In yesterday's DD, I talked about how Dan Haren of the Angels had problems getting wins. Well, looking over the box scores today, I noticed that was true for another top MLB starter...Cliff Lee of the Phillies. In six starts this year, Lee is 0-2, and the Phillies are just 1-5. This however, isn't Lee's fault. He has a 2.66 ERA on the year, and has struck out 40 (while walking just five) in 44 innings. The issue once again comes down to run support. The Phillies have scored more than two runs in just two of his six starts. Lee pretty much has to be dominant in order to get a win. Yesterday, he allowed five in seven innings against the Red Sox. That's not good enough when your offense is only putting one run on the board like they did yesterday.

Game of the Day: Padres 3, Angels 2 (13 innings). This game was wacky, and when it ended in the 13th, Albert Pujols was at third base, Howard Kendrick was in left field, Maicer Izturis was at second base, and Bobby Wilson was at first base. Hell, Dan Haren pinch hit! Lord. At the end of the day, Kendrick's antics in left field ended up costing the Angels the game, as he misplayed a Will Venable single that led to pinch hitter Clayton Richard scoring. That's Clayton Richard, the pitcher.

Pitching Line of the Day: Colby Lewis of the Rangers had a great start against the Astros, allowing one run over eight innings on four hits and one walk, striking out six in the process. Max Scherzer of the Tigers had a dominant outing versus the Pirates, striking out 15 over seven innings while giving up four hits, two runs, and a walk. Tim Hudson and Jake Peavy also threw shutouts for their teams, with Hudson going 7 2/3 against the Rays, and Peavy going 6 1/3 against the Cubs.

Hitting Line of the Day: Jonathan Lucroy of the Brewers had a fantastic game, and is having an unreal season. In Milwaukee's thrashing of the Twins, Lucroy went 3/5 with three runs, seven RBI, and two homers. He's got a .939 OPS on the season. Lucroy's teammate, reigning NL MVP Ryan Braun, was also dominant, going 3/4 with two runs, four RBI, and two doubles. Another Brewer, Corey Hart, went off as well, going 3/5 with three runs, two RBI, and a homer. In non-Brewers action, Ryan Ludwick of the Reds went 3/5 with a run, three RBI, a double, and a homer.

Spotlight Series: The Braves took the series in Tampa, the first road team to win a series at Tropicana Field all year, via a 2-0 win. The Rays only had one extra base hit on the day (a double by Sean Rodriguez), and just couldn't get anything going against Tim Hudson. The Braves got their first run in the third on a solo homer by backup catcher David Ross, while they added their second on a Jason Heyward single in the sixth. Martin Prado had a pair of singles for the Braves, and Dan Uggla walked twice. For the Rays, BJ Upton had a pair of singles, wihle Matt Joyce walked twice and was hit by a pitch a day after a big grand slam. Rays starter David Price nearly matched Hudson's start, allowing two runs (one earned) over seven on six hits and three walks, while tallying seven strikeouts on the day.

Other Games: The Dodgers used four late runs to beat the Cardinals 6-5, and sweep the series. The Marlins stopped the red hot Derek Lowe, and earned a 5-3 win over the Indians. The Red Sox shut down the Phillies 5-1. The Tigers edged the Pirates 4-3. The Nationals salvaged a game from the Beltway Series, beating the Orioles 9-3. The Reds beat the Yankees 5-2. The Rangers beat up the Astros 6-1. The Mets edged the Blue Jays 6-5. The Brewers crushed the Twins 16-4. The White Sox shut out the Cubs 6-0. Wade Miley shut down the Royals in a 2-0 win. The Mariners swept the Rockies after a 6-4 win. The A's beat Tim Lincecum and the Giants 6-2.

Today's Games: Felipe Paulino starts for the Royals in New  York against the Yankees. Gio Gonzalez will start for the Nationals in Philly. Kyle Drabek vs Jeremy Hellickson is a solid matchup in Tampa Bay. Johan Santana versus Erik Bedard is as good of a matchup in 2012 as it was in 2009. Yu Darvish vs Felix Hernandez is far and away the game of the night. Matt Garza takes on Bud Norris in a solid duel. Madison Bumgarner will start for the Giants in Milwaukee. 

Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.

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I firmly believe that the best Angels starting pitcher is Dan Haren. Typically, he gets overshadowed by Jered Weaver, but Haren's dominance is completely understated. He hasn't has a FIP above 4.00 since 2006 in Oakland, and he had eight straight four win seasons. This year, however, Haren is is 1-5 after last night's loss to the Padres, which was a quality start for Haren. He just got no run support from his team, and this was a game started by Eric Stults...not exactly a top ten pitcher. Despite a walk rate this year that's the highest its been since Haren was a Cardinal (which is still really, really low), Haren's pitching well enough to win games. He's allowed more than three runs in a start just three times this year, and never more than five. The Angels have given Haren more than three runs of support just one time all year, and a whopping total of four runs over his last five starts. Sometimes, it just sucks to be an Angel.

Game of the Night: Twins 5, Brewers 4 (11 innings). A disastrous season for the Brewers got worse yesterday, as they're now on the brink of getting swept by the lowly Twins, the worst team in baseball. Milwaukee could actually compete for that title sooner rather than later with how poorly they're playing, though. This game went back and forth, with both starters (Carl Pavano and Yovani Gallardo) exiting after allowing two runs in six innings. The Twins plated one each in the seventh and eighth (taking the lead on a bases loaded HBP by Juan Perez - really?), but Milwaukee tied it in the bottom of the inning on a two-run homer by Aramis Ramirez. We went to extras, and in the eleventh, Trevor Plouffe gave the Twins a 5-4 lead on a solo homer that Matt Capps would protect in a seven pitch bottom half of the inning. 

Pitching Line of the Night: We had a pair of complete game shutouts last night. First, Brandon Morrow lit up the Mets, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out eight, on just 107 pitches. In the lone NL matchup of the weekend, Clayton Kershaw dominated the Cardinals, allowing six hits and no walks, while striking out four on 117 pitches. Ryan Vogelsong of the Giants didn't throw a complete game, but he DID shut out the A's over seven innings on just one hit, one walk, and logging five strikeouts in the process. John Danks and Jeanmar Gomez also threw shutouts for 6 1/3 innings for their teams.

Hitting Line of the Night: Andrew McCutchen remained hot, going 2/4 with a pair of homers and four RBI. In a losing effort, Erick Aybar of the Angels went 4/4 with a run and an RBI, falling just a homer short of the cycle in the process. Alfonso Soriano of the Cubs went 3/4 with a run, two RBI, a double, and a homer, while surprising Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager went 3/4 with a run, three RBI, a walk, and a homer.

Spotlight Series: This game was actually relatively boring. The Braves plated two off of Alex Cobb in the second inning on a Juan Francisco single and an Eric Hinske sac fly. They'd get bupkus off of Cobb for the rest of the game, with him setting down the final ten Braves in order. Braves starter Randall Delgado didn't have any good mojo going last night, walking five and striking out just two over a four inning stint. The big blast for the Rays came in the third inning, when Matt Joyce hit a monstrous grand slam to give Tampa Bay a 4-2 lead. Sean Rodriguez added a solo homer in the sixth off of Cristhian Martinez, and that was that for the scoring in this game, with Tampa winning 5-2. After Cobb left the game, the Rays bullpen threw two perfect innings, meaning that the Braves didn't put a man on base after the fourth inning. It was just that kind of day for Atlanta. The rubber game will be today, with David Price taking on Tim Hudson.

Other Games: The Dodgers shut out the Cardinals 6-0, and Lance Berkman was hurt again. The Reds edged the Yankees 6-5 and withstood a furious ninth inning rally. The Giants beat the A's 4-0. The Blue Jays dominated the Mets 2-0. The Indians shut out the Marlins 2-0. The Mariners pounded the slumping Rockies 10-3. The Pirates fought back after nearly being no hit and edged the Tigers 4-3. The White Sox beat the Cubs 7-4 despite the north siders getting four in the ninth. The Astros beat the Rangers 6-5 after hitting three homers. The Royals beat the Diamondbacks 7-3. The Orioles took their second straight from the Nationals, winning 6-5. The Red Sox slugged four homers en route to beating Joe Blanton and the Phillies 7-5. The Padres beat the Angels 3-2.

Today's Games: Kyle Lohse goes for the Cardinals against Chad Billingsley of the Dodgers. Josh Johnson takes on Derek Lowe in Cleveland. Josh Beckett will duel with Cliff Lee in Philly. Wei-Yin Chen and Stephen Strasburg is a good-looking battle in Washington, as is Johnny Cueto vs CC Sabathia in the Bronx. Colby Lewis takes on Jordan Lyles in Houston. Henderson Alvarez starts for the Blue Jays against the Mets. Zack Greinke looks to prevent a Twins sweep of the Brewers in Milwaukee. Jake Peavy will go for the Sox in the battle of Chicago. The surprising Wade Miley starts for Arizona against the Royals. Tim Lincecum and his ERA approaching 6.00 will take on Bartolo Colon and the A's.

Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.

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Miami Heat star Dwayne Wade got into a confrontation with coach Erik Spoelstra on Thursday during the Heat's loss to the Pacers. Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen (the outspoken Ozzie Guillen) saw this confrontation, and had some choice words for Wade.

"I will kick his ass," Guillen told reporters Friday. "Well, I won't say I'll kick his ass. They'll kick my ass because they're bigger than me, and I'm older. But I will take my chances. Some people have to understand our job."

First it was the Castro comments, now this. The Marlins are probably third in the Miami sports pecking order, behind the Heat and the Dolphins, and Wade is one of the biggest stars in town. And now, Ozzie is saying he wants to kick his ass. This will end well.

Ozzie wasn't done, explaining the logic behind his comments.

"That's disrespectful. Why he's saying it, when he said it, that's none of my business," Guillen said. "But the player come out and say something (like that to me), he will guarantee a fight."

"You know how many players I take out of the game and they go in the back and talk crap about me?" Guillen said.

"I don't care because I'm going to talk crap about them. If I take you out of the game it's for a reason. You think I want to take you out of the game? You think I want to pinch-hit for you? I pinch-hit for you because you suck. There's somebody else I thought was better than you."

Say what you want to say about Ozzie, but you can't deny that the man is truthful and doesn't sugar coat anything. No word on any possible discipline from the Marlins, or any backlash from the Miami area community.

Photo courtesy of Daylife.com

[h/t: ESPN]

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In the ninth inning of last night's Phillies-Red Sox game, Marlon Byrd grounded out to Jimmy Rollins, who's throw appeared to beat Byrd to the bag by maybe half a step. The throw also appeared to pull Ty Wigginton off of the bag, but first base umpire Gary Darling still called Byrd out. Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine went nuclear after the call, wildly gesturing at Darling with his finger, as well as jumping up and down several times to illustrate Wigginton getting pulled off of the bag. 

I'll give credit to Darling for largely keeping his cool during the situation and not really provoking Valentine anymore than he should have, a huge contrast to the Bob Davidson-Charlie Manuel incident from earlier this week. In a bit of a funny moment, Darling's gum actually pops out of his mouth and smacks Valentine in the chest. It didn't look intentional at all, but it'll be interesting to see if Darling gets any punishment from the league for that. It looked completely accidental, but Valentine looked real irritated after it happened. Regardless, it was a pretty solid meltdown and argument by Valentine, and Darling kept his cool very well.

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Justin Verlander just missed throwing his third career no-hitter last night. He took it into the ninth, and got one out, when Josh Harrison (of the .256 average and .273 OBP) smacked one back through the box up the middle for a single. You can count the number of pitchers who have more than two no hitters on one hand (or slightly more than one hand), but Verlander came tanalizingly close. Man, he's good.

Game of the Night: Orioles 2, Nationals 1 (11 innings). A contender for the series spotlight, and this game lived up to the hype. Orioles starter Jake Arrieta went seven innings and allowed just the one run on six hits, walking one and striking out nine. HE GOT A NO DECISION. Not to be outdone, Nationals starter Edwin Jackson allowed one run over eight innings on five hits, walking one and striking out eight. HE GOT A NO DECISION. This one came down to the bullpens, and Washington's cracked first. Nick Markakis homered off of Ryan Mattheus in the eleventh. Pedro Strop shut down the Nationals in the bottom of the inning, and that was game. Three Nationals starters had two hit games: Ian Desmond, Ryan Zimmerman, and Bryce Harper, with Harper also adding a walk to his statline. Three Orioles also had multi-hit games: Xavier Avery, Markakis, and Adam Jones. Great win for the Orioles.

Pitching Line of the Night: I already mentioned the great starts from Arrieta, Jackson, and Verlander, but didn't tell you Verlander's line: nine inning shutout, one hit, two walks, and 12 strikeouts. Good god. Kevin Millwood of the Mariners threw a complete game shutout at Coors Field, allowing two hits, one walk, and seven strikeouts against a pretty good Rockies lineup. Andy Pettite's second start this year was a success, going eight shutout against the Reds, allowing four hits, one walk, and nine strikeouts. Last night was a GREAT night for pitching.

Hitting Line of the Night: JP Arencibia of the Blue Jays helped put it on the Mets, going 3/5 with three runs, six RBI, and two homers. Arencibia's teammate Rajai Davis also had hiimself a day, going 2/4 with a pair of homers and four RBI out of the nine-spot in Toronto's lineup. Light-hitting A's third baseman Josh Donaldson had the offensive game of his life, going 3/4 with a double, a homer, and five RBI.

Spotlight Series: The Braves beat the Rays 5-3 in a game that Atlanta broke open in the middle innings. Atlanta scored two early runs, while the Rays countered with two of their own. Freddie Freeman doubled in a run in the fifth, and Brian McCann singled Freeman home to make it a 4-2 Braves lead. The Braves tacked another one on in the seventh on a Martin Prado solo homer. A Luke Scott RBI single in the eighth made it a 5-3 game, but Craig Kimbrel finished off the Rays in the ninth to give Atlanta the win. Braves starter Tommy Hanson wasn't great, but effective. He went seven innings (tied for his season best), and allowed the two runs on six hits, walking two and striking out only three. Rays starter James Shields went six and allowed four runs on seven hits, walking three and striking out eight. For the Braves on offense, Martin Prado went 2/4 with three runs scored, that solo homer, and a walk. Freeman had a pair of hits and drove in two. Brian McCann also had a two hit game, while Jason Heyward singled and walked. Chipper Jones got hit in the ankle with a rough grounder in the early innings, and was eventually removed late. Luke Scott was the Rays offensive star of the day, going 3/3 with two RBI. 

Other Games: SHRIMP ALERT in Los Angeles, as AJ Ellis walk-off walked on the Cardinals. The White Sox edged the Cubs 3-2 in an emotional game at Wrigley. A great start from Carlos Zambrano led the Marlins to a 3-2 win over the Indians. The Tigers dominated the Pirates 6-0. The Phillies beat the Red Sox 6-4 in a game that saw five homers hit. The Yankees shut out the Reds 4-0. The Blue Jays destroyed the Mets 14-5, hitting five homers in the process. The Rangers controlled the Astros in a 4-1 win. The Twins beat the Brewers 11-3, and Scott Diamond is 3-0. The Diamondbacks used a late rally to beat the Royals 6-4. The Mariners shut out the Rockies 4-0. Jered Weaver dominated the Padres en route to a 7-2 win. The Giants put some offense on the board against Jarrod Parker, and beat the A's 8-6.

Today's Games: Jake Westbrook vs Clayton Kershaw at Dodger Stadium tonight. The enigmatic Brandon Morrow starts for the Blue Jays against the Mets. Christian Friedrich gets another pathetic offense to feast on, this time, the Mariners. AJ Burnett vs Drew Smyly is a fantastic matchup in Detroit. Ryan Dempster starts for the Cubs against the White Sox. Ian Kennedy and Bruce Chen will duel in Kansas City. Jason Hammel and Ross Detweiler will go at it in the Beltway Series. Jon Lester will take on Joe Blanton in Philadelphia. Dan Haren will go for the Angels in San Diego.

Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.

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There are three FANTASTIC looking series this weekend. First, we have the only intraleague matchup of the weekend between the first place Cardinals and the first place Dodgers. There's the Beltway Series, between the first place Orioles and second place Nationals. And then there is the series I've tabbed as this weekend's Series Spotlight, between the first place Braves and the second place Rays. Why did I choose this series? Well, I've featured the Orioles a good bit in the last couple of weeks, and the last time I featured the Cardinals, the Braves beat their brains in. Plus, I haven't featured the Rays for quite awhile, so I figured I was overdue to give them some love.

The Braves have been cruising this season against top competition, sweeping the Cardinals in St Louis last weekend  to finish off a 7-2 road trip, and taking two out of three in LA against the Dodgers last month as part of a 5-2 west coast road trip. The Braves 14-8 road record is one of the best in the league, which doesn't mesh with conventional wisdom. They'll be going up against the Rays, who have kept their heads above water despite a number of injuries, most notably to third baseman Evan Longoria, left fielder Desmond Jennings, and starting pitcher Jeff Niemann. It's been an odd month for the Rays, who have had a pair of three-game losing streaks, as well as a four-game and six-game winning streak this month. In what is perhaps good news for the Braves, the Rays lost last night to the Red Sox.

The pitching matchups in this series seem to favor Tampa Bay, with the overall state of disappointment that Atlanta's staff has given off this season. However, while the Braves best starter (Brandon Beachy) isn't pitching this weekend, their worst one (Mike Minor) is also not pitching. Game one will see Rays innings eater James Shields take on Braves enigma Tommy Hanson. Shields has gone at least six innings in seven of eight starts this year, and has struck out at least five hitters in six of those eight. He's on a little bit of a downslide lately though, allowing a total of seven homers over his last four starts, and pitching to a 4.44 ERA. His opponent, Hanson, has been a much different pitcher from Shields. While Hanson has struck out nearly a batter per inning (43 in 44 2/3 innings), he's struggled with efficiency, only going six or more innings in four of his eight starts. Hanson's been good, with a 3.43 ERA and 3.91 FIP, but just hasn't blown the barn doors off like many expected.

Game two pits Alex Cobb in his first start of the year against inexperienced Braves starter Randall Delgado. This season in AAA Durham, Cobb struck out 44 in 41 1/3 innings, walking 18 in the process. Last season in the majors, Cobb made nine starts and threw 52 2/3 innings, striking out 37 and walking 21. If Cobb is able to replicate his strikeout per inning mark that he's shown in the minors over the last couple of years, he can be an absolutely dominant force. If not, he's still a damn good pitcher, just with less upside. As for Delgado, he's been effective, but not outstanding. He's struck out 35 while walking 18 in 40 1/3 innings, and knocked his ERA under 4.00 since his first start of the season in his last time out against the Reds.

Game three pits the Rays' ace, David Price, against the elder statesman of Atlanta's staff, Tim Hudson. Price has been his usual awesome self this year at age 26, coming off of back to back four win seasons. He's struck out 45 while walking just 15 in 52 1/3 innings, and has a great 3.10 ERA. The 3.21 FIP and 3.24 xFIP this season are the best marks of his career, even with his strikeout rate dropping from last year. Hudson has only made four starts this year for the Braves since missing the first three weeks of the season following offseason back surgery. Hudson has been his typical self, throwing 25 innings of 3.96 ERA ball, striking out 16 while walking seven, and getting ground balls at a rate of 58.2%. Subtract one awful start in Colorado, and Hudson is looking damn good right now. 

Atlanta's offense has been, quite frankly, awesome. The only starter with an OPS below .750 is light-hitting rookie shortstop Tyler Pastornicky, at .671. The other seven starters are clustered in a 100 point spread between .870 and .770, with Chipper Jones and his .863 OPS leading the pack. With the games in Tampa, Atlanta will have the ability to utilize a DH in this series. The game on DH will be former Ray Eric Hinske, who has an .819 OPS in part-time duty for the Braves this year. I'd expect the Braves to use Chipper Jones at DH on Saturday against Cobb, and let Juan Francisco (who cannot hit lefties under any circumstance) play third, while Hinske should return to the role on Sunday against the left-handed Price. 

The Rays don't have a lineup that's been nearly as consistent as Atlanta's, but they've still been pretty good. The Rays have a lot of moving parts with Longoria and Jennings out, and are going on an interesting route. Minor league veteran Rich Thompson got the start for Jennings in left last night, and went 1/3 with an RBI and a pair of stolen bases. Longoria has been replaced in the lineup since his injury primarily by Sean Rodriguez, who has a .647 OPS on the year, with Eliot Johnson and his .754 OPS replacing Rodriguez at shortstop. Second base has been manned by both Will Rhymes and Ben Zobrist, who is also platooning in right field with Matt Joyce, who also plays in left field. Confused yet? Yeah, try not to think about it. The Rays have no offense behind the plate, normally manned by Jose Molina and Chris Gimenez, but Carlos Pena has started every game at first base, and BJ Upton has been the primary center fielder since missing some of April. DH is another platoon, this time between Jeff Keppinger and Luke Scott. Keppinger has also gotten time at second and third. Confused yet? Yeah, that's how Joe Maddon rolls. In summary: Tampa Bay has a .744 team OPS, 45 homers, and 29 stolen bases. They're not great, but they're complete.

After writing up the Rays offense, my head hurts a lot. Anyway, it's time for a pick. Tampa Bay has been ravaged by injuries lately, while Atlanta has pretty much been rolling along with the same roster all year. The Braves have been beating up all contenders in their path lately, while the Rays have been hit or miss. I'm going to say that Atlanta takes two out of three in the series, only losing the finale with Price on the hill for the Rays.

Photos courtesy of Daylife.com

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34-year-old Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood announced his retirement Friday, allowing himself one last appearance before hanging 'em up and ending an injury-filled 14-year career.

With one out in the eighth inning, Wood was called upon to face White Sox OF Dayan Viciedo. Wood would need just three pitches to retire Viciedo on strikes, the third strike coming on a wild flail at a slider that was eerily similar to the one that helped Wood strike out 20 batters in one game his rookie season and nearly 1600 batters throughout his career. Wood ends his career 157th all-time in strikeouts with a strikeout rate of over 10 Ks per nine innings, second only to Randy Johnson. 

You can watch the full strikeout at MLB.com, but perhaps cooler than the strikeout itself was the way Wood walked away from the game to a standing ovation at Wrigley Field. Check it out: 

If there is a better way to exit the game as a pitcher, I don't know it. It's the baseball equivalent of driving off into the sunset. 

In the first game between the North Siders and South Siders this season, Chicago White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko had to exit the game early after being hit in the face -- in the face! -- by a pitch from Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija. 

Here's a looping GIF of Konerko going down via WorldofIsaac: 

Konerko hit a two-run homer in the first inning off Samardzija, calling into question the intention of the pitch. The HBP was in Konerko's very next at bat, although the count was 2-2. Samardzija has had pretty great control this year and has only hit one other batter this season and it was Jason Heyward after he had hit a home run earlier in the game. As a result of the beanball, White Sox announcer Hawk Harrelson didn't shy away from saying that Samardzija should be drilled in his next at bat or in the next series. 

Luckily, Konerko appears to be okay. He suffered a small laceration above his left eye and has some swelling. He is currently undergoing further tests. 

Konerko is hitting .367 with eight home runs and 23 RBI this season. 

And this Mets fan was an off-duty police officer. The story comes from the NY Daily News: 

Officer Eduardo Cornejo had a legit ticket to the Mets’ sad 6-3 drubbing by the Cincinnati Reds, but ballpark management confronted him once they realized he was stretched out in a seat better than the one he had purchased.

“He was in a section he wasn’t supposed to be,” Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. “They asked him to leave. He wouldn’t. [A] supervisor asked him to leave. He wouldn’t. The uniformed police sergeant asked him to leave. He wouldn’t, and he was arrested as a result.”

Seat hopping can be a contentious topic, kind of like what an adult is supposed to do with a foul ball.

I'm of the belief that if you bought a specific seat, you should probably sit there. If you decide you want to sit in a clearly empty seat in a better section, and you think you can get away with it, whatever, go for it. But if someone comes back with tickets to that seat, apologize and leave without causing any problems.

Officer Cornejo never would've been arrested if he would've just acknowledged that he was in the wrong seat and moved back to where his legit ticket designated him to sit. There's nothing left for the usher, supervisor or uniformed police sergeant to do but physically remove him from the seat. Legally, he's trespassing at that point and they have every right to arrest the uncooperative 'patron'. 

Some fans are hoity-toity about seat hoppers and they have a valid point when those like Officer Cornejo become a distraction, devaluing their experience, in addition to making them feel like suckers for paying high ticket prices when they could've just bought $2 bleacher seats and snuck down. Of course, better ushers could prevent this practice from happening altogether.

When Justin Verlander takes the mound for the Detroit Tigers Friday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he will be without his best player behind him -- Austin Jackson.

You might think I'm talking defensively, but Jackson is actually the Tigers' best player -- period. Jackson is leading the team in the WAR metric with a 2.6, the next closest being Verlander with a 2.0. After the reigning MVP is surprise Andy Dirks with a 1.2. Miguel Cabrera has a 0.8 and Prince Fielder is right behind him with a 0.7 (rookie pitcher Drew Smyly also has a 0.7 WAR).

Of course, you wouldn't know this because the Tigers' household names are Verlander, Cabrera and Fielder. In fact, Jackson is arguably the third most talked about outfielder on the team -- Delmon Young's arrest and subsequent suspension thrust him into the spotlight and Brennan Boesch has been discussed quite a bit because his bat was expected to be the biggest beneficiary after the Fielder signing. 

Jackson's season thus far garners much more attention, though, far beyond the Tigers. By the same WAR metric, he's third in all of baseball, only behind Josh Hamilton and David Wright. After hitting just .249/.317/.690 and striking out in over 27-percent of his at bats in his second big league season, Jackson worked diligently with hitting coach Lloyd McClendon during the offseason to change his stance and overall approach at the plate. It has paid incredible dividends thus far, as his line is now .331/.414/.958 with a strikeout rate of just over 18-percent and a walk rate up to 12.6-percent from 8.4-percent a year ago. 

Jackson is currently day-today with a mild abdominal strain, an injury that could be a nagging issue for the rest of thes season. Hopefully, he returns fully healthy and continues his torrid pace. Jackson could be the (deserving) starting CF in the All-Star Game and ... well, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.