Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's action, with a quick nod to what's ahead.You Oughta Know...
That instant replay has been in use in the majors for reviewing homers since last August, but there had not been a single home run taken away until Wednesday.
And then it happened twice.
First, Pittsburgh's Adam LaRoche hit a first-inning drive that was initially ruled a three-run homer. After umpires checked the replay, they determined that the ball had not cleared the fence, and LaRoche instead had a two-run double.
A few hours later, in Milwaukee, Marlins pinch-hitter Ross Gload had a would-be solo homer reversed.
Since instant replay was initiated last Aug. 28, there have been 14 potential homers reviewed. In 10 of them, the umpires' call stood. In two last September, hitters were awarded homers by the replay. LaRoche and Gload were the first two hitters to lose homers.
"If I could have bet the day this started, I would have put a lot of money on myself to be the first," LaRoche said. "That's kind of the way it goes. I can laugh those things off now, but if there's a couple of guys on and we lose by one, it's huge."
From the Trainers' Room...
Rays left fielder Carl Crawford left Wednesday's game with a bruised right shoulder, but he doesn't think it's serious. Crawford was hurt diving to catch an Aubrey Huff line drive in the fourth inning.
"On that dive I twisted it in a weird way and I guess I tweaked something in there a little bit and it was a little sore,'' he said.
He batted in the top of the fifth, grounding out, and knew then something was amiss. "That's when I knew I had to come out of the game it just felt sore like I couldn't swing the bat right,'' he said.
By The Numbers...
Next up ... Rickey. Alfonso Soriano hit his 53rd career homer to lead off a game, passing Craig Biggio to move into second on the all-time list. The Cubs outfielder has a long way to go to catch Rickey Henderson, who did it 81 times.
In Their Own Words...
"It makes you realize how much better 56 is than 30. That's a long time. ... To get a hit every single game, there's got to be a little bit of luck involved." -- Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, after his hitting streak was ended at 30 games in San Francisco, far short of Joe DiMaggio's big league record.
Advance Scouting...
Today is the first day of the rest of the Angels' season. Ervin Santana will make his season debut against the Red Sox in Anaheim (3:35 PM ET). Santana, who was out with a sore elbow, is one of the Angels' top three starters, all of whom started the year on the DL. Ace John Lackey will come back on Saturday in Texas. Kelvim Escobar is not expected back till June, probably as a reliever.
