Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a nod to what's ahead.You Oughta Know...
That John Lackey would have told you if he was trying to hit Ian Kinsler. Honest. After the Angels right-hander got tossed two pitches into his first game of the year, he said he wasn't trying to hit anyone.
"If you know anything about me, I'd go straight to the source if I was going to do something," said Lackey. "If you've ever talked to me, I'd tell you I was going to do something, I'd tell you if I did it, I'd stand up and own up to it. I did not try to throw at him.
"I hadn't pitched in six weeks. The last thing I wanted to do was come out of the game early."
As hard as it to believe that Lackey really would have said, "Yeah, I was throwing at him," it also seems pretty unlikely that he'd really be throwing at someone on his first and second pitches of the season. Does it really make sense that he'd do all of that rehab work just to get back to his team so he could drill Ian Kinsler?
Kinsler, by the way, claimed ignorance.
"I don't know what that was all about. I don't know what he's trying to prove."From the Trainers' Room...
Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis will begin his rehab assignment on Monday with Triple-A Pawtucket. If all goes well in games on Monday and Tuesday, Youkilis would rejoin the Red Sox for Wednesday's game against Toronto. Youkilis, who is out because of a sore left oblique, felt good after hitting drils on Saturday night in Seattle.
By The Numbers...
Brewers closer Trevor Hoffman recorded his fifth consecutive 1-2-3 save, the second-longest such streak in his career. He had six in a row in 2005. Overall, Hoffman has retired 29 of the 32 batters he's faced this season, allowing three hits, no runs and no walks.
In Their Own Words...
"I gave you guys something to talk about and write about in the 11th inning and I didn't have to open my mouth. That's the way I want things, to stay out of my own way," Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, whose walk-off homer gave the Yanks a 6-4 victory over the Twins. Rodriguez had been 2-for-24 since homering in his first at-bat of the season last week.
Advance Scouting...
If you want to see a couple of talented starters going in opposite directions, check out Toronto's Roy Halladay vs. the White Sox's Gavin Floyd (1:07 PM ET). Halladay (7-1, 2.95) is pitching like the ace he is, while Floyd has been awful. Floyd, who signed a four-year, $15.5-million deal in spring training, has a 9.74 ERA over his past four starts. The White Sox, losers of 10 of their past 13, may reach a boiling point if they get swept.
