When I saw the highlight, I couldn’t believe it – but the Indians got a bizarre bounce to win its game against the Royals.  Shin Soo Choo’s line drive single to center went into a flock of gulls, hitting one of them, and the ball caromed past Coco Crisp to the wall, allowing the winning run to score.

David Ortiz has homered three times in the last week, and the Red Sox own the Yankees.  I’ve never really liked the Yankees – grew up a Fred Lynn and Carlton Fisk fan – but I never thought it would turn like this.  (For the record, I never hated them either – I grew up in Chicago, but the 1975 season was one of the years that galvanized me as a baseball fan.)

Is it me, or were the Red Sox more fun to root for when they were good but not quite good enough?  I think it’s because we’ve now added the term “nation” to refer to a group of fans, and that just sounds more arrogant.  Red Sox Nation is arrogant.  Red Sox fans are cool.  Living in Florida, they refer to Gator Nation, and that just makes me root for Florida International instead.  There’s no Jayhawk Nation.  If there were, I’d be less inclined to participate.

I digress.

Pablo Ozuna was trying to get back to the majors – apparently too hard.  He’ll be sitting for 50 games after a PED suspension kicks in.

With the injury to Brandon McCarthy and others, the Rangers are looking for pitching depth.  So, they signed Orlando Hernandez (El Duque!) to a minor league deal.  El Duque hasn’t pitched in the majors in two years, last losing time to a toe requiring surgery.

If El Duque can get a deal, how about Pedro?  Pedro Martinez threw for a Rays scout and might get a second look sometime this year.

Speaking of Mets pitchers, John Maine gets a DL stint to rest a weary shoulder.  That’s the story from MLB, but the transaction wire didn’t list it.

HOWEVER, the transaction wire noted the returns of Koji Uehara for Baltimore, Nick Punto for Minnesota, and Pat Burrell for Tampa.  I was watching the Rays game last night and Kevin Kennedy (now Rays TV color commentator, alongside Dwayne Staats) suggested that Burrell wasn’t hitting real well in his rehab stint, but Gabe Gross’s play made Matt Joyce expendable.  Kennedy also mentioned that Jason Bartlett is going to DH in his first rehab start before playing shortstop in a game.  Tony Clark gets a rehab trip to Reno before he returns to Arizona.