Tale of two pitchers

Dallas Braden and Ricky Romero formed one solid pitchers duel on Sunday in Toronto. A second-inning single by Lyle Overbay knocked in the only run against Braden, who worked 7 1/3 innings, giving up eight total base runners.

Romero looked even tougher, yielding six base runners through seven innings and striking out five. The Jays win behind their potentially emergent ace, 1-0.

Adam Jones tigthens up

Baltimore center fielder Adam Jones looked destined for a breakout 2009 season. Hitting .371 through a couple weeks of his second professional season will turn heads. In today's Orioles-Red Sox game, however, Jones experienced tightness in his hamstring and had to leave the game.

Fantasy Impact: Anyone who's ever owned Eric Byrnes will tell you hamstring injuries are serious matters. They can turn a star-studded fantasy season into a star-crossed one. Jones is best sat for the Orioles next game.

McCann can't see so good

Brian McCann, suffering with blurry vision in one eye even after Lasik surgery, will see a specialist regarding the issue.

“Either my eyesight’s changed, or I have a dry spot in my eye,” said McCann, mired in a 1-for-20 slump that has dropped his average to .200. “I tried wearing contacts for a week, and it didn’t work. Now I’ve got some antibiotic drops, and hopefully that will clear it up.”

If his vision has changed, he probably would have another Lasik procedure. That could require him to miss games and possibly go on the 15-day disabled list. He saw an eye doctor in Atlanta last week, but tests were inconclusive.

Fantasy Impact: McCann clobbered a couple of home runs in the opening series, but since then he's been pedestrian as a fantasy player. Put him on the pine until this issue clears up.

Mauer return set for May 1

The Twins put Joe Mauer on a rehab schedule for playing games, but it sounds like it will be at least a couple of weeks in the minors barring setbacks before the team's backstop can return to the majors.

The Twins want Mauer to get about 50 at-bats and 10 games, with at least half of those as the catcher.

Manager Ron Gardenhire said Sunday the final part of the plan is to put Mauer behind the plate for consecutive games to test his strength and stamina before activating him from the disabled list.

If Mauer stays on schedule, he's on track to rejoin the Twins for their May 1 game at home against the Kansas City Royals.

Fantasy Impact: Another two weeks shouldn't kill fantasy owners. Mauer is no messiah in fantasy baseball, however, as his batting average is his greatest plus. Mauer is more of a good complementary type who won't hurt you than he is a fantasy star.