@Athletics 10, Rangers 1: Oakland cruised after an 8-run 2nd — 3 more than their previous high inning — while rookie Jarrod Parker held the Rangers hitless through 7 IP before Michael Young‘s clean single up the middle.

• Through 9 career starts, Parker has allowed 13 runs in 54.1 IP for a 2.15 ERA. Six runs came in one start; in the other 8, he went 5+ IP on 2 runs or less. Crank up the Play Index … Parker tied Dave “Boo” Ferriss for the most such starts (since 1918) within the first 9 career games. And his 6 starts of 5+ IP and 1 run or less also ties the known record, shared by Zach Britton and Andy Rincon. (Always bear in mind that breaking in as a starter is a relatively recent phenomenon; even someone as proven as Lefty Grove relieved in 60% of his rookie games.)
• Texas began the night with a .293 road batting average.
• Brandon Inge touched off the 8-run barrage with a HR — a 3-run shot, natch — and closed it with another RBI hit with 2 on base. With 2 or more men aboard, he’s 8 for 21 with 5 HRs and 21 of his 23 RBI. He has more HRs in that situation than anyone else in baseball; Carlos Beltran is second with 4, and last year’s leader (Lance Berkman) had 8. With 1 man on, Inge is 2 for 29 with 1 HR; with the bases empty, 6 for 36, no HRs.

Rockies 4, @Diamondbacks 0: First team shutout this year for the Rox — 2 weeks after every other team had one.

• Rookie Christian Friedrich (7 scoreless) notched Colorado’s first start of 5+ IP and no runs. (Every other team has at least 2, averaging 5; the Nats and Mets have 10 each.) He’s the first Rockie ever to win 4 of his first 6 games. In his 4 starts away from Coors, Friedrich has allowed 5 ER in 25 IP, with 27 Ks and 5 walks; in 2 home starts, 11 IP, 13 R, 20 H.
• It’s been more than a year since Colorado’s last individual shutout — June 1, 2011 by Ubaldo Jimenez (also his last shutout, as any Tribe fan could tell you).
• Rockies catcher Wilin Rosario has twice put the ball in play on a 3-0 count this year – both HRs. He’s the first player with 2 such HRs this year; no one has more than 4 such HRs in 2007-12 combined. Rosario has real power – 12 HRs in 169 PAs since his debut last year – but after he goes around the league another time or two, his days of slugging .500 will be over, absent a major adjustment. He has 50 strikeouts and just 7 walks, and his pitch-count splits tell an age-old story: once he gets behind in the count, he’s toast. He’s 6 for 61 when behind in the count; with 2 strikes, he’s 6 for 80, with 1 HR and 50 strikeouts. Four of his 12 HRs were on the first pitch. On a full count, he’s 0 for 12 with 6 Ks, 2 walks. In high-leverage situations, 4 for 34, no HRs. Against all relievers, 6 for 57, 1 HR. I hope he’s learning – because the league is definitely learning about him.

Mariners 8, @Angels 6: Seattle SS Munenori Kawasaki picked a good moment for his first extra-base hit: sacks full and 2 out, after the 5th and 6th walks from Ervin Santana. Kawasaki began the night 6 for 38 in his brief career.

• The M’s have tallied 6+ runs in 7 of their last 16 games — they had 8 in their first 41 games.
• Ach, these swing-for-the-fences kids! Ichiro is 0 for 13 since homering in his first 2 ABs Saturday.
• First 4-hit game for Mike Trout; probably not his last. He’s now batting .338; only Darin Erstad has ever hit .340 or higher for the Angels.
• Ervin Santana‘s last 3 starts: 14.2 IP, 14 BBs, 8 Ks, 16 ER.

Twins 10, @Royals 7: In Minnesota’s 6-of-7 run, Josh Willingham is 10 for 26 with 11 RBI. He’s now 2nd in the AL in OBP, 3rd in OPS+, 4th in RBI.

• Cheap save alert! Matt Capps had to get 1 out with the tying run on deck. Somehow, he pulled it off.
• Ben Revere had 1 RBI in 77 ABs this year before a pair of scoring singles.
• First career 3-XBH game for Mike Moustakas (HR, 2 doubles). He’s now at .285/.354/.514 for the year. In 11 games at cleanup, he has 3 HRs, 10 RBI and a .947 OPS.
• Cole De Vries got his first career win in his 3rd try. The 27-year-old righty was promoted on the strength of his … um … we’ll get back to you on that.
• In his 3rd start, young Will Smith allowed 3 HRs for the 2nd time as his ERA hit an even 9. Smith and De Vries are symbols of the “wing-and-a-prayer” approach of pitching-strapped organizations. There just isn’t any reason to expect big-league success from either one at this point; they both have career minor-league ERAs right around 4, with unexceptional K rates that have fallen as they’ve climbed the ladder. But KC’s big-league starters have a 5.20 ERA (despite the Felipe Fenomenon), and Minny’s are a run above that (Diamond Dust notwithstanding) — and when injuries come, the rules still require someone to toe the slab.
• Back to the drawing board: The Twins’ organizational philosophy has produced a staff with the fewest walks in the AL — but also the most hits, runs and HRs (despite a tough home-run park), with the fewest Ks.

Cardinals 5, @Mets 4: He pitched well, but Dillon Gee threw away an easy DP ball in the 7th with a sidearm throw that skidded into CF, touching off a 2-run inning that (as much as Allen Craig‘s 2-run blast in the 8th) was the difference in this up-and-down game.

• Kyle Lohse allowed 1 run in 6 IP, but got his 5th straight no-decision, after starting the year with 5 wins in 7 starts. Five straight ND’s ties the Cardinals record since 1918, shared by 8 others.
• Scott Hairston tied it up in the 7th with his 2nd pinch-HR — off a lefty, of course. Against southpaws, Hairston is 21 for 60 with 6 HRs and 4 doubles, slugging .717.
• Ike Davis schlepped a .166 BA and 42 OPS+ into Monday’s game, then was lifted in when a lefty came in. That 42 OPS+ would be the worst ever by a qualifying first baseman; none since 1947 have come in below 60. Only one qualified 1B has ever batted under .200.

@Giants 3 Cubs 2: SF has scored 4 runs or less in 9 straight games — yet they’re 7-2. They went 4-3 in another 7-game streak in April. The other 15 streaks of 7+ games scoring 4 runs or less all had losing records, including an 0-9 run by the Giants’ latest victims, the Cubs. In the last 8 games of the Giants’ streak, neither team has scored more than 4 runs; the average score was 3.1 for the winner, 1.5 for the loser.