The Next Shoe Drops

- The Phillies were in heavy on the Carlos Beltran talks, so their acquisition of Hunter Pence wasn't really a case of them answering the Giants. Moreover, manager Charlie Manuel has been asking for another right-handed hitter for some time now, and not just after losing two games in a row to the Giants. Domonic Brown gets buried in the short-term because of this, but this shouldn't really matter in the long run for him. Next year, Brown will be out there again and Raul Ibanez will be gone. Realistically, Manuel wasn't going to bench Ibanez for Brown for the stretch run, and Brown will be back in September at the latest. So don't fret if you own Brown in a keeper league.

For the Astros, this makes sense. It hurts their fans to see them lose their best hitter now, but the Astros for once traded a guy at the peak of his value and got a full return for him. This is going to be a long haul to rebuild this franchise, and their upper levels of the farm system are bereft of elite talent. By the time the Asros are next good, Pence will be a lot more expensive and yet not an elite level player, getting close to his free agency window. The short-term fantasy impact should be that Jason Bourgeois plays more regularly - we can only wait and see in that regard. It would help if he can stay healthy.

It's long overdue, but the Astros appear to be doing the right thing by selling everything not nailed down with an industrial grade nail gun. Well, at least I thought that until I saw that they weren't willing to trade Clint Barmes to the Brewers. Unless they are balking at the Brewers' offer, I can't see how this makes any sense. Who cares about the Brewers being in the same division? It's Clint Freaking Barmes we're talking about here - yes, 32-year old .718 OPS middle infielders pretty much grow on trees. Go out and get another in the offseason, or develop one in your own system for once. It isn't that hard.

Major Injuries (either significant players or significant injuries): Nelson Cruz (tight quad), Adrian Gonzalez (stiff neck)

Royals 12, Indians 0

- After Billy Butler hit two homers Friday night, he now has six in his last eight games - just as many as he had in his previous 96 games this season. All along we've wondered if the power will ever kick in. Butler also got thrown at by Carlos Carrasco after Melky Cabrera hit a grand slam off him and stared a little too long. Back to the matter at hand - for the full season, Butler has a whopping 48.9|PERCENT| ground ball rate, even higher than his already high career norms. Has he turned over a new leaf in the last two weeks, or is this an aberration? Obviously, this is a huge consideration for his future value.
- The Indians are in a huge tailspin - Friday's shutout loss gives them just 13 runs scored in their last eight games, seven of which they have lost. They are now just one game over .500. At one point we were discussing whether they should be buyers before Sunday's trade deadline, with them arriving ahead of schedule. You could make the case that they still could be, as they're still just 2.5 games out in a weak division, and the White Sox behaving somewhat irrationally. But I think that they'll be in fourth place in short order, which pretty much is where everyone had them projected at the start of the season. Their acquisition of Kosuke Fukudome doesn't move that needle one way or another - he's a stopgap until Shin-Soo Choo returns.
- Speaking of Fukudome, he went 0-for-4 in his Indians debut.
- Underscoring the Indians' scoring problems, the guy that shut them out was Jeff Francis. The Jeff Francis.
- HR: Alex Gordon (13), Melky Cabrera (13), Billy Butler 2 (12).

Phillies 10, Pirates 3

- Seeing that he wasn't facing the Reds again (not that I'm a bitter Reds fan or anything), Charlie Morton continued his second-half slide. As a whole, the Bucs' staff is starting to suffer from the lack of strikeouts that they get as a whole, Morton and Kevin Correia in particular. James McDonald is one of their two hot starters right now (Paul Maholm the other), and he's got the best ability to miss bats among them. Morton gave up eight runs in the first two innings, and with the Bucs facing Roy Halladay, it was all over after that.
- As with the Indians, I don't think it's all that prudent for the Bucs to push all-in at the deadline, and if the rumors out there are accurate, they also believe that to be the case. They could still use an outfielder and one could still come relatively cheap, but they're not going to move or acquire any major pieces.
- Domonic Brown isn't hitting for power right now, but you have to love seeing a .398 OBP for the month of July. He's close.
- HR: Jimmy Rollins (12), Chase Utley (8); CS: Jimmy Rollins (4).

Mets 8, Nats 5

- Chien-Ming Wang gave up four runs in the first inning on his way to allowing six runs over four innings in his first game back in the majors since early in the 2009 season.
- Roger Bernadina was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Wang on the roster. He's no world-beater, and he's probably not a part of the future for them (yeah, the rumors that the Nats are trying to trade for a center fielder illustrate that, too). But I can't shake the feeling that this is a franchise just fumbling around with the ancillary parts of the franchise. They've done well to draft and sign Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper, I like what they did in this year's draft, and the Zimmerman(n)'s are nice cornerstones. But the Jayson Werth contract was panned by basically everyone when he signed it, and yet he's managed to under-fulfill the expectations of even the harshest of critics of that contract already. They went out and got Rick Ankiel in the offseason and just traded for Jonny Gomes - neither of those players are considerations really beyond even this season. Bernadina is slumping, but at least he's young to be something, anything.
- Bobby Parnell has struggled ever since the K-Rod trade, and he gave up two runs on three hits while retiring just one batter Friday night. He still misses bats (39 strikeouts in 32.1 innings), so there's reason for hope, but he's not that close from grabbing the closer's job away from Jason Isringhausen. Isringhausen notched his fifth save of the season Friday, striking out one in a perfect inning.

Tigers 12, Angels 2

- This is what happens when you have a pitcher that doesn't miss bats (Tyler Chatwood) and he doesn't get the breaks on balls in play. Chatwood allowed six runs on eight hits over 5.1 innings. Chatwood doesn't allow many homers (8 on the season), which has limited his damage for many of his outings, but his 60:58 K:BB in 116.2 innings and 1.55 WHIP tell the story. That 3.93 ERA could end up closer to 4.50 by the end of the year.
- Rick Porcello allowed a leadoff homer to Maicer Izturis, but then just one run the rest of the way to pitch eight innings in the win. He went 5-0 with a 3.06 ERA in July.
- Victor Martinez went 3-for-5 with four RBI. He's still hitting for average (.320), but the power has disappeared. Not only has he hit just six homers all year, but he has only four extra-base hits for all of July. He's still an upper-echelon catcher, but be wary of the power decline.
- HR: Maicer Izturis (5), Brennan Boesch (15).

Orioles 4, Yankees 2

- Jeremy Guthrie certainly did well to showcase his wares to a potential trade partner, holding the Yankees to a run over seven innings. He hasn't been great this year, but with run support as bad as for anyone this side of Doug Fister, he's deserved better than his 5-14 record. If you could put him in the AL Central or NL Central, he'd be an asset, albeit one without a ton of strikeouts.
- Kevin Gregg had a Kevin Gregg Save: Come in with a three-run lead, give up a run while leaving two more guys on. It's a shame that Koji Uehara will be traded rather than be given the O's closer job - he certainly merits it more than Gregg.
- A.J. Burnett basically got pwned by Mark Reynolds and Derrek Lee while taking care of the rest of the O's lineup. He struck out 10 in eight innings, but the homers by Reynolds and Lee and an RBI double by Lee took care of him. Last year the team couldn't rely on him as a starter in the playoffs - can they do so this year? If the playoffs started today, who would be their second and third starters?
- The O's will call up both Chris Tillman and Zach Britton to start both ends of Saturday's doubleheader. Arguably both should be in the rotation now, getting regular turns. At least with Britton the O's could benefit from a cut in service time for arbitration purposes. But there's less of a point of them regularly turning Alfredo Simon and Brad Bergesen.
- HR: Derrek Lee (12), Mark Reynolds (22), Mark Teixeira (29); SV: Kevin Gregg (17).

Blue Jays 3, Rangers 2

- For the second time in less than a week, Brett Cecil outdueled Alexi Ogando. Cecil allowed just a solo homer to Nelson Cruz over seven innings, striking out six while walking just one. He has lowered his ERA by nearly three full runs over his last five starts - good for a 2.19 ERA and 27:9 K:BB over 37 innings.
- Once again for Ogando, one inning did him in - specifically, a three-run homer by J.P. Arencibia. He was pretty wild in this one, giving up four walks in 5.2 innings, needing 103 pitches to get through that stretch.
- Nelson Cruz left with a tight quad and will probably miss the next two games against the Jays on their artificial surface.
- Edwin Encarnacion went 2-for-2 with two walks. You can bet he's fully aware of the playing time crunch coming once the Jays call up Brett Lawrie.
- Adrian Beltre (hamstring) has begun running. He's still out for at least another two weeks.
- The Rangers remain hot in pursuit of bullpen help, most likely in the form of Heath Bell. One of the guys that the Padres have asked about, Joe Wieland, threw a no-hitter against their Double-A affiliate Friday night.
- HR: Nelson Cruz (23), Mike Napoli (14), J.P. Arencibia (17); SV: Jon Rauch (9) - he gave up a solo homer to Napoli.

Reds 4, Giants 3 (13 innings)

- The Reds finally won, but gained no ground on their top division rivals. They really have a tough decision on whether they're buyers or not. I think that if they can get a big difference-maker like Ubaldo Jimenez or James Shields, go for it. But don't waste their time or prospects on someone like Michael Bourn, who doesn't move the needle much for me in real life (but does in fantasy).
- Edgar Renteria had the game-winning hit against his former teammates.
- The Giants benefited from a close call at the plate in the first inning, then hosed a runner out in the 10th on a Nate Schierholtz throw.
- Barry Zito will start Sunday, pushing Jonathan Sanchez's return from the DL back to Aug. 5.
- SB: Aubrey Huff (4); CS: Drew Stubbs (7).

Braves 5, Marlins 0

- Brandon Beachy returned to his studly ways after having his last two starts in high-offense environments. He threw seven shutout innings, striking out six. He's up to 91 K's in 85.1 innings.
- The Braves lost out on another trade target in Hunter Pence and also lost another hitter due to injury, with Nate McLouth going on the DL. As a result of McLouth and Jordan Schafer going on the DL, Jose Constanza got called up and batted leadoff while making his major league debut.
- Emilio Bonifacio's 26-game hit streak came to an end. Good - I don't own him anywhere.
- Chris Coghlan's rehab assignment had to be shut down due to an hyperextended elbow.
- Gaby Sanchez returned from his hamstring injury.
- HR: Dan Uggla (19).

White Sox 3, Red Sox 1

- The top six hitters in the Red Sox lineup went 0-for-20 with two walks against Gavin Floyd, Matt Thornton and Sergio Santos.
- This marks three great starts for Floyd since his disaster against the Twins on July 8.
- Tim Wakefield basically threw one bad pitch, resulting in a two-run homer by A.J. Pierzynski, to end up as the tough luck loser.
- Adrian Gonzalez was a late scratch with a stiff neck. He should return Saturday.
- HR: Jarrod Saltalamacchia (9), A.J. Pierzynski (5); SB: Marco Scutaro (5); SV: Sergio Santos (22).

Brewers 4, Astros 0

- As if the Astros' lineup wasn't bad enough, Randy Wolf got the benefit of seeing Hunter Pence pulled off the field after he was traded to the Phillies mid-game.
- Jason Bourgeois started in left field with Carlos Lee at first base, with lefty Wolf on the mound. The Astros really should play Bourgeois every day now, and not just against lefties. In fact, they should not continue the practice of benching Brett Wallace against lefties. This season is only about development for the Astros - how the heck is Wallace ever going to become adequate against lefties if he doesn't get to see them on a regular basis?
- Why do I care so much about what the Astros do anyhow? It's weird - I have no fantasy stake involved, and I'm certainly not a fan - I just don't like seeing poor long-term decisions from a team that only has long-term considerations that matter.
- The Brewers called up Felipe Lopez and started him at second base, even batting him fifth. I guess one game with Craig Counsell as the starter was enough. Lopez went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
- Jordan Lyles only gave up two runs in six innings, but that was enough to drop him to 0-6.
- SB: Bourgeois 2 (20).

Cardinals 9, Cubs 2

- Albert Pujols recorded his 2,000th hit. Some have expressed surprise that he's "only" at 2,000, but keep in mind that if his age has been reported correctly, he's only 31 years old. Think about that - he has plenty of time to get to 3,000, not that he necessarily needs that for HOF enshrinement. But also, he's been walked 950 times in his career - because he's walked so many times, he has fewer chances to pad his career hit total.
- Edwin Jackson cruised in his Cardinals debut, allowing one run over seven innings.
- I talked about the Jackson/Rasmus trade in Charging the Mound this week, so I won't belabor the point too long here - I didn't like the trade for the Cardinals because of the long-term considerations, but I can see how it makes them better in the short run.
- Lance Berkman once again sat out due to his shoulder injury.
- Tyler Colvin started in place of the traded Kosuke Fukudome in right field, going 1-for-3 while batting eighth.
- The Cardinals called up Tyler Greene to replace Nick Punto, who went on the DL with a strained oblique.
- HR: David Freese (6); SB: Yadier Molina (3).

Twins 9, A's 5

- In a battle of starting pitchers coming back from blowup outings, Francisco Liriano  bounced back nicely, Gio Gonzalez did not. Liriano worked around some early trouble to hold the A's to two runs over seven innings, giving up six hits and two walks while walking four. Gonzalez, on the other hand, was hit for five runs (four earned) on nine hits and three walks, striking out five, over 5.1 innings.
- Josh Willingham did his best to raise his trade value, homering twice. Of the four OF-types for the A's on the market, he seems the most likely to go somewhere.
- The A's came in with a rep of having good defense, but that hasn't come to fruition. Once again, they kicked the ball around, costing them at least two runs.
- HR: Michael Cuddyer (16), Josh Willingham 2 (15); SB: Ben Revere (17), Matt Tolbert (2).

Rockies 3, Padres 2

- Jason Hammel credited his two-run outing over 6.1 innings to pitching inside more often. I credit it to pitching against the Padres in Petco Park.
- Tim Stauffer committed a costly balk to let in the deciding run. This game one pitch after the Rox pulled off a double-steal with the unlikely combo of Ian Stewart and Chris Iannetta.
- Clayton Richard underwent season-ending arthroscopic shoulder surgery, which means that Cory Luebke's spot in the rotation is secure.
- Will Venable (back spasms) and Jason Bartlett (tight right hamstring) sat out.
- SB: Ian Stewart (3), Chris Iannetta (4), Orlando Hudson (14); SV: Huston Street (28).

Dodgers 9, Diamondbacks 5

- Kudos to both the official scorer at Dodger Stadium for having the stones to give Justin Upton an error for his misplay on a flyball that he whiffed on at the warning track in the seventh inning, and for Vin Scully for calling him on it. That, and a fairly lazy throw on a subsequent play. Don't get me wrong, I love Upton (who homered yet again Friday), but so often errors aren't called errors and announcers make excuses for players. Yes, this is my soapbox, and no I won't get off it.
- Matt Kemp is good at baseball. I wonder how Bill Plaschke will find a way to blame him for this year's shortcomings of the team.
- Josh Collmenter might be getting his comeuppance - he gave up five runs on seven hits and two walks over 3.2 innings. As always, give me the stuff over the funky delivery any time.
- Ted Lilly gave up two more homers, giving him 23 allowed on the season.
- HR: Justin Upton (21), Willie Bloomquist (3), Ryan Roberts (14), Matt Kemp (25).

Rays 8, Mariners 0