City of the Day

Samana, DR. 5 Players, 4 Active. First Player: Fernando Rodney (2002-Present). Five players have come out of the principle town on the Samana Peninsula in northeastern Dominican Republic, but four of them are active and making contributions to their teams. With a population of roughly 68,000, it isn't exactly a supercity, but nonetheless a hub for tourism for its beaches and whale-watching tours. The only non-active player is Alfredo Figaro, who pitched in 13 games for the Tigers from 2009-2010, going 2-4 with a 6.54 ERA. Fernando Rodney, currently with the Rays, was the first player from Samana. Rodney, who had 87 career saves entering this season, has had a rather late breakout season at age 35, posting a 0.77 ERA (58.2 innings, 5 earned runs) and 39 saves in 60 games. This drops his career ERA to 3.87, a mark he has only surpassed twice in his career previous to 2012 (2.86 in 2005 and 3.52 in 2006). Hanley Ramirez was the next and arguably best player to come out of Samana, as he has hit 153 home runs and batted .301 for his career. After winning the Rookie of the Year in 2006 by hitting 17 home runs, stealing 51 bases, and batting .292, he went on to average 27 home runs, 83 RBI, 36 stolen bases, and 111 runs scored per year while batting .319 over the next four seasons. He has struggled over the past two seasons, but looks to be rebounding with the Dodgers by hitting five home runs and batting .308 over 27 games. Fautino De Los Santos is currently pitching in AAA for the Brewers after being the return in the George Kottaras deal. Over 40 major league games, he is 3-2 with a 4.21 ERA. The most recent Samane player debuted on April 22. Wily Peralta has only pitched that one game, tossing one inning and giving up an earned run on three hits. In the minors in 2011, he was 11-7 with a 3.17 ERA between AA Huntsville and AAA Nashville.  

News

A's pitcher Bartolo Colon was suspended for 50 games for use of synthetic testosterone, a performance enhancing drug.

Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre hit two home runs in the fourth inning on his way to a three homer game.

The Mets shut down starter Johan Santana for the rest of the season.

Mariners won their eighth straight game, while the Indians lost their eighth straight game.

Game Scores

Braves (71-53) beat the Nationals (77-47) 5-1.

Angels (64-60) beat the Red Sox (59-65) 7-3.

White Sox (68-55) beat the Yankees (72-52) 2-1.

Reds (76-49) beat the Phillies (57-67) 3-2.

Giants (69-55) beat the Dodgers (67-58) 8-4.

Rays (69-55) beat the Royals (55-68) 5-3.

Rockies (49-73) beat the Mets (57-67) 5-2.

Brewers (57-66) beat the Cubs (47-76) 3-2.

Top Scorer: Rangers beat the Orioles 12-3.

Standings

AL East: Yankees (72-52, .581 WPCT). AL Central: White Sox (68-55, .553). AL West: Rangers (72-51, .585).

NL East: Nationals (77-47, .621). NL Central: Reds (76-49, .608). NL West: Giants (69-55, .556).

AL Wild Cards: Rays (69-55, .556) and A's (67-56, .545). NL Wild Cards: Braves (71-53, .573) and Cardinals (67-56, .545).

Bottom Team: Astros (39-85, .315). Longest W Streak: Mariners, 8 games. Longest L Streak: Indians, 8 games.

League Leaders

Offensive: AVG: Andrew McCutchen (Pirates), .349. Home runs: Adam Dunn (White Sox), 36. RBI: Miguel Cabrera (Tigers), 105. Stolen bases: Rajai Davis (Blue Jays) and Mike Trout (Angels), 39.

Pitching: Wins: Johnny Cueto (Reds), Gio Gonzalez (Nationals), David Price (Rays), and Jered Weaver (Angels), 16.  K's: Max Scherzer (Tigers), 186. ERA: David Price, 2.28 (170 innings, 43 earned runs). Saves: Fernando Rodney (Rays), 39.

Top Performers

Offensive: Adrian Beltre (Rangers): 3-5, 3 home runs (22), 5 RBI, 3 runs, AVG up .004 from .303 to .307, hitting streak to 3 games (6-13, .462 AVG).

Pitching: Wade Miley (Diamondbacks): Win (14-8), 8 shutout innings, 4 hits, 1 walk, 5 K's (109), ERA drop: 0.16 runs from 2.96 to 2.80.

Worst Pitching Performance: Tommy Hunter (Orioles): Loss (4-8), 3 innings, 8 earned runs, 8 hits, 2 walks, 0 K's, ERA jump: 0.46 runs from 5.49 to 5.95.

-- 
Teams followed in this update: Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies

If your team is not included, please leave a comment.

HR: home runs. RBI: runs batted in. AVG: batting average. SB: stolen bases. ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched. K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage

Zack Silverman