And That Happened

Rangers 8, Orioles 2: Adrian Beltre hit two homers on a 4 for 4, 5 RBI night. He has an 11 game hitting streak and is 21 for his last 43. Wrecking crew. He’s not a member of the All-Star team despite a line of .319/.362/.551. Thank you, Jim Leyland, though, for giving us five middle relievers to choose from in that Final Vote thing. THIS TIME IT COUNTS.

Royals 3, Yankees 1: Third loss in a row for the Yankees. This time they were tied up by James Shields for seven innings. CC Sabathia went the distance but gave up homers to Butler and Lough.

Phillies 4, Nationals 2: Cole Hamels allowed one run and six hits in eight innings, winning his second straight. The Phillies are now 6-2 in July, having taken series from the Pirates and Braves and now having beaten the Nationals twice in a row.

Rays 4, Twins 1: That’s six straight for the Rays. Granted, they’ve come against the Twins, White Sox and Astros, but wins against bad teams count just as much in the standings as wins against good ones.

Athletics 2, Pirates 1: Dan Straily allowed one run in six and a third and was then optioned to Sacramento because that’s how life works when you’re a fifth starter around the All-Star break. Oakland maintains its half-game lead over the Rangers.

Braves 6, Marlins 4: Justin Upton had been doing a pretty good B.J. Upton imitation for the past couple of months, but last night he doubled twice, homered and drove in two.

Cubs 7, Angels 2: Two homers for Alfonso Soriano. Five in all for the Cubbies. Four straight wins for the Cubs.

Indians 3, Blue Jays 0: Ubaldo Jimenez and three relievers combine for the shutout. Took only two hours and 16 minutes to get this one in the can.

Brewers 2, Reds 0: Wily Peralta with a three-hit shutout overshadowed Tony Cingrani’s 10-strikeout performance. Peralta’s complete game was the Brewers’ first in 407 starts, which is pretty amazing.

While Sox 11, Tigers 4: A 6 for 6 night for Alex Rios. Adam Dunn after the game: “That takes people like me two, maybe three weeks to get six.” Dunn did, however, hit a two-run homer off Justin Verlander in the eighth to put the Sox ahead for good as Chicago scored 10 runs in the final two frames. Twenty-three hits in all for the Chisox.

Cardinals 9, Astros 5: Seven scoreless innings gives Adam Wainwright his 12th win, tying him for the NL lead. He’s now 13-1 in 15 career starts against Houston with a 1.56 ERA.

Red Sox 11, Mariners 8: Jackie Bradley Jr. flew into Seattle after being called up and hit the tie-breaking homer. Five homers in all for the Sox. David Ortiz stole a base. Weird things happen after I go to sleep.

Dodgers 6, Diamondbacks 1: Ricky Nolasco made his Dodgers debut and allowed only one run in seven. The Dodgers have played eight straight against NL West opponents and have won six of them. They’re still not back to .500, but they’re only 2.5 out of the division lead.

Padres 2, Rockies 1: The Padres finally win a friggin’ ballgame. A complete game for Eric Stults. Bud Black visited the mound to take him out in the ninth but left him in, saying afterward that he remembered what it was like to be in that position when he pitched. Which reminded me that Bud Black was once a starting pitcher. I had somehow forgotten that, having his identity morph in my head into a manager only at some point. That has happened with Mike Scioscia at times too. Not Kirk Gibson yet. Some ex-players always feel like ex-players to me. Some make that jump. I dunno.

Mets 10, Giants 6: A Marlon Byrd grand slam gave the Mets breathing room as they put up five runs in the eighth. The Giants, by the way, have a worse record than the Cubs.


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