Matt Harvey just cannot be stopped. The Mets rookie improved to 5-0 on the season in New York's 3-2 win over the Cubs on Friday night, giving up just two runs in 7 1/3 and striking out six without a walk. His fastball averaged 96 over the 106 total pitches he threw over the evening, topped out at 99, and he *still* broke 96 in the seventh inning. With Harvey, Shelby Miller, and Pat Corbin (who admittedly isn't a rookie, but is still a young pup) in the top five in the NL in ERA, the young pitchers are completely dominating the league this year.

PIC OF THE DAY

Justin Upton with a five star pimpjob following his sixth inning grand slam against the Dodgers. (Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)

Game of the Night: Pirates 5, Astros 4. Houston led 4-1 after five, and things were looking up. Then...they apparently realized they're the Astros. A Garrett Jones RBI double cut the lead to two runs in the sixth. In the eighth, Pedro Alvarez hit a monstrous two-run homer to tie the game. The Pirates loaded the bases in the ninth with two outs, but Russell Martin hit a popup to shallow right field...only this happened, and the Pirates won the game. I have to wonder if that would have happened if Jose Altuve was in the lineup...probably not.

The other day I was bored and started shuffling through which players have worn certain numbers throughout the history of our game.  This led me to start looking at current rosters and what numbers are particularly popular.  I happened to stumble across what I believed to be an anomaly.  There are a lot of players that like the number 27.  It seems like such a random number, it isn’t particularly low in the scale like Jeter’s #2 or Pujols’ #5.  It doesn’t seem to be a common lucky number, and neither Griffey or Bonds sported the jersey, so what gives?  I’m not entirely sure, but here’s a list of notable active players sporting #27.

Jhonny Peralta – Tigers

Lance Berkman – Rangers

Mike Trout – Angels

Jordan Zimmerman – Nationals

Giancarlo Stanton – Marlins

Carlos Gomez – Brewers

Matt Kemp - Dodgers

Check out this bit of craziness from the college ranks. During Thursday night's Ole Miss-LSU matchup, LSU left fielder Raph Rhymes hit a sinking liner to center field. Ole Miss CF Auston Bousfield dove to make the catch, but whiffed, and the ball rolled all the way to the wall. Rhymes got on his horse and tried to score on the play. The throw was up the third base line, and Rebels catcher Stuart Turner attempted to catch the throw, but Rhymes collided with him. After the collision, Rhymes ended up doing a full flip in mid-air before touching home plate, safe with an inside the park homer.

You really can't blame Turner on this play at all, as the throw was up the line and he really had no choice other than getting into Rhymes' way in the baseline to field the ball. Rhymes also didn't maliciously go after him and try to take him out, like you see far too often. All in all, this was a crazy play that could have wound up much worse for both parties. The second-ranked Tigers would go on to win the game 7-1.

[The Big Lead]

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Miguel Cabrera is the reigning 2012 MVP.  There was much debate over whether he should be or not, and in case you missed it, the Cabrera-Trout argument eventually morphed into a misguided old school vs new school battle for legitimacy.  Last year, clearly old school won the fight among the among the BBWAA, as Cabrera’s Triple Crown topped Trout’s incredible all-around season.

Are we destined for yet another showdown between these differing schools of thought?  Yes, chances are with the inclusion of stolen bases, defensive metrics and Trout heating up, he will once again win the WAR (Wins Above Replacement) crown and is currently second in the AL behind just Evan Longoria of the Rays.  But can anyone stop Miguel Cabrera from repeating as a Triple Crown winner?

How about a feel good story to start your Friday? Before Thursday's Red Sox-Rays game, a video message played from Lt Col. Will Adams, stationed in Afghanistan, telling his daughter Alayna that he loved her and would be seeing her soon. His daughter then threw out the first pitch to the catcher in Rays gear...who unmasked as her father Will, 

Adams was due home from Afghanistan on Monday, and the USO and the Rays arranged for this unique and emotional reunion on the field. Both Alayna and her mother Dana were caught completely by surprise by the return of Will, and the raw emotion in the video is enough to get anyone misty-eyed.

Everyone was extremely excited about the Yu Darvish-Justin Verlander pitching matchup in Texas on Friday night. When all was said and done and all the smoke was cleared...the matchup was an extreme disappointment. In the Rangers' 10-4 win, Verlander tallied just eight outs and allowed eight runs on six hits, walking two (with the bases loaded, mind you) and striking out just three. Darvish was better, but only by comparison. The Rangers' ace allowed four runs on seven hits over eight innings, striking out six and walking one. All in all, the epic battle fell flat, and neither Verlander nor Darvish are in the top 15 in the American League in ERA after all was said and done.

PIC OF THE DAY

Ian Kinsler demonstrates proper sliding technique. (Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports)

Game of the Night: White Sox 5, Angels 4. Another tough loss for the Angels. On a related note, the sky is blue. A two-run double in the sixth by Howard Kendrick gave the Angels a 4-2 lead over the Sox, but Mike Scoscia then pushed reliever Dane de la Rosa to the breaking point. After he recorded two outs in the seventh, de la Rosa started the eighth and promptly a pair of singles, a strikeout with a wild pitch that scored a run, and another single to tie the game at four. Michael Kohn relieved de la Rosa and got a groundout for out number two before walking the next two hitters to load the bases for Jeff Keppinger. Of course, Kohn walked Keppinger (HIS FIRST OF THE SEASON!) to give the White Sox the lead. Jesse Crain pitched around a Mark Trumbo one out double in the eighth, and Addison Reed shut down the bottom of the Los Angeles lineup in the ninth to seal the win.

It's been a rough start to the season for the AL's reigning Cy Young winner. David Price came into Wednesday night's start against the Red Sox carrying a 4.78 ERA, opponents were posting an OPS near .800 against him and the Rays were 2-6 in his starts. Things got worse against Boston, as Price gave up four runs in just 2.1 innings before leaving with a strained triceps.

Price says he felt the triceps get tight a few pitches into the third inning. An MRI after the game turned out fine, but the Rays are still putting Price on the disabled list to give him a chance to rest. He won't throw for a few days, and left-hander Alex Torres will take his spot on the roster. Price is only expected to miss a few starts.

Atlanta Braves reliever Jonny Venters, who hasn't thrown a pitch this regular season, will miss the 2013 season following the second Tommy John surgery of his career. 

In his first two years with the Braves (2010-11), Venters was simply incredible as the primary setup man to Billy Wagner (in 2010) and Craig Kimbrel (in 2011), striking out 189 hitters in 171 innings and a 70.4% groundball rate over those two seasons with a vicious fastball/slider combination. But something happened last year, and Venters' velocity dropped below 94 while his groundball rate fell and he allowed twice as many homers in 58 2/3 innings as he did in those first two years combined.

The finger of blame will likely be pointed at Braves managers Bobby Cox and Fredi Gonzalez, who ran Venters straight into the ground during his first two years. His 171 innings pitched from 2010-11 were second in baseball among relievers behind just Tyler Clippard of the Nationals, and he doesn't have anything near the injury history that Venters does.

Where does he go from here? Well, I'm assuming that Atlanta will end up non-tendering Venters after the season. He still has two years of team control left, but the Braves are going to need every cent of available payroll to potentially rebuild their rotation with Tim Hudson and Paul Maholm both reaching free agency after the year. Venters is making $1.625 million this season, and guaranteeing a reliever coming off of his second Tommy John surgery any sort of money similar to that is something that I don't think any team would do. He'll likely end up catching on somewhere on a minor league deal, and if he can regain his 2010-11 form in the second half of 2014, some team may be getting a real bargain.

Atlanta's bullpen probably isn't losing much without Venters for the rest of the year, as Jordan Walden has stepped into Venters' eighth inning role and dominated, despite was his 4.85 ERA might tell you. With Cory Gearrin and Eric O'Flaherty pitching like themselves as well, the Braves pen likely won't miss a beat after the news that Venters' season is over.

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As the baseball season heads passed the quarter pole, the players that are struggling are running out of excuses. Proclamations of bad luck and small sample size simply don't hold much weight anymore. At this point, teams need to make the tough decision of whether or not to stick with a struggling player to hope he turns things around or to cut their losses and move on to someone else. Well, let's help those teams out by identifying some starting pitchers who probably shouldn't have jobs anymore.

Rick Porcello, Tigers - Stop it, Tigers. Just stop it. Porcello was a popular pick to have a breakout season in 2013, but with a 6.68 ERA, that clearly isn't happening. As usual, at least part of the problem appears to be that Porcello induces a lot of grounders but plays in front of what is arguably the worst infield defense in the game which is why he continues to sport that intriguing 3.71 xFIP. Maybe he really is just a bad pitcher, but maybe he just needs the Tigers to finally set him free. There should be no shortage of teams hoping that a change of scenery and infielders can allow Porcello to finally realize his potential.

Joe Blanton, Angels - Blanton's only real marketable skill is that he is durable. That and making a mockery of fielding independent pitching stats with his strong strikeout-to-walk-ratio. His 6.46 ERA is clearly terrible, but consider that Blanton has somehow managed to allow 75 hits and eight homers in just 46 innings of work, including a streak of 33 consecutive innings in which he allowed at least one hit. Why is he still allowed to exist much less pitch? Because the Angels are terrible and have no depth and no farm system. This isn't going to get better.