Atomic RoadRunners

New York starter John Maine pitched five strong innings Tuesday and left with the lead but the Mets couldn’t hold it as they lost to the Diamondbacks, 9-5. Maine gave up five hits and three runs, walked three and struck out seven. His ERA went up slightly to 3.60. Maine could have improved to 7-4 on the season had the Mets held his lead but instead picked up the no decision. Of course, Maine could have helped his own cause had he been able to go longer in the game. The five innings was his lowest total since going four on May 20 against Colorado. Maine continues to pitch so-so for the Mets and remains a viable candidate to start in all NL-only and most mixed Fantasy formats. Maine is in the midst of a two-start week and next pitches on Sunday against Texas. (CBS Sports)

Phillies SP Brett Myers’ first-inning ERA this season rose from 11.08 to 12.21 when he allowed three runs to the hosting Marlins on Tuesday. He lasted 5 1/3 innings, giving up five runs and seven hits while striking out five and walking four. He suffered his eighth defeat and now has just one win in his last 10 starts. Myers had come off back-to-back good starts, allowing a 2.35 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings. He has struggled in his transition from the bullpen back to the starting rotation, but he has the potential to serve as a No. 2 Fantasy SP when going well. Hang on to him despite his poor record and ERA. Home run hitters have loved Myers this season, as he has now allowed 18 homers in 86 innings. The Phillies have lost eight of his last nine starts. His next start — and second of Fantasy Week 11 — is scheduled for Sunday at St. Louis. (CBS Sports, Rotowire)

With Matt Holliday back from the disabled list, the Denver Post reports that Ryan Spilborghs will see increased playing time in center field at the expense of Willy Taveras. “Obviously, I am not going to make all the plays that Willy Taveras can make, but a good center fielder, which I think I am, is going to make the routine plays,” Spilborghs said. “If it happens, it happens. I think I have shown that I can definitely play every day.” Taveras is an elite defensive player and has gone 23-for-25 stealing bases, but is batting just .234/.290/.274 in 54 games. (Rotoworld)

With Chipper Jones, batting .420, missing his second straight start with a small tear in his right quadriceps, the Braves put Omar Infante into the lineup at third against the Cubs Tuesday. “I’m hoping maybe (to) be back in there tomorrow,” Jones said. “It’s better. I still can’t run the way I need to. I wouldn’t be able to run the bases. I don’t know what kind of range I would have out at third base.” Jones did pinch-hit in the seventh and drew a two-out walk to finish Lilly. Jones is obviously an injury risk start in all formats, but he might well only miss a few starts. If you have another, healthier option at 3B, you should probably start them this week and let Jones heal up. (CBS Sports, Rotowire)

Mike Gonzalez (elbow) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings Tuesday for Triple-A Richmond. With Tom Glavine going on the disabled list, the Braves have a roster spot to play with. Perhaps they’ll use the opportunity to activate Gonzalez a little earlier than expected. He’s allowed one run and posted an 8/0 K/BB ratio in 7 2/3 innings on his rehab assignment. (Rotoworld)

Manny Acosta gave up five runs over 1.2 innings, including a three-run home run, in Tuesday’s loss to the Cubs. However, just one run was earned due to a throwing error by Acosta. It was Acosta’s third ugly outing in his last four appearances. He’s given up eight runs and four home runs in his last 4.1 innings and his struggles likely have him out of the closer mix. However, with Rafael Soriano still struggling with a sore elbow, it’s not clear who will get the next save chance for the Braves. (Rotowire)

Chris Iannetta started on Tuesday for the fourth time in the Rockies’ last five games. He went 0-for-3, however, Iannetta is still 5-for-14 with four RBI in June. The balance of power is starting to shift towards Iannetta in the Rockies’ catching platoon, although Yorvit Torrealba should still receive significant playing time for the foreseeable future. (Rotowire)

Corey Hart hit leadoff for the first time this season and went 1-for-4 on Tuesday. It looks like Hart may see some time in the leadoff spot while Rickie Weeks is on the DL. This may boost his runs scored and stolen bases a bit, but will hurt him in RBI. Unless he catches fire, he’s likely to return to the fifth spot in the order after Weeks returns. (Rotowire)

The Los Angeles Times reports that Andy LaRoche will start Wednesday and “the Dodgers plan to use him regularly against left-handed starters.” It’s unclear whether he’ll be replacing Blake DeWitt at third base or James Loney at first base. LaRoche could take everyday at-bats from DeWitt, or perhaps even more the less powerful DeWitt over to second base behind Jeff Kent. “We’ll find somebody whose place he’ll take against left-handers,” manager Joe Torre said. “Now that he’s here, we have to find places to get him enough at-bats so he can help us.” (Rotoworld, CBS Sports)

Manager Dusty Baker said Tuesday that shifting Brandon Phillips to shortstop is not an option. “I know everybody says that, and he could probably do it, but how many guys do you want out of position?” Baker said. “You want one or you want two or three?” Paul Janish will start there until Jeff Keppinger returns. (Rotoworld)

Asked Tuesday whether Chase Headley is close to coming up from Triple-A, general manager Kevin Towers said that the Padres are “still contemplating the date for the call-up.” Headley is now hitting .301/.375/.522 with 10 homers in 62 games at Triple-A, while Padres left fielders rank 11th among NL teams in OPS. (Rotoworld)

Bugs & Cranks had a feature yesterday entitled “The People Demand Head(ley)” that summed up most Headley owner’s feelings:

Seriously, what the f— is the hold up?

Let’s be realistic for a moment. Despite their reasonably inspired play, San Diego still has the third-worst record in the NL – in front of the injury-ravaged Rockies and suck-infused Nationals. They outscored the Mets by a grand total of five runs and were the beneficiaries of a New York lineup that decided to forego plate discipline in an apparent effort to mirror the home team. They won in spite of their continued poor hitting and curious managerial decisions by Bud Black – so let me make sure I understand this, Scott Hairston goes 5-for-9 with a home run in Games 2 and 3 of the series so he’s on the bench in the finale so that Paul McAnulty (hitting a cool .221 entering play and looking like the husky son of Gary Busey ) can get a start? Amazingly, McAnulty went 2-for-3 and drove in two with an opposite field slap off of Pedro Martinez. Things were just going San Diego’s way in this series.

However, I really hope this doesn’t dissuade Kevin Towers from making additional moves, particularly when it comes to Chase Headley and the black hole they’ve got in left field. Hairston and McAnulty have pretty much proven they’re nothing more than fourth or fifth outfielders at this juncture, so why delay calling up the rookie any longer? Things are going reasonably well so expectations won’t be heaped on him to “turn things around,” which is the original reason given for why he hasn’t gotten the call – not to be confused with the real reason, they’re CHEAP. But they are still a team with a grand total of three guys hitting better than .270 – which generously includes Jody Gerut, who has just 103 at-bats – and very limited power outside of Adrian Gonzalez. As nice of an oasis as this five-game winning streak has been amid a disastrous season, it shouldn’t distract from the underlying and substantial problems with San Diego’s current roster. No, Chase Headley is not a panacea. He’s not a savior. But he could step in and immediately become one of their top three or four hitters, and it isn’t like McAnulty’s chubby ass is going to be mistaken for Torii Hunter anytime soon so whatever defensive shortcomings he has are a worthy tradeoff. Given the success of guys like Evan Longoria and Jay Bruce, why is San Diego so terrified to summon Headley to the show? He gives them the best chance to win now AND in the future. Quit wasting at-bats on proven reserves already and let your most talented left fielder play the role in San Diego instead of Portland.

Andruw Jones (knee) took batting practice Tuesday. Jones is ahead of schedule in his recovery from knee surgery, but the Los Angeles Times reports that “he’s probably at least two weeks away from returning.” (Rotoworld)

Overall Standings

Rank Team                Batting Pitching Total Dif  Behind
---- ------------------- ------- -------- ----- ---- ------
 1   Atomic Roadrunners  40.0    39.0     79.0  -2.5 0.0
 2   Shoeless Jews       32.5    33.0     65.5  2.0  13.5
 3   The Pi Train        31.0    31.0     62.0  1.0  17.0
 4   X-Men               19.0    39.0     58.0  1.0  21.0
 5   Misogynistic Padres 28.0    27.5     55.5  0.0  23.5
 6   Goodfellas          32.0    21.5     53.5  1.0  25.5
 7   Stanimals           36.0    15.5     51.5  -1.5 27.5
 8   Uncle Lester        10.0    37.0     47.0  1.0  32.0
 9   Get Off Kong!       23.5    21.5     45.0  -1.0 34.0
 10  Cover Zero          23.0    10.0     33.0  -1.0 46.0

Yesterday's Stats

Atomic Roadrunners Players Yesterday (6/10/08)
Player                        BA HR R RBI   SB
------------------------- ------ -- - --- ----
Blanco, Gregor M. OF ATL  0.0000  0 0   0    0
Coste, Chris C PHI        0.3333  0 0   0    0
DeWitt, Blake 3B LA       0.2000  0 0   0    0
Fielder, Prince 1B MIL    0.0000  0 0   0    0
Gerut, Jody RF SD         0.0000  0 0   0    0
Hart, Corey C. RF MIL     0.2500  0 0   0    0
Iannetta, Chris C COL     0.0000  0 1   0    0
Jones, Chipper 3B ATL     0.0000  0 0   0    0
Phillips, Brandon 2B CIN  0.0000  0 0   0    0
Reyes, Jose B. SS NYM     0.4000  0 0   0    0
Spilborghs, Ryan CF COL   0.0000  0 0   0    0
Teixeira, Mark 1B ATL     0.0000  0 0   0    0
Theriot, Ryan SS CHC      0.2000  0 1   0    1
Victorino, Shane CF PHI   0.0000  0 0   0    0

Atomic Roadrunners Players Yesterday (6/10/08)
Player                       ERA  K S   W WHIP
------------------------- ------ -- - --- ----
Lyon, Brandon RP ARI        0.00  0 0   0 1.00
Maine, John SP NYM          5.40  7 0   0 1.60
Myers, Brett SP PHI         8.44  5 0   0 2.06