From Last Night:

• Upton slams the Braves past the Dodgers
• Goldschmidt’s 2 bombs back Cahill’s 8 inning gem
• Kuroda blanks the Jays over 8, wins 5-0
• Hellickson gives up 8 runs in 7.2 innings…and gets a win in a 12-10 affair over the O’s
• Kipnis walks off in extras over the M’s
• Phillies bullpen tries to spoil a nice outing by Lee, but the offense bails them out against the Reds
• Harvey twirls 7.2 strong innings and drives in the winning run against the Cubs

What I’m Watching Today:

• Quietly strong Zach McAllister faces the Mariners in an attempt to pad his stats (1p Eastern)
• Burnett gets the Astros at home, watch for Ks (7p Eastern)
• McCarthy looks to follow his strong outing against the Marlins 7p Eastern)
• Zimmermann faces the Padres at Petco (830p Eastern)

The Big Question:

• How do people still take pitcher wins seriously after Hellickson gave up 8 runs and still earned one on Friday?

If I gave you 5 guesses as to who baseball’s best hitter is so far (as of 11:21pm Friday night), would you get it? Miguel Cabrera might be your guess and that’s close, but he’s percentage points behind the leader. Maybe Upton? Or Longoria? Or Choo? All good guesses, but it’s actually Paul Goldschmidt. The Dbacks slugging first baseman has a nice season and a half to his name in the big leagues, but he’s taken a step forward so far this season. His plate discipline is improving and his power is better, while also buoyed by a little good luck. Right now his 185 wRC+ is a fraction of a point ahead of Cabrera and his .338/.421/.656 line is a thing of beauty.