Peavy blanks Giants; Sexson goes yard again

Peak Performers and Fabulous Flops National League NY Mets' pitcher Orlando Hernandez (El Duque) polished of the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, going 7 strong innings. He allowed only five hits, two walks and one earned run, a solo homer by Scott Rolen. The Mets won, 4-1 and are 2-0, both wins coming against the Cards. Florida's Miguel Cabrera (right) is off to a hot start. After going 3 for 4 on Monday with a 2-run homer, 4 RBI and a run scored in Florida's 9-2 win at Washington, he followed that up on Tuesday with a 2 for 5 performance, an RBI and 2 more runs scored as the Marlins won again, 9-3. The Nationals will be happy to see Cabrera and the Marlins leave town after their afternoon engagement today. Jake Peavy and two relievers blanked the San Francisco Giants, 4-0. The San Diego starter twirled 6 innings of 3 hit ball, striking out 6 for the win. LA Dodgers' catcher Russell Martin banged out 3 hits in 5 at-bats, including a double and solo home run off Milwaukee starter Chris Capuano, drove in 2 and scored twice, but it wasn't enough as the Brewers won again, 4-3. They beat the visiting Dodgers 7-1 on Monday in their home opener. The Pittsburgh Pirates are relishing the acquisition of Xavier Nady from the Mets last season. Nady batted an even .300 with Pittsburgh in 55 games in 2006, and yesterday drove in the winning run with a single in the top of the 8th in Pittsburgh's 3-2 win at Houston. The Pirates find themselves atop the NL Central at 2-0, as they opened with a 4-2 win over the Astros on Monday. Nady also contributed a solo home run in Tuesday's win. American League Vladimir Guerrero banged out a 4-4 performance Tuesday, including a solo shot off Texas starter Vicente Padilla, scored 2 runs and drove in 3, pacing the LA Angels to a 8-3 win, their 2nd straight over the Rangers. Guerrero is batting .714. The Seattle Mariners improved to 2-0 with an 8-4 win over visiting Oakland. Richie Sexson (shown at right) pounded his 2nd homer of the season - a two-run shot - bringing his RBI total to 5. It's going to be a long season for the Baltimore Orioles if they use 37-year-old Alberto Castillo behind the plate very often. On Tuesday, 5 different Minnesota players stole 2nd base on Castillo and the Twins beat the O's for the second time in as many days, 4-3. Joe Nathan picked up his 2nd save for the Twinkies.