Tuesday's first pitch

Leading Off
The Oakland Athletics have just seven home runs. Ponder that for a moment.
Albert Pujols, Carlos Pena and Adrian Gonzalez have seven home runs.
As of Monday's game, Jason Giambi is batting .213 with one homer, Matt Holliday is batting .243 with no long bombs, Orlando Cabrera is batting .209 with no home runs and Nomar Garciaparra is batting .237 with one home run.
Can this last?
We here at The Southpaw doubt it.
Especially since they travel to Arlington, Texas, today to face the Rangers, who lead The Bigs with 38 big flies. They've also given up a ton of bombs.
Kevin Millwood, whom the A's will face tonight, has given up four home runs. Vicente Padilla, whom Oakland faces tomorrow, has also allowed four balls to leave the yard. Scott Feldman, whom the A's face in the series finale, has given up three in just 11 1/3 innings.

Regional Roundup

• It was a wild one at Citizens Bank Park, where the Phillies won behind the strength of grand slams by Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez. Jimmy Rollins says he's going to go all Teddy Ballgame in May. Remember, J-Roll has a history is making his predictions stick. Right, Mets fans?


• There is good news for the Nats. Willie Harris is set to return.


• The Orioles had an opportunity. They didn't grab it. What's up with the defense that was supposed to be so good.


• The Pirates have lost 13 in a row to Milwaukee.

Best of the Rest

• Alfonso Soriano is now third all-time in leadoff home runs


• Carlos Pena has nine home runs. NINE.


• The Yankees don't just need to get back above .500. They need Phil Hughes to live up to those "future star" predictions. That way they can move Joba back to the pen.


• It was a tough night for Los Angeles. The Dodgers threw a victory into the trash with some very sloppy play.


• Joel Piniero is 4-0. We doubt even Joel Piniero's mom thought that was possible.

Batter's Eye

• Torii Hunter brings a lot to the Angels' club house. Not to mention that he's carrying the club.

Today in history
1930 -- The first night game in organized baseball was played in Independence, Kan. In a Western Association game, Muskogee defeated Independence 13-3.
1961 -- Warren Spahn, at the age of 40, no-hit the San Francisco Giants 1-0 at Milwaukee.
1971 -- Hank Aaron connected off Gaylord Perry for his 600th career home run in the Atlanta Braves' 10-inning, 6-5 loss to the San Francisco Giants.
1988 -- The winless Baltimore Orioles set an American League record by losing their 21st straight, falling to the Minnesota Twins 4-2.

The Closer
The Red Sox almost lost Monday. Jason Bay, however, came up big. Not to toot our own horn - OK we really wanted to - but we said, in the offseason, Bay would have to be a big contributor if the Red Saws were going to be successful. We were worried about the age of some of Boston's premiere players.
Well, the Sox have won 11 straight. Bay is hitting .316 with four home runs, five doubles and 16 RBI.
And Jason Varitek is hitting .216, but does have four home runs. Meanwhile David Ortiz is hitting .222 and has yet to leave the yard.
For the record, Manny is hitting .328 with 4 home runs and three doubles.