Touch 'Em All, Josh!

It took him 88 ABs to do it, but Josh Whitesell finally hit his 1st home run of the season tonight against the Nationals. Whitesell was 1-3 with 1 BB, 1 HR, 1 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Had to feel good to get that monkey off his back.

Ryan Braun was 2-5 with 1 double (his 26th) and 1 RBI against the Astros.

Kevin Youkilis was 1-4 with 2 BBs in a marathon heartbreaker against the Yankees.

Sam Fuld was 0-1 against the Rockies. He was robbed of a hit by Troy Tulowitzki.

Craig Breslow picked up his 10th hold of the season against the Royals. He pitched 1 inning of scoreless relief on 1 hit and 1 K.

John Grabow pitched 1 inning of scoreless relief against the Rockies on 1 hit, 1 BB, and 1 K.

Scott Feldman picked up his 11th win of the season against the Angels, in spite of his manager and bullpen letting him down. Feldman labored through the 1st inning, walking 3 and giving up a run, but he settled down after that.

Through 6 innings he had given up 1 run on 5 hits, 3 BBs, and (a career-high) 7 Ks. Feldman's pitch count was up to 110 at that point; keep in mind the most he's ever thrown in a game is 116 pitches. By chance, that was also against the Angels earlier this year. Also keep in mind that the Rangers had an 8-run lead after the 6th inning.

Inexplicably, Ron Washington took a page out of Dusty Baker's book and left Feldman in for the 7th inning. Running on fumes, Feldman gave up 3 straight hits to load the bases. He was then relieved by Jason Jennings, who let in all 3 baserunners on a fielder's choice and a 3-run HR to Maicer Izturis of all people.

Because of Ron Washington's stupidity, Feldman's fatigue, and Jennings doing a piss poor job out of the bullpen, Feldman got charged 3 extra runs to his pitching line. Had he been taken out after the 6th inning like he should have been, his ERA would have been 3.80. Instead, it is now 4.01.

To top it all off, Feldman ended up throwing 121 pitches. And his previous start was on 3 days' rest. Not good.