Odds & Ends

Injuries:

• Cardinals reliever Tyler Johnson will undergo arthroscopic surgery today.
• Jeff Keppinger broke his kneecap after fouling a pitch off of it in the second inning; he played the game until the fourth.  Kepp will undergo an MRI today; we should have a better estimate of the time he'll miss when they get the results of that.

Transactions:

• The Pirates called up P Marino Salas [MiLB Value $15.55], replacing John Van Benschoten.  Salas and his 7.98 career K/9 could be a welcome addition to an NL-only bullpen.

Misc.:

• Eric Gagne is back as the closer in Milwaukee.  He picked up the save against the Dodgers last night.
• While watching Mike & Mike this morning, I heard Steve Phillips say that the Mitchell Report was having an effect on the power numbers at the big leagues, as he thinks people have been "scared straight" from using steroids.  Regardless of the reason, power is certainly declining this year.  Check out the decline in slugging percentage in the NL in 06/07/08: .427/.423/.409.  In the AL: .437/.423/.394.  So, if you're wondering if power numbers are down, they certainly are.