@Reds 10, Marlins 6: Those 8-run innings will get you every time. With the Fish at 4-15, the drumbeat of ’62 Mets comparisons has begun. I suppose anything’s possible, but keep three things in mind:

• Miami has played 13 games against teams who were in the playoffs last year and expect to be there again, going 2-11. Their schedule won’t be that hard all year.
• The 2003 Tigers make the 120-loss record seem feasible, as they lost 119 and had to get hot at the end to avoid the record. But no other team in the expansion era has lost more than 112. And those Mets and Tigers undershot their pythagorean estimate by a total of 19 games.
• Since 1961, 21 teams have started 4-15 or worse. Including the ’62 Mets and ’03 Tigers, those teams averaged 99 losses.

I could see 110 losses. But are the Marlins really any worse than the 2011-12 Astros, who lost 106-107 while falling 10 games short of their pythagorean expectation? I doubt it. I think 120 losses is a million-to-one shot.

@Angels 4, Tigers 3 (13): Phil Coke was near perfect for 2 innings, but in the hard-luck round, Mark Trumbo sent a 3-1 pitch to Pistachioland, giving the Halos a sweep and their first series win against a quality foe.

• Jim Leyland’s club survived his daring maneuver in the 12th, intentionally walking Albert Pujols with the bases empty and 2 outs. Coke whiffed Josh Hamilton on 3 pitches.
• Since I first mentioned his name 5 days ago, Austin Jackson is 1 for 25 with 10 Ks, no runs or ribbies. (Am I being too subtle for you, o gods of double-reverse whammy?)

@Mets 2, Nationals 0: The last team to participate in a shutout this year came out on the good end, thanks to a mammoth mash by John Buck (his 7th) and an aggressive AB by Jayson Werth. Down by 2 in the 8th, Washington got the first 2 on base against rookie reliever Scot Rice. On the heels of a 5-pitch walk, Rice threw 3 balls to Werth, with Bryce Harper on deck. Werth swung at the next pitch and rolled a perfect 6-4-3 DP, and Rice fanned Harper to escape the inning.

• When putting the ball in play on 3-0, Werth was 6 for 9 with a HR. This was his first DP on that count.
• Lucas Duda saw 27 pitches in 4 trips, with a walk and 3 caught looking. He came in 3rd in MLB at 4.44 pitches per PA. Duda does sometimes seem too passive, as Bobby Ojeda says on a nightly basis. But he has a 1.134 OPS, 5 HRs and 11 Runs in 16 games, mostly from the #6 spot, so leave him alone for now.
• The teams combined went 0-for-12 with RISP. As proof that you should never trust your eyes alone, my box-score readings would have me think that this year’s RISP batting average was below the norm, as compared to bases empty. In fact, it’s well above the norm. As today’s play began, the averages were .244 with none on, .259 with RISP. Last year’s marks were .249/.255, and 2011 was .251/.254. The Jays, ChiSox, Dodgers and Cubs were all on the interstate, but 5 teams were at .306 and up.

@Blue Jays 8, Yankees 4: Adam Lind walked all 4 times up. He had one prior 3-walk game (in 5 PAs) back in 2009, his one big year. He scored twice, doubling his season total.

Royals over Red Sox, 4-2 and 5-4 (10): In the day game, Ervin Santana dished out his 3rd straight strong game, 2 runs in 7 IP, no walks and 7 Ks. His strike rate so far would be a career high; his previous best in that regard coincided with his best year, 2008.

Two 4-pitch walks helped push in the winning run in game 2. How do you end up with Andrew Miller facing a righty with the bags full and the game on the line?

• Greg Holland save both, fanning 5. He’s whiffed 8 of 9 batters in 3 games since getting a little time to clear his head from a rough start.

Dodgers 7, @Orioles 4: Jake Arrieta broke the first rule of beating a struggling offense: Make them hit their way on. Three walks in the 3rd helped produced LA’s first run, and he opened the 5th with a BB-HBP-BB sandwich, setting the table for a 4-run meal and a lead they’d not cough up.

• Matt Kemp had his second 3-hit game of the weekend, including the go-ahead knock, but again all were singles. He has 4 doubles, no HRs.
• 4 LA relievers went an inning without a strikeout. Brandon League, who got the save, has just 2 Ks in 7 IP this year. Except for a 2009 spike, he’s never averaged more than 6.8 SO/9. Out of 48 30-save years since 2010, just 6 came with less than 7 SO/9.

@Pirates 4, Braves 2: Pittsburgh has both a winning record (10-8) and a positive run differential. Atlanta dropped the last 3 in this series while totaling 3 runs, but they’re still 3 games up on the Nats. (That’s right — I just referenced the standings on April 21.) Ramiro Pena drew 2 walks; each time he tried to steal with 2 strikes on Justin Upton, and each led to a DP.

@Giants 5, Padres 0: And the first pitcher this year with 3 games of 7 scoreless innings is … Barry Zito. That’s right — his ERA is 3.42 (thanks to a 9-run disaster last time out), but his “mulligan ERA” is zero. SF swept the weekend series, getting shutout work from the two guys most questioned coming into the year.

• Buster Posey got off the HR schneid, but it was Angel Pagan’s hustling 2-run double after a Zito sac that sparked the offense.

@Brewers 4, Cubs 2: Push the reset button: Ryan Braun homered for the 3rd time in 4 games, a game-changing 3-runner, and suddenly the once 2-8 Brewers have streaked past .500 into a 4-team caramel-nut cluster in the NL Central.

• Is it his bat, his frame or his swing that makes me think “wiffleball” when I see Braun clock one?
• Three things I like about Jimmy Henderson, who logged his 4th straight save as fill-in (or fixture?): 1 walk in 9 IP; making it after 10 years in the minors; born on my 19th birthday.

@Rangers 11, Mariners 3: Texas is 12-6 … but they haven’t played one team that now has a winning record. Astros, 5-13; Angels, 7-10; Rays, 8-10; M’s, 7-13; Cubs, 5-12. That’s 32-58, and 26-46 without the Ranger games. Next up: Angels, Twins (8-7), White Sox (7-11).