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Two of baseball’s best pitchers returned to action on Sunday afternoon, but if you did some sportsbook on both of those outings you would have only been paid for one win.

The New York Mets ace Johan Santana. Smoltz was placed on the disabled list at the end of spring training with a sore shoulder, but he was deemed healthy enough to face the division rival on Sunday. And how did the veteran make out?

Just fine. The righthander tossed five shutout innings against the Mets, giving up two hits, walking two, and striking out six in the contest. Santana was almost as good – he allowed just one earned run on seven hits over seven innings – but the Braves managed to get into New York’s bullpen for a couple of runs and pick up a 3-1 victory.

That makes Smoltz 1-0 on the season. Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon. Beckett skipped the team’s season-opening trip to Japan with back spasms, and he was just activated from the 15-day DL in time to pitch against the Jays.

But Toronto tagged Beckett for five earned runs on three hits and four walks over 4 2-3 innings of work. To be fair, though, Beckett wasn’t on the mound in the fifth inning when Frank Thomas hit a grand slam to put his team ahead for good. Manny Delcarmen allowed that blast, but Beckett was responsible for three of the Blue Jays on the bases.

One other starting pitcher made his return from the disabled list on the weekend, and he was saddled with a loss. That pitcher was Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday.

And while Smoltz, Beckett, and Pettitte all made their way back from the disabled list in the last few days, some other pitchers found themselves placed on the shelf. One of those hurlers was Smoltz’s teammate Mike Hampton. The veteran lefthander was supposed to make a triumphant return to the mound, but he was scratched from his scheduled start with a strained pectoral muscle and immediately put on the disabled list.

Baltimore on Sunday, but the lefthander was instead sidelined by hip inflammation. Bedard, though, has avoided the DL so far, and the team is hoping that he can pitch again on Tuesday.

That’d be good news for the M’s, as they’re already down one pitcher in J.J. Putz. The team’s closer was placed on the 15-day disabled list last week with ‘costochondritis’, or inflammation in the ribs area. Seattle is hoping to get by without Putz using what they have in their bullpen, but that didn’t work out very well for them against the O’s on Sunday – Eric O’Flaherty and Mark Lowe combined to surrender three runs in the ninth.

The Washington Nationals have also been missing their closer, as Chad Cordero was placed on the disabled list with shoulder tendinits. Jon Rauch has been filling in as the team’s stopper in his absence, but he hasn’t had much work to do – he last pitched last Wednesday when he preserved a 1-0 Nats win. Cordero could be activated at any time.

And finally, the Blue Jays aren’t sure when B.J. Ryan will be healthy enough to return to the mound, but Jeremy Accardo has once again been getting the job done in his place. Accardo picked up his third save of the season in the team’s win over Boston on Sunday, and he has yet to allow a runin his three appearances. He could steal that job.

Check the BetUS MLB betting lines section for the latest odds and totals for this week’s games.

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