MLB kansas city Royals

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 Braves have their longest winning streak of the year.

OK, it's only four games. But before Thursday night, Atlanta was the only team that had not won four straight at some point this season.

And where has it gotten the Braves? Not out of fourth place in the NL East – yet within two games of the first-place Phillies, their victims the past three games.

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Thursday we passed along the news that Geovany Soto had tested positive for marijuana during the World Baseball Classic this past spring. Just one day later, another positive result from the WBC round of testing has been revealed. Sidney Ponson, the embattled 32-year-old righty who pitched for the Netherlands, also tested positive for a banned substance.

It wasn't the mellow Mary Jane that Ponson was partaking in, though. Nope, he tested positive for phentermine, a stimulant. Like Soto, he'll avoid punishment from Major League Baseball and face a two-year ban from international play.

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

You Oughta Know ...
That Joe Torre can manage a little bit. Torre, who for a great part of his managing career was known as a loser, got his 2,195th managerial win Thursday night to pass Sparky Anderson and move into fifth on the all-time list.

Incredibly, Torre has taken his team to the postseason in 13 consecutive seasons, and given the Dodgers' ever-expanding lead in the NL West, he's likely to make it 14 in 2009. Even with the loss of Manny Ramirez, Los Angeles is 13-4-5 in 22 series this season, including taking two out of three from Oakland this week.

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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 Zack Greinke and Trevor Hoffman are human.

Greinke took the loss Wednesday as Kansas City fell 12-5 to Arizona, allowing six runs (four earned) on eight hits in 6 2/3 innings.

And since Greinke went 8-1 in his first 10 starts he has gone winless in four straight starts. Over his past 26 innings, he has given up 31 hits and 20 runs (five of them unearned).

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In a ridiculous but true story we couldn't possibly make up, Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Kyle Farnsworth continued his 2009 Farewell to the Major Leagues Tour today by having to get four stitches in his left index finger after being bitten by one of his dogs. According to the report, he was bitten while trying to break up a fight between the canines, but anybody who has ever read a Dugout knows that is totally NOT what he was doing, and chances are it was something even more absurd that what you are about to read.

Sometimes Barry Bonds dresses up like Paula Abdul, sometimes Jim Thome hits a game-winning home run on Opening Day, and sometimes Kyle Farnsworth gets bitten by a dog. Thank you, God, for having a sense of humor. Tonight's Dugout is after the jump.

Remember last week when the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals on a walk-off single by Shin-Soo Choo when Royals centerfielder Coco Crisp lost the ball amidst a flock of seagulls (video here)? No, Coco didn't have headphones on and he was not singing along to "I Ran" when this occurred.

There was literally a flock of seagulls in the Progressive Field outfield, no doubt there searching for all of those bugs that still haunt Joba Chamberlain's dreams. Well if you are a Royals player or fan you were probably pretty upset to be losing a game because of avian invasion, but you'll just have to trust me when I say that it could have been a lot worse.

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

You Oughta Know ...
The "Silver Boot" will stay in Arlington, Texas.

It ain't the Axe, or the Old Oaken Bucket, but the Silver Boot is an attempt to add college football flavor to interleague play, as it goes to the winner of the Texas-Houston six-game series.

By winning 6-1 on Tuesday, the Rangers went up 4-0 in the series and clinched the boot for the third straight year.

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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 Subway Series is finally living up to the hype on the field that Big Apple seamheads give it off the field. Friday, Luis Castillo made one of the most memorable fielding gaffes lately to cost the battered and reeling Mets a win. Saturday, Yankees walking injury relief pitcher Brian Bruney ripped record-setting closer Francisco Rodriguez for his antics on the mound just prior to Castillo's flubbed popup.

The series finale had a bit of everything.

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It's impossible to really evaluate a baseball draft until years after it's over, when the players have all had a chance to develop and grow into whatever type of big leaguers they are destined to be.

Of course, here at FanHouse we're not patient enough for that. We waited, oh, about an hour after the first day of the draft was over before we hit up three independent analysts to get their take on what transpired.

We talked to John Manuel, editor of Baseball America; Ben Hyman, director of amateur scouting for Real Baseball Intelligence; and John Klima, editor of Baseball Beginnings.

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For the first two months of the season Royals pitcher Zack Greinke was a phenomenon. He seemed to be toying with hitters when he was on the mound, and as a result, he was getting a lot of attention for it. Of course when you start off your season with an 8-1 record and 0.84 ERA in ten starts, these things are going to happen.

Unfortunately for Greinke and the Royals, who are now mired in an eight-game losing streak and are 5-20 since May 8, he hasn't looked as immortal in his last couple of starts.