(USA Today)In a week filled with tragedy and heartache, the Houston Astros will do their part to honor the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing and the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas by observing a moment of silence prior to Friday night’s game against the Cleveland Indians.

But that's not all. The team will also do their part in helping the healing process for those affected in West and the surrounding areas by accepting donations of essential items during their six-game homestand which runs through Wednesday.

Astros will honor victims of Boston & West, TX at game tonight. Donations are being accepted for West, TX from 4/19-4/24 at MMP.

— Houston Astros (@astros) April 19, 2013

Here's a little more information courtesy of the team's press release, including the types of items the state of Texas is requesting as they assist in recovery efforts.

(AP)Young Dylan Fantone came to Progressive Field on Tuesday night all decked out in his Nick Swisher jersey and a Cleveland Indians cap.

He also came with a message of support for the city Boston and one special declaration.

For that one night, the loyal fan of the Tribe was going to root not only for the home team, but also the visiting Boston Red Sox as a show of solidarity and support to the players and their city in the wake of Monday's Boston Marathon tragedy.

He backed it up by stamping the Indians logo on his left cheek and the Red Sox logo on his right. He also came carrying an awesome homemade sign that read: “From our city, to your city. Our hearts and prayers go out to you Boston. Love, Cleveland.”

From our city to your city... twitter.com/Indians/status…

— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) April 16, 2013

(AP)We're not sure 16 major league seasons crouching behind the plate is the best preparation for a stint in ballet, but former Dodgers, Marlins and Mets great Mike Piazza will give it a shot anyway when he takes the stage for the Miami City Ballet next month.

It was announced on Wednesday that Piazza has been selected to play the role of a gangster in the production of "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue," which will take place on May 3. It's said Piazza will wear a 1920s style gangster costume (which you can see him being fitted for in the photo above), say a few lines and then watch the rest of the performance from a seat onstage.

Not a huge role. but all artists have to start somewhere.

Piazza was quoted as saying he wants his character to swagger convincingly on stage but won't actually "dancing" in his costume. So if you were picturing something like Hulk Hogan wearing a tutu in Mr. Nanny, you're probably disappointed by most of this news, but it's still a pretty cool opportunity for Piazza and a challenge he's obviously looking forward to.

(Getty)
The Juice returns for season No. 6! It's almost eligible for free-agency! Stop by daily for news from the action, along with great photos, stats, video highlights and more.

Burnett reaches milestone, flirts with history: The 9,750 fans on hand at PNC Park gave A.J. Burnett a well deserved standing ovation in the second inning when he caught Carlos Beltran looking for career strikeout No. 2,000. He kept those fans on their feet (or at least on the edge of their seats) into the seventh, when the same Carlos Beltran ended his bid for no-hitter with a ringing two-out double.

It was a thrilling ride and a great outing, though Burnett was admittedly disappointed he was unable to close the deal.

''Absolutely,'' Burnett said. ''My goal every time out is to throw a no-hitter. I know they are major league hitters that I'm facing and I respect them, but my job is not to give up hits. You should go to the mound with that mindset.''

Of course Burnett already has one no-hitter under his belt. That came as a member of the Marlins back on May 12, 2001 against the San Diego Padres. Burnett walked nine that day, which is the most ever in a no-hitter.

He was much more efficient on Wednesday, allowing only one runner on a hit by pitch before Beltran’s spoiler. Burrnett wrapped up the seventh without any further blemishes to his statline. Relivers Mark Melancon, Tony Watson and Jason Grilli retired the next six Cardinals in order to preserve the one-hitter and the 5-0 victory.

"Watch Mom and Dad like any Mom and Dad in any country in the world, reacting exactly like Mom and Dad."

The incredible Vin Scully always has the perfect commentary for great moments like this. For South Korea's Hyun-Jin Ryu, the moment won’t get any bigger or better than Saturday night when his parents made the trip to Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ to watch him do what he does best: pitch a baseball.

And pitch the 26-year-old rookie did, striking out nine Arizona Diamondbacks over six innings of work. He allowed three runs on six hits in the outing, which was good enough for his second career win, and part of the reason it was good enough was his own effort at the plate.

Ryu not only collected his first major league hit in the Dodgers 7-5 victory — a ringing double over right fielder Gerardo Parra's head — but an additional two singles and scored a run. He didn't drive a run in himself, but he kept the line moving and allowed the potent Dodgers offense to inflict even more damage.

Here’s a play that requires a little luck and a whole lot of concentration.

We'll call it baseball's version of a tip drill, which is a term you might be familiar with from football relating to wide receivers and defensive backs practicing the art of tipping a pass to either make a catch themselves or make it easier for a teammate to make a play.

It's coordinated effort on the gridiron. In baseball, well, it's stick your glove out and hope for the best. But sometimes it does work, which brings us back to the original topic.

The baseball tip drill was executed by the left side of the Boston Red Sox infield — third baseman Will Middlebrooks and shortstop Stephen Drew — on the first play of their 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday. Desmond Jennings was at the plate when he scalded a line drive down towards Middlebrooks that he lunged for and deflected. Amazingly, his attempt didn't do much to slow the ball down, but it did change directions, which makes the second part of the play even more impressive.

Two weeks ago I expressed concern that the Miami Marlins may be making a big mistake promoting 20-year-old pitcher Jose Fernandez to the big leagues before he was primed and ready.

It turns out I was right on the not being ready part, though not in the way I expected.

Fernandez has actually proven to be more than ready on the mound. In fact, he's been downright dominant through two starts, allowing one run over five innings against the New York Mets in his major league debut last weekend and tossing six scoreless against the Philadelphia Phillies in Miami's 2-1 win on Saturday night. With those two starts under his belt, Fernandez became the first pitcher 20 years old or younger to allow one run or less and three hits or less in his first two starts since Rudy May of the Angels did it back in 1965.

Not bad for a guy who never pitched above A-ball.

He was also pretty good with the lumber on Saturday, collecting his first major league hit — an RBI single — off Cole Hamels. Very impressive, but unfortunately that's where his inexperience finally started to show up a bit. And no, it wasn't on the bases, either, it was actually when he attempted to put on the zip up jacket that many pitchers wear on the basepaths to keep themselves warm.

We should have seen this one coming.

Not long after Major League Baseball announced Carlos Quentin's eight-game suspension on Friday night, someone took it upon themselves to alter (or vandalize, if you prefer) his Wikipedia page with a different perspective of his actions in the bench-clearing brawl that resulted in Zack Greinke breaking his collarbone.

(@missnighthawk on Twitter)

Granted, this is a very tame alteration, which is part of the reason why we can bring it to you, but it's still pretty funny. It's also factually correct, or at least the part about Nick Blackburn being the pitcher who's hit him the most is correct.

In 37 plate appearances, Blackburn has drilled Quentin four times. That's a pretty high rate, though not as high as Quentin's batting average (.419) against him. Quentin has also homered three times against the Minnesota Twins right-hander.