The Day in Review

Today marks the end of hockey's regular season, and I [for one] will take it. In baseball news:

Injury Watch:

• John Smoltz came back from the DL and pitched effectively. Best I can tell, this guy will pitch forever. 
• Josh Beckett came off the DL but was unable to stop Boston from being swept by Toronto. Give him a little time to work back from the injury - 20 wins probably won't happen, but over 15 is still a sure bet.
• Dave Dombrowski, Tigers General Manager, announced during the broadcast that Curtis Granderson could return as early as ten days from now. Hopefully his return can jump-start the Tiger offense, which has to be just waiting to explode with all the talent top to bottom.
• John Lackey's return is on track; he is expected to begin throwing off a mound next week. Early May is still the targeted return date for the Los Angeles ace.

Notable Performances:

• No, I don't believe my post advising you to buy Alfonso Soriano had anything to do with his home run today. It should be the first of many and as I said, I recommend buying low on him if you can.
• Ben Sheets threw a shutout - in leagues that reward CG and SO, that's a very valuable start, and rare this early in the season. Sheets is proof that injury risks can pay dividends - don't forget that, owners of Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Scott Kazmir, etc. 
• Two Pirate performances worth noting (seriously!) - Nate McLouth, hitting third in the lineup, went 3-for-5 with 3 runs and 2 RBI. He's been excellent so far, ride him until the streak ends. Ian Snell struck out 10 in just six innings. He was going too late in most drafts, in my opinion. Even though the wins won't be there, he's still going to put up numbers all season.
• Don't fear, Justin Verlander owners, only 4 of the 9 runs charged to your ace were earned. Tough game for Detroit, who really needs to settle down and start winning baseball games. 
• Interestingly, both Brandon Lyon (Arizona) and Manny Corpas (Colorado) blew saves in the same game today. Lyon has blown two so far this year, and won't be closing for long if he keeps this up. Corpas isn't in any imminent danger, but three-time All-Star Brian Fuentes is ready to close if Corpas struggles.  

Finally, congratulations to Ken Griffey, Jr., for hitting home run number 594. Apparently this is a huge deal (it is the leading headline on MLB.com). I hope he gets to 600 and beyond because I loved him when I was growing up, but I don't think I'm going to congratulate him on every homer this season. I know this has been a lot, but...

That's what you need to know about the day.