Yankees 5, Rays 4



- whatever else you want to say about Derek Jeter, he does have a knack for producing big moments (I mean actual big moments, not fairly mundane moments that the media trumpets just because Jeter did them). Not only was his 3000th hit a home run, he went 5-for-5 in the game (becoming the first guy to get five hits in a game at the new Yankee Stadium), was a triple short of a cycle and drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 8th.

- Jeter becomes the 28th member of the 3000 hit club, and the 11th to get all 3000 hits with the same team. He and Wade Boggs are the only two players whose 3000th hit left the yard (a weird bit of trivia, considering the presense of guys like Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, Willie Mays and Dave Winfield in the club.)

- oh, by the way, there were other players on the field too. David Price got roughed up for four runs on seven hits and three walks over five innings, while A.J. Burnett struck out nine over 5.2 innings while giving up three runs on three hits and three walks.

- Price's ERA is nearly a run higher than his FIP right now, which is the reverse of last season. Compared to 2010 he's improved his K/9 a touch and cut his BB/9 in half without seeing a big jump in his BABIP or HR/9, yet so far that hasn't really been reflected in his traditional fantasy stats. In a single season league if you're looking for a guy to target in the second half that you might be able to get at 90 cents on the dollar, take a long look at Price.

W: David Robertson (2-0) SV: Mariano Rivera (22) HR: Matt Joyce (12), B.J. Upton (15), Jeter (3) SB: Upton (21), Joyce (5), Ben Zobrist 2 (10), Jeter (8), Brett Gardner (23) CS: Jeter (3)





White Sox 4, Twins 3



- both starters were solid, but walked away with NDs. Brian Duensing allowed two runs over seven innings with a 2:1 K:BB, but Mark Buehrle was faily stellar, posting an uncharacteristic 8:1 K:BB ratio over eight innings and giving up just three unearned runs.

- Ramon Castro left the game aftet reflexively trying to barehand a ball in the dirt and breaking his hand. Don't expect to see him in acation again until August.

- offensively the game was a battle of the Alex(e)i's. Alexi Casilla was pretty much the only Twin to solve Buehrle, going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI, while Alexei Ramirez went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI for the Sox.

W: Jesse Crain (5-2) HR: Ramirez (9)





Braves 4, Phillies 1 (11 innings)



- the expected pitcher's duel lived up to the advance billing. Cliff Lee and Tommy Hanson each gave up only one run on a solo homer, although Lee giving up a shot to Dan Uggla was a lot less embarrassing than Hason giving one up to... Cliff Lee. Lee's 9:2 K:BB ratio in eight innings was also sharper than Hanson's 6:1 ratio in seven innings.

- the bullpens then kept things locked down until Ryan Howard dropped an Alex Gonzalez foul pop-up in the 11th, after which Michael Stutes gave up a game-winning single to Gonzalez and a loud but superfluous Brian McCann home run.

- the All-Star break is coming at an awful time for Uggla, who is 7-for-18 (.389) over his last five games with three home runs. If there's anyone who can't afford to lose momentum at the plate, it's the guy hitting .185 on the season.

W: George Sherrill (2-1) SV: Craig Kimbrel (28) HR: Uggla (15), McCann (15), Lee (1)





Dodgers 1, Padres 0



- this might have been as sad an offensive display as has been seen in the majors since they lowered the mounds in '69. Aaron harang makes his first start in a month and throws six no-hit innings. Rubby De La Rosa ran up his pitch count with four walks and eight K's in six innings, but the Padres only managed one hit off him so it didn't matter. The two teams combined for three hits and 18 strikouts in the game. Brutal doesn't begin to describe it.

- the Dodgers, no-hit for 8.2 innings, finally decided to put the game out of its misery with a Juan Uribe double and Dioner Navarro dying quail into the gap.

- Anthony Rizzo is now hitting .159/.296/.305 through his first 27 big league games. He may have been rushed a bit.

W: Blake Hawksworth (2-2) CS: Tony Gwynn Jr. (3)





Cubs 6, Pirates 3



- Kevin Correia might have hurt his chances of beng named as an All-Star replacement by getting torched for five runs on nine hits and a walk over 3.2 innings, striking out two, to send his ERA creeping up to 4.01.

- Ryan Dempster wasn't great but didn't need to be, giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks over the minimum five innings to get the win, striking out four. He got into it with Cubs manager Mike Quade when he got yanked, but this was more of a boys will be boys thing than an incident with real consequences.

- Alex Presley stayed hot, going 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. He's now hitting .362/.426/.596 in his first 12 big league games. He's not really a top prospect at 25 and probably figures to be a fourth outfielder in the long run, but on the other hand he hit .350 last year at Double-A and .336 this year at Triple-A, so he could just be a late bloomer.

- Jeff Samardzija threw two shutout innings, striking out one. He hasn't given up a run in last seven appearances and has a 7:3 K:BB ratio in 9.1 innings over that stretch. Could he finally be getting it?

W: Dempster (6-6) SV: Carlos Marmol (19)





Rockies 2, Nationals 1



- NL hitters beware: Ubie's just about all the way back. Ubaldo Jimenez was dominant, getting touched for just one run on five hits and a walk over eight innings while striking out eight. Since the calendar flipped to June, he's got a 2.52 ERA and 50:11 K:BB ratio over his last eight starts (53.2 innings).

- Jason Marquis fought his control was avoided getting hurt too badly, giving up just two runs over six innings despite a 1:4 K:BB ratio. He's a prime candidate to get dealt, given his decent-enough 4.05 ERA, and probably won't cost too much. A future Pirate, maybe?

- Todd Helton went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. His .318/.399/.494 slash line looks an awful lot like his 2007 and 2009 numbers, and seems to be about the baseline for Helton when he's healthy.

- Ian Stewart went 0-for-2 with two walks, and is 2-for-16 since he got called back up. Sadly, that's still an improvement for him, and he's slashing .079/.183/.111 in the bigs this year. His fantasy owners won't want to hear this, but a change of scenery might be the best thing for him.

W: Jimenez (4-8) SV: Huston Street (26) HR: Helton (10)





Blue Jays 5, Indians 4 (10 innings)



- Jose Bautista... yeah. Two more home runs, including the winner in the 10th off Chris Perez. He now holds the Jays record for most first half homers in a season, topping George Bell's MVP 1987 season, and becomes by about 50 games the quickest player to hit 100 home runs in a Blue Jays uniform.

- Brandon Morrow struck out eight over eight innings, but made a mistake to Grady Sizemore that landed in the seats. He ended up allowing three runs on three hits and two walks.

- it was Jon Rauch's turn to blow the save for the Jays, as he gave up a run on two hits in the ninth. If you wonder why Toronto keeps giving Frank Francisco chances as the closer, it's because Rauch gives up game-tying doubles to guys like Travis Buck. Shawn Camp ended up getting the save after Bautista's heroics, but he's no threat for the job either.

W: Rauch (3-3) SV: Camp (1) HR: Bautista 2 (31), Sizemore (9) SB: Mike McCoy (3)





Red Sox 4, Orioles 0



- the Orioles offense made John Lackey look like he was in 2007 form, as he tossed 6.2 shutout frames with a 7:1 K:BB ratio. He had a 9.17 Fenway ERA coming into the game.

- Alfredo Simon, making his first start since 2009, did his best to ensure he wouldn't get another, lasting just 4.2 innings and giving up three runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out just one.

- Kevin Youkilis, Josh Reddick and Jacoby Ellsbury paced the Sawx offense by each going 3-for-4. Ellsbury finished a home run short of the cycle, Reddick chipped in a double and two RBI, and Youkilis cranked two doubles and drove in two runs.

W: Lackey (6-8) SB: Nick Markakis (8) CS: Adam Jones (1)





Reds 8, Brewers 4 (10 innings)



- the teams scored 12 runs combined, and half of them came in the 10th inning. Nice job, bullpens.

- Shaun Marcum and Johnny Cueto held a competition to see who could pitch worse and still get credit for a quality start. It's a tough call who won. They each gave up three runs on six hits, but while Cueto's 2:4 K:BB ratio was worse thana Marcum's 4:3 ration, Cueto also go an extra out, lasting 6.1 innings instead of an even six.

- Jay Bruce hit a solo home run to lead off the 10th as part of a 3-for-4 day. Joey Votto also collected three hits.

- Drew Stubbs, on the other hand, went 0-for-6 with thre K's, joining Prince Fielder as the only starting hitters on either team not to get a hit. Fielder at least walked twice though.

W: Bill Bray (2-1) HR: Ramon Hernandez (10), Bruce (21) CS: Corey Hart (5)





Royals 13, Tigers 6



- Kansas City combined timely hitting, timely walks and timely errors to convert just 12 hits into 13 runs. charlie Furbush took the brunt of the damage, getting smacked around for nine runs (although only four earned) on nine hits and two walks in just 2.2 innings.

- Luke Hockevar wasn't really any better, surrendering all six Tiger runs on nine hits and three walks in 3.2 innings, striking out four.

- each of the top four hitters in the Royals lineup (Chris Getz, Melky Cabrera, Alex Gordon and Billy Butler) had multihit games and combined for six runs scored and eight RBI, despite the fact that Gordon's three-run home run was the only extra-base hit between them.

- Brennan Boesch carried the big stick for detroit, going 3-for-5 with two RBI.

- Everett Teaford, making his major league debut, threw three shutout innings of relief, allowing just one hit and striking out two, to notch the save.

W: Greg Holland (3-1) SV: Teaford (1) HR: Gordon (11) SB: Alcides Escobar (14), Matt Treanor (2), Getz (16)





Marlins 6, Astros 1



- the good version of Ricky Nolasco showed up, and he struck out eight while stingily giving up just one run in a complete game effort. He's got a 1.41 ERA and 19:1 K:BB ratio over his last four starts, but this is the first time in about two months he's struck out more than six batters in an outing.

- Brett Myers fought his control and ended up allowing six runs (five earned) on four hits and four walks over 4.1 innings, striking out four.

- Hanley Ramirez's fantasy resurgence continued, and he managed to drive in two runs and score one without recording a base hit.

- Logan Morrison went 3-for-4 with three RBI, and was a homer short of the cycle. He's got 12 RBI in nine July games, mainly due to the fact that eight if his 10 hits this month have gone for extra bases.

W: Nolasco (6-5) HR: John Buck (10) SB: Emilio Bonifacio (13)





Cardinals 7, Diamondbacks 6



- neither starter fared particularly well. Chris Carpenter's control was erratic, and he was tagged for five runs (four earned) on nine hits and four walks over six innings with three K's. Dan Hudson was less efficient but a bit more effective, giving up three runs (two earned) on eight hits and three walks over five innings with four K's.

- Albert Pujols went 3-for-4 and tied the game in the eighth inning with a two-run homer. He's kept right on rolling after his .317/.419/.778 June. Remember when he was struggling under the pressure of his looming contract negotiations? Yeah, neither do I.

- Stephen Drew went 0-for-5, and is now 8-for his last-52.

W: Fernando Salas (5-2) HR: Pujols (18) SB: Chris Young (12)





Rangers 7, A's 6



- Josh Hamilton has so far managed to put Thursday's awful tragedy behind him, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, a home run, and three RBI, with the blast coming off A's closer Andrew Bailey and merely winning the game.

- the two starters put up very similay, very mediocre lines. Brandon McCarthy gave up nine baserunners (all hits) and five runs over six innings with four strikeouts, while Colby Lewis gave up eight baserunners (five hits, three walks) and five runs (four earned) with nine K's.

- Josh Willingham went 2-for-4 with a solo shot, his first home run since June 1.

- Chris Carter went 0-for-3 with two K's, and has struck out 13 times in 28 at-bats. Eep.

W: Darren Oliver (2-5) HR: Willingham (11), Coco crisp (4), Adrian Beltre (18), Hamilton (11) CS: Hideki Matsui (1)





Giants 3, Mets 1



- Tim Lincecum allowed one run on four hits and four walks over six innings, striking out six. Timmeh is in a nice groove, with a 2.03 ERA and 38:14 K:BB ratio over his last five starts (31 innings).

- Chris Capuano was only a little bit worse, giving up one more run and striking out one less batter than Lincecum but otherwise putting up an identical line.

- Pablo Sandoval went 2-for-4 with a double, run scored and an RBI, extending his hitting streak to 20 games.

- Sergio Romo got a cheap one-out save, thanks to Brian Wilson having worked three straight games prior. Romo at least did what he could to earn it, throwing three straight strikes to gun down Scott Hairston.

W: Lincecum (7-7) SV: Romo (1)





Angels 9, Mariners 3



- Michael Pineda started out like a house-a-fire, striking out the first five Angels he saw, but couldn't keep it going and ended up getting smacked around for seven runs on six hits, including two Torii Hunter home runs, and two walks over five innings.

- Joel Pineiro cruised to a win, giving up three runs on 10 hits and walk over seven innnings with seven K's.

- Mike Trout picked up his first big league hit, and also drew a walk and scored two runs.

- Dustin Ackley, the other wunderkind playing in the game, went 2-for-5 with a double, a run and an RBI. He's started his big league career slashing .304/.364/.536 with three home runs and two steals in 20 games.

W: Pineiro (5-3) HR: Hunter 2 (11), Mark Trumbo (16) SB: Greg Halman (5)