Not Dunn yet

Don't look now.

Adam Dunn is heating up again.

The Reds' slugger has homered in 4 straight games and driven in 7 runs in that span. Maybe even better news, Dunn has only struck out twice in the last 4, and he's raised his average 18 points (.203 to .221). Sure, Dunn is one of the most worthless sluggers in baseball right now. He'll hit 40 HR and drive in 100 runs, but fantasy owners can't handle the sub-.250 avg. Do I want him on my team? Not really? Would I want to play against him this week in a head-to-head? Not if I can help it.

Livan on the edge

Livan Hernandez threw five perfect innings against the Rockies on Saturday night. Spitting Seeds tells you why now's the perfect time to sell high on the declining right hander.

Carpenter taking steps toward return

If no one in your league has Cardinals SP Chris Carpenter, go get him. He's on the road back to the bigs. After undergoing surgery on his right elbow last season, Carpenter threw a bullpen session today. He's scheduled to throw a simulated game on Tuesday, May 20. Hopefully he'll be on track for maybe a July return, but the club has yet to set an official timetable. He'll be back soon enough and hopefully he'll return to ace form. If you've got an open DL spot, stash him there.

Jay Bruce heats up, Jocketty says, "not so fast"

If you can possibly believe it, Jay Bruce continues to get even hotter at the plate. Wednesday against Scranton, Bruce doubled, tripled, and homered raising his season average to .366. Bruce now has 8 HR, 33 RBI, and 7 SB. Fans who are eager to see Ken Griffey Jr. get booted out of town to make room for Bruce won't like what new GM Walt Jocketty had to say today.

Royals continue dominance of Tigers

As Detroit's 16-24 record might suggest, plenty of teams can say they "own" the Tigers...but perhaps no team is more qualified to make that claim than the Kansas City Royals...thats right, the Royals.

The lowly Tigers made KC rookie Luke Hochever look like Cy Young on Wednesday night. Hochevar's (3-2, 3.94 season ERA) 6 scoreless innings led the Royals to their 5th straight win over Detroit. Hochevar continues to impress as he gains more fantasy value with each passing start.

On the flip side, Tigers' ace Justin Verlander lost despite his best pitching performance in nearly a month (6 IP, 2 ER, 3 K). Maybe this will be a turning point in Verlander's otherwise forgettable season (1-7, 6.05 ERA). Don't give up on Verlander yet. He'll get this thing turned around.

Tribe starting rotation "pitching in"

If you're looking for the best starting rotation in the majors right now, you'd be crazy to look anywhere else but Cleveland. The numbers speak for themselves.

5/9 vs. Tor. - Sabathia - 7 IP, ER, 9 K
5/10 vs. Tor. - Laffey - 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 K
5/12 vs. Tor. - Carmona - 9 IP, 0 ER, 3 K
5/12 vs. Tor. - Lee - 9 IP, 0 ER, 5 K
5/13 vs. Oak. - Byrd - 7.1 IP, 0 ER, 7 K
5/14 vs. Oak - Sabathia - 9 IP, 0 ER, 11 K

Don't rack your brain. I'll do that math. In their last 6 games, Indians starting pitchers have thrown 48.1 innings and allowed just 1 earned run. That's an ERA of 0.18 in the last week. Unbelievable. Obviously they can't keep this up forever, but if you've had any of these guys recently, you've undoubtedly reaped the reward.

Cueto pinch-runs, scores winning run

If you count pitchers' offensive stats in your fantasy league, then you need to seek professional medical help...but if that describes your fantasy league, then you received an unexpected boost from Johnny Cueto on Wednesday night.

Sure, Cueto's arm hasn't been much help to Cincinnati lately (20 ER in last 19.1 IP), but on Wednesday night, his legs won the game. After Mike Lincoln and Francisco Cordero blew a 6-run 9th-inning lead, Dusty Baker put Cueto in to pinch run for David Ross in the bottom of the 10th. He wasn't in there very long. The very next batter, newly recalled Paul Janish, singled home Cueto with the game-winning run.

Comings and Goings

Gagne back at closer, plus lots of injury news/roster moves. Find it all here, here and here, or just try Spitting Seeds in general.

Two closers perfect no more

Tuesday night signaled the end of the 0.00 ERA for two more closers, Mariano Rivera and Brad Lidge. You might have expected the future Hall-of-famer Rivera to 16 innings without allowing a run, but Lidge's 17 inning streak was quite surprising.

Lidge allowed a 9th inning Brian McCann RBI double to end his scoreless season; Lidge still picked up his 10th save. Things weren't as rosy for Rivera. The Yanks' stopper allowed a Gabe Gross 10th inning RBI single that lost the game for the Bronx Bombers.

So nearly a month-and-a-half into the '08 season, there are now only two full-time closers with a clean sheet (0.00 ERA): Mets' Billy Wagner (8 SV) and Royals' Joakim Soria (9 SV).