Eduardo Nunez' 1st hit

There were a lot of storylines on Saturday. NY Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez landed on the DL with a strained left calf. For the duration of his DL stint, the Yankees will go with rookie Ramiro Pena and Eduardo Nunez (unless they make a deal for a veteran to spend some more money). A-Rod’s replacement on Saturday was Nunez, who was making his first Major League start. In the 7th inning of a tie game with the visiting Seattle Mariners, Nunez found a hole between first baseman Casey Kotchman and second baseman Chone Figgins for his first Major League hit, which proved to be the game winner.

The Yankees mounted four straight singles off Mariners starter Jason Vargas (after he retired 17 of 18 batters) which led to three runs (Nunez’ also being his first RBI). The Yankees bullpen (after starter Javier Vazquez lasted just one batter into the 4th inning) held on for a 9-5 victory.

Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia came off the DL on Tuesday, only to be placed back on Friday with a sore left foot (the same foot that he broke). In his absence before his latest stint on the DL, Jed Lowrie played a huge part, as he hit over .300. Now with more playing time on the horizon, Lowrie looks to make the most of it. On Saturday night, he pinch-hit and walked in the 8th inning. He stayed in the game to play first base and prolonged the top of the 11th inning by missing a pop up near the first base bag for an error.

Lowrie redeemed himself in the bottom of the inning, as he led off with a walk-off solo homerun to give the Red Sox a much needed 5-4 victory. The homerun extended Lowrie’s hitting streak to nine games.

Josh Bell's 1st homerun

Cliff Lee surrendered four homeruns in his start against the Baltimore Orioles. The four homeruns he allowed was the first time in his career. It was his shortest outing of the season for Lee, who missed with his spots and the Orioles hitters did not miss the pitches. Orioles rookie third baseman Josh Bell connected in the 3rd inning for a two-run shot, his first of his Major League career. Bell connected on a three-run shot on Lee’s first pitch in the 4th inning, after Ty Wiggington and Luke Scott hit back-to-back homeruns earlier in the inning. On the season, Lee has allowed 13 homeruns, 7 to the Orioles in two games. Michael Kirkman made his Major League debut for the Rangers and he retired all four batters he faced, while striking out the side in the 7th inning.

Philadelphia Phillies slugger Ryan Howard returned from the DL on Saturday from an ankle sprain (instead of rehabbing with Triple-A Lehigh Valley). Howard returned to first base and his fourth spot in the lineup. He collected a base hit off Washington Nationals rookie Stephen Strasburg in his first at-bat and contributed an RBI ground out in his second plate appearance against Strasburg. However the Phillies lost the game 8-1. The Nationals may have lost Strasburg for the rest of the season as he left the game in the 5th inning with a flexor tendon strain of his forearm (his pitching arm) and he will undergo an MRI Sunday.