Cody Ross hit his 14th bomb of the season of newly acquired Sean Burnett.  Ross is slugging .633 vs. left handed pitching this season. 

Josh Johnson left the game after only 3.1 innings.  No injury, just a rain delay and 4 walks to go with a rising pitch count.

Ricky Romero continues to impress.  He's stranding over 85% of runners and his FIP is a run higher than his ERA before his start yesterday.  Walks and the AL East are my concerns, but he's definitely a guy worth rostering right now.  He's only owned in 33% of Yahoo! leagues.

Brad Bergesen impressed against the Red Sox.  He's not going to strikeout a ton of guys, but he's keeping the ball on the ground and keeping the walks to a minimum.  His next start comes against the Mariners.  If you need a spot start, he's worth another go.

Yovani Gallardo struck out a career high 12 in 7 IP against the Mets.  If Gallardo can reduce his walk rate, he's basically Lincecum light.

Gil Meche, coming off a "dead arm" period, threw 121 pitches in only 6 innings.  His arm looked fine with a fastball sitting in the mid 90's, but minor injuries have been an issue this season.  If I'm A Meche owner (or a Royals fan) I'm not happy about the pitch count at all. 

Billy Butler, 4-4, continues to outperform James Loney, but it seems no one is paying attention. 

Jason Hammel has been pitching well for the Rockies lately.  He's not quite the ground ball pitcher Aaron Cooks is, but he is getting enough groundballs and limiting walks to be an NL-only add.

Troy Tulowitzki got cold just as fast as he got hot two weeks ago.  I think he'll finish with an AVG around .270.

Jimmy Rollins took another o'fer, but so did most of the Phillies against Jair Jurjjens who only allowed 1 hit. 

Justin Verlander was touched up last night.  That makes two less than spectacular starts in a row.  I'm not reading much into it.

Jose Contreras has struck out 8 batters in 3 of his last 4 starts.

Randy Wells pitched well again and got his third straight win.  I'd start him again at home vs the Braves in his next start. 

Johnny Cueto brought back the strikeout last night against the D-Backs.  Of course the D-Backs are second only to the Marlins in team strikeouts. 

Kevin Millwood and Jered Weaver squared off in a battle of the "sell highs".  Neither faired particularly well and neither are likely to repeat their first half numbers in the second half.

Nelson Cruz left with a back injury.  It didn't sound serious, but I never like to hear about back problems.  Keep an eye on the situation.

Albert Pujols did not hit a homerun, but he did go 2-2 with a stolen base.  Can he go 60/20!!?  Not likely, but this is just amazing to watch.

Matt Cain continues to strand runners like crazy.  8 Cardinals left on base and only 3 strikeouts. 

Adam Wainwright struck out a career high 12 in 9 innings.  He's throwing a curveball or slider on nearly 40% of his pitches.  That combined with only 132 innings pitched last season raises a bit of a red flag for potential time missed later this season. 

BJ Upton apparently wishes he played in the National League. Against interleague competition, the Tampa Bay centerfielder is batting .357 with two homers and 13 RBIs in 16 interleague games. This compared to .207 against AL competition.

It was Upton who powered the Rays past the Marlins in game one. He broke up a 2-2 tie in the 5th inning by scoring on a wild pitch. Then in the eighth he put the game away with a three run double. Unfortunately, teammate Jason Bartlett went 0-for-4, seeing his 19 game hit streak be broken. Tampa Bay got a solid pitching performance from James Shields, who went 6 and 2/3 innings, allowing 9 hits and 3 earned runs. The Rays won game one 7-3.

In game two, Scott Kazmir made his triumphant return to the Rays and looked like the old dominating Kaz that Rays fans remember. The former All-Star went five strong innings, allowing four hits, two runs, striking out five and only walking one batter - a major achievement for a hurler who has struggled with control all season. Kazmir was gone by the time the Rays snapped a 2-2 tie. That would be the bottom of the ninth when Jason Barlett singled, stole second, advanced to third, then was driven home by Willy Aybar's sacrifice fly to center. Carlos Pena hit his 23rd home run of the season.

In the final game of the homestand, the Rays completed the sweep with a little pitching from phenom David Price and a little power from their center fielder, BJ Upton. Upton's blast in the 3rd inning secured their place as only the 5th team in Major League Baseball history to have 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases before the All-Star break. In addition, Tropicana Field remained the only field in the majors to have a home run hit in every game. Price had his best outing after two bad ones, going six and third innings, allowing only one run and striking out four. Price is still struggling with control, walking five and while allowing only two hits. The Rays found themselves executing on several scoring opportunities throughout the contest - getting run scoring hits from Jason Bartlett, Gabe Kapler, Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist.

Tampa Bay finished up its homestand 5-1, winners of five straight. They'll finally get their shot at AL Eastern division rival Toronto, beginning a six game road trip in the great white north. tomorrow, then coming home to face the Blue Jays at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay is 5 behind Boston in the AL East, 2 games behind the Yankees for the Wild Card   

Lindstrom has 14 saves in 16 opportunities along with a 2-1 record and 6.52 ERA in 32 appearances so far this season.  He has struck out 26 batters in his 29 innings (8.1 K/9), but has struggled with his control (6.2 BB/9). 

The Marlins seem likely to use a few different pitchers to close games in Lindstrom's place.  Here are the most likely candidates, with season statistics through Wednesday.

1.  RHP Leo Nunez (2-3, 4.13 ERA, 2 saves)
2.  LHP Dan Meyer (1-0, 2.03 ERA, 1 save, 35 appearances)
3.  RHP Brian Sanches (1-1, 0.59 ERA)
4.  RHP Kiko Calero (1-0, 2.01 ERA, 36 appearances)
5.  LHP Renyel Pinto (2-0, 2.13 ERA, 28 appearances)

Nunez would appear to be the frontrunner for save opportunities, as soon as he returns from an ankle injury he suffered last Saturday night.  He was expected to be available to pitch on Wednesday night, but he did not enter the game when the team had a save situation.

Meyer has been effective as a set-up man, so Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez may be hesitant to move him from that role even though he got the first save in Lindstrom's stead on Wednesday night. 

Sanches has only made 14 appearances this season for the Marlins, but does have four saves in Triple-A this season and had at least 13 saves in Triple-A each season from 2006-2008.  

Calero is currently on the disabled list with a shoulder injury, but could also enter the mix for save opportunities once he returns, which is expected to be sometime in early July. 

Punto was on the DL due to an elbow injury and was activated last week.

From a fantasy perspective, this could easily become a closer-by-committee while Lindstrom is out. That situation would render all involved virtually useless to fantasy owners unless one guy emerges and gets most of the save chances.

If you have Lindstrom on your fantasy team and want to pursue options from outside the Marlins' organization, these guys may be worth adding if they are available in your league.  All stats are through Wednesday. 

1.  J.P. Howell, Tampa Bay Rays (2-2, 1.82 ERA, 4 saves)
2.  Jason Frasor, Toronto Blue Jays (5-1, 2.10 ERA, 2 saves)
3.  Andrew Bailey, Oakland A's (4-1, 2.23 ERA, 8 saves)
4.  Rafael Soriano, Atlanta Braves (1-1, 1.34 ERA, 6 saves)
5.  Mike Gonzalez, Atlanta Braves (2-0, 2.12 ERA, 8 saves). 
6.  Brad Ziegler, Oakland A's (1-3, 3.62 ERA, 6 saves)
7.  Mike MacDougal, Washington Nationals (0-0, 3.94 ERA, 2 saves)
8.  Ramon Troncoso, Los Angeles Dodgers (1-0, 2.20 ERA, 4 saves)