A big thanks to Andrew Martinez and Carson Cistuli for covering me last week when I was exploring all the splendors of Sea World and the San Diego Zoo. I've never had a bad time in San Diego, at various stages of my life. Anyhow, on to the games. I think I'm going to ape the format that I used with my most recent Nightcap more frequently, going game-by-game rather than by category. Please let me know in the comments if you have a preference.

Boston 2, New York Yankees 1:

- I speculated on-air on Monday that Jacoby Ellsbury could be in danger of losing playing time to Ryan Kalish once/if Mike Cameron returns from the DL. It took all of about two hours to make that speculation seem silly, after Ellsbury had four stolen bases against Jorge Posada and the Yankees' pitching staff. It's probably good to reign in expectations for Kalish, for that matter. He's off to a great start, but let's give this one some air, first. Oh, despite the four stolen bases, Ellsbury didn't cross home once.
- Speaking of Kalish, he has started all but one game since getting the call on July 31st. He had been their trade deadline acquisition.
- Yankees manager Joe Girardi didn't have his best tactical game. Not only did he allow Curtis Granderson to stay in the lineup against a tough lefty, but he didn't pinch-hit for him when the Yankees had the bases loaded and nobody out against Lester in the seventh. Granderson struck out before the Red Sox brought out Dan Bard to strike out Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher. Later he pinch-ran Brett Gardner for Alex Rodriguez in the eighth, yet Gardner didn't attempt a stolen base. Gardner and not A-Rod was the man on-deck when Mark Teixeira struck out to end the game, so at least Girardi was spared some level of embarrassment of not having one of his top hitters available to extend the game.
- A.J. Burnett will be able to start on Tuesday after missing Sunday's start with back spasms.
- Andy Pettitte (groin) had a bullpen session on Monday and is on target to have throw a simulated game either on Thursday or Friday.

Tampa Bay 6, Detroit 3:

- David Price was dominant in getting his 15th win of the season, striking out nine, but not especially pitch-efficient, needing 117 pitches to get through five innings, walking four in the process. Occasionally he can be a lot like Clayton Kershaw in that respect.
- Willy Aybar is a useful spare part, especially against left-handers, but he's a little overexposed as a lineup regular, particularly when he's your starting DH against a right-handed pitcher, as was the case on Monday.
- Carlos Guillen (calf) is back from the DL for the Tigers and started at second base. Now the only lineup regular that they're missing is still the biggest injury of the three that they recently suffered, Magglio Ordonez.
- Brennan Boesch homered for the second time in four games after going the entire month of July without homering.
- Jeremy Hellickson is back up from Triple-A Durham and this time will get more than one start, as both Wade Davis and Jeff Niemann hit the DL with their respective shoulder injuries. Hellickson's next start will be on Tuesday against the Tigers, and it's not too hard to envision a scenario where he Pipp's Davis out of his rotation spot for the rest of the year.

Baltimore 3, Chicago White Sox 2 (10 innings):

- Gordon Beckham sat out Monday's game because of the groin strain he suffered on Sunday. Brent Lillibridge started at second in his place.
- Dayan Viciedo picked up another start at third base and went 0-for-3 with two K's. He now has gone 74 at-bats without a walk, striking out 13 times in that span.
- Alfredo Simon blew the save, giving up a game-tying homer to Paul Konerko. He has given up four homers in his last eight outings, including one on Sunday as well.
- J.J. Putz has had a great season, but served up the game-winner to the first batter he faced, Brian Roberts. Still, he could remain in line to get saves pending Bobby Jenks' availability this week.

St. Louis 7, Cincinnati 3:

- I like the Reds' acquisition of Jim Edmonds, especially if it encourages them to platoon Jonny Gomes more in left field. I do worry about Chris Heisey and Drew Stubbs getting squeezed out of playing time merely because they're rookies, however.
- Mike Leake is a good story for the Reds, but it's really time to think about replacing him in the rotation for the rest of the season. He's had three good starts in his last 10, and the Reds have to find a way to make room for both Homer Bailey and Aaron Harang. I don't think Leake is a better pitcher right now, and you can't let the sentiment stemming from what he did in the first half get in the way of that evaluation.
- Speaking of Harang, he will throw a simulated game on Tuesday and then begin a minor league rehab assignment later in the week. He's a bit behind Bailey at this point.
- About the only good coming out of Monday's game for the Reds was Ramon Hernandez having another good game at the plate, going 3-for-4 with his fifth homer of the season.
- Roy Oswalt has transferred over his ownership of the Reds to Chris Carpenter, who now has beaten them nine times in a row, dating back to 2006.
- Skip Schumaker's grand slam was the first of his career.
- Brandon Phillipssaid something to tick off the Cardinals. Yeah, he probably shouldn't have said it to a reporter, but really, who cares? These are professionals - do they really need bulletin board material to fire them up? Especially in a case where the two teams involved are fighting for first place? Both teams are going to play hard anyhow. The only way this matters is if Phillips gets beaned by a Cardinals pitcher, or there's otherwise some sort of altercation.

Houston 10, Atlanta 4:

- A funny thing happened to the Astros becoming an all-time awful hitting team. Since the All-Star break they've been scoring a lot more runs, attributable mostly to a surge in batting average, which may not be sustainable. Still, they've surged past both the Pirates and the Cubs in the standings, thanks to the latter's utter collapse.
- Michael Bourn is playing through a sore right heel - he's receiving treatments but playing through the injury. Watch for more news on this - if the heel pain persists, it could cut back on his stolen base attempts considerably.
- Carlos Lee has taken some grounders at first base, but with the acquisition of Brett Wallace, that position still really isn't open for El Caballo. So instead we'll keep seeing some awful left field defense from him.
- Speaking of Wallace, he went 2-for-3 to improve to .333/.448/.417 in 24 at-bats since the trade from the Blue Jays.
- Mike Minor went six innings in his major league debut, giving up four runs (three earned) on five hits and a walk, striking out five.

Arizona 7, Milwaukee 4 (10 innings):

- Good Feeling Gone: It was a nice story when Trevor Hoffman got his 597th save over the weekend, but he was back to the form that lost him the job earlier this season on Monday, giving up three runs in the 10th to get the loss. Meanwhile, John Axford blew the save in the ninth on the strength of issuing two walks.
- Ryan Braun sat out with a left wrist strain and was spotted in the dugout wearing a splint on his wrist. My guess is that this is more of a 4-5 game "day-to-day" absence rather than a 1-to-2 game one.
- Cory Hart sat out of the starting lineup because of a sore lower back, though he pinch-hit in the ninth.
- The Brewers were already shorthanded before those two injuries thanks to the Jim Edmonds trade. Chris Dickerson is due to report on Tuesday and probably will step right into the starting lineup.
- Ian Kennedy was really wild on Monday night - he walked three hitters, hit three others, and threw two wild pitches. Only 55 of his 97 pitches were for strikes.
- Aaron Heilman got his sixth save of the year despite allowing three singles, leaving the bases loaded.

LA Angels 6, Kansas City 4:

- Peter Bourjos thinks that Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt are slowpokes. He stole his second base of the year and also scored from first on Bobby Abreu's double rather easily.
- Bobby Abreu had a monster night from the leadoff spot, going 3-for-5 with four RBI, a homer and two runs scored.
- Kila Ka'aihue had a tough day at the DH slot, going 0-for-4 with a strikeout.

Seattle 3, Oakland 1:

- Starting in left field and batting seventh, Chris Carter went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in his major league debut. Afterward, he said that his hands were shaking because he was so nervous in his first at-bat.
- Daric Barton (shoulder spasms) didn't play on Monday but also did not go on the DL. Jeff Larish started at first base in his place.
- Mark Ellis grounded into a triple play, though it looked like he was clearly safe at first on replays.
- Oh yeah, the Mariners fired Don Wakamatsu yesterday; the gift of re-signing Ken Griffey Jr. keeps on giving. Read Jason Thornbury's post-mortem on this - I pretty much co-sign with all of this.
- Jack Wilson is going to need surgery to repair his broken hand and is out for the season.

San Francisco 4, Chicago Cubs 3 (11 innings):

- Subbing in for manager Lou Piniella, who is dealing with his ailing mother, Alan Trammell didn't do much to burnish his 2011 credentials in the loss to the Giants. Carlos Marmol, who last pitched on Saturday and then three days before that, never got into the game in an 11-inning loss to the Giants. Instead, rookie Marcos Mateo, making his major league debut, got left in the game for his second inning of work, after escaping his first inning thanks to a play at the plate to nail Travis Ishikawa. #ManageByTheSaveRule #SaveChanceNeverComes.
- Geovany Soto went on the 15-day DL with a sprained ligament in his right shoulder. Koyie Hill will get copious amounts of playing time behind the plate.
- Derrek Lee went on the bereavement list to be with his ill grandfather in Sacramento and will be out at least until Friday.
- Carlos Zambrano walked seven batters in five innings, threw a wild pitch, threw only 49 of his 96 pitches for strikes and topped out at 90 mph in his start on Monday. This isn't going to help the Cubs dump his contract.
- Madison Bumgarner didn't have that good of a start, giving up nine hits over 5.2 innings, walking two and striking out three. He was pretty fortunate to escape with allowing just three runs.