MLB

Miss any of Wednesday night’s action? Don’t fret. Fantasy Baseball Insiders Tonight is here to recap all things fantasy relevant, starting with game No. 23 on our summer-long journey.

Game No. 23 – New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers

If there was one concern that every Orioles fan had going into the season, it was the fact that the O's first 32 games were absolutely brutal.

Their start included a stretch of 16 straight games without a day off to stat the season, and all but three of the games were against teams with a winning record.

While going 9-23 during that stretch isn't exactly what fans were expecting, they can take solace in the fact that things might get better in the upcoming games.

I don't like admitting that I'm wrong.

I put admission of error somewhere between getting a Novocaine-free root canal and being the Jim J. Bullock center square of a human centipede.

But right is right, and it's starting to look like that's exactly what the Yankees were when it came to their handling of Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain.

Wednesday night against the Tigers was another big night for the farm system's golden boys. Hughes was brilliant over seven shutout innings, and Chamberlain was throwing gas in the eighth for another scoreless inning of relief.

Obviously, very impressive.

One thing I noticed watching the highlights on espn.com a few minutes ago is that Stephen Strasburg used his curve ball as his strikeout pitch.  It’s obviously an extremely effective pitch against hitters who have not seen much of him (it was only his second AAA start) and very hard to adjust to after seeing his big fastball early in the count.

Jason Heyward and Starlin Castro enjoyed success in the No. 2 hole.  Derek Holland made his 2010 debut with impressive results.  Phil Hughes continues to impress.  Let’s look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games:

Hitters:

Since Carlos Marmol was moved to full-time closer duties, a big question was not how Marmol would perform in the new role, but who would replace him as the set-up man or relief ace role.

Sean Marshall has answered all those questions, dominating opposing offenses as a full-time reliever this year.

Marshall currently sports a sparkling 2.70 ERA in 18 relief appearances, which doesn't show how truly awesome he is pitching, as his Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) is sitting at 1.29.

David Wright homered in his first game at Citi Field in 2010.  It looked like his 2009 struggles were behind him, but he’s now played 21 games at home and that is still his lone long ball.  Granted he has hit six HR on the road, but look at where they’ve come:

The Triple-A Iowa Cubs asked U.S. Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson to come home to Des Moines, Iowa. There her gold medal-winning achievement from the 2008 Beijing Olympics would be celebrated with her throwing of the first pitch between the Cubs and the Oklahoma City RedHawks.

In my rant about Dallas Braden ’s

Exactly what does "cheating" mean?

One dictionary definition is: "to act dishonestly; practice fraud." That sounds good .

A second definition is: "to violate rules deliberately, as in a game." That sounds good too.

In 1951, the New York Giants won the National League Pennant, overcoming the Brooklyn Dodgers' 13.5 game lead.