* After last night’s heroics, Albert Pujols is now 7-for-9 with five grand slams and 24 RBIs in bases-loaded situations this season. Asked about tying Ernie Banks for the NL’s single-season record for grand slams, Pujols said: “Nothing changes. It’s the same approach. Get a good pitch to hit and drive it back through the middle. Just because I’m strong enough, sometimes the ball’s going out of the park.”
* With last night’s scoreless inning Eddie Guardado became the 21st pitcher in baseball history to appear in 900 games. Trevor Hoffman (963) and David Weathers (938) are the only active pitchers with more career appearances, and Everyday Eddie joins Jesse Orosco (1,252), Mike Stanton (1,178), John Franco (1,119), and Dan Plesac (1,064) as the only left-handers in the 900-game club.
* Adrian Gonzalez was out of the Padres’ lineup yesterday and didn’t appear as a pinch-hitter, ending his MLB-leading and franchise-record streak of 314 straight games.
* Having paid $7 a pop for Yuengling lagers at Camden Yards in Baltimore last week, I’m interested in Team Marketing Report finding that the Giants have the most expensive beer in baseball at $8 and the average MLB team charges $6 for a 16-ounce brew.
* Speaking of going to Baltimore last week, if you’re interested in reading my trip report from the annual Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) convention, click here. It’s not pretty, so be warned.
* According to the New York Post, David Wright and his friends 
Yankees place Nestor Cortes on 15-day injured list with left rotator cuff strain
Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
The Yankees placed Nestor Cortes on the 15-day injured list with a left rotator cuff strain that will sideline the left-hander for at least two starts.
The move is retroactive to Monday and Cortes will be shut down for at least 15 days.
After Tuesday’s game, Cortes said the shoulder has been bothering him between starts and more so after he pitched five innings May 30 in Seattle.
“I took two days off and when I got to LA and threw that first day, I didn’t feel right,” Cortes said Tuesday. “But it was first day coming back from pitching so I knew it was going to be nagging a little bit. So I waited a little bit.
“That second day in LA was when I said something because it felt like I had pitched yesterday. So I wasn’t recovering in time.”
Cortes is 5-2 with a 5.16 ERA in 11 starts and has particularly struggled later in outings. Opponents are hitting .447 when facing him for the third time in a game.
Last year, Cortes was an All-Star and went 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA in 28 starts.
Randy Vásquez was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre to take Cortes’ spot in the rotation and will make his second career start in Thursday’s doubleheader. Vásquez made his major league debut May 26 against San Diego when the Yankees needed a starter because Domingo Germán was serving a 10-game suspension for using sticky substances.