I'm filling in for Carson, who is en route to Madison for the rest of the summer. Because it's usually his night, I'll do things a little differently than I usually do on the Nightcap. I won't be able to mimic his style, but at least maybe I can get into the spirit of doing it a little differently.

Washington 8, Philadelphia 1:

- Roy Oswalt gave up five runs (four earned) in his Phillies debut, allowing seven hits and two walks, to get his 13th loss of the year. I feel sorry for his owners in leagues that use losses as a category. I endorsed "Net Steals" as a category in the past, but I can't countenance "Net Wins," because wins and losses are somewhat bogus to begin with.
- For those reading the Nats' closer tea leaves, Tyler Clippard came into the game with a 5-1 lead in the seventh. Drew Storen is the closer here in everything but name.
- Adam Kennedy was a force of nature, going 4-for-5 with a double and a stolen base.
- Adam Dunn remains a Nat - apparently Edwin Jackson wasn't worth it to the Nats after all. That, or maybe they made inroads on signing him to an extension.
- Jayson Werth hit his 15th homer. His homers might be down, but he's got a higher OPS than he did last year anyhow - most of those homers have turned into his whopping 34 doubles.
- Jimmy Rollins (foot) returned but went 0-for-4. Adding Roy Oswalt was nice, but getting Rollins going and getting something, anything out of Chase Utley in September are far more important factors for the Phillies if they're going to catch the Braves or the Giants.

Toronto 8, Cleveland 1:

- The Jays have already dealt Alex Gonzalez, but haven't pulled the trigger yet on anyone else. Among the players rumored to be available include Scott Downs, Jason Frasor, Lyle Overbay, John Buck, and most notably, Jose Bautista, who merely hit just his 31st homer of the year and 11th this month. I think that you can make a case that the Jays don't absolutely have to trade Bautista, who is 29 and relatively cheap, and can competently play multiple positions.
- One player that won't be traded by the Jays - Vernon Wells - Albatross!
- Shaun Marcum dominated despite pitching with flulike symptoms, striking out 10 and walking none, giving up just one run.
- Austin Kearns was pulled after singling and told during the game that he had been traded to the Yankees for a PTBNL. He'll get less playing time, but will be in a better lineup, and gives them a viable right-handed outfielder alternative not named Marcus Thames. For the Indians, once a week goes by they can recall Michael Brantley again and start playing him regularly. Masterful job managing that roster, Tribe. For now, Shelley Duncan and Chris Gimenez will split the left field duties.
- Travis Hafner's shoulder will keep him out until at least Sunday.
- Justin Masterson was disastrous again - 8 ER, 13 H and 2 BB in 5.1 innings.
- Mitch Talbot (lower back strain) went on the DL and was replaced by Justin Germano. Germano pitched in relief on Friday, so it's not a guarantee that he'll take Talbot's spot in the rotation.
- The Jays traded for Mike Jacobs, but he might just be for Triple-A depth to replace Brett Wallace at first base.
- Travis Snider came off the DL but didn't start. If the Jays can open a spot via trade, he'll start regularly. Otherwise, he'll pinch starts from Fred Lewis and/or Edwin Encarnacion.

Arizona 9, New York Mets 6:

- The Diamondbacks started and ended the day with sell-off trades. Edwin Jackson went to the White Sox for Dan Hudson and David Holmberg. We've talked plenty about Hudson, but we'll reiterate that the change in leagues will get nearly canceled out by moving to Chase Field. Holmberg was a second-round pick last year by the White Sox - he had a 4.46 ERA and 29:9 K:BB in 40.1 innings at Low-A Great Falls before the trade. He just turned 19. The Diamondbacks finished the night with a deal, tentatively sending Chris Snyder to the Pirates, the return yet not disclosed, pending the commish's office approving how much money they're sending along with Snyder to pay his contract. With Ryan Doumit out, Snyder will pick up a ton of playing time for the Bucs.
- Miguel Montero homered for the second day in a row and went 3-for-5 with four RBI.
- David Wright was also a monster, homering twice in a 3-for-4 game with five RBI.
- Aaron Heilman - not value-less any longer. He got the save while protecting a three-run leading, allowing one single and that's it.
- Jason Bay (concussion) went on the DL.
- The Mets fell 7.5 back in the NL East and 6.5 back in the Wild Card - chances are they won't make any major moves before Saturday's deadline.

Tampa Bay 3, New York Yankees 2:

- I'm sick of the baseball media getting sick of covering A-Rod's quest for #600. Yeah, I get it - he hasn't homered yet, and you hate your job, and you hate A-Rod. Get over it.
- B.J. Upton (ankle) not only returned to action, but also stole his 28th base.
- Matt Joyce has four homers since getting called up, and three of them were huge - a grand slam to cap off a comeback against the Twins, a grand slam off of Max Scherzer to break up the dueling no-hitters between Scherzer and Matt Garza, and a three-run homer to account for all three Rays' runs against the Yankees on Friday.
- Wade Davis has strung together four decent starts in a row after having an awful June. Jeremy Hellickson projects to be great, maybe better than Davis, but be patient with Davis - at one point, he was an elite prospect too.
- Ben Zobrist (back) remains out.
- The Yankees hope to get a timetable on Andy Pettitte (groin) after examining him on Sunday.

Detroit 6, Boston 5:

- Jose Valverde was beyond terrible, giving up four runs on two hits and five walks over 1.1 innings, though he recorded all four outs via the strikeout. He threw a whopping 61 pitches and won't be available to pitch again until Tuesday. Why did Valverde need to come into the eighth with two outs, one on, and a five-run lead? At what point would Leyland have pulled Valverde, anyhow? After a sixth walk?
- Jhonny Peralta homered twice off of Jon Lester. Yeah, Scott Sizemore probably wasn't going to do that. I might have been wrong about that "Peralta isn't going to move the needle" thing.
- Jeremy Hermida is 2-for-20 with a 2:9 BB:K since coming back, to go along with some awful defense.
- Wil Rhymes stole his first major league base and is batting second for the Tigers when he plays.
- Johnny Damon was a late scratch due to back pain.
- Armando Galarraga left after getting hit by a line drive on the ankle.
- Mike Cameron struck out twice against Valverde, swinging to end the eighth, and looking to end the game.

Atlanta 6, Cincinnati 4 (10 innings)

- So far no trades for the Reds, and there doesn't appear to be anything major in the offing. At most, they might add a reliever.
- Jason Heyward continued his ownership of the Reds, with the third of his doubles knocking in the game-winning runs in extra innings.
- Martin Prado jammed his hand sliding at home plate in the game-winning rally and had precautionary x-rays.
- Joey Votto once again hit an opposite field homer, this time tying the game in the eighth.
- Kris Medlen didn't pitch after getting hit by a pitch on his right forearm, though he's expected to make his next start.
- The Braves will swap in Gregor Blanco for Brent Clevlen on Saturday.

Houston 5, Milwaukee 0

- J.A. Happ's Astros debut went swimmingly. He went six scoreless, allowing two hits and four walks while striking out six.
- Corey Hart (thumb, wrist) returned and went 0-for-3 with a walk while hitting from the second spot.
- Lance Berkman will officially become a Yankee on Saturday, most likely for Mark Melancon and infielder Jimmy Paredes.
- Supposedly the Astros are |STAR|not|STAR| taking offers for Brett Myers. Which makes sense because ... why? He'll be a free agent after the season and won't come for the same discounted price he signed for.

Minnesota 5, Seattle 3:

- Matt Capps got his first save as a Twin, replacing Jon Rauch as the closer.
- With both Orlando Hudson |STAR|and|STAR| Nick Punto on the DL, the second base job is all Alexi Casilla's right now.
- Danny Valencia only had one hit - slacker.
- Jose Lopez (hamstring) and Milton Bradley (knee) sat out, and Justin Smoak was given a day off in deference to his 2-for-36 slump.

Kansas City 7, Baltimore 5:

- Alex Gordon hit a three-run walk-off homer against Alfredo Simon. It was his only hit of the game.
- Brian Roberts went 2-for-5 and had his first stolen base since coming off the DL.
- Mitchell Maier picked up a start in right field and had a double and two walks.
- Josh Bell will officially get added to the roster on Saturday. Ty Wigginton started at third, but most of his starts will come at first.

Chicago White Sox 6, Oakland 1:

- Lucas Harrell got the probable one-off start in place of Dan Hudson, who was traded to the Diamondbacks in the morning. Edwin Jackson will probably fill that spot going forward, unless the Sox can flip Jackson as part of an Adam Dunn trade.
- Brett Anderson didn't fare well in his first start off the DL, giving up five runs on 10 hits over 5.1 innings. He struck out only one.
- Andrew Bailey (intercostal strain) went on the DL as expected.

St. Louis 1, Pittsburgh 0, (10 innings):

- Whenever Chris Carpenter and Jeff Karstens hook up, you file away the bats for a while, apparently.
- Colby Rasmus was back in the lineup, but went 0-for-3 and was pinch-hit for by Ryan Ludwick, who sparked the winning rally with a double and scored the game's only run.
- The Cardinals might interested in Jake Westbrook.
- Erik Kratz threw out three attempted stolen bases by the Cards.

Colorado 17, Chicago Cubs 2:

- The Cubs season was already dead, but the Rockies stomped on their grave with 11 consecutive two-out hits to score 12 runs in the 7th inning.
- Andrew Cashner's bad week got much worse. He began the week with an illness, had a miserable outing in Houston, and then gave up six of those consecutive hits (including two homers) without retiring a batter. His ERA has gone from 2.42 to 6.26 in the course of two outings.
- The Rockies are known for their big stretch runs, but are they too far back this time? They remain eight games out even with winning their last two games.
- The Cubs reinstated Carlos Zambrano from the restricted list before the game.
- Todd Helton (back) began a rehab assignment on Friday night.

LA Angels 9, Texas 7:

- The Rangers were up 5-0 and 7-4, but Tommy Hunter couldn't hold the leads, giving up eight runs on eight hits (including two homers) in 3.0-plus innings. His ERA jumped a full run from 2.31 to 3.31.
- Scott Feldman will move to the bullpen, getting replaced in the rotation by Rich Harden. I still think that Derek Holland is their best option for the spot when he's eventually deemed ready.
- Juan Rivera hit the big shot for the Angels, a three-run homer when they were down 5-0 in the second inning.
- Mitch Moreland and not Jorge Cantu started at first base on Friday and will be the primary first baseman against righties, though Cantu will start there on Saturday against Dan Haren.
- The Rangers added Cristian Guzman from the Nats, and he'll start at second base most of the time while Ian Kinsler is out.
- The Angels moved Michael Napoli back behind the plate, with Howie Kendrick sliding from second to first to make room for Maicer Izturis at second.
- Josh Hamilton left with patella tendinitis after first moving from CF to LF.

Florida 4, San Diego 2:

- New acquisition Miguel Tejada started at shortstop and batted fourth, keeping Chase Headley in the lineup at third base. Neither the position nor the batting order slot will end well for the Padres if Tejada sticks there.
- Wes Helms started at third base following the departure of Jorge Cantu and went 1-for-2 with a walk, batting seventh.
- The Untouchable Cody Ross hit his 10th homer of the season, and Gaby Sanchez hit his 12th. Both came off of Wade LeBlanc, who has allowed 11 homers in his last seven starts.
- Chris Coghlan hasn't yet committed to surgery - instead, he's receiving treatment and hoping the swelling and pain go down.

San Francisco 6, Los Angeles Dodgers 5:

- Brian Wilson was unavailable to go after having back spasms before the game. Sergio Romo and Jonathan Sanchez made a mess out of the ninth, forcing Chris Ray to come in and get the save, but not before he allowed an RBI single. Sanchez was in because it was his throw day and the situation called for a left-hander, something the Giants didn't have with both Dan Runzler and Jeremy Affeldt on the DL.
- Tim Lincecum tweaked his delivery with positive results, holding the Dodgers to two runs over seven innings, striking out nine.
- The Dodgers are hoping to add Ted Lilly before Saturday's trade deadline, though they want to keep it payroll neutral if possible.
- Manny Ramirez (calf) will meet with the Dodgers next week and devise the next step in his rehab.