An A-Bomb from A-Rod:
- Alex Rodriguez finally hit his 600th career home run. He's 9 homers away from tying Sammy Sosa for 6th place on the all-time leaderboard.
- Keith Law sent his congratulations to A-Rod on Twitter saying, "Congrats, A-Rod - just 163 more to go before you become the guy idiots try to ignore when calling Hank Aaron the 'true HR king.'"
Things Not Found on eBay:
- Nolan Ryan and his investment group won the Texas Rangers in an auction over Mark Cuban. Ryan's group bid $593 million, of which $385 million was in cash. The auction, which started 6 hours late, included profanities, Cuban ordering 10 pizzas, and an opening bid of $520 million.
Notables:
- Phil Hughes allowed 1 earned run over 5.1 innings, in a win over the Blue Jays. He struck out 5, walked 2, and gave up 4 hits. Hughes' ERA is back under 4.00 now (3.96) and he's up to 122.2 innings pitched; he pitched 86 innings last season.
- Brett Anderson picked up a win, after he pitched 7 innings and allowed 2 earned runs against the Royals. He struck out 4, walked 1, and gave up 3 hits. This was Anderson's second start back from the DL.
- Luke Scott went 2-5 and hit his 20th home run of the season. He has now homered in three straight games. Scott has a 1.130 home OPS, but only a .691 OPS away from the friendly confines of Camden Yards.
- Edwin Jackson made his first start back in the AL and against his former, former team no-less (the Tigers). He allowed 1 run, over 7 innings in a win. He struck out 6, walked 1, and gave up 9 hits. Hopefully the 1 walk is a sign of things to come as Jackson had a 4.94 BB/9 in the month of July.
- Jacoby Ellsbury made his return to the Red Sox lineup. He went 0-5 out of the leadoff spot. Last season Ellsbury hit .301 with 70 stolen bases and 94 runs.
- Scott Baker and David Price engaged in a pitcher's duel that left each with a no-decision. Baker went 8 innings with 0 earned runs and 7 strikeouts, while Price pitched 7 innings with 1 earned run and 7 strikeouts.
- Michael Young went 2-6 with a grand slam against the Mariners. Young, a career .302 hitter, is batting .299 this season.
- Ichiro Suzuki stole 4 bases off of Bengie Molina and the Rangers. And with that, he now has more stolen bases than he did last season (26). He'll have to pick up the pace considerably to top his '08 total of 43.
- Johnny Cueto improved to 11-2, after he pitched 6 innings of 1-run ball against the Pirates. He struck out 6, walked 2, and gave up 3 hits. Cueto had a 3.90/2.79 home/road ERA split coming into today; this was a road start.
- Ryan Dempster, not dumpster, shutout the Brewers for 6 innings. He struck out 5, walked 3, and gave up only 3 hits. Dempster's walk rate got a little out of hand in July, with a 5.82 BB/9. This game broke his streak of 4 straight games with a home run given up.
- Tyler Colvin, Geovany Soto, Blake DeWitt, & Aramis Ramirez all hit homers for the Cubs. They combined for 13 RBI and wrecked shop on the Brewers team ERA.
- Ubaldo Jimenez won his 17th game... yes, 17th. He struck out 9 Giants batters and allowed 1 earned run over 7 innings. After a bumpy late June and most of July, Jimenez has now won back-to-back games and allowed only 2 earned runs over his last 14 innings with a 15/5 K/BB ratio.
- Brian McCann went 3-5 with a homer and 3 RBI. Since winning the All-Star Game MVP award, McCann has 5 homers and 19 RBI.
- Domonic Brown and Mike Stanton showcased their talents, when their teams faced-off against each other. Brown went 1-4 with 3 RBI, while Stanton was 1-4 with a home run. This season's crop of rookies is pretty... pretty... pretty good.
- Chris Carpenter improved to 12-3, after he pitched 7.1 innings and allowed 2 earned runs against the Astros. He struck out 3, walked 3, and allowed 4 hits. Carpenter isn't putting up number like he did last season, but he has gone at least 7 innings in 5 straight starts now and his 12 wins are 4th most in the NL.
- Chris Johnson is someone that might not be on your fantasy radar, but perhaps he should be. Wednesday night he went 1-3 with 2 RBI and hit his 5th homer of the season. In the month of July, Johnson hit .359 with 4 HR, 10 R, & 13 RBI. In only 4 games this August, he's 5-14 with 7 RBI. I realize this is a small sample size, but you could do worse at 3B.
- Adam LaRoche went 2-4, hit his 4th homer, and collected his 16th RBI after the All-Star break. For his career, LaRoche is a .252/.327/.449 pre-All Star break hitter, but a .299/.361/.543 post-All Star break hitter.
- Adam Dunn hit homers number 27 and 28 and collected RBIs number 69, 70, and 71. He's batting .277 for the season. Last season he hit a career high .267.
- Vicente Padilla hurled a complete game 2-hitter against the Padres. He struck out 9 and walked 2, in the win. Padilla's velocity was anywhere from 49 mph to 94 mph.
Save Chances:
- Bobby Jenks, converted (23). Pitched a clean 9th.
- Alfredo Simon, converted (16). Gave up 1 earned run on 3 hits.
- Mike Wuertz, converted (4). Struck out the side to end things quickly and quietly, like an assassin.
- Matt Capps, blown (5). Struck out 2, but gave up 1 earned run on 2 hits.
Other Closer Outings:
- Mariano Rivera pitched a clean 9th.
- Brad Lidge pitched a clean 9th with 1 strikeout.
- Leo Nunez pitched 1 inning and allowed 1 earned run with 1 walk and 3 hits.
- Ryan Franklin allowed 2 earned runs on 3 hits in 1 inning of work.
Non-Closer Outings:
- Joba Chamberlain allowed 1 hit in a scoreless 7th.
- Koji Uehara pitched 1.1 innings, struck out 3, and gave up 1 hit.
- Matt Thornton & J.J. Putz combined for a scoreless 8th.
- Jensen Lewis struck out 2, walked 1, and allowed 1 hit, in a scoreless 8th.
- Matt Guerrier received a win, after he pitched 2 clean innings with 1 strikeout, in extra innings.
- Jesse Crain & Jose Mijares each pitched 1 scoreless inning against the Rays.
- Dan Wheeler struck out 1 and gave up 1 hit, in a scoreless 9th.
- Darren Oliver pitched 2.1 innings with 0 earned runs and 4 strikeouts.
- Frank Francisco pitched 1.2 clean innings with 2 strikeouts.
- Arthur Rhodes pitched a clean 8th.
- Sean Marshall struck out 2 and gave up 1 hit, in a scoreless 8th.
- Rafael Betancourt struck out the side in the 9th inning.
- Matt Belisle struck out 2 and gave up 1 hit, in the 8th.
- Takashi Saito struck out 1 and gave up 1 hit, in the 8th.
- Kyle Farnsworth struck out 1, walked 1, and gave up 1 hit, in a scoreless 9th.
- Jose Contreras allowed 1 hit in a scoreless 7th.
- Ryan Madson struck out 2, walked 1, and allowed 1 hit in a scoreless 8th.
- Clay Hensley walked 1 in a scoreless 8th.
- Brandon Lyon struck out 2 in a clean 7th.
- Tyler Clippard struck out 1 and allowed 1 hit, in a scoreless 9th.
- Aaron Heilman pitched a scoreless 9th with 1 walk.
Tough Days: Happ's House
- J.A. Happ allowed 7 earned runs in 1 inning of work against the Cardinals. It was Happ's second start as a Houston Astro.
- Ervin Santana gave up 9 earned runs in just 3.2 innings to the Orioles. He walked 2, but it was the 12 hits that did him in.
- C.J. Wilson pitched 3 innings and allowed 4 earned runs versus the Mariners. It was only the 4th time he allowed more than 3 earned runs in a game this season. Wilson had won his last 3 in a row.
- Doug Fister gave up 7 earned runs in 4.2 innings, opposite Wilson and the Rangers. He served up 8 hits and issued 2 walks. Fister's last win was on May 14th.
- Madison Bumgarner was introduced to Coors Field to the tune of 4 earned runs in only 4 innings. With 10 runners on base, it could have been much worse.
- Brennan Boesch's batting average is in a free fall. Wednesday he went 0-3 with 2 strikeouts. On July 5th he was batting .345, today he's batting .283. How do you lose 60 points in batting average in one month you ask? You go 13 for 95 (.137), that's how.
- B.J. Upton went 0-5 with 2 strikeouts. The stolen bases are there, if you're willing to stomach the .232 batting average.
- Andres Torres went 0-4 with 4 strikeouts for the Golden Sombero. In his defense, Ubaldo Jimenez is sort of, ya know, good.
- Mark Reynolds was 0-3 with 3 strikeouts. He's batting .220 with a career high 42|PERCENT| strikeout rate.
Lineup-ology/Injuries:
- Kris Medlen suffered an injury to the UCL in his right elbow. Medlen is most likely done for the season. The Braves could go back to Kenshin Kawakami or call up Mike Minor.
- Jason Motte was placed on the DL with an AC sprain of the right shoulder. Fernando Salas was recalled to take his roster spot.
- John Buck was placed on the DL with a thumb injury. J.P. Arencibia was called up by the Blue Jays to fill in. Arencibia was hitting .303 with 31 HR & 79 RBI in Triple-A Las Vegas.
- Brandon Inge was activated from the DL. Danny Worth was placed on the DL with a bruised left heel.
- Jacoby Ellsbury was activated from the DL. Daniel Nava was optioned to make room.
- Russell Martin was placed on the DL with a right hip labral tear. A.J. Ellis was recalled in a corresponding move.
- Reed Johnson was activated from the DL by the Dodgers. Xavier Paul was optioned to the minors to make room.
- Chris Sale was called up by the White Sox. Sale is the first player from this year's draft to make his big league debut.
- Tony Abreu was optioned to the minors by the Diamondbacks.
- Mike Sweeney was traded to the Phillies.
- Kila Kaaihue finally made it into the Royals lineup. Ned Yost didn't want me taking to the streets of KC to protest Kaaihue's lack of playing time, so he did the right thing and started him at 1B. Billy Butler hit out of the DH spot, while Jose Guillen moved to RF. The Kila Monster went 1-4 with 1 strikeout.
- Dan Johnson started at DH for the Rays and went 1-4 with 1 RBI and 1 strikeout.
Home Runs: Chicks Dig the Long Ball
- Adam Dunn (27 & 28), Albert Pujols (27), Paul Konerko (27), Carlos Gonzalez (22 & 23), David Ortiz (23), Carlos Quentin (21), Luke Scott (20), Alex Rodriguez (17), Andre Ethier (17), Adam LaRoche (17), Tyler Colvin (17), Michael Young (16), Aramis Ramirez (16), Brian McCann (15), Geovany Soto (15), Troy Tulowitzki (10), Mike Stanton (10), Andrew McCutchen (9), Chipper Jones (9), Pedro Alvarez (8), Jayson Nix (8), Yuniesky Betancourt (8), Mike Morse (7), Jeff Clement (7), David Murphy (6), Chris Johnson (5), Melky Cabrera (4), Andy Marte (4), Paul Janish (3), Blake DeWitt (2), & Adam Moore (2).
Stolen Bases:
- Scott Podsednik (33), Ichiro Suzuki (25, 26, 27, & 28), Chone Figgins (28), Jose Reyes (21), Cliff Pennington (16 & 17), Matt Kemp (16), Erick Aybar (16), Kelly Johnson (11), Torii Hunter (9), Curtis Granderson (9), Roger Bernadina (8), Jamey Carroll (7), Maicer Izturis (6), Brian Roberts (4), Mike Aviles (3), Brad Hawpe (2), Felix Pie (2), Don Kelly (2), & Peter Bourjos (1).
Caught Stealing:
- Torii Hunter (11), Michael Bourn (9), Brandon Phillips (9), Gordon Beckham (4), Mark Ellis (4), Starlin Castro (3), Michael Saunders (3), Ian Stewart (2), Mitch Maier (2), Pat Burrell (2), Jack Cust (1), & Mike Morse (1).