Starting Five: Two Years, Two Surgeries Later, Jason Schmidt Returns

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That Jason Schmidt's long road back to the majors finally ended on Monday night. Schmidt pitched in a big-league game for the first time in 25 months, two shoulder surgeries ago. In his return to the mound, he gave up three runs in five innings, picking up the victory.

Schmidt gave up three in the first, but then he did not allow another hit through the next four innings. His fastball topped out at 87 mph as he worked through a 91-pitch outing.

"It was an emotional day," Schmidt said. "It's been a struggle. I didn't want it to take this long, but unfortunately, it did. Before the game, driving here and getting all the phone calls and text messages from everybody, there was a lot of buildup. It was fun, and I'm glad we came out on the winning end of it."

Schmidt got some help from Manny Ramirez, who hit his 537th homer to pass Mickey Mantle, moving alone into 15th on the all-time list.

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From The Trainer's Room ...
Mets' pitcher Fernando Nieve is going to be out six weeks with a torn muscle in his right thigh. Nieve was hurt running the bases on Sunday in Atlanta. The Mets will promote either Nelson Figueroa or Jon Niese to take Nieve's spot in the rotation. Nieve is the ninth player added to the Mets' disabled list.

Numbers Game ...
The Phillies won their ninth consecutive game, beating the Cubs, 10-1. If the Phillies win on Tuesday, it will be their first double-digit winning streak since 1991, when they won 13 in a row. Philadelphia is the fifth team this year to win at least nine in a row.

In Their Own Words ...
"I knew as soon as he swung the bat it was out of there. There was no sense in turning around. It's out of there. Game over." -- Orioles reliever Jim Johnson, who surrendered a walkoff homer to the Yankees' Hideki Matsui. The Yankees have won three consecutive 2-1 games, with all the runs scoring in the past two on solo homers.

Advance Scouting ...
The Tigers will send Rick Porcello to the mound for the first time in two weeks, facing the Mariners in Detroit (7:05 PM). Porcello was skipped a turn in the rotation just before the break so the Tigers could manage his innings in the 20-year-old's first full season. Detroit, which has lost three in a row, has seen its lead in the AL Central cut to one game by the White Sox. The Tigers have been in sole possession of first since May 16.