Observations:
- The Chicago White Sox are now leading the AL Central. Um, what?!
- Jose Bautista is leading MLB with 24 homers. You're kidding.
- Corey Hart is tied for the NL lead in RBI with 65. Just stop it.
- Joakim Soria leads MLB in saves with 25. But he plays for the... wait, who does he play for?
Notables:
- Carl Pavano got his 10th win on Sunday, against the Tigers. He allowed 3 earned runs over 7.2 innings, struck out 6, issued 1 walk, and allowed 6 hits. Pavano has walked more than 2 batters once this season.
- Daisuke Matsuzaka allowed 2 earned runs over 6 innings, in a win over the Blue Jays. He struck out 5 and issued 0 walks. Matsuzaka has walked 0 batters in 3 of his starts this season, 2 of those came against the Blue Jays. Not surprisingly, the Blue Jays have an AL low .306 team OBP.
- Carl Crawford went 2-5 and hit his 11th homer. He now has 6 multi-hit games this month.
- Jeff Niemann took a no-decision after he pitched 5 innings and allowed 3 earned runs. He struck out 4, walked none, and gave up 6 hits. He left the game with back tightness, but his injury isn't considered serious.
- Carlos Quentin went 2-4 with 2 "You can put it on the booooard, YES!" calls from Hawk Harrelson. For the week, Quentin had three 2-homer games and 11 RBI. There's some serious power behind that .244 average right now.
- Dan Hudson made his first start, in place of the injured Jake Peavy. He allowed 5 earned runs over 4 innings, struck out 4, walked 3, and gave up 6 hits. It's probably not the debut Hudson or the White Sox were hoping for, but it's just one start. This season at AAA-Charlotte, Hudson was 11-4 with a 3.47 ERA and a 108/31 K/BB ratio.
- Jake Arrieta held the Rangers to 1 run over 6.1 innings, in a win. He struck out 3, walked 2, and allowed 6 hits, in his 7th start this season. The frosh now has back-to-back games where he's allowed 1 earned run to a top-tier offense (Detroit & Texas) on the road.
- Trevor Cahill warmed up to "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane and then went out and hurled a gem against the Angels. He struck out 3 over 7 innings of shutout ball. The All-Star carries a 9-3 record and 2.94 ERA into the break.
- Jered Weaver struck out 7 and walked 1, but took a loss after he allowed 5 earned runs over 6 innings. He goes to the break leading MLB in strikeouts with 137.
- CC Sabathia notched his 12th win, after he allowed only 1 run over 7 innings against the Mariners. He struck out only 1, which is a season low.
- Johan Santana looked like the Johan Santana of old as he pitched 7 shutout innings against the Braves. He struck out 5 and walked 3 in the win. Over his last 3 starts, Santana has allowed 1 earned run. His ERA is now 2.98.
- Adam Dunn went 3-5 and is now batting .288, his highest batting average before the All-Star break, since 2002 (.300).
- Madison Bumgarner allowed 1 earned run over 6 innings, in a win over the Nationals. The rookie struck out 7 and walked none. He now has a 22/4 K/BB ratio over his first 4 starts.
- Buster Posey hit a triple and collected 2 RBI. In his last 7 games, he has 5 HRs and 14 RBI. On the season he's batting .350.
- Cole Hamels pitched 7.2 shutout innings against the Reds. He struck out 3, walked 3, and allowed 6 hits in the win. Hamels has now pitched at least 7 innings and allowed 3 earned runs or less in 6 of his last 7 starts.
- Matt Holliday hit his 16th homer of the season, a 3-run shot. He now has 5 homers over his last 6 games. Holliday is my favorite to win the Homer Run Derby Monday night.
- Wandy Rodriguez allowed 3 earned runs over 6 innings, in a loss. Outside of the homer to Holliday, he looked good, as he struck out 6 and walked 2. Over his last 3 starts, Wandy has a 22/5 K/BB ratio and 2 of those walks were intentional.
- Corey Hart went 1-5 and hit his 21st homer. He's batting .288 and is tied for the NL lead in RBI with 65.
- Carlos Gonzalez went 2-4 with 2 RBI against the Padres. Over his last 8 games, he has 5 multi-hit games, 4 HRs, and 12 RBI.
- Vicente Padilla, fresh off of his mention in Dalton Del Don's MLB Notes, pitched 8 shutout innings against the Cubs. He struck out 6, walked 1, and allowed only 2 hits, in a win. Padilla's pitch speed graph, for this game, looks like a seismograph during an earthquake. PitchFX had him throwing 6 pitches that were 55 mph or slower, while the majority of his other pitches were between 90-95 mph. Since coming off the DL, Padilla has a 32/4 K/BB ratio.
- James Loney went 2-3 and hit a grand slam off of Carlos Silva. Loney is now batting .309 with 63 RBI, which is 5th most in the NL.
Save Chances:
- Heath Bell, converted (24). Got the rare 5 out save after he struck out 1 and allowed 1 run on 1 walk and 1 hit.
- Brian Wilson, converted (23). Walked 1 in a 4 out save.
- Francisco Rodriguez, converted (21). Pitched a clean 9th.
- Jonathan Papelbon, converted (20). Gave up 1 hit in a scoreless 9th.
- John Rauch, converted (20). Struck out 1 and walked 1 in a scoreless 9th.
- Leo Nunez, converted (20). Struck out 2 and walked 1 in a scoreless 9th.
- Andrew Bailey, converted (18). Struck out 1 and gave up 1 hit in a scoreless 9th.
- Ryan Franklin, converted (16). Struck out 1 and walked 1 in a clean 9th.
- Alfredo Simon, converted (13). Gave up 2 hits in a scoreless 9th.
- Brad Lidge, converted (6). Struck out 1 for a 2 out save.
- Octavio Dotel, blown (5). Gave up a 2-run homer to Corey Hart. That's back-to-back blown saves for Dotel.
Other Closer Outings:
- Joakim Soria gave up 2 hits and got 1 out.
- Rafael Soriano pitched a clean 9th.
- Bobby Jenks struck out 1 in a clean 9th. Since June 1st, Jenks has allowed 2 earned runs and has an 18/3 K/BB ratio.
- David Aardsma struck out 1 in a clean 9th.
- Kerry Wood took a loss after he gave up single to Jason Barlett that scored Carl Craword, in a tied game. He's now getting rocked rocking a 6.30 ERA.
- Matt Capps struck out 1 in a clean 9th.
- John Axford gave up 1 earned run on 2 hits in the 9th. He got a cheap win after Corey Hart took Octavio Dotel deep in the bottom of the inning.
Non-Closer Outings:
- Daniel Bard pitched 2 scoreless innings with 1 strikeout and 1 walk.
- Chris Perez struck out 1 and walked 2 in a scoreless 8th.
- Joaquin Benoit struck out 2 and gave up 1 hit in a scoreless 8th.
- Tony Pena pitched 3 scoreless innings with 3 hits and 1 strikeout.
- Jason Berken pitched 1.2 scoreless innings with 1 walk.
- Alexi Ogando pitched 1.1 scoreless innings with 3 hits.
- Brandon League struck out 1, walked 1, and gave up 1 hit in a scoreless 8th.
- Kris Medlen pitched a scoreless 7th. He last pitched on Wednesday and with his next start to be presumably skipped, this was probably just a way to get him some work.
- Sergio Romo struck out 2, walked 1, and gave up 1 hit in 1.1 scoreless innings.
- Drew Storen gave up 1 earned run on 1 walk and 2 hits over 0.2 innings.
- Jason Motte walked 1 in a clean 8th.
- Luke Gregerson pitched 1.1 scoreless innings with 1 strikeout, 1 walk, and 1 hit.
- Clay Hensley struck out 1 and gave up 2 hits in a scoreless 8th.
- Sam Demel pitched 2 clean innings with 1 strikeout. With all of the problems in the Diamondbacks bullpen, he has to factor into save chances at some point, right?
- Juan Gutierrez struck out 1 in a clean 9th. He's got a 6.96 ERA going into the break.
- Andrew Cashner struck out 2 in a clean 9th.
- Hong-Chih Kuo allowed 2 hits in a scoreless 9th.
Tough Days/Chin Up:
- Carlos Silva got beat like a Scott Kazmir piñata before being ejected for arguing a close play at first base. He gave up 6 earned runs and got only 4 outs before being tossed from the game. It was the first time Silva has given up more than 3 earned runs in a game since May 7th. He goes into the break with a 9-3 record and 3.45 ERA.
- Anthony Lerew didn't make it out of the 3rd inning and gave up 4 homers to the White Hot Sox. It was a far cry from his last start against the South Siders, June 28th, when he allowed 1 earned run over 6 innings in a win.
- Pablo Sandoval went 0-4 to make him 0-9 in the series against the Nationals. The Sad Panda is batting .263 on season. He was batting .293 at the end of May.
- Mark Reynolds went 1-4 with 3 strikeouts and is now 3 for his last 23. He's batting .214 on the season.
Lineup-ology/Injuries:
- Dan Hudson was called up by the White Sox. With the injury to Jake Peavy, Hudson could stick in the rotation for quite a while.
- John Ely was optioned to the minors by the Dodgers. Jon Link will take his place on the roster.
- Jason Jaramillo was optioned to the minors by the Pirates. He's going down to get more at-bats over the break and should be back up soon.
- Jesus Feliciano was optioned to the minors by the Mets. Carlos Beltran will presumably be activated after the break.
- Zack Greinke was scratched from his start with shoulder discomfort.
- Adrian Beltre tweaked his hamstring while running to first base. No word on if it will keep him out of the All-Star Game or longer.
- Mike Cameron sat with a sore right wrist.
- Mike Adams suffered a strained oblique. The severity of his injury is unknown right now.
- Travis Hafner remained out with a back injury. Carlos Santana hit DH, while Chris Gimenez played catcher in his absence.
- Colby Rasmus got a pinch-hit RBI, after not starting the game due to a hamstring issue. With Rasmus & Ludwick out of the lineup, the Tony LaRussa went with Jon Jay and Nick Stavinoha.
- Jeff Niemann had his back tighten up on him and had to leave his start after 5 innings. His injury is not thought to be serious.
- Brad Hawpe got a pinch-hit RBI, after not starting the game due to sore ribs. Ryan Spilborghs started in his spot.
- Adam LaRoche sat with a sore back. Rusty Ryal took his place in the lineup.
- Nyjer Morgan started at CF, while Mike Morse started at RF for the Nationals. It's been a bit of musical chairs lately in their OF with Rogearvin Bernadina and the recently recalled Justin Maxwell. Josh Willingham in the only one super-glued to his chair.
- Andres Torres sat with a mild groin strain. Nate Schierholtz played RF, while Aaron Rowand manned CF and hit lead-off for the Giants.
- Scott Rolen, who has been dealing with a sore back, was back in the lineup for the Reds.
- Ruben Tejada started at SS for the Mets, in place of Jose Reyes (oblique). To answer Kevin Payne's question, the Mets manage their injuries like a street performer juggling flaming torches with one hand because the other hand was amputated after an accident that happened while juggling knives. How's that?
Chicks Dig the Long Ball:
- Corey Hart (21), Carlos Quentin (18 & 19), David Ortiz (18), Matt Holliday (16), Alex Rios (15), Jose Guillen (15), Ryan Braun (13), Aaron Hill (12), Andrus Jones (12), Carl Crawford (11), Ike Davis (11), Bobby Abreu (10), Miguel Tejada (7), Casey Kotchman (7), George Kottaras (7), James Loney (6), Darnell McDonald (6), Ian Kinsler (4), Jack Cust (4), Pedro Alvarez (3), Marcus Thames (3), & Dayan Viciedo (2).
Stolen Bases:
- Carl Crawford (31), Ben Zobrist (18 & 19), Hanley Ramirez (18), Chris Young (17), Bobby Abreu (15), Hunter Pence (11), Kelly Johnson (8), Ian Desmond (8), Alcides Escobar (7), Cesar Izturis (7), Jayson Werth (5), Lastings Milledge (5), Adam Rosales (2), Carlos Santana (1), Brandon Inge (1), Chris Davis (1), Jack Cust (1), Craig Tatum (1), & Ruben Tejada (1).
Caught Stealing:
- Juan Pierre (11), Jose Tabata (4), & Nick Punto (1).
Futures Game:
- Not sure how many of you watched this, but it was a good way to see many of the prospects we often hear and read about. I'm no scout, but here were my main takeaways...
- Mike Trout was as fast as advertised. He rounded first base on a single and when the outfielder took a crow-hop to throw the ball back in, Trout turned on the jets and took 2nd base. It might sound simple, but it looked impressive at the time.
- Jeremy Hellickson looked like a major league pitcher. He was aggressive with hitters and seemed comfortable out there. I can see why many Rays fans are clamoring for him to be called up.
- Eric Hosmer likes to hit. He went 4-5 and had no problem making contact.
- Mike Moustakas made a great play at 3B to catch a ball and start what was almost a double play.
- Domonic Brown was all over the place. He got a hit and then was almost picked-off a couple times at 1B. When he made it to 2B he was again almost picked off. After making it to 3B, he was pulled from the game with some sort of hamstring issue that didn't seem to be serious.
- Julio Teheran looked smooth on the mouth with his delivery. I don't know how else to explain it, but he looked effortless with his mechanics.
- Tanner Scheppers throws with some zip on the ball. I think he was clocked around 99 mph a couple times. I can only imagine what it'll be like with Scheppers and Feliz at the back end of the Rangers bullpen.
- Wilin Rosario has a great arm at catcher. He gunned down Mike Trout at 2B on a caught stealing and picked off Brett Jackson at 1B.