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

You Oughta Know ...
That the Mets not only snapped their five-game losing streak, but they did their part to save the world on Wednesday. After manager Jerry Manuel's team meeting in the wake of Tuesday's loss, the Mets all came to the ballpark on Wednesday on buses, instead of players arriving individually in cabs. Although the team-building experience may have actually done more to save on fuel than to actually bond, the result was a 1-0 victory.

Manuel wasn't going to take credit for his speech firing up the team, especially since pitcher Mike Pelfrey missed it. Pelfrey had left the ballpark early Tuesday night to get some rest.

"I told him, 'If he'd been at the meeting, he would have thrown a no-hitter,' " Manuel joked.

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

You Oughta Know ...
That the Red Sox probably did not sleep well Tuesday night.

Boston held a nine-run lead in Baltimore with nine outs to go. Then the Orioles exploded for five runs on seven hits in the seventh inning and five runs on six hits in the eighth, handing Jonathan Papelbon his second blown save of the season. When George Sherrill struck out Jason Bay with two on in the top of the ninth, it finished off a wild 11-10 victory for the O's.

[Said Orioles manager Dave Trembley:] "It was the shootout at the OK Corral except it was Camden Yards."

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

You Oughta Know ...
That Mike Napoli is one of the best power hitters you've never heard of. Napoli, the Angels catcher, blasted his 10th homer, a tie-breaking 428-foot shot in the ninth inning to lead the Angels to a 2-1 victory over the Diamondbacks. Later in the day, when the Rangers lost, the Angels moved alone into first for the first time all season.

The last time the Angels played in Arizona, in 2006, Napoli hit a 470-foot homer that is the third longest ever hit at Chase Field. Napoli has 56 homers in 890 big league at-bats. His ratio of one homer per 15.9 at-bats in the highest in big league history for any catcher with at least 50 homers, according to Stats LLC.

"He's got sick pop. He's got the most pop on this team by far," Angels starter John Lackey said. "I was actually in the clubhouse, telling the people about the one [in 2006]. People were up there eating [in the restaurant where Napoli's ball landed]."

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

You Oughta Know ...
That the Marlins and Tigers are on fire.

Exactly two weeks ago, Florida was eight games behind Philadelphia. Since then the Marlins have gone 9-3, all in interleague play, to close within a game of first place. The hot streak includes four one-run wins and Thursday's 11-3 victory that sealed a sweep of the Orioles and ran Florida's win streak to five.

During this 12-game stretch, Hanley Ramirez has batted .400 with three home runs (one of them a grand slam Thursday) and 19 RBI while Cody Ross has hit .400 with five homers and 12 RBI.

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

You Oughta Know ...
That the Rays seem to be putting it all together. The reigning American League champions left New York with a series victory over the Mets thanks to a big Sunday afternoon from B.J. Upton, who homered and had four hits. Tampa Bay is now 12-6 in the month of June and two games back of the Yankees in the AL wild-card race.

Upton has played a big part in the surge after slumping for the first two months of the season. The center fielder came into June hitting .204, but he's hitting .329 this month.

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Best 1-2 punch in baseball? Maybe Josh Beckett and Jon Lester.

Best young 1-2 combo? Probably Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain.

Best young 1-2 starters you may not have heard of? Josh Johnson and Chris Volstad.

The Red Sox and Marlins met Tuesday night for the first time since 2006. This was significant -- and only in a minor way -- not because it was the first time the two teams met since the fateful Josh Beckett-Hanley Ramirez (and other significant parts) trade, but because it was the first time where we could even begin to evaluate that swap with any historical perspective.

Back then, Ramirez was just a rookie shortstop with plenty of talent and two good months under his belt. Beckett, brought in as the presumptive ace, was struggling with the transition from the NL to the AL East and sported a bloated ERA hovering near 5.00 for a Boston team headed for a mighty fall in the second half.

The Florida Marlins have been playing a lot better in June than they did in May, and have won five of their last seven, including a three-game sweep over the Blue Jays in Toronto this weekend.

So why are they so angry?

During their 8-3 victory over the Jays on Sunday Hanley Ramirez was hit by a pitch on his left elbow by a Dirk Hayhurst fastball with two outs and a runner on third. In Ramirez's mind the Jays didn't want to pitch to him so instead of throwing four balls and running the risk of leaving a fastball over the plate, they just plunked him.

NEW YORK – Thanks in part to the influence of a 300-game winner, and the brother of a 300-game winner, the Rangers no longer have to try to out-slug people.

In the most remarkable turnaround of the season, Texas' pitching staff is actually pretty good, with a 4.46 ERA after shutouts Thursday and Friday and allowing three runs Saturday. If the Rangers can keep it there all year, it would mark the first time since 1993 the franchise had an ERA better than 4.50.

Not coincidentally, Texas leads the AL West at 35-26, the second-best record in the league.

"This is my third year here," right-hander Brandon McCarthy said, "but in two years I got sick to death of hearing, 'Texas pitchers stink. Texas pitchers stink.'

"Now we can turn those tables a little bit, be the group that maybe changes that whole mindset. It would be an awesome accomplishment."

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

You Oughta Know ...
That Chris Carpenter is all the way back. The 2006 NL Cy Young winner has missed almost all of the past two seasons, and a chunk of this one, with injuries, but now he seems to be pitching as well as ever. The Cardinals righty tossed a three-hitter, his first complete game since Sept. 11, 2006, to beat the Reds 3-1 Thursday night.

Carpenter is 4-0 with an 0.71 ERA and a WHIP of 0.63 in six starts so far this year. Afterward, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said Carpenter should be considered among the game's best.

"I don't think anybody pitching today is better. He's right up there with [Roy] Halladay and the best ones out there. Carp's right there."

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