Credit the Miami Marlins when it's due, the appearance of Transformers characters Optimus Prime and Bumblebee at Wednesday night's home game against the Tampa Bay Rays was one of the cooler and more well thought out promotions they've put together in recent years and especially since moving to their new ballpark.

The most awesome part, of course, is what you see above. The two larger than life machines — who will be back on the big screen for Transformers 4 next summer — were on hand to accompany a lucky young fan from the Give Kids the World Foundation for a very special ceremonial first pitch. That honor went to Timothy Stahlsmith, who as you can see showed off some pretty solid mechanics as he rocked and fired to young Marlins starter Jose Fernandez.

You also may have noticed that Timothy had no qualms throwing inside, which is impressive for a young pitcher. Then again, I wouldn't hesitate to back a hitter off the dish either with protection like that standing around me. Maybe Zack Greinke should look into the legalities of that set up.

Both characters then stuck around to take photos with fans throughout the rest of game, which we're sure was a thrill for the those young and old in attendance.

Overall a very cool experience, but I can't help but feel a little disappointed about one thing. You'll have to excuse my lack of perspective this one time, but I believe Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria actually missed a huge opportunity while he was on a little roll here.

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.

Dioner Navarro had himself a ‘career day’ on Wednesday in every sense of the term. Having connected for only 44 home runs in 2,066 at-bats coming in, the Chicago Cubs backup catcher would hit three — two against Chicago White Sox starter John Danks and one off reliever Brian Omogrosso — and drive in a career-high six runs to help the northsiders cruise to a 9-3 victory.

That puts him in elite company as only 14 catchers before him had put together a three homer and six RBI game. The most recent to do so was Victor Martinez back on July 16, 2004. John Buck, who came out swinging a hot bat for the New York Mets this season, is the most recent catcher to simply hit three dingers in one game. That came on April 18, 2010.

There are many other interesting facts you can learn about Navarro’s big day over at Eye on Baseball. But there’s no reason for starting catcher Wellington Castillo to worry. According to manager Dale Sveum, his spot is secure.

Sveum Talk: "Castillo's our starting catcher. Let's not get carried away."

— Patrick Mooney (@CSNMooney) May 29, 2013

Very secure.

Three is not enough: Whereas Navarro’s big day led the Cubs to victory, a three home run performance by Washington Nationals third baseman was not enough to overcome Chris Davis and the Baltimore Orioles. Zimmerman did his damage with a solo homer in the first, another solo in the fourth and a two-run shot in the fifth. That put Washington’s lead at 6-2, but the O’s rallied for seven unanswered to steal a 9-6 win.

Chris Davis, who homered himself in the fourth, added a two-run blast in the seventh to cap Baltimore’s comeback. He was 4 for 4 with three scored and three driven in as he solidifies his push for an all-star spot.

(USA Today)While tweeting during the Giants-A’s game at O.co Coliseum on Tuesday night, veteran baseball writer Jon Heyman managed to get under the skin of Oakland fans and even a few A's players when he noted how much of a shame he felt it was that the first two games of their interleague series had to be played in Oakland, while AT&T Park sat empty across the bay.

Hey, Jon, I certainly understand where you're coming from. The ballpark and the atmosphere in San Francisco trump the overall experience of watching games in a stadium not designed for baseball, but did you really want to go there? Did you not know you'd be rubbing a few people the wrong way?

Actually, I'm pretty sure he did. And honestly, I'm kind of glad he did. Not so much because I agree with him — which I do, because I prefer the chaotic and unpredictable nature of AT&T Park — but because it set off a series of passionate responses from A's players. The most passionate of which came from left-handed reliever Sean Doolittle.

First things first, though. Here's how Heyman started the issue.

(@JarrodBParker)

Though Oakland A's starter Jarrod Parker isn't required to hit for himself very often — he has nine plate appearances over three big league season thanks to that little designated hitter rule — it still would be nice to have a few official major league bats with his own name on them.

Unfortunately, thanks to a little mishap at the Marucci manufacturing plant, Parker won't have that satisfaction this week when the A's make a rare visit toa National League park against their bay area rivals the San Francisco Giants.

Instead, Jarrod Parker has to settle for bats identifying him as Jarrett Parker, which could mean they were intended for the Jarrett Parker who's an outfield prospect ironically in the Giants organization currently playing for the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels. Or, it could also mean that we're dealing with one hilariously handcrafted and unfortunately permanent typo.

Don't ever let people tell you sideline reporting in baseball isn't a dangerous gig. It can be extremely dangerous, especially if you're not expecting that big league player to bombard your interview with a shaving cream pie or a Gatorade bucket.

All kidding aside, which we can thankfully do in this case, it really can be dangerous when the reporter is asked to take their eyes off the field for a period of time to deliver their latest hit.

Such was the scenario for Fox Sports Wisconsin's Sophia Minnaert during the Pirates 5-2 win over the Brewers at Miller Park on Saturday night. As Minnaert welcomed fans back in the top half of the third inning, she was ready to set up the broadcast's Twitter poll for the evening. However, early in to her report, Minnaert was struck by an errant baseball that knocked the microphone right out of her hands and put her report on pause for a few seconds.

Having reviewed the broadcast, I can tell you it was not a foul ball as it's described in the MLB video. The inning had not started yet, so it was likely an errant throw from a Brewers player looking to give away a souvenir. Still, as you can tell by the sound and impact, it had a little mustard on it, and could have done some damage had she been struck in the head or face.

Thankfully, that wasn't the case, so Minnaert was able to quickly recover her microphone and collect herself.

Remember when we brought you the clip of Heath Bell belly flopping around on the Chase Field infield while attempting to field Will Venable's bunt on Saturday? The whole awkwardness of those no man's land baseballs that end up between the pitcher's mound, the first baseman and the second baseman was brought up, and I specifically noted how it usually requires an athletic pitcher to scoop the ball up to take it himself or a remarkable effort from a second baseman (ie: glove flip) to record the out.

Well, we saw another one of those plays in Saturday's Phillies-Nationals game at Nationals Park, and it absolutely took a remarkable (and improbable) effort from Washington second baseman Steve Lombardozzi to get the out.

The play happened with Phillies second baseman Freddy Galvis leading off the eighth inning. Galvis has good speed, so his idea was to drag a bunt along the right side to set the table for a big inning. That's exactly what he tried, though his bunt attempt was a little harder than you'd like it to be. In fact, the ball was scooting at a pretty good pace as it went past the pitcher, so Lombardozzi had trouble positioning himself for the aforementioned glove flip attempt.

What happened instead was Lombardozzi ended up fumbling with the baseball just to get control of it, and then in a stroke of pure luck, it ended up caroming off his left knee right to first baseman Adam LaRoche covering the bag and it beat Galvis there by half a step.

(USA Today)The best thing about Brandon McCarthy is that he's always in Brandon McCarthy mode. Regardless of what time of year it is, what team he's playing for, or what his particular assignment on a certain day might be, he approaches life the same way. And I might add it's the right way, because he rarely takes himself seriously, and he always manages to entertain.

A perfect example of this showed up on Twitter on Saturday when McCarthy decided to share with us his ideal batting practice playlist for Arizona Diamondbacks home games at Chase Field.

Yes, the team actually handed him a piece of paper and asked him to write down his preferred list of musical selections, and much like most of us have done when asked to do something similar (like maybe fill out a Secret Santa list) he couldn't help but return to his sophomoric roots.

Take a look.

(US Weekly)Twitter has proven to be one powerful (and dangerous) tool when it comes to sharing information.

It has also proven to be a powerful tool when it comes to bringing people together.

That could mean anything from sports fans connecting from points all around of the world to family members reuniting. And, from time to time. it can even serve as a free dating service, whether those involved intended it to or not.

That's exactly how it worked out for the 24-year-old ace of the New York Mets staff, Matt Harvey, who's seemingly innocent tweet from two weeks ago ended up helping him land a date with supermodel Anne Vyalitsyna.

According to US Weekly, the two met briefly during the New York Rangers May 6 playoff game at Madison Square Garden and then ending up taking the same elevator ride when the game was over.

That prompted the following tweet from Harvey:

A @nyrangers win! Riding the elevator out of the garden with the beautiful @annev. And now bedtime, to get ready for @mets baseball

— Matt Harvey (@MattHarvey33) May 7, 2013