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Some notes from the first week of MLB action, including Blackmon, Solarte, Bonifacio, Belt, Eovaldi, K-Rod and more. Air Max Online Baratas . Charlie Blackmon, CF, Colorado - A 27-year-old who just surpassed 500 career plate appearances, Blackmon hit .309 with an .803 OPS in 82 games last season, and has opened this year with 13 hits in 24 at-bats (.542). As long as he hits, and a minor-league batting average of .309 with an .843 OPS in 2222 plate appearances is an indication that is a possibility, then Blackmon should stay ahead of Drew Stubbs in the Rockies outfield rotation. Josh Hamilton, LF, L.A. Angels of Anaheim - After last seasons flameout, Hamilton is an interesting rebound option in 2014. Remember, hes one season removed from 43 homers, 128 RBI and 103 runs scored for Texas. In the crazy small sample of the first week, Hamilton has at least been showing a touch more plate discipline, with 12.5% swinging strikes his lowest rate since his rookie year in 2007. Yangervis Solarte, 3B, N.Y. Yankees - 26-year-old rookie flew under the radar when the Yankees added veteran infielders Kelly Johnson and Brian Roberts in the offseason, but Solarte hit .429, with a 1.061 OPS in the spring, hitting .282 with a .736 OPS at Triple-A over the past couple seasons. Hes off to a nice start (8-for-17, .471 AVG, 1.232 OPS) for the Yankees; certainly fortunate with a .500 batting average on balls in play, but also making a lot of contact, with only 2.7% swinging strikes. Chris Colabello, DH, Minnesota - The 30-year-old DH had his first major league plate appearances last year, when he hits .194 with a .631 OPS in 181 plate appearances for the Twins, but he mashed in the minors (24 HR, .352 AVG, 1.066 OPS in 89 GP at AAA last year) and is off to a strong start this year, leading the American League with 11 RBI while hitting .391 with a 1.112 OPS. Hes been more fortunate (.500 BABIP) than can be expected, but Colabello also has higher line-drive and flyball rate, with a lower groundball and infield flyball rate compared to last season. Xander Bogaerts, SS, Boston - Coming into the year as the leading candidate for AL Rookie of the Year, 21-year-old Bogaerts hasnt done anything to slow down that talk, hitting .381 with a .956 OPS, hitting fifth in the Red Sox lineup. Emilio Bonifacio, CF, Chicago Cubs - Its a wonder that a player with a .628 OPS over the previous two seasons would be playing regularly, but such is the situation with the Cubs, and 28-year-old Bonifacio is off to a blazing start, hitting .500 with a 1.120 OPS and tied for the MLB lead with four steals. Bonifacio has always been valuable on the bases, stealing 98 bases on 120 attempts (81.7%) in the previous three seasons, but he hasnt always been able to hit enough to hold down an everyday job. Mark Trumbo, LF, Arizona - Over the last three years, four players -- Miguel Cabrera, Adrian Beltre, Jose Bautista and Jay Bruce -- have hit more home runs than Trumbos 95, and hes crushed five in nine games to start the year. Trumbo, whose outfield defence is not a strength, is hitting enough that he wont have any concerns over playing time. Brandon Belt, 1B, San Francisco - The progress has been steady, if sometimes slow, for the 25-year-old first baseman, but Belt has mashed four home runs early. Not to rain on his parade, since Belt is a nice breakout candidate, but hes been unusually aggressive at the plate early, seeing fewer pitches per plate appearance (3.65) than his standard (3.96 for his career) and hasnt walked once in 31 plate appearances. Yovani Gallardo, RHP, Milwaukee - Responsible for murdering fantasy teams (including one of my own) last season, when he had a career-high 4.18 ERA, Gallardo emerged unscathed from his first two starts. Dont get too carried away with the praise, however, as his strikeout rate (seven in 12 2/3 IP) is way low and hes been fortunate enough to strand every runner thats reached base against him. Nate Eovaldi, RHP, Miami - A 3.46 ERA in two starts is nice for the 24-year-old, but there are more promising results in underlying numbers. For one thing, Eovaldi has been a hard thrower who struggled to miss bats in the past and his average fastball is still up near 96 MPH, but hes missed more bats, and his 14 strikeouts in 13 innings (9.7 K/9) is far better than the 179 strikeouts in 260 1/3 innings (6.4 K/9) to start his career. Francisco Rodriguez, RHP, Milwaukee - The 32-year-old received the early closing opportunities for the Brewers, while they waited for Jim Henderson to find his form. Even without great velocity, K-Rod has six strikeouts in three innings, with a couple of saves, so its not like the Brewers figure to be rushing him out of the role. Pedro Strop, RHP, Chicago Cubs - A 28-year-old journeyman with four career saves entering the year, Strop is pushing Jose Veras, who has six walks in 1 2/3 innings, for the closers role with the Cubs. Strop throws hard enough, though hes been slider-heavy in the early going this year. Jose Valverde, RHP, N.Y. Mets - With word that Bobby Parnell is undergoing Tommy John surgery, the Mets closer role is open for 36-year-old Valverde, who busted out of the role in Detroit last season after allowing six home runs in 19 1/3 IP. With six strikeouts in 3 1/3 IP, Valverde is off to a good start in that spot, but has spent a career walking the high wire as a closer who rarely makes it look easy. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Air Max Comprar Online España . Betancourt was 2-5 with a 4.08 ERA and 16 saves for the Rockies last season before tearing a ligament in his pitching elbow. He considered undergoing platelet-rich plasma therapy to fix his arm, but announced in August his decision to have Tommy John surgery. Air Max Comprar Online . -- Chicago manager Darold Butler has a message for the Windy City. http://www.airmaxespana.es/ . Nothing pretty. But this is 1/4 World Cup. Usually plays out this way. DETROIT -- The NHL-leading Boston Bruins followed their game plan of keeping Gustav Nyquist in front of them for more than two periods. When the puck got loose, and Nyquist got to it, though, one of the games best defenceman and goalies couldnt stop the surging goal-scorer. Nyquist broke a tie with 7:12 left in the third period on his only shot of the game, and the Detroit Red Wings held on to beat Boston 3-2 on Wednesday night. "I didnt think Gus had one of his best games by any means, but he scored a big goal," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. Nyquist has a league-high 23 goals since Jan. 20 and a team-high 27 this season. He has given the Red Wings the breakout player they needed to boost their chances of extending their post-season streak to 23 seasons while missing many key players, including Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. The 24-year-old Swede started the season with the AHLs Grand Rapids Griffins after scoring a total of four goals in 40 games the previous two seasons. "Thats one of the young players that has come in here, and given the chance to be a front guy has taken total of advantage of it," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "Those things probably dont happen if Datsyuk and Zetterberg are still in the lineup. "When things like that happen, some guys are really good at stepping to the forefront. Hes done an unbelievable job of doing that." The Bruins turned the puck over near Detroits blue line, paving the way for Nyquist to score. He raced up ice, skated around defenceman Zdeno Chara and ended his blurring sequence by scoring against Tuukka Rask. "I think (Chara) came off the bench so it was tough for him to get enough time to gap up, got kind of flat-footed," Nyquist said. "I just tried to use my speed." He has done that a lot lately, scoring in three straight games and having at least one point in 10 games in a row. Nyquist scored 1:42 after teammate Tomas Jurco tied the game. Jimmy Howard finished with 33 saves to seal the win, strengthening Detroits spot as a wild-card team in the Eastern Conference with six games left. "Howie kept us in the game and gave us a chance," defenceman Niklas Kronwall said. "We didnt play great, but we found a way." The Atlantic Division-champion Bruins have been doing that for a while, winning a franchise-record nine straight on the road and earning at least a point in their previous 16 games. Nike Air Max España. Boston led the Red Wings twice, but couldnt put away the young, scrappy and short-handed team. "Theyve got really good speed," Rask said. "We did a pretty good job of shutting them down, but not good enough." Rask made 17 saves before being pulled for an extra skater with 1:14 left. Detroits Tomas Tatar scored early in the second period to tie the game the Bruins were basically dominating. Tatar used his left skate to push the puck across the front of the crease to set up Jurcos goal. The Bruins held out 36-year-old forward Jarome Iginla because of a lower-body injury, and the team said he is day to day. Iginla played in Bostons first 75 games this season, leading the team with 30 goals and ranking second with 61 points. The defending Eastern Conference champions outshot Detroit 11-4 in the first period and 14-7 in the second before seemingly playing less aggressively in the third when they went ahead. "I thought we let our guard down the second part of the third and they capitalized on it," Julien said. Johnny Boychuks slap shot put the Bruins up 1-0 late in the first, and Carl Soderberg gave them a 2-1 lead early in the third. Boychuk scored shortly after an apparent Boston goal was waved off because Chara was in the crease. Tatar tied it 4:45 into the second with a wrist shot from the right circle that went across traffic and got past Rask as his view was obstructed by Detroits Riley Sheahan. Tatar, another one of many young players who has made the most of an opportunity to play a lot for the banged-up team, has 19 goals after scoring five times in 27 games the previous two seasons. The Bruins went back ahead 1:10 into the third when Soderberg scored from the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Patrice Bergeron. Detroit, though, refused to go away and rallied for a much-needed win. NOTES: The Bruins hadnt lost in regulation since March 1 in a 4-2 loss to Washington. ... The Red Wings kept forward Daniel Alfredsson out of the lineup because of a lower-body injury. ... Datsyuk skated with teammates Wednesday morning, but missed his 16th straight game because of an injured left knee. Datsyuk wouldnt say if he expected to play Friday at home against Buffalo. ... Bergeron extended his point streak to nine games. ' ' '