There was Mike Yastrzemski, a Vanderbilt outfielder who was drafted by Baltimore in the 14th round. He is the grandson of Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski. Then there’s Cavan Biggio, a second baseman out of St. Thomas High School in Texas, who was picked in the 29th round by Philadelphia. He’s the son of Houston Astros Hall of Famer Craig Biggio.

Milwaukee Brewers Hall of Fame member Robin Yount saw his nephew, Cody Yount, drafted in the 37th round, the 1,113th overall pick, by the Chicago White Sox.

Even sons of current major league players were drafted.

Josh Pettitte, a right-handed pitcher from Deer Park High School in Texas, and the son of New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, was chosen in the 37th round (1,124th overall) by who else, the Yankees. And Torii Hunter Jr., an outfielder out of Prospect High School in Texas, and son of Detroit outfielder Torii Hunter, was selected by the Tigers.

There was also a tie to long ago, with Joe Jackson, a catcher at The Citadel, getting drafted by Texas in the fifth round, 60th overall. He’s the great, great nephew of Joe “Shoeless” Jackson, who last played in the majors in 1920 with the White Sox.

J.P. Crawford, a shortstop out of Lakewood High School in California, is the cousin of Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Carl Crawford. He was the highest-selected among players with All-Star familial ties, going 16th in the first round by the Phillies.

Some of the other recognizable names were Jacob Heyward, brother of Atlanta outfielder Jason Heyward, picked 1,153rd overall by the Braves; Ben Verlander, outfielder and brother of Detroit pitcher Justin Verlander, chosen in the 14th round by the Tigers; Kacy Clemens, a right-handed pitcher and son of Roger Clemens, selected in the 37th round (1,037th overall), by the Astros, and Jordan Sheffield, right-hander and nephew of Gary Sheffield, by the Red Sox in the 13th round.

Inspirational pick: Cory Hahn always had the talent to play at a higher level in baseball. At Mater Dei High School, he was so good that he earned Mr. Baseball honors in California in his senior year and was drafted in the 26th round in 2010 by the San Diego Padres.

But Hahn wanted to go to college first, choosing Arizona State. In just his third game with ASU in 2011, Hahn’s dreams of making a major league team were cut short on an attempted steal of second base. He slid head first, colliding with the second baseman’s knee.

Hahn suffered a fracture of the C5 vertebrae in his neck, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.

On Saturday, Hahn, now a student-coach at ASU, was drafted in the 34th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“It was a very emotional selection for us to make,” Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall told MLB.com. “But it’s not about us. It’s really about Cory and his family.

“He would have been a first-rounder, no question.”

The club wants to hire Hahn to work in its organization in the future.

“We want to make this permanent… working here in full-time employment with the Diamondbacks,” Hall said.

Hahn said he’ll always cherish being selected in the draft.

“It’s something that you can’t really put into words, it was very humbling that they wanted to do this for me,” Hahn said. “I’ll be forever thankful. They gave up a draft spot for me.”

StatsWatch: Yasiel Puig, the Los Angeles Dodgers rookie sensation, recorded a few noteworthy statistics in his first week in Major League Baseball, according to the Elias Sports Bureau —

• Puig is the third player since 1900 to hit at least three home runs, including a grand slam, in his first four career games. Will Middlebrooks in 2012 and Dave Kingman in 1971 are the others.
• Is the first Dodger with more than one homer in his first two career games.
• Is the first Dodger with five RBIs in first two career games since Spider Jorgensen had six in 1947 for Brooklyn in a game against the Boston Braves.
• Is the second player since 1900 to hit four home runs in his first five games, joining Mike Jacobs of the New York Mets in 2005.
• Became the first Dodger since Frank Howard (spanning 1958-60) to hit a solo home run, two-run homer, three-run homer and a grand slam among his first four career home runs.

Copyright © 2013 Bob Hurst. All Rights Reserved. Distributed by Hurst Sports Media.

The Pirates pitching staff has saved an offense that ranks in the bottom third in runs scored and average. Without a staff that ranked third behind St. Louis and Cincinnati with a 3.23 ERA and first in holding opponents to a .224 batting average, Pittsburgh’s 35-23 record going into Tuesday’s game likely would have been reversed.

Pittsburgh recorded a pair of shutouts last week against the powerful Detroit Tigers, giving it nine on the year, and tied for the most in the major leagues.

In a game on May 28 at Detroit, Jeanmar Gomez threw seven shutout innings as the Pirates won 1-0 after Neil Walker hit a home run in the top of the 11th. On May 30, Jeff Locke extended his scoreless innings streak to 19 1/3 innings, pitching into the sixth. The Pirates also won that game 1-0 in 11 innings, this time on a walk-off single in the 11th by Russell Martin.

Locke and Gomez are part of a rotation that includes A.J. Burnett, who has the second-most strikeouts in baseball, Wandy Rodriguez (6-3, 3.47) and Francisco Liriano (3-2, 2.17), who had 11 strikeouts in six innings pitched of a 2-0 loss to Cincinnati on Saturday.

The bullpen has also been solid behind Jason Grilli, a closer who led the majors in saves with 22 through Saturday’s games, and Mark Melancon, who had the most holds with 18. Pittsburgh’s relievers ranked first in the major leagues with a 2.67 ERA, and have contributed to the staff being among the stingiest with runners in scoring position.

“You’ve really got to like our chances anytime a starter comes out and hands the ball to the bullpen,” Locke told MLB.com. “They’ve been fantastic this year.”

Grilli and Locke have been a major part of the Pirates success.

In last Tuesday’s game, Grilli entered in the bottom of the 11th at Comerica Park facing Torii Hunter, Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder. The former Tiger struck out all three of the dangerous hitters.

“That’s as good as it gets in any lineup in the game,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “That’s why you have a closer.”

Grilli also got the save last Wednesday, a 5-3 win, during a four-game, home and away series against the Tigers with Pittsburgh winning three of those contests.

“That’s a great offense, and Miguel Cabrera is probably the best hitter in baseball right now,” Grilli said. “So I was trying to not make a big mistake, but you can’t spend much time thinking about that. You just go out there and win the game.”

Hunter says Grilli is a “different pitcher now.”

“He’s smart and he’s got a little deception going,” Hunter said. “He jumps out at you, and before you know it, the ball is gone.”

Locke, who is 5-1 with a 2.25 ERA, has been outstanding.

“The confidence is there that I never had before, and that’s the big difference,” Locke said after beating Milwaukee 5-2 on May 25.

“Once he got ahead, he was able to do basically whatever he needed to,” Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen said. “Expand, get them to chase, be able to waste some pitches. He kept them guessing, kept mixing his pitches well.”

Locke, in his third year with the Pirates at the age of 25, hasn’t allowed a run since the fifth inning of a May 14 start against the Brewers.

“It’s the thing that you look for out of players to see them grow up right before your eyes,” Hurdle said. “It’s kind of like marking (the height of) that kid off in the hallway at home.

“He’s growing up.”

Now all the Pirates pitching staff can ask of the offense is to score a few more runs for them. Pittsburgh was shut out in consecutive games against Cincinnati and had scored just seven runs in five games going into Sunday.

StatsWatch: Here are the major leagues’ ERA leaders, through Monday’s games -

• Clay Buchholz, Red Sox, 1.62
• Shelby Miller, Cardinals, 1.82
• Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers, 1.85
• Patrick Corbin, Diamondbacks, 2.06
• Hisashi Iwakuma, Mariners, 2.13
• Matt Harvey, Mets, 2.17
• Matt Moore, Rays, 2.18
• Jeff Locke, Pirates, 2.25
• Adam Wainwright, Cardinals, 2.33
• Jordan Zimmerman, Nationals, 2.37

Copyright © 2013 Bob Hurst. All Rights Reserved. Distributed by Hurst Sports Media.

Cabrera has been on a hot streak recently, jumping to the top or near the top of every offensive leader board. And he’s on track for a run at another Triple Crown, which, if Cabrera wins it again, would be the first time in major league history that a player won consecutive Triple Crowns.

“I’ve never seen a guy that puts the bat head on the ball as regular as he does, and on all pitches,” Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “He’s just a tremendous hitter.”

In six games from May 19-25, Cabrera hit .478 with 6 homers and 15 runs driven in. Through Monday, Cabrera led the majors with a .377 average and 57 RBIs. He was tied for second with 14 home runs; second with a .663 slugging percentage and second with a .454 on-base-percentage.

Cabrera is on pace to break Hack Wilson’s record of 191 RBIs in a single season, accomplished in 1930 with the Chicago Cubs. The 6-foot-4-inch, 240-pounder could join Rogers Hornsby and Ted Williams as the only players to win two Triple Crowns.

In an 11-8 loss at Texas on May 19, Cabrera went 4-for-4 with three homers and five runs knocked in. In a 17-2 win at Houston on May 4, he went 4-for-4, hitting three home runs with five RBIs.

“Miggy never ceases to amaze you,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said after the game against the Rangers.

The 30-year-old Cabrera’s power is immense. Each of his three homers against Texas went to center field, making Cabrera the fifth player to accomplish that since 2007, joining Josh Hamilton, Alex Rodriguez, Adam Dunn and Carlos Lee.

There seems to be only one thing can stop Cabrera now – the intentional walk.

Ump regrets bad call: In a game last Friday night in Seattle, umpire Jeff Nelson called the Mariners’ Jesus Sucre out on a relay from second to complete a double play by the Texas Rangers. The only problem was that Rangers pitcher Justin Grimm caught the ball while running to cover first base, and without his foot on the bag.

First baseman Mitch Moreland, who threw to Elvis Andrus at second on Sucre’s grounder, was standing on the bag to receive the return throw that he never got.

“That play, your focus goes to the bag, and you watch the foot touch the bag and listen for the ball hitting the mit,” Nelson told a pool reporter before Saturday’s game. “In this case, I ruled the ball was caught by the first baseman, and the ball was actually caught by the pitcher. The pitcher kind of came out of nowhere on that play. I didn’t pick that up. Obviously, looking at the replays, I wish I had.”

Mariners manager Eric Wedge went out to argue that Moreland’s foot had come off the bag, and didn’t know that Grimm had made the catch. Seattle shortstop Brendan Ryan also thought that Moreland caught the ball.

“That’s maybe one of those things that maybe someone is upstairs and they pick up the phone and appeal it really quick,” Ryan said, hinting at replay review of those types of plays in the future.

The play came in the second inning of the Rangers 9-5 win, ending a potential rally by the Mariners.

“I haven’t seen a play like this in 25 years,” Nelson said. “There’s never any consolation in a thing like this. We’re competitive, too, and we want to get things right. You’re angry just like everybody else that you ruled otherwise.”

StatsWatch: The Baltimore Orioles led the major leagues in home runs through Monday’s games with 69. Here are their top home run hitters:

• Chris Davis, 16 HR
• Adam Jones, 10
• J.J. Hardy, 9
• Matt Wieters, 7
• Manny Machado, 5
• Nick Markakis, 5

Quotable: “I’m a streaky kind of guy.” — Braves pitcher Mike Minor, who is 3-for-3 in his last three at-bats, including a two-run homer in Saturday’s 6-0 win over the Mets. Minor was 7-for-107 for an .067 career batting average before his streak.

Diamond Notes: An inside-the-park, two-run homer hit by San Francisco’s Angel Pagan in the bottom of the 10th inning on Saturday gave the Giants a 6-5 win over Colorado. The last time a walk-off, inside-the-park homer was hit in Giants’ franchise history came on Aug. 24, 1931, by Bill Terry against the Cubs. It was Pagan’s third inside-the-park home run in his career…Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson was put on the 15-day disabled list on Saturday with a broken left pinkie finger, suffered when he was hit by a pitch in Friday’s game against Tampa Bay. Granderson missed 38 games this season with a broken right forearm after getting hit by a pitch in spring training. He led the Yankees with 43 home runs last season…Milwaukee closer Jim Henderson in on the 15-day DL with a strained right hamstring. Henderson has nine saves with a 0.92 ERA this season.

But in the second game that day, the Indians started to turn things around, winning 10-3 as Mike Aviles hit a three-run homer and finished with a career-high five RBIs.

Since that ugly start, the Indians have been playing pretty good baseball, winning 18 of 22 games through Monday for a 26-17 record. They also were in first place in the American League Central by 2 1/2 games over Detroit.

Cleveland completed a four-game sweep at home over Seattle on Monday when Yan Gomes hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning for a 10-8 victory, the Indians fifth straight win. The Mariners helped out with errors in the last two innings on dropped balls after throws at first base by closer Tom Wilhelmsen and first baseman Justin Smoak.

Seattle had tied the game in the eighth, and taken the lead in the ninth and 10th innings.

“You don’t look up very often and see your opponent score three straight innings and you win,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “That was interesting.”

It’s been that kind of season so far for the surprising Indians.

Cleveland won 5-4 over the Mariners on Saturday when Jason Kipnis scored the winning run when a throw by the Mariners Brendan Ryan pulled catcher Jesus Montero off the plate.

They won 6-3 in 10 innings last Friday night over Seattle when Kipnis slugged a three-run homer with two outs in the 10th.

“That was awesome,” Kipnis said. “I was just amped up.”

Monday’s win was Cleveland’s fourth walk-off victory this season. The Indians were 5-0 in extra innings going into Tuesday’s game.

“We just take it as a challenge,” Indians first baseman Nick Swisher told the Associated Press after Sunday’s win. “We’ve got that scrappy-type and gritty-type of team. It may not always be pretty, man, but somehow we’re going to find a way to get it done. We just love coming to the ballpark right now. Things are rocking.”

Francona, the former Boston Red Sox manager who is in his first-year with the Indians, is pretty excited about his club too.

“Watching the guys jumping all over each other is fun,” Francona said after Saturday’s win.

In a 7-6 victory in 10 innings over Minnesota on May 3, Drew Stubbs was the hero, hitting a double to the wall in left-center to score Aviles. It capped a five-game win streak, the team’s first such streak since winning seven in a row early in the 2011 season.

Since that 9-0 loss at Kansas City, Cleveland’s offense has picked up steam. The Indians averaged nearly six runs per game during their 18-4 stretch. Going into Tuesday’s game, they ranked fourth in the major leagues in runs; sixth in batting; first in homers and fifth in on-base percentage.

Several players have contributed to the Indians success. Left fielder Michael Brantley was leading the club with a .306 batting average and Mark Reynolds topped the team with 12 home runs and 37 RBIs. Kipnis had seven homers and 24 RBIs; Swisher and catcher Carlos Santana had six home runs apiece.

But Cleveland’s pitching hasn’t been bad either. The bullpen ranks eighth in the majors with a 3.07 ERA through Monday’s games. Starter Zach McAllister is 3-3 with a 2.65 ERA and Justin Masterson is 7-2 with a 2.83 ERA. Masterson struck out a season-high 11 in seven innings of a 6-0 win over the Mariners on Sunday.

“Our starting pitching is giving us a chance to win,” said Francona, who won two World Series with the Red Sox. “We have a very good bullpen. We’re playing well defensively. A lot of guys are contributing offensively. That’s a good way to play baseball.”

It’s still early, and the Indians don’t have to be reminded that they were 25-18 at this point last year before finishing with a 68-94 record.

Whether Cleveland can keep up its torrid pace and compete for the postseason might come during a current stretch of 25 games against the Tigers, Red Sox, Reds, Rays, Yankees, Rangers and Nationals, all of whom had winning records and were a combined 50 games over .500.

But the Indians are having fun now, and that seems to be all that matters as they try to build onto their winning ways.

Copyright © 2013 Bob Hurst. All Rights Reserved. Distributed by Hurst Sports Media.

This season, both pitchers are in a league of their own. Darvish is 6-1 with a 2.73 ERA, and Harvey 4-0 with a 1.44 ERA.

Darvish came within one out of throwing a perfect game in his first start of the season at Houston on April 2. The Rangers won the game 7-0.

“It’s a win,” Darvish said through a translator after the game. “A win’s a win. I went that far. I’m really satisfied. I think I got lucky today.”

Darvish, 26, leads the major leagues with 80 strikeouts in 52.2 innings pitched. He has allowed 30 hits and walked 18. In his only loss, 3-1 to Seattle on April 12, Darvish felt he didn’t pitch well, despite giving up just three hits with eight strikeouts and a walk in six innings.

“I could have given up many runs in any inning,” Darvish said “I just didn’t have my stuff today.”

With 301 career strikeouts, Darvish joined Dwight Gooden (319) as the only pitchers in major league history to reach at least 300 Ks in his first 37 big league starts. He has struck out 14 batters twice this season, against the Astros in his first outing, and against Boston on May 5.

The 6-foot-5-inch, 216-pound right-hander beat the Astros again on Saturday, allowing three hits and three runs in seven innings, while fanning eight. Matt Dominguez hit two home runs against Darvish.

“I think the only thing he struggled with today was Dominguez,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “Other than that, I thought he did a good job. He handled the rest of the lineup. He just threw two pitches to Dominguez that he didn’t miss.”

Harvey has become the Mets’ hope for the future. Going into Sunday’s game, the 24-year-old led the majors with a 1.44 ERA and was second with 62 strikeouts.

He was pitching a perfect game against the Chicago White Sox on May 7 until Alex Rios broke it up with an infield single with two outs in the seventh. Harvey pitched a career-high nine innings and had a career-high 12 strikeouts in the game that the Mets came out on top of, 1-0, in 10 innings.

It was Harvey’s 17th career major league start.

“I was having fun,” Harvey said told the New York Daily News. “Any time you go out there and are able to pitch like that and get outs, it becomes a lot of fun. Everything was obviously working. I can throw a slider for a strike, I can also bounce it when I need to. That’s when it starts getting fun. It’s the best I felt all year.”

It was the second time this season that Harvey flirted with a no-hitter. In a 4-2 win at Minnesota on April 13, Harvey had a no-hitter going with two outs in the seventh when Justin Morneau homered.

In Sunday’s start against Pittsburgh, Harvey had a no-decision in a 3-2 loss, but allowed just five hits and two runs with four strikeouts and two walks in seven innings pitched.

Harvey, a 6-foot-4-inch, 225-pound right-hander, started the season allowing one, three and two hits in his first three starts. With those impressive numbers, and his near perfect game last week, Harvey could get the second no-hitter in club history this season. Johan Santana pitched the franchise’s first no-hitter last year against St. Louis.

StatsWatch: The St. Louis Cardinals threw consecutive shutouts at the Colorado Rockies last Friday and Saturday, allowing two hits or fewer. Here are some interesting facts related to that feat:

• Shelby Miller allowed one hit in Friday’s 3-0 win over the Rockies at Busch Stadium. He retired the last 27 batters.
• Adam Wainwright took a no-hitter into the eighth inning in Saturday’s 3-0 win and finished with a two-hitter.
• It was the first time since September 27-28, 1973 that the Cardinals threw consecutive shutouts allowing two hits or fewer. Reggie Cleveland allowed one hit in a complete game, 2-0 win over the Chicago Cubs, followed by a combined two-hitter by Diego Segui and Mike Thompson in a 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
• Colorado had been hitless in 49 straight at-bats against the Cardinals before Nolan Arenado singled with one out in the eighth on Saturday.
• Miller and Wainwright retired 40 consecutive batters with 18 strikeouts until Todd Helton walked with one out in the fifth in Saturday’s game.
• The Rockies were tied for second in the NL in runs scored with 169, and tied for first in the NL in batting with a .266 average going into Sunday’s game.

At the beginning of the season, the Blue Jays were supposed to be among the elite clubs in the major leagues after acquiring pitchers Dickey, Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson, along with Jose Reyes and Melky Cabrera, in the off-season.

Toronto figured to be at least a contender in the American League East, if not the favorite.

But the Blue Jays found themselves with a 10-21 record after Saturday’s 8-1 loss to Seattle, which was their fourth straight defeat. They were outscored 25-3 in those four games.

Dickey, who has lost some velocity and hasn’t received much in the way of run support, fell to 2-5. He was booed after allowing six hits, including three home runs, and seven earned runs in six innings.

“I did hear them, it was not hard to,” Dickey said of the fans. “You can’t blame them. We’ve played below our expectation. We’re booing ourselves.”

The bad start hasn’t helped the team’s confidence.

“We’re all pretty beat up mentally right now, but you’ve got to get through that,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “That’s professional baseball. There’s a lot of season left. You get tested and you find out what you’re made of.”

Injuries have played a part in the Blue Jays’ poor start.

Johnson hasn’t pitched since April 21, and was placed on the disabled list last Thursday with inflammation in his right triceps. Shortstop Jose Reyes suffered a severely sprained left ankle on an awkward slide into second base in a game against Kansas City on April 12, and will be out at least until the All-Star break.

Buehrle went 1-2 with a 7.02 ERA in his first seven starts. He has allowed at least seven hits in each of his outings, and at least five runs in five starts. Toronto’s pitching staff ranked 28th overall, with a 4.73 ERA going into Tuesday’s game.

The Jays’ offense hasn’t been much better. Toronto ranked 26th in batting through Monday’s game with a .235 average (Melky Cabrera led the team at .258); 18th in the majors with 125 runs, and 25th with a .301 on-base percentage.

They can still hit home runs though, ranking fourth with 41. Edwin Encarnacion, J.P. Arencibia and Jose Bautista combined for 25 homers.

Trailing Boston by 9 1/2 games, and in last place in the AL East on Tuesday, the Blue Jays were enjoying a modest two-game win streak.

“We’ve got a group of great guys,” Dickey said. “And the chemistry in here, nobody is blaming other people. We’re all trying to own what ours is to own this. But we’re not very good right now and everybody knows it. That’s no secret.”

StatsWatch: Pitchers who have thrown the most strikeouts in the major leagues (through Monday) -

• Yu Darvish, Rangers, 72
• A.J. Burnett, Pirates, 57
• Clay Buchholz, Red Sox, 56
• Max Scherzer, Tigers, 54
• Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers, 52
• Jeff Samardzija, Cubs, 52
• Felix Hernandez, Mariners, 51
• Justin Verlander, Tigers, 50
• Anibal Sanchez, Tigers, 50
• Adam Wainwright, Cardinals, 48

Diamond Notes: Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann was ready to come off the disabled list on Monday after having surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder last October. McCann had been on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett. The six-time All-Star has hit at least 20 homers, and has driven in at least 67 runs in each of his past five seasons…Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez has been placed on the 15-day DL due to a strained left hamstring. Ramirez was injured while trying to run from first to third in Friday’s loss to San Francisco…Former major league player Hideki Matsui received the People’s Honor Award at a ceremony at the Tokyo Dome on Sunday. Matsui played seven seasons for the New York Yankees, and a season each for the Los Angeles Angels, Oakland A’s and Tampa Bay Rays. “I played for excellent teams, with excellent teammates, for excellent managers in front of excellent fans,” Matsui said. “I did my best to lift up, even a little bit, the game of baseball that is so beloved by the people of Japan.”

Copyright © 2013 Bob Hurst. All Rights Reserved. Distributed by Hurst Sports Media.

Harper had slumps last season with the Washington Nationals, but was still able to hit .270 with 22 home runs, 59 RBIs and 18 stolen bases in 139 games to earn the National League Rookie of the Year award.

Would 2013 become a sophomore jinx?

Not so far.

Going into his one-year anniversary date on Sunday, Harper was batting .373 with nine homers, 18 RBIs and a .453 on-base percentage. He ranked second in the majors in homers and on-base percentage; third in hitting and first in slugging percentage.

There was no doubt that Harper was going to reach the major leagues when he started playing at Triple-A Syracuse last year. But he was batting just .243 in his first 21 games when the Nationals called him up.

In his big league debut, Harper went 1-for-3 in a 4-3 road loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“I really didn’t have butterflies at all,” Harper said after the game. “I think that’s one of the first times I’ve never gotten butterflies. I was sitting in the dugout before the game and I was thinking to myself: ‘Wow, I’m in the big leagues.’”

After his batting average peaked at .307 following a 3-for-4 game against Toronto on June 12 of last year, Harper’s hitting went south. His average dropped to .245 following a 3-for-32 slump with no homers and two RBIs. He went 0-for-8 in two games against San Francisco.

But Harper rebounded in September to hit .330 for the month, including 11 multi-hit games.

He had 12 multi-hit games in April of this year through 23 games going into Sunday’s contest.

Even when he’s not up to par physically, Harper is still dangerous. In a game on April 17 at Miami, Harper had four hits in five at-bats while recovering from the flu.

“I didn’t feel very good at all,” Harper said. “Getting in the box and swinging made my head spin a little bit. I wanted to play. I thought I could help the team win. I didn’t really care if I was sick or not.”

In Saturday’s game against Cincinnati, on the one-year anniversary of his call-up to the majors, Harper hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to give the Nationals a 6-1 lead en route to a 6-3 win. He reached base three times, scoring two runs.

Harper has set team records for most home runs and RBIs in April, and leads the Nationals in every major offensive category.

“And if you know him, he probably (thinks) he’s having an off-year right now,” Washington manager Davey Johnson said. “He expects a lot of himself, and that’s a good trait.”

StatsWatch: Here are the top-10 pitching staffs in the major leagues, with the lowest Earned Run Averages (through Monday) —

• Rangers, 3.02 ERA
• Cardinals, 3.24
• Braves, 3.24
• Reds, 3.31
• Royals, 3.36
• Red Sox, 3.39
• Cubs, 3.41
• Diamondbacks, 3.41
• Pirates, 3.57
• White Sox, 3.60

Diamond Notes: Pittsburgh left-hander Jonathan Sanchez has been suspended for six games and fined for hitting the Cardinals’ Allen Craig with a pitch last Friday. Sanchez allowed a pair of home runs and a single to begin the first inning before hitting Craig in the shoulder. Umpire Tim Timmons ejected Sanchez. Sanchez was expected to appeal the suspension…After completing a 25-game suspension, Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz was activated on Sunday from the restricted list. Ruiz was suspended for testing positive for an amphetamine. He had a career year last season, hitting .325 with 16 homers and 68 RBIs…Toronto right-hander Josh Johnson is expected back in the rotation later this week after being scratched on Friday due to tightness in his right triceps. Johnson is 0-1 with a 6.86 ERA in four starts since being acquired in an offseason trade with the Marlins.

Copyright © 2013 Bob Hurst. All Rights Reserved. Distributed by Hurst Sports Media.

Wainwright came back last season from reconstructive elbow surgery, going 14-13 with a 3.94 ERA.

“He’s back to himself,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny told the Associated Press. “He’s healthy, and that’s a great place to start. Seasons like last year teach you how to pitch more than just rely on great stuff.”

Wainwright, who was 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA going into his next scheduled start at Washington on Tuesday, had 12 strikeouts in a complete game, 8-0 win at home over Milwaukee on April 13. He allowed four hits, and at the plate, had three hits in as many at-bats and two RBIs. The 12 K’s matched his career-best.

Wainwright added four more strikeouts against no walks in a 4-3 win at Philadelphia on April 18.

No other major league pitcher since 1900 has struck out 25 or more batters without issuing a walk in his first four starts of the season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“It’s something I say to myself before every game: No free passes,” Wainwright said. “Even when I get behind in the count, you can throw good quality pitches in the zone and let guys get themselves out or get a hit. At least make them earn it.”

Emotional win in Boston: The Boston Red Sox honored the victims and survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings on Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park. Players wore the traditional white home jerseys, but without “Red Sox” on the front. Instead, the front of their jerseys read “Boston,” which echoed the chants heard in the streets the night before, when the second suspect was apprehended. The jerseys will be auctioned off for a fund to support the victims.

Kansas City players wore a “B Strong” patch on the front of their jerseys.

David Ortiz, playing in his first game since last year, helped the Red Sox with a 2-for-4, 1 RBI-performance. Ortiz injured his right Achilles Tendon in a game last summer, and had inflammation in both heels during spring training.

“I wanted to win this game badly,” Ortiz told the AP. “Driving around and looking around at people’s faces, it was a very emotional day here,” Ortiz said. “It was painful. Today I could see people opening their chest and letting it go.”

Daniel Nava hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning to give the Red Sox a two-run lead, and Boston won the game 4-3 for its sixth straight win.

“Knowing everything that went into the day for the city, for us to get the win, it came in a special way, special fashion,” Nava said. “It made it all that more important.”

StatsWatch: The top-10 hitters in the NL (through Mon.) —

• Chris Johnson, Braves, .407
• Adrian Gonzalez, Dodgers, .385
• Shin-Soo Choo, Reds, .366
• Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies, .364
• Jean Segura, Brewers, .359
• Bryce Harper, Nationals, .353
• Welington Castillo, Cubs, .352
• Daniel Murphy, Mets, .348
• Chris Denorfia, Padres, .339
• Carl Crawford, Dodgers, .338

Quotable: “They just take my jersey away from me and don’t ask if I want it or anything! First opening day! Jersey gone!” — Nationals OF Bryce Harper tweeted on Twitter on last week. Harper’s opening day jersey, in which he hit two home runs, was auctioned off by the team for more than $13,000.

Diamond Notes: Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Chad Billingsley is on the 15-day disabled list for pain in his right elbow. Billingsley had a bruised index finger suffered during spring training, and was limited to 25 starts last season due to elbow tightness…Seattle Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez won his 100th career game on Monday night at Houston. “Finally, it took too long,” Hernandez said. He had failed to reach the milestone in his last three attempts. Hernandez pitched six scoreless innings… Washington third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is on the DL because of a strained left hamstring…Texas Rangers left-handed starter Matt Harrison, will have surgery this week to repair a herniated disc in his back and will be out at least until the All-Star break…Atlanta right fielder Jason Heyward has been placed on the 15-day DL following an appendectomy…

Copyright © 2013 Bob Hurst. All Rights Reserved. Distributed by Hurst Sports Media.

The figures come from a study by the Associated Press, which includes payroll adjusted for trades, signing bonuses and buyouts.

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, currently on the disabled list while recuperating from hip surgery, is the highest-paid player in baseball for the 13th consecutive season at $29 million. Rodriguez is among four Yankees players in the top 10. Vernon Wells is fourth at $24.6 million; C.C. Sabathia ranks fifth at $24.3 million, and Mark Teixeira is sixth with a salary of $23.1 million.

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee is second to Rodriguez, making $25 million, followed by injured New York Mets pitcher Johan Santana at about $24.6 million.

The Yankees payroll beats the record they set of $209 million in 2008. The club also tops a payroll of $200 million for the sixth straight year and will have to pay a luxury tax for an 11th consecutive season. New York has the major leagues’ highest payroll for a 15th straight year.

With the acquisitions of Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Hanley Ramirez, Brandon League and Zack Greinke since last summer, the Dodgers have become big spenders after ranking 12th at $95 million on Opening Day last season. They increased payroll by $121 million, and are just the second team to reach a payroll of $200 million.

Toronto also jumped up, adding about $43 million to a total of $118 million after trading for Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson from the Miami Marlins; R.A. Dickey from the New York Mets and signing former San Francisco Giants player Melky Cabrera.

With their fire sale, the Marlins went from an Opening Day payroll in 2012 of about $100 million to about $40 million. The Oakland A’s won the AL West Division title last season with baseball’s lowest payroll, and will increase slightly to about $68 million this year.

Rounding out the top 10 players in salary for this season are Minnesota’s Joe Mauer and Detroit’s Prince Fielder at $23 million; the Giants’ Tim Lincecum at about $22.2 million, and the Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera and the Dodgers’ Gonzalez at $21 million.

MLB 2013 team payrolls:

1. Yankees, $228,995,945
2. Dodgers, $216,302,909
3. Phillies, $159,578,214
4. Red Sox, $158,967,286
5. Tigers, $149,046,844
6. Giants, $142,180,333
7. Angels, $142,165,250
8. Rangers, $127,197,575
9. White Sox, $124,065,277
10. Blue Jays, $118,244,039
11. Cardinals, $116,702,085
12. Nationals, $112,431,770
13. Reds, $110,565,728
14. Cubs, $104,150,726
15. Orioles, $91,793,333
16. Brewers, $91,003,366
17. Diamondbacks, $90,158,500
18. Braves, $89,288,193
19. Mets, $88,877,033
20. Mariners, $84,295,952
21. Indians, $82,517,300
22. Royals, $80,491,725
23. Twins, $75,562,500
24. Rockies, $75,449,071
25. Padres, $71,689,900
26. A’s, 68,577,000
27. Pirates, $66,289,524
28. Rays, $57,030,272
29. Marlins, $39,621,900
30. Astros, $24,328,538

Pujols warms up while Hamilton starts cold: Albert Pujols, who started his first season with the Los Angeles Angels in 2012 without a home run in the first month, hit two homers on Saturday in an 8-4 win at Texas.

Pujols slugged a two-run homer to center field in the first inning and a solo shot in the sixth for his first two round-trippers of the season. His other three at-bats were intentional walks.

Meanwhile, Josh Hamilton, the former Rangers player whom the Angels signed to a $125 million, five-year contract, has had a miserable start. He had just one hit in his first 20 at-bats with 10 strikeouts. In his second game back at Texas on Saturday, Hamilton struck out twice following intentional walks to Pujols. Hamilton got three hits in Sunday’s 7-3 loss to the Rangers.

Diamond Notes: Chicago Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol is out as closer after giving up two home runs in the bottom of the ninth inning on Saturday night in a 6-5 loss to Atlanta. The game-tying homer was hit by B.J. Upton, and the game-winner was hit by Upton’s brother, Justin Upton. Marmol made three appearances as the team’s closer in the first week of the season, with an ERA of 27.00. Kyuji Fujikawa will take over as closer…The Dodgers traded pitcher Aaron Harang to the Colorado Rockies on Saturday for catcher Ramon Hernandez. Colorado designated Harang for assignment, looking to trade him…Brewers third baseman Aramis Ramirez is on the disabled list with a sprained left knee. He injured the knee running the bases last Friday…Baltimore’s Chris Davis, last week’s AL Player of the Week, had his four-game homer streak snapped in a 6-5 loss to the Twins on Saturday. He led the majors with 17 RBIs going into Sunday’s game…Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman went on the 15-day DL on Sunday with a strained right oblique. Freeman hit .417 with a homer and seven RBIs in the first five games of the season.

Copyright © 2013 Bob Hurst. All Rights Reserved. Distributed by Hurst Sports Media.

Harper hit two home runs in his first two at-bats, and Stephen Strasburg recorded 19 consecutive outs in the Nationals 2-0 win over Miami on Monday in Washington.

“Let Harper and Stras go to work,” Nationals first baseman Adam LaRoche said. “They didn’t need us.”

Harper, 20, and last season’s NL Rookie of the Year, slugged solo homers in the first and fourth innings in his first opening day game after starting last year in the minor leagues.

“It was a pretty special moment,” Harper said. “Just going out there and having some fun on opening day for the first time.”

Strasburg, who was shut down last September before the playoffs, pitched seven innings, allowing three hits and no walks with three strikeouts. He needed only 80 pitches to get through seven shutout innings before being pulled for a reliever.

“If it wasn’t opening day, or the first start of the year, it would have been a different story,” Strasburg told the Washington Post.

The Nationals, who won a major-league best 98 games last season before losing to St. Louis in the playoffs, believe Harper and Strasburg will lead them to bigger and better things this year.

“They’re both just scratching the surface,” shortstop Ian Desmond said. “They’ve got a lot more epic things in them.”

Opening Day highlights:

The Houston Astros started their first season in the American League with an 8-2 win over Texas before a sellout crowd of 41,307 at Minute Maid Park in Houston on Sunday night. It was also the Astros’ 4,000th win in franchise history, the 18th highest total in baseball.

Clayton Kershaw became the first pitcher to throw a shutout and hit a home run on opening day in 60 years in the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0 win over San Francisco on Monday. The last pitcher to do it was Bob Lemon, for Cleveland in 1953.

Derek Jeter wasn’t in the Yankees opening-day lineup for the first time since 2001, and New York went on to lose 8-2 to rival Boston. The loss snapped an 11-game, season-opening win streak at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees first such loss since 1982.

Detroit’s Justin Verlander won his first opening-day game in six attempts, 4-2 over Minnesota.

The Los Angeles Angels won their fifth straight opening-day game, 3-1 at Cincinnati.

Atlanta won its fifth consecutive opener by a 7-5 score over Philadelphia, at home.

Felix Hernandez struck out eight batters as the Seattle Mariners won their opening-day game 2-0 at Oakland.

Arizona had 15 hits, including seven doubles, to beat St. Louis 6-2, in Phoenix.

Diamond Notes: Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano has a new agent in Roc Nation, an entertainment company founded by Shawn Carter, also known as Jay-Z. Cano, who is in the final season of a $57 million contract, formerly worked with agent Scott Boras…Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus agreed to an eight-year, $120 million extension… The Dodgers have placed RHP Chad Billingsley and LHP Ted Lilly on the disabled list retroactive to March 22. The team is beginning the season with a four-man rotation of Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Josh Beckett and Hyun-Jin Ryu…Cincinnati OF Ryan Ludwick dislocated his right shoulder on a slide on Opening Day…Red Sox DH David Ortiz will play in some rehab games in Ft. Myers, Fla. this weekend. He hasn’t played since March 10, suffering from inflammation in both heels.

Copyright © 2013 Bob Hurst. All Rights Reserved. Distributed by Hurst Sports Media.