El Rey:

- Felix Hernandez dominated the Indians for 8 innings with 9 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 0 earned runs.  He ranks 2nd in innings pitched (219.1), 1st in strikeouts (209), and 3rd in ERA (2.30) for all of baseball and is the front runner for the AL Cy Young award in my opinion.  Who do you have?

Notables:

- Brett Cecil won his 12th game, after he pitched 6.1 innings and allowed 3 earned runs to the Yankees.  He walked 4, struck out 3, and has now won 3 out of his last 4 starts.
- Josh Beckett struck out a season high 9 batters against the White Sox.  He gave up 3 runs (1 earned) over 6.1 innings in the no-decision.  He now has a streak of 3 straight quality starts.
- Alex Rios stole his 30th, 31st, and 32nd bases of the year.  He's now up to 81 runs, 20 HRs, 79 RBI, 32 stolen bases and a .291 batting average.
- Rocco Baldelli was one of four Rays players to hit a home run against the Orioles.  Not bad for a guy who was coaching earlier this season.
- Kyle Davies pitched 6 innings of 1-run ball opposite Armando Galarraga, who pitched 5 innings of 1-run ball.  Davies struck out 4, walked 3, and got the win, while Galarraga struck out 2, walked 5, and took a no decision.
- Nick Blackburn evened his record to 9-9 with a win over the Rangers.  He struck out 4, walked 3, and allowed 2 earned runs over 7 innings. 
- Bobby Abreu went 2-4 with a home run, 3 runs, 3 RBI, and a stolen base against the A's.  He's 3 HR and 2 SB from going 20/20 for the 9th time in his career.  He's batting .253 with a BABIP under .321 for the first time ever in his career. 
- Hanley Ramirez went 2-3 with 1 run and 3 RBI against the Braves.  I feel like we haven't said his name that often, since he failed to hustle to chase down that ball earlier this season.
- Prince Fielder hit his 30th home run of the season off of Kyle Kendrick.  With 73 RBI and a .272 batting average, this season pales in comparison to last year's 46 HR, 141 RBI, .299 batting average... then again most seasons do.
- Ryan Zimmerman went 2-5 with 4 RBI.  He's quietly having a great season with 25 HR, 80 RBI, 80 runs, and a .300 batting average. 
- Chris Carpenter improved to 15-5, after he struck out 11 Reds batters and walked none, over 7.1 innings.  He allowed 2 earned runs and lowered his ERA to 2.90 on the season.  The Cardinals are 7 games back of the Reds after Sunday's win.  If only Carpenter or Wainright could pitch every game.
- The Mets collected 21 hits off of Cubs pitching.  Ike Davis lead the way with 4 hits, while Ruben Tejada had 5 RBI.
- Jorge De La Rosa held the Padres to 2 runs over 6 innings in a win, his 6th.  He struck out 4, walked 2, and allowed 1 home run.  The Rockies are 3.5 games behind the Giants and 4.5 games behind the Padres in the NL West.
- Carlos Gonzalez swipped his 22nd and 23rd bases of the season.  With 31 homers, a 30/30 season is well within reach.
- Hunter Pence went 2-4 at the plate with a HR and 3 RBI.  He's now batting .291 with 22 HRs, 79 RBI, and 17 stolen bases.  The last 3 seasons he's averaged 22 HRs,  75 RBI, 12 SBs, and a .289 batting average.  Sounds like he's right on schedule.
- J.A. Happ struck out 7, walked 2, and allowed 2 earned runs over 7 innings against the D-Backs.  Since starting the season 0-8, the Astros have gone 64-64 the rest of the way.  As a fan of the team, I hope they finish in 3rd place over the Brewers, who they're 1 game ahead of in the standings. 
- Jonathan Sanchez fired 7 innings of shutout ball against the Dodgers.  He struck out 9, walked 1, and allowed only 3 hits.  He's now 10-8 with a 3.39 ERA on the season.

Save Chances:

- Brian Wilson, converted (40).  Struck out 2 in a clean 9th.
- Joakim Soria, converted (37).  Struck out 2 in a clean 9th.
- Matt Capps, converted (35).  Gave up 1 earned run on 3 hits... the game ended when Michael Young supposedly made contact with his third base coach, trying to get back on base. 
- David Aardsma, converted (28).  Stuck out 1 in a clean 9th.
- Ryan Franklin, converted (24).  Pitched a clean 9th.
- John Axford, converted (20).  Pitched 2 scoreless innings with 2 walks and 1 strikeout.
- Huston Street, converted (15).  Struck out the side in the 9th.
- Brandon Lyon, converted (13).  Struck out 1 in a scoreless 9th.
- Koji Uehara, converted (6).  Struck out 2 in a clean 9th.
- Matt Thornton, converted (6).  Struck out 2 in a clean 9th.
- Jonathan Papelbon, blown (7).  Pitched 1.1 innings with 2 strikeouts, 2 walks, and 4 earned runs. 

Other Closer Outings:

- Kevin Gregg struck out 1 in a scoreless 9th.
- Fernando Rodney struck out 1 and allowed 1 earned run in the 9th.
- Drew Storen pitched a scoreless 9th.

Non-Closer Outings:

- Alfredo Simon vultured a win, after he pitched a clean 8th.
- Robinson Tejada walked 1 in a scoreless 8th.
- Alexi Ogando struck out 1 in a clean 7th.
- Jon Rauch got 5 outs, 3 on strikes, and gave up 2 earned runs.
- Kevin Jepsen stuck out 1 in a clean 8th.
- Jonny Venters struck out the side in the 7th.
- Takashi Saito struck out 2 in a clean 8th.
- Clay Hensley pitched 2 scoreless innings with 1 strikeout. 
- Jose Contreras pitched a scoreless 9th.
- Tyler Clippard pitched 2 scoreless innings with 3 strikeouts.
- The Mets bullpen (Elmer Dessens, Pedro Feliciano, Bobby Parnell, & Manny Acosta) combined to pitch 3 scoreless innings.
- Matt Belisle pitched 2 clean innings with 2 strikeouts.
- Matt Lindstrom walked 1 in a scoreless 8th.
- The D-Backs bullpen (D.J. Carrasco, Blaine Boyer, & Esmerling Vasquez) pitched 3 clean innings with 3 strikeouts... I didn't know this was possible.
- Sergio Romo struck out 2 in a clean 9th.
- Ronald Belisario pitched a clean 9th.

Tough Days:

- Phil Hughes gave up 6 earned runs over 6 innings to the Blue Jays.   The majority of the damage was done on 3 home runs.
- C.J. Wilson also gave up 6 earned runs, but he did it over 5.1 innings.  He walked 4 and struck out 5 Twins hitters.
- Vin Mazzaro allowed 5 earned runs over 4.1 innings.  He walked 3 and struck out none against the Angels.
- Mike Minor pitched 4 innings and gave up 6 earned runs.  He did strikeout 5 and walk none, but gave up 9 hits to the Marlins.
- Kyle Kendrick allowed 5 earned runs over 4 innings to the Brewers.
- Charlie Morton yielded 6 runs (2 earned) over 3.2 innings against the Nationals.
- Travis Hafner & Jayson Nix combined to go 0-7 with 6 strikeouts.
- Andre Ethier & Matt Kemp both went 0-4 with 3 strikeouts.  Kemp is now batting .251 on the season... wow.

Lineup-ology/Injuries:

- Alex Rodriguez was activated from the 15-day DL by the Yankees.
- Ben Revere was called up by the Twins.
- Chris Tillman was recalled by the Orioles and started Sunday's game.
- Logan Morrison took a foul ball to the face, while standing in the on-deck circle.  He's lucky the ball missed his eyes and the X-rays came back negative.
- Chin-Lung Hu was promoted from the minors to the big league club by the Dodgers.
- Elvis Andrus will be out until at least Wednesday with a hamstring issue.
- Josh Hamilton may be out for a week with bruised ribs.  He jumped into the wall to make a catch on Saturday and is now paying the price.

Home Runs:

- Adam Dunn (34), Prince Fielder (30), Matt Holliday (25), Vernon Wells (24), Russell Branyan (23), Hunter Pence (22), Mike Napoli (22), Aramis Ramirez (22), Aaron Hill (22), Hanley Ramirez (20), Kelly Johnson (20), Evan Longoria (20), Juan Uribe (19), Bobby Abreu (17), Ike Davis (17), Geovany Soto (16), John Buck (16), Troy Tulowitzki (14), Victor Martinez (14), B.J. Upton (14), Miguel Tejada (12), Pedro Alvarez (11), Ben Zobrist (8), Corey Patterson (8), Alex Gordon (7), Casper Wells (2), John Hester (2), Rocco Baldelli (1), & Ruben Tejada (1).

Stolen Bases:

- Juan Pierre (54), Rajai Davis (42), Ichiro Suzuki (36), Chone Figgins (35), Alex Rios (30, 31, & 32), Chris Young (27), Carlos Gonzalez (22 & 23), Austin Jackson (22), Erick Aybar (19), Bobby Abreu (18), Troy Tulowitzki (10), Omar Vizquel (9), Brian Roberts (8), Carlos Beltran (3), Jeff Mathis (3), Jason Repko (2), Miguel Tejada (1), Alejandro De Aza (1), Matt Tolbert (1), & Luis Hernandez (1).

Caught Stealing:

- Nyjer Morgan (16), Chone Figgins (11), Hanley Ramirez (10), Hunter Pence (8), Colby Rasmus (6), Cameron Maybin (2), Adam Kennedy (2), Carlos Quentin (2), Darnell McDonald (1), & Adam Moore (1).