May was the worst month in Ichiro Suzuki's career, as he hit .210 with a .270 on-base percentage. Oddly the Mariners played great, seemingly proving the theory that for a future Hall of Famer he has very little impact on winning. … What does Jair Jurrjens have in common with Lefty Gomez, Randy Johnson and Ubaldo Jimenez? According to Elias Sports, those are the only big-leaguers ever to begin a season with nine straight starts of six-plus innings allowing two or fewer runs in each game. Jurrjens, like lefty setup man Jonny Venters, is an unexpected All-Star candidate for the Braves. … Looks like the Rangers lost their little gamble on Brandon Webb, whose shoulder could force him into an early retirement. … Speaking of unfortunate injuries, after doing a ton of mental and physical work Rich Hill again was looking like the lefty who won 11 games for the 2007 Cubs. But he tore a ligament in his elbow and like Red Sox teammate Daisuke Matsuzaka could need Tommy John surgery. Matsuzaka has only one more year on his contract, so you wonder if he ever will pitch in the U.S. again. If not, the guy who was a legend in Japan will go home with these North American numbers: 49-30, 4.25 and only 622 2/3 innings (and 301 walks) in five seasons. … The Giants might want to tone down the rhetoric about Scott Cousins, who is getting death threats since his collision with Buster Posey. … Terry Collins is becoming a very popular manager in New York with his blasts of the Mets, who many feel Jerry Manuel coddled. The tough trick is to win, however. … Lots of critics slapped Curtis Granderson for his platoon differential when the Tigers traded him after the 2009 season, but nine of his 17 homers have come against left-handers. That's only four fewer than he had off lefties the previous four seasons. Fair to say he and Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long have done good work these past 15 months.