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Rick Porcello picked up the win for the Detroit Tigers allowing two runs in five innings with three strikeouts. It is a little disappointing to see management still coddling him as he was removed after a batter reached in the sixth inning despite being at only 87 pitches. If that continues to happen, it is going to end up costing him a few wins this season. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Friday…

Hitters:

Brian Roberts left the game after the first inning after straining his abdominal muscle after stealing second base.

Drew Stubbs hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 8th inning to lift the Cincinnati Reds to a 5-4 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Rafael Furcal continues to turn back the clock, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and his third stolen base of the season.

Who said that Citi Field is not a home run ballpark? Jeff Francoeur and Rod Barajas both tested that theory on Friday night, by each blasting two home runs.

Chris Young went 3-for-4 with five RBI and delivered his second home run of the season. More importantly he has struck out only one time so far in 15 at bats this season.

Pitchers:

Jorge De La Rosa was stellar for the Colorado Rockies, allowing one hit in seven scoreless innings while striking out nine. He helped his cause by tossing first-pitch strikes to 18 out of the 24 hitters he faced.

Hiroki Kuroda worked eight innings, allowing one unearned run with seven strikeouts. As always, the key to his performance going forward will be his health. If you can get 180+ innings out of him on your staff, he is going to be a big help to your team ERA and WHIP.

Colby Lewis worked seven strong innings, allowing one run while striking out three. It was his first win in the major leagues since April 7, 2004.

Rodrigo Lopez looks like he has found a home in the National League, working six innings, allowing one run with five strikeouts for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Gio Gonzalez picked up a win, allowing two runs in six innings with six strikeouts for the Oakland A’s.

There was nothing to like about the performance by Bud Norris on Friday night. Yes, he can throw hard, in the 94-95 mph range at times, but he could not locate his fastball in the strike zone on a consistent basis. He still has not shown the ability to develop a change up as a solid third pitch so until he does, he his going to have nights like these. He walked four in 2 2/3 innings while allowing six hits and four runs.

Closers:

It was another bad day for Mike Gonzalez of the Baltimore Orioles as he blew his second save of the season. The only save he converted this season came after he loaded the bases and escaped out of the jam. It might be a good time to grab Jim Johnson if you own Gonzalez just to hedge your bets.

Billy Wagner surrendered a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to Edgar Renteria to blow the win for Tim Hudson.

Trevor Hoffman gave up a two-run home run on a 1-2 pitch with two outs in the ninth inning to Nick Stavinoha as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4.

Jon Rauch is making it easier for Twins fans to forget about Joe Nathan as  he picked up his third save of the season.

Kevin Gregg picked up a save for the Toronto Blue Jays with Jason Frasor given the night off after working the two previous games.