Twins 6, @Orioles 5: Chris Davis’s dinger drought at 1 game. O’s now 0-2 in 1-run games. Not that it means anything for the future.

• Josh Roenicke, #2 last year in relief games more than 1 IP, worked the 6th through 8th innings, preserving the tie and earning his first AL win.

Nationals 7, @Reds 6: Washington’s turn at the Home Run Derby, with 5 taters plating all 7 runs.

• Rafael Soriano blew a 2-run lead on a HR and wild pitch. Last year he had just 2 games allowing 2+ runs. He had no wild pitches from 2009-11.
• Ian Desmond’s go-ahead HR in the 11th helped atone for 2 errors that led to 2 unearned runs. Last year he had 3 tying or go-ahead RBI in extra innings, one of 15 such players.
• Aroldis breezed the side on 12 pitches in his inning, but he left for a PH; 5 pitches later, the Redlegs were trailing.
• Last year, J.J. Hoover gave just 2 HRs in 28 appearances — both in one game.
• It’s a strong lineup when this guy hits 8th.
• What were you doing at 20 years, 6 months?

@Braves 6, Cubs 5: Call ’em The Brotherhood of the Wolf.

• Carlos Marmol has been bad for the past 2 years, but this is the first time since 2009 that he’s allowed a run in 3 straight games. He’d been touched for just 1 prior walk-off HR — a pinch-hit grand slam.
• Justin Upton had 4 prior game-ending RBI, all in a 6-week stretch of 2011.

Dodgers 1, @Pirates 0: Clayton Kershaw dominated again, but he left for a PH after 7. Three men got aboard, and 2 were erased on bad baserunning.

• That’s 6 runs on 17 hits for the 1-4 Bucs, and consecutive 2-hit shutouts for LA against them. It sounds epically bad — but the 2003 Tigers worsted them with 16, .109 BA, .149 OBP and .313 OPS, and lost all 5 games by a combined 26-4. So Pirates fans are entitled to whatever solace there is in being not as bad as a 43-119 team.
• Last pitcher to start the year with consecutive shutouts: Dontrelle Willis, 2005.
• In his last 14 starts, Kershaw has allowed 14 ER (16 total) in 103.1 IP, for a 1.22 ERA.
• He actually lost 3 of those, by scores of 1-0 (unearned run in his last inning), 2-0 and 2-1 (Kershaw had 2 of their 5 hits).
• Another 1-man appearance for young Paco Rodriguez, again whiffing Pedro Alvarez, who’ll be a platoon man one of these days.
• Kershaw might have been lifted after 7 even if his spot hadn’t come up to bat, but do you ever wonder if managers fully consider the specific challenge of pinch-hitting when they make those decisions? For instance, Skip Schumaker, who stood in for Kershaw to start the home 7th, has a career .288 BA and .345 OBP overall, but .246/.295 in 152 tries in the pinch. And that’s about the norm for NL pinch-hitters, who went .230/.309 last year. That’s still better than Kershaw’s career .147/.181, and considering all factors including the caliber of who relieved him, there’s no grounds to question the choice, beyond the entertainment value of seeing him go for the shutout. But I think managers sometimes overrate the formal distinction between “hitter” and “pitcher.” Pinch-hitting is much harder than taking a regular turn in the batting order.

@Phillies 4, Royals 3: Three walks, then 2 whiffs, and finally the first career walk-off for Kevin Frandsen.

• I don’t mind stating the obvious: Greg Holland, you cannot walk the leadoff man with a 2-run lead in the 9th. You can’t walk Ryan Howard (3 singles in 19 ABs so far) on 4 pitches. And you can’t ever walk Michael Young. Holland blew only 2 saves after assuming the closer role last year, but both featured a walk to the first batter. He’s walked 10% of first batters in his career; last year’s AL rate was 7.5%.
• Holland’s walks seem to reflect whether he’s on or not. When he walks none, Holland has a 1.68 ERA and 6.0 H/9. When he walks anyone, a 5.04 ERA and 9.4 H/9.
• Phils are the first to win this year with no more than 4 total bases.

@Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 0: Boston got only 2 hits, while Toronto used the same for all their damage — a 2-run blast by Arencibia and a 3-run kablooey from Rasmus.

• More good news for the Jays: Their lefty DH got his first hit of the year, bagged his biennial steal, and scored on both HRs.
• Wishing a speedy recovery for John Lackey. Spectating’s more fun when he’s getting knocked around.

@Tigers 8, Yankees 4: Phil Hughes & friends kept Detroit walled in, but 17 safeties proved more than enough.

• We all kind of chuckled when the Bombers added Youkilis, Hafner, Wells, Boesch and Overbay — but those fill-ins tallied all the hits, runs and RBI in this game.
• Detroit has 3 HRs so far, all in a 3-inning span of Friday’s series opener.
• When early results align with expectations, it’s easy to overreact. But note: Just once since 1990 have the Yanks allowed more than these 31 earned runs their first 5 games. That team also went 1-4, and the losses weren’t close. In game 6, they broke out with 6 runs in the 1st; they won 22 of their next 24 games, and 114 overall — or 125, as their fans often put it. I don’t really know what the moral is — but if they get 6 in the 1st off Verlander today, it might give them a lift.

Athletics 6, @Astros 3: A 3-run boom by Jason Castro gave the Astros their first lead since Opening Day, but 3 unearned put Oakland back up in the 6th. Houston threatened in their half, but a DP killed that, and their last 9 men went down meekly.

• Very early returns on the Jed Lowrie/Chris Carter trade between these clubs: Lowrie, .476 BA/.560/.952 (that’s his slugging, not his OPS); Carter, 1 for 19 with 10 strikeouts and nada mas.
• The A’s have the first 4-game win streak this year, matched by …

@Rockies 6, Padres 3: In 4 career starts in Coors field, Jon Garland has gone 6+ innings each time and allowed just 1 HR. Just 6% of all Coors starters went 6+ without a HR.

• 4 of the first 5 Rockies SPs went 6 IP on 2 runs or less. Last year, they had 5 such starts in the whole 2nd half.
• A turning point: Tied in the 4th with men at the corners, a 6-4-3 from Cameron Maybin ended the inning. The Rockies rapped 3 straight scoring singles the next frame, after Everth Cabrera booted a potential DP.
• There’s no obvious reason that Garland should fare well in Coors; his GB/FB ratio is average, while his K rate is well below.
• San Diego’s second basemen have yet to reach base.