosity, I was asked if I wanted to change my pick from Posey, taking anyone left on the board. I thought about it … and I said no.

I said no because I believed, or because I wanted to believe, not just in Posey’s promise of what could be, of what was supposed to be, but because I wanted to believe that he’d be back, that he would be every bit the player he’d already been and was always meant to be. I believed because I’m a fan, and in the way that every fan wants to see players play, I wanted to see Posey play again. Call it faith if you want, faith in a player, faith in the miracle of modern orthopedics, but I believed Posey would be back.

It wasn’t simple fandom on my part, and I don’t think any of us kid ourselves over the amount of work that went into his getting back on the field. Frankly, as a Northern Californian and an A’s fan in the late ’70s, I grew up hating the Giants, resenting the affection they received from a fawning press still buzzing off a contact high from Willie Mays, where Charley Finley’s franchise received -- and deserved -- derision. No, if I was a fan of anything, it was Posey’s game, a fan of what baseball deserves, of what he deserves.

So, seeing Posey take the field in Florida to face the Marlins on this unhappy anniversary, you can consider me guilty of a contact high of my own, one that comes from getting to say that this is one of those happy non-news stories: That Buster Posey remains the player he’s supposed to be. And whether you root for the Giants or against them, that’s a beautiful thing, all by itself.

PHOTO OF THE DAY
Christina Kahrl covers baseball for ESPN.com. You can follow her on Twitter.

SweetSpot blogger Dave Schoenfield and I had plenty to talk about on Thursday’s Baseball Today podcast!

1. Cole Hamels let his pitching do the talking about Bryce Harper and the Nationals Thursday, but each time Hamels throws it reminds us of his talent and contract status.

2. Albert Pujols speaks out about his slump! Do we buy his excuses or not?

3. Was Arizona's win over the Dodgers on Wednesday an important win?

4. Our emailers want to know about strength of schedule, ballpark gamesmanship, Drew Sutton and some of the more interesting pitcher-hitter matchups to watch for years to come.

5. Smaller schedule for Thursday but the amazing Justin Verlander is on the mound, as well as the only pitcher in baseball who provides a quality start each and every time out to the mound.

So download and listen to Thursday’s Baseball Today podcast and get ready for Friday’s fun show!

In response to Cleveland Indians closer Chris Perez complaining about the team's attendance -- the Indians rank last in the majors in per-game average -- I wrote a little bit about Cleveland's attendance in Clearing the Bases. Susan Petrone of "It's Pronounced Lajaway" had an analogy today, comparing Indians fans to an abused dog: It will take time for the Indians to earn the fans' trust.

That makes sense; one decent season and a good 40 games won't send fans flocking to the ballpark. Still, the attendance problems are a little odd; this isn't Tampa Bay, where the fans have never shown up, or Pittsburgh, where the Pirates haven't fielding a winning team since 1992. This goes beyond waiting for a team to win or a city's economic climate, although all that factors in a bit. It's perhaps worth noting that when the Indians had their great attendance run from 1995 through 2001 the team was not only good (six playoff seasons in seven years) but the Browns were also absent from 1996 to 1998. The Cavs, a strong team through much of the '90s, collapsed in 1999 and suffered through a string of terrible seasons. So the Indians built up a following right at the exact right time. The Oakland A's similarly attracted their largest gates when the Raiders were in Los Angeles.

In most cities, baseball attendance can be cyclical and bandwagon. A decade ago, the Mariners led the major in attendance; but after years of boring, lousy baseball, the Mariners now rank 28th. The Indians, however, aren't boring or lousy. They're in first place. I suspect the front office needs to do a better job marketing the team. And if the team keep winning, the fans will eventually start showing up again.

• A good piece on ESPNW about women who are running minor league teams.
• Rory Paap has an excellent take on Matt Cain, who is pitching better than ever.
• Jon Weisman wrote this before Chad Billingsley's start Sunday night, but it's all about Billingsley's reputation to have "meltdown" innings.
• One of the few bright spots for the Brewers has been catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who is hitting .342. J.P. Breen breaks down Lucroy's hot start and says he's been hitting the ball well to right field.
• Bill Baer breaks down one critical at-bat from a weekend, when Shane Victorino swung at the first pitch after a walk bases loaded. Is that dumb baseball?
• A big week for the Nationals, as they get the Phillies and Braves on the road.
• One Angels fan is starting to feel a little depressed over this team.

SweetSpot blogger Dave Schoenfield and I argued so much on Thursday’s Baseball Today podcast that fisticuffs nearly ensued! OK, that last part isn’t true, but it was fun!

1. David Robertson blows up in the ninth inning Wednesday, which some say means he can only pitch in a setup role. We can’t begin to describe how ridiculous that is.

2. Meanwhile, Josh Beckett is out playing golf, eating chicken and drinking beer. Talk about a story that isn’t a story ... until Dave calls him the most overrated pitcher of the past decade. True or false?

3. Jake Peavy is pitching like a star and Tim Lincecum is not. Which right-hander would you choose for the rest of the season?

4. Our emailers have thoughts about ripping the surprising starts for the Baltimores and Clevelands of baseball, as well as schedule strength for the last-place Red Sox and Phillies.

5. On Thursday’s schedule we’ll get an exciting matchup in the Bronx as well as Nationals stud Stephen Strasburg on the hill, but there’s a certain AL Central pitcher that really needs to step up!

So download and listen to Thursday’s energetic Baseball Today podcast, and learn why you never leave a baseball game early. Ever.

Guillermo Mota became the third major leaguer ever to receive a 100-game for a second positive drug test, joining Manny Ramirez and Eliezer Alfonzo.

The loss to the Giants is probably minimal, although not necessarily insignificant since Mota did throw 80 innings of something close to league-average relief in 2011. Combined with the injury to closer Brian Wilson, the San Francisco bullpen is thinner than it appeared back in March, although still deep in quality arms with Santiago Casilla, Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt and Javier Lopez, plus the up-and-down Clay Hensley. Top relief prospect Heath Hembree could also be ready soon as he's pitching well at Triple-A Fresno.

The biggest concern is that Mota owned a rubber arm, something Casilla and Romo haven't shown. Casilla's career high in innings is 55.1 while Romo's is 62. As dominant as Romo was a year ago (29 hits, five walks and 70 strikeouts in 48 innings), Bruce Bochy basically uses him as ROOGY. Those 48 innings came in 65 appearances; this year, he's pitched in 10 games but just eight innings. With Mota out, Bochy may look to extend Romo a little more; we'll see how his arms responds.

The best news out of this: The Giants activated Aubrey Huff as Bochy said the team will go with an 11-man staff for now. This makes a lot of sense, considering the Giants are without Pablo Sandoval. Bochy should be looking to maximize matchups on offense, not defense.

Mota's agent says he used a children's cough syrup that contained trace substances of Clenbuterol and will appeal the suspension. Hey, it worked for Ryan Braun.

There's not a whole lot else to read into this other than it's a reminder that baseball isn't completely clean and also that hitters weren't the only players using performance-enhancing drugs and stimulants all these years.

A season ago, San Francisco Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval fractured his right hamate bone in late April, an injury that cost him 41 games. Almost one year later, he's fractured his left hamate bone and will presumably miss a similar number of games.

It's a crushing injury to the Giants, a team without an obvious replacement at third base, let alone one who can come close to matching Kung Fu Panda's production.

We're talking about one of the 10 best hitters in the National League. Sandoval didn't quite have enough plate appearances in 2011 to qualify for the leaderboards, but among those with 450 PAs, he ranked sixth in the NL in OPS+, 14th in wOBA and 11th in wRC+. Considering some of those ahead of him left the league (Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols) or were expected to regress (Lance Berkman, Michael Morse, Jose Reyes), Sandoval is one of the most valuable players in the NL. He was off to a .316/.375/.537 (AVG/OBP/SLG) start, with five home runs and 15 RBIs. The Giants' offense, last in the NL in runs scored in 2011, is ninth this season.

But there's the problem: Once you get past Sandoval and Buster Posey and Melky Cabrera, it thins out in a hurry. Brandon Belt hasn't homered in 44 at-bats, Angel Pagan has a .279 on-base percentage, Brandon Crawford is hitting .215 with a .234 OBP, and Ryan Theriot and Emmanuel Burriss have combined for one extra-base hit in 88 at-bats.

As for third base, Wednesday night the Giants inserted Theriot at second and moved Joaquin Arias from second to third. Burriss also played there later in the game. Arias is a 27-year-old infielder who last played in the majors in 2010. He hit a robust .232/.272/.353 at Triple-A Omaha last season. The fact that he's even on the big league roster tells how thin the Giants are; in fact, why a team would want four light-hitting middle infielders on their roster in Crawford, Theriot, Burriss and Arias is a bit confounding. Yes, blame the injury to Freddy Sanchez if you want, but it's still poor roster management.

So if Arias is the guy who gets more playing time, you're talking about a player who is probably below replacement-level. Sandoval's WAR a year ago was 6.1 -- in 117 games. (That total was helped by some excellent defensive metrics, which he wasn't replicating so far this year.) Still, if we consider him a six-win player and he misses a quarter of the season, we're talking about two to three wins in lost value, considering the likely production from Arias & Co. Aside from that, the complicating factor is how Sandoval returns from the injury. Last season, he did fine, hitting .315 after coming back. But there is no guarantee he won't have some minor ill effects this year.

I see this as a bigger blow than Evan Longoria's injury; at least the Rays could turn to a won't-kill-you platoon of Elliot Johnson and Jeff Keppinger. The Giants have a guy who couldn't hit Triple-A pitching a year ago.

First base: Carl Crawford out, Red Sox on a roll. On a day where sources indicated the Red Sox left fielder will miss another three months (a timetable Crawford denied), Boston pounded out 12 hits and 10 runs in roughing up Philip Humber for its fourth straight victory. Suddenly, that lineup is looking imposing, as only the Rangers have scored more runs. Even without Crawford, without Jacoby Ellsbury, and with Kevin Youkilis still struggling, the Red Sox are hitting .293/.346/.490. But Youkilis went 3-for-4 Thursday, including his second home run. David Ortiz is still hitting over .400, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia is slugging .587. This team won't be going away so quietly.

Second base: Marshall law broken. Big win for the Giants as Angel Pagan hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the ninth inning off Reds closer Sean Marshall. Pagan homered off a curveball, and you can't fault Marshall for throwing the pitch: Pagan hadn't homered off a curveball the past four seasons, and had one extra-base hit off a curve all last season. And for members of the Brandon Belt fan club: He went 2-for-4 and is now hitting .273, although he did strike out twice.

Third base: Tigers release Brandon Inge. I guess the Tigers needed somebody to blame after getting swept by the Mariners at home. Inge was 2-for-20 this season and after hitting .197 last season, the leash was short on the 34-year-old veteran. I suppose some team could give him a shot as a utility guy, but it's also possible Inge's 12-year-career -- all with the Tigers -- is over. He came up as a catcher and played for those miserable 2002 and 2003 clubs that lost 106 and 119 games, respectively. He moved to third base and became a terrific defensive third baseman, even making the All-Star team in 2009.

Home plate: Tweet of the day. Humber wasn't quite as good in his first start since his perfect game.

Philip Humber allowed 9 runs vs #RedSox, the most by a pitcher in his 1st start after perfect game, from #Elias (Catfish Hunter allowed 8).

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 27, 2012

Philip Humber's perfect game was the most impressive performance of the week. But it actually finished tied for the best pitching performance of the season by one of our favorite metrics. And the pitcher whom he tied is worthy of attention, too.

Game Score, devised by Bill James, rates a pitcher’s start based on innings, runs, hits, strikeouts and walks. An average Game Score is typically 49 to 50. Almost every Game Score finishes between 0 and 100 and you can think of the rating as similar to a test score (the higher the better).

Humber finished with a 96 (in order to score a 100, he’d have needed four more strikeouts) for his Saturday game against the Mariners. He was the second pitcher to post a 96 this season. Matt Cain posted a 96 against the Pirates on April 13 when he pitched an 11-strikeout, no-walk one-hitter.

Cain’s last two starts account for two of the five-highest Game Scores this season. He registered an 85 or better in each of his last two starts.

It’s rare for a pitcher to post three straight starts with a Game Score of 85 or higher. Four pitchers did it from 1994 to 1998 -- David Cone (1994), Randy Johnson (1994 and 1997), Curt Schilling (1998) and Roger Clemens (1998). No one has done so since.

Cain starts tonight against the Reds, a team he was 2-0 against last season, allowing two runs in 17 innings.

What has Cain done best this season? How about this: Left-handed hitters are 4-for-43 against Cain in his three starts. Cain has succeeded by pitching left-handed hitters away. He’s thrown 72 percent of his pitches to lefties on the outer-third of the plate or further away. Cain started working lefties away with greater emphasis last season, when he threw 58 percent of his pitches to that area (up from 50 percent in 2011). It worked. He held lefties to a .185 batting average.

First base: Nate the great. Giants outfielder Nate Schierholtz had a day to remember as the Giants swept a doubleheader from the Mets. In the opener, he went 3-for-5 with a triple and home run. In the nightcap (do they call it a nightcap?), he went 3-for-5 with another triple. His six hits is as many (or more) as the Pirates have gotten in eight of their 15 games. Tim Lincecum won his first game, but he scuffled through five innings, throwing 108 pitches and walking five batters. He escaped with just one run allowed, but it was hardly the effort to suggest he's back on track. By the way, Pablo Sandoval's home run in the nightcap (sticking with it) was a mammoth blast high into the second deck at Citi Field.

Second base: A's are Peaved. Fact I did not know until tonight: Jake Peavy did not throw a complete game when he won the National League Cy Young Award in 2007. He threw just the 10th one of his career on Monday night, beating the A's 4-0 with a 107-pitch, three-hit gem. He's now 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA and all his peripherals are outstanding: .172 average allowed, 26/4 strikeout/walk ratio, one home run in 28.2 innings. His other three starts came against Texas, Detroit and Baltimore, so this all positive for Peavy. He hasn't made 20 starts in a season since 2008 but if he stays healthy, suddenly the White Sox look five-deep in their rotation -- and never count out a team with a deep rotation. The Sox are tied with the Tigers at 10-6 and have a +18 run differential compared to Detroit's +5. As White Sox utilityman Brent Lillibridge tweeted after the game, "Hop on #WhiteSox fans. It's starting to get fun around here. @JakePeavy_44 outstanding tonight, commanded from the 1st pitch."

Third base: Thanks, Pudge. Ivan Rodriguez officially retired on Monday and threw out the first pitch at the Rangers' game. But he added a cool twist to the usual ceremonial throw.

Home plate: Tweet of the day. ESPN play-by-play announcer Dan Shulman with a novel suggestion that we should all rally behind ...

I vote that this year they decide home field in the World Series by having Matt Kemp and Josh Hamilton square off in a home run derby #mlb

— Dan Shulman (@DShulman_ESPN) April 24, 2012

With a perfect game and a very imperfect Boston Red Sox performance in our rear view mirror, but very much on our minds, Mark Simon and I gathered for Monday’s Baseball Today podcast!

1. First of all, kudos to Chicago White Sox right-hander Philip Humber for the 21st perfecto in big league history. Humber was an unlikely candidate, but the team he beat wasn’t.

2. As for the Red Sox, we don’t want to say they or they're manager deserve this rough start, but there’s plenty of blame to go around. And credit the Yankees for coming back from a 9-0 deficit.

3. It’s Power Rankings day! See where the struggling Phillies and Angels fell to this week, as well as which potential contender falls to the bottom five.

4. Simon says defenses are doing something to Albert Pujols that is wise, but a bit unprecedented. As for Pujols himself, is all going to be well?

5. And our emailers have thoughts on players that had three home runs among five hits in a game (Mickey Brantley!), why Aubrey Huff should never play second base again, and making the most outs per at-bat.

So, download and listen to Monday’s fun Baseball Today podcast, as Bias Cat triumphantly returned (as did our producer), and a good time was had by all. Except the Red Sox fan.

First: Cliff Lee was incredible against the Giants, throwing 10 shutout innings to become just the third pitcher this millennium to do that in a ballgame, and the first since Mark Mulder did it against the Astros on April 23, 2005. And before you ask, the last time anyone dialed it up to 11 a la Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap? The incomparable Dave Stewart back on August 1, 1990. (This little bit of baseball tidbit joy has been brought to you by Baseball-Reference.com, as if you didn’t already know.)

Second: OK, that’s pretty amazing. But what’s even more amazing? He didn’t even have the highest game score in that ballgame. Matt Cain did, outpointing Lee 86-85 by allowing just three baserunners in his nine shutout innings to Lee’s seven hits and seven K's. Admittedly, Game Score might be sort of sabermetrics’ answer to figure skating-style judging, but to put these nights into perspective, neither game would rate among the top 300 starts by game score from 2000-2012. So, really good, but not as good as Cain’s smackdown of the Pirates on Friday the 13th -- his last time out -- when he had a Game Score of 96. That’s awesome, but that’s Cain in a nutshell. Even when the other guy’s getting the immediate attention, whoever that guy may be, Cain might just be the better pitcher.

Third: In contrast, Bartolo Colon’s Game Score while shutting down the Angels was 79, which is good, but he had two starts that were actually better in May for the Yankees. Of course, those were against the Athletics and Orioles, neither of whom had Albert Pujols in their lineup. Which might make me the Russian judge of Game Scores, because beating the Angels now seems a lot more impressive than beating the A’s or O’s then, especially when he had Seth Smith and Jonny Gomes patrolling the outfield corners.

Home: Tweet of the Night, on what baseball rumbles must really be about:

Whenever benches clear and nothing happens, I like to imagine that everyone had to rush the diamond to hold an impromptu Socratic seminar.

— Steph Bee (@StephBee118) April 19, 2012

Christina Kahrl covers baseball for ESPN.com. You can follow her on Twitter.

On Tuesday’s Baseball Today podcast I’m joined by Keith Law, and starting pitching is clearly on our minds from Monday night.

1. Tim Lincecum is not off to a very good start, but is there truly cause for concern? And what does Lincecum’s future have to do with Madison Bumgarner’s new contract?

2. Justin Verlander tossed a whole lotta pitches to win Monday’s game, but at least he earned his first win! Keith talks pitch counts and what they mean.

3. An emailer asks about pitch counts for younger fellows like Stephen Strasburg, and whether they are necessary. Also, why were the stands so empty for Strasburg’s Monday outing?

4. Speaking of the fans, which teams have the best ones? Our answer might surprise you.

5. We take a closer look at Tuesday’s schedule, including the real reason why people should be watching the Miami Marlins, plus the old guy in Coors Field and why is Tyson Ross a starter?

So download and listen to Tuesday’s Baseball Today podcast. There was bias, but no bias cat. Meow.

Thirty years ago, many baseball executives would have looked at Madison Bumgarner's 3.21 ERA and 13-13 record and said he doesn't know how to win.

We know better now, of course, which is why the San Francisco Giants signed the 22-year-old left-hander to a six-year, $35.56 million deal that buys out his first year of free agency and includes $12 million options for 2018 and 2019 (which can escalate if he finishes in the top three of the Cy Young voting or wins the award).

Bottom line: If he stays healthy those options years will be an absolute bargain. Consider the 2012 salaries of some middle-of-the-rotation starters:

Derek Lowe, $15 million
Ryan Dempster, $14 million
Bronson Arroyo, $12 million
Kyle Lohse, $11.9 million
Ervin Santana, $11.2 million
Edwin Jackson, $11 million

Tim Lincecum, Bumgarner's teammate, will make $40.5 million over the next two seasons, and while Lincecum's résumé includes two Cy Young Awards, there's an argument to be made that Bumgarner was the better pitcher in 2011. In just 12.1 fewer innings, Bumgarner walked 40 fewer batters, allowed three fewer home runs and had a far superior strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.15 to 2.56). Lincecum allowed fewer hits, but some of that can be explained by Bumgarner's .322 batting average allowed on balls in play. Only four qualified starters allowed a higher mark, so with a little regression in that category you can see why some people considered Bumgarner a sleeper Cy Young candidate this year.

For what the Giants will be paying Lincecum over two seasons, they will potentially get for three years of Bumgarner down the road. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Take it even one step further: If Bumgarner improves just a bit, and with his ability to throw strikes, the obvious comparison is Cliff Lee. That's how good he could be and why I do see a Cy Young Award in his future. And the Phillies are paying Lee $21.5 million this year and $25 million per year from 2013-2015. Bumgarner would vest at $16 million in 2018 or '19 if he wins the Cy Young Award, a salary the Giants would happily pay.

The risk, as it is with any young pitcher, is health. Bumgarner did have a dead arm in spring training of 2010, although recovered to eventually join the Giants rotation later in the season and help them win a World Series as a rookie. Bumgarner's contract is also the largest ever given a pitcher with fewer than two seasons of experience. Still, it seems like a good risk for both sides. Bumgarner gets the guaranteed payday and even if he ends up being underpaid relative to performance by the end of the contract, he'll still be just 30 years when he hits free agency after 2019 -- a year younger than Lee was in 2010.

Considering his age, the Giants would be wise to be cautious in his pitch counts for at least another season. He averaged just 97 pitches per start last season, with only three starts of 120-plus pitches. I'd like to see him handled the way the Dodgers limited Clayton Kershaw in 2010, his age-22 season, when Kershaw averaged 105.9 pitches per start. With the right amount of caution, the Giants can turn Bumgarner loose in 2013 ... and maybe, like Kershaw, he'll be the owner of shiny trophy.

Follow David Schoenfield on Twitter @dschoenfield.

First base: Matt the bat. Yes, that's right, the Baltimore Orioles are back in first place and Matt Wieters is a big reason why. The Orioles scored once in the eighth against the White Sox (Wieters homered), twice in the ninth (Nolan Reimold homered after he could have been rung up on strikes and then Adam Jones also homered off Hector Santiago) and then six times in the 10th (Wieters with the final blow, a grand slam off Zach Stewart, Baltimore's first extra-inning grand slam since Harold Baines in 1999). The two-homer, five-RBI game increased Wieters' numbers to .344/.462/.750. Look, it's a small sample size, but Wieters improved with the bat in 2011 and maybe he's taking another step forward. He has seven walks and just four strikeouts and if he continues controlling the strike zone like that you may see him improve on the 22 home runs he hit last year. Tough loss for the White Sox, one strike away from winning.

Second base: Lincecum roughed up again. I watched the first inning of the Phillies-Giants game as Tim Lincecum struggled again, allowing four runs. After Placido Polanco doubled and Jimmy Rollins walked, Hunter Pence lined a hanging slider into center for an RBI single. Shane Victorino than flared a ball into center that Angel Pagan had no chance on since he started the play from the Golden Gate Bridge. He was playing so deep it prompted the Phillies' announcers to comment on it and wonder if he played that deep with the Mets. It's worth nothing that Pagan graded out as minus-8 runs below average in Defensive Runs Saved in 2011 (after grading plus-16 and plus-21 in 2009 and 2010). Something for Giants fans to keep an eye on. Anyway, Laynce Nix then lined a curveball down the right-field for a two-run double. Lincecum has now allowed nine first-inning runs in three starts, after allowing just eight all last season. He did settle down after the first and went six innings with five runs ... lowering his season ERA to 10.54.

Third base: Morales of the story. Kendrys Morales hit his first home run since May of 2010, a three-run shot in the first inning off Brandon McCarthy. Congrats to him as he continues his comeback from two years of injuries. Albert Pujols went 2-for-4 and scored two runs in the Angels' 6-0 victory but remained homerless. The A's were shut out for the third time in six games. In other good news for the Angels, Vernon Wells drew his first walk of the season! (Although Morales has yet to draw a freebie.)

Home plate: Tweet of the day.

From Orioles outfielder Adam Jones:

Unreal team effort. Everyone gave everything they had. All we ask.

— 10 (@SimplyAJ10) April 17, 2012

If you've seen the video of the controversial triple play from the Padres-Dodgers game on Sunday, you'll see umpire Dale Scott initially raise his hands indicating a foul ball on Jesus Guzman's bunt attempt. As the ball then rolled fair, Scott reversed his call and Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis proceeded to start a triple play, snuffing a potential rally in the ninth inning of a tie game.

Dave Cameron of FanGraphs breaks down the play and calls for the game to be replayed from the point of Guzman's at-bat, his argument being that Padres' couldn't have been expected to run once Scott raised his arms, and also pointing out that one game in the expanded playoff system could be the deciding game on one team making the playoffs and another missing them.

At issue: Judgment calls cannot be protested (and thus overturned). Was this just a bad judgment by Scott -- reversing his call in the middle of a play -- or do the Padres have a right to protest based on a rules interpretation (that the play should have been ruled dead once Scott raised his arms)? To confuse matters, it was a fair ball. As reader Dave Alden wrote on FanGraphs, "Letting it stand is unfair to the Padres. Pretending it never happened would be unfair to the Dodgers. There is no perfect solution."

There is about zero chance that if the Padres do end up protesting that the call would be reversed and the game replayed from that point on (as what happened with the famous George Brett pine-tar home run game). But Dave raises an interesting point, and if the Dodgers sneak into the playoffs by a game, maybe they can give a playoff share to Mr. Scott.

• Jon Weisman argues that there is no reason to replay the game.
• Joey Matschulat's headline about the Rangers says it all: The best team in the American League.
• The Cardinals honor the Rally Squirrel on their World Series championship rings. Best ring ever?
• Fire Brand of the AL ask a simple poll question: Is Bobby V already screwing things up?
• The Nationals have a 1.99 ERA, and if not for the Dodgers, could be the biggest story in baseball right now.
• Michael Baumann has a suggestion for Jonathan Papelbon.
• It was not a fun weekend for the Royals.
• The Angels aren't supposed to be 3-6. And Albert Pujols isn't supposed to be homerless.
• Mop-Up Duty examines Eric Thames' start for the Blue Jays.
• Jack Moore looks at the Brewers' problems preventing runs so far.
• Michael Pineda will throw a bullpen session on Tuesday.
• Will Clark is drinking beer and blowing kisses. Can he still play first base?