The Lineup: Luke Hochevar, Colby Rasmus live up to the hype (2024)

It was a pretty busy night in baseball as Mondays go, so let's dig right in ...

Full Monday scoreboard and box scores and recaps for all games

3 UP

Mat Latos, Reds: Now this is the ace the Reds thought they were getting. On Monday night, Latos dominated the Brewers: 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 13 K (career high), 2 BB. Of those four hits allowed, two were infield singles. Of his 109 pitches 80 went for strikes, and he delivered first-pitch strikes to 27 of 33 opposing hitters. Oh, and Latos also went 2-for-3 at the plate.

Luke Hochevar, Royals: Is Hochevar finally starting to realize his potential? Against the Rays, he tossed a complete-game shutout, striking out eight and walking only one. The 28-year-old has looked sharp in each of his last three starts. Monday night's gem was Hochevar's second career shutout and the first complete game by a Royals pitcher this season.

Colby Rasmus, Blue Jays: And speaking of "realize his potential," we have Rasmus. Against the Red Sox, Rasmus went 3-for-5 with three RBI (the Toronto margin of victory, it would turn out) and his 14th homer of the season. He's now slugging .502 in 2012.

3 DOWN

Justin Grimm, Rangers: While Grimm notched a quality start in his major-league debut, his second career start went much less swimmingly. Against the Tigers on Monday night, Grimm lasted just a single inning, but in that span of three outs he coughed up six runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck out none.

Mariners' offense: The M's were blanked by Tommy Milone and the A's. They've now failed to score a run in 23.0 innings, and they've already been shut out nine times this season. The Seattle offense (such as it is) managed seven hits on the night, but all of them were singles.

Bryce Harper, Nationals: It won't be often that Teenage Thunder winds up on 3 Down, but he's made it this time. Despite playing in Coors Field, Harper on Monday went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and four runners left on base. The Nats lost 3-2.

Wild-card preview?: If the season ended right now, then Angels-Orioles might be your AL wild-card match-up. These two clubs likely won't win their respective divisions, but contention for the back-door to the postseason is quite possible. C.J. Wilson goes for the Halos, while Brian Matusz takes the mound for Baltimore. 8:05 pm ET.

Detroit and Darvish: Rangers' ace Yu Darvish looked solid in his first start against the Tigers, but how will hitters like Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder and Austin Jackson adjust now that they've had a prior look at the baffling import? Texas needs Darvish to go deep after getting a total of 17.0 innings from the bullpen over the last three days. 8:05 pm ET

Slip-sliding away: Exactly a month ago, the Dodgers enjoyed a season-high 7.5-game lead in the NL West. That lead has been methodically whittled down 2.0 over the Giants, and even the Diamondbacks have crawled back into the race. So it's on Clayton Kershaw to pitch like the ace that he is. If he doesn't, then Ryan Vogelsong and the Giants will pull even closer. 10:15 pm ET.

Tuesday probables for all games

• Stirring stirrups: On Saturday the Royals and Twins will play a "turn back the clock" game in which the Twins will wear the threads of the 1951 Minneapolis Millers. MLB.com provides a sneak preview of the unis in question. Those, friends, are some righteous stirrups.

• Cubbie cash: What team gouges you the most on ticket prices? Hint: There's ivy involved. [Hardball Times]

• Double down on the DH: While MLB's differing rules of play for each league doesn't bother me all that much, it seems to annoy the hell out of almost everyone else. So Jake Simpson of The Atlantic is the latest who thinks the NL should adopt the DH for the sake of uniformity.

• Byrd watch: Dave Cameron of FanGraphs surveys the Marlon Byrd controversy and then provides necessary reminder: PED users are often not very good players.

Papi Persists: The trade of Kevin Youkilis leaves only one player from the 2004 and 2007 championship teams: David Ortiz. But Youkilis's forced exit has Big Papi envisioning his own end. [Boston Globe]

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