As the July 31st trade deadline approaches, many San Diego Padres relievers are drawing interest, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com. The Tigers, Braves, Red Sox, Pirates, Dodgers and Phillies are all scouting the team's series in Milwaukee this week, and Luke Gregerson, Dale Thayer, Joe Thatcher and closer Huston Street are all available in trade talks.

The Tigers have shown consistent interest in the group of relievers, according to Morosi. After showing heavy interest in Brewers' reliever Francisco Rodriguez before he was traded to the Orioles, Detroit is now focusing in on Gregerson as their main target. The 29-year old has posted a 2.85 ERA, 7.9 K/9, and 1.8 K/9 in 44 appearances on the season, and is under control through the next season. According to U-T San Diego's Bill Center, Gregerson is drawing more trade interest than any other player on the Padres' roster.

The Braves, who are known to be pursuing every left-handed reliever on the trade market, are among the teams pursuing Thatcher, according to Morosi. Thatcher, 31, has posted a 2.25 ERA, 9.0 K/9, and 1.3 BB/9 in 47 appearances this year, and will likely be a hot commodity on the trade market.

Center writes that Street is not receiving as much interest as the other relievers due to his large contract and inconsistent performance on the year, but is still a candidate to be dealt. In addition to the four relievers, Carlos Quentin, Chris Denorfia and Edinson Volquez are among the team's trade candidates. They are known to be looking for starting pitching in trade talks.

• "I was fooled, when he said he didn't do it. I believed him."
• "It's disappointing that we continue to have this problem. It's nice to see though that the players that are clean have started to stand up and say this "Hey this isn't fair, we need to do something about this".
• The players and fans are frustrated.
• The hardest part was that Ryan Braun lied. Gwynn thinks that if you get caught you should own up to it, people will respect you a lot more.
• "We wanted to believe him, we wanted it not to be true."
• Gwynn got to meet Braun when he came up playing with Anthony and thought he was a nice kid.
• Gwynn thinks it's safe to say that Hall of Famers don't want cheaters in the hall. He thinks players that have been busted will never get in.

A few weeks ago when the Padres were playing the Marlins, I put together a team of guys who played for both teams. It was fun to do and since I currently have blogger's block and can't think of anything original to type about, I decided to revisit the theme with our present opponent, the Milwaukee Brewers.

Like before, the qualifications for making the team were simple: they just needed to play for both teams at some point. I went with career stats as opposed to the numbers they put up with just the Padres and/ or Brewers; if I had done that a lot of these selections would be different. Since the Brewers have been around for 23 years longer than the Marlins, there was of course a larger pool to choose from. Without any further yada yada, let's start out with the starting lineup:

C- Tom Lampkin
1B- Russell Branyan
2B- Mark Loretta
SS- Tony Fernandez
3B- Gary Sheffield
LF- Greg Vaughn
CF- Jim Edmonds
RF- Matt Stairs

Before I did this, I didn't even know Tony Fernandez ever played for the Brewers. Turns out it was for just 28 games in 2001, his final season. They released him after two months and he joined the Blue Jays for the fourth time before retiring at the end of the season. I'll chalk that up as the one thing I've learned today. Edmonds makes the team despite tanking his short time as a Padre and getting paid a ton of money to leave San Diego. I really, really wanted to leave him off.

Bench:
C- Henry Blanco
Util.- Kurt Bevacqua
Util.- Jerry Hairston, Jr.
OF- Mike Cameron
OF/1B- Rob Deer

Hairston, like Edmonds, is another testament of me not allowing my grudge-holding to prevent me from putting together the best team baseball-wise. Because, man, I seriously don't like that holier-than-thou liar. Sorry, just had to get that in there before I moved on to the arms.

Rotation:
Randy Wolf
Jeff Suppan
Ricky Bones
Dick Selma
Glendon Rusch

Not an ace amongst the bunch, but they did each have some semi-solid seasons. Good thing they're backed by a lethal 'pen.

Bullpen:
Trevor Hoffman
Rollie Fingers
Mark Davis
Mike Adams
Scott Linebrink
Danny Frisella
Jesse Orosco

Better hope you get a lead off the starter if you're playing these guys. You've got two Cy Young Award winning closers, one of them a Hall of Famer, and that's before you even get to the closer. The rest of the guys weren't exactly slouches either.

There are 48 other players who played for both teams that didn't make the 25-man roster. Notable names that didn't make the cut include Tony Gwynn, Jr, Jody Gerut, Mark Kotsay, Eric Owens, Eric Young, Jeff Cirillo, and Dickie Thon. There's no other starting pitching to fall back on when one or more of them would inevitably need Tommy John surgery, so that would be a problem.

A few months ago I was reading RJ's Fro's blog post about Padres beach towels. I realized that he was missing a few towels from his collection that I happened to have in my closet.

Furthermore I noticed that we had the same color carpet. And in this rare instance I'm not talking about pubic hairs. With this information I surmised that if I took pictures of my towels on my carpet they'd match his towels on his carpet, and maybe, just maybe he'd add my pictures to his blog post.

Months passed and my enthusiasm for dissipated. Today however realizing that I had nothing better to do, I pulled out my pile of beach towels and took pictures of 4 of them.

The 5th picture I took years ago, in 2008. It's of my oldest towel from 1989, I think. I too had written a blog post about Padres beach towels back when it was still cool to do such a thing. I explained in the post that I had not cut strips out of the towel to carbon date it, like the Shroud of Turin. This holy relic was instead cut to wax my car.

So here's some of my towels. Hopefully RJ's Fro can tell us the years in which they were produced.

This day six years ago, the Padres acquired Joe Thatcher and two others from Milwaukee for struggling reliever Scott Linebrink. Thatcher made his major league debut the following day and has been with San Diego ever since. The other two pitchers the Padres picked up never spent a day on the big club and are still toiling in the minors for other organizations.

Typically solid in his time with San Diego, Scott Linebrink completely fell apart during his last month with the team. In 13.2 innings over 14 games in that month he allowed four home runs and 12 earned runs while picking up five blown saves and a pair of losses. Nearly all of the fans had turned on him by the time the team gave him a change of scenery, and would have been glad to see him go even without getting Joe Thatcher, Will Inman, and Steve Garrison for him.

Will Inman was highest-profile prospect of the three that the Padres got back, and the only one who has yet to reach the majors. "There is no such thing as a pitching prospect," indeed. He's still out there fighting to make it, although his 6.47 ERA in 32 innings with AAA Durham this year doesn't bode well for him.

Steve Garrison has pitched in exactly one more game than Inman has. After being picked up off of waivers by the Yankees in September, 2010, he made his major league debut the next season. On this date, as a matter of fact. Crazy. He came in with one out in the top of the ninth inning of a game New York was leading 10-3. Garrison retired Justin Smoak and Franklin Gutierrez to end the game and hasn't been back since. He's currently sporting a 4.45 ERA in AA with the Diamondbacks organization.

As for Joe Thatcher, well, you know how that turned out. After some growing pains in 2008, he's settled in as a given. He just goes out and does his job and as long he's doing that it's easy to overlook him even though he's sometimes the longest tenured player on the Padres' roster. How can somebody sometimes be the longest tenured player on a roster? Well, sometimes Tim Stauffer is in Tucson. Point is, Thatch has been around for a while. Six years, as a matter of fact.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs zapped the New Orleans Zephyrs (Marlins), 4-3.

It was the first Cubs win for Jake Arrieta, who gave up only one run on four hits over 6.2 innings. Arrieta walked four and struck out eight.

He also hit a bases-loaded double in the second inning that scored two and another runner scored on an error on the play to give Iowa a 3-0 lead.

The rumor is that Arrieta will make his next start at Wrigley during the double-header against Milwaukee on Tuesday. For his part, Arrieta says he's ready.

Brian Schlitter gave up back-to-back home runs with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but since he started the inning with a three-run lead, he still got his 13th save. Schlitter allowed the two runs on two hits, both home runs, over the one inning. He neither walked nor struck anyone out.

First baseman Josh Vitters was 1 for 2 with an RBI single in the third. However, Vitters pulled up lame on that hit going to second and was tagged out. He's expected to miss 1 to 2 weeks with a hamstring injury.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies blew out the Huntsville Stars (Brewers), 10-5.

Austin Kirk started and put Tennessee in a 4-0 hole when he allowed four runs on six hits over 2.1 innings. Kirk walked four and hit a batter. He struck out two.

Marcos Mateo got his first win for the Smokies since 2009. He pitched 1.2 scoreless innings. He allowed one hit and he walked two. Mateo struck out three.

In case you've forgotten, Mateo is the guy the Cubs got from the Reds for Buck Coats. I just wanted to mention "Buck Coats."

Shortstop Javier Baez hit two more home runs tonight, a three-run shot in the fifth inning to get the Smokies on the board and a solo home run in the eighth. He was 2 for 6 with the four RBI and he just missed a third home run, what would have been a grand slam, in the ninth. Baez now has 25 home runs this year and eight with the Smokies

Right fielder Rubi Silva hit a solo home run in the sixth inning to tie the score at four apiece. Silva went 2 for 4 with a walk and two runs scored. He also stole his 11th base.

One inning later, in the seventh, Justin Bour cranked his 12th home run, and third in four games, with the bases empty. Bour was 2 for 5.

Jonathan Mota was 2 for 5 with a run scored.

Daytona Cubs

The Daytona Cubs also came back from a 4-0 deficit to stun the Palm Beach Cardinals, 6-5.

You knew there would be some bumps in the Cubs career of Ivan Pineyro, and tonight he allowed five runs on six hits over six innings. The positive news is that he struck out eight and didn't walk anybody.

Jeffrey Lorick got his third win by pitching the final three innings without allowing a run. Lorick surrendered two hits. He struck out three and did not walk anyone.

Third baseman Ben Carhart was 2 for 5 with two RBI.

Catcher Chadd Krist went 2 for 3 with a double and he was hit by a pitch. Krist had one RBI. Left fielder Taiwan Easterling was 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored.

Kane County Cougars

The Kane County Cougars overturned the Beloit Snappers (Athletics), 11-8.

Michael Heesch started and allowed five runs on five hits, including a three-run home run, over three innings. Heesch walked two and struck out one. One of his five runs was unearned.

Justin Amlung got the win after he gave up one unearned run over two innings. Amlung allowed two hits and issued one walk while striking out one.

The Cougars banged out 21 hits tonight, including two home runs and three players having four hits apiece.

Catcher Willson Contreras hit his eighth home run of the year in the third inning with a man on. Contreras was a perfect 4 for 4 with a double and a walk. He had three total RBI and scored twice.

DH Rock Shoulders hit a solo home run in the seventh inning, his 16th of the season. Shoulders was 3 for 5 with a sac fly. He scored three times and had three runs batted in.

Center fielder Albert Almora was 4 for 5 with two doubles and a walk. He scored once.

Shorstop Marco Hernandez went 4 for 6. He scored twice and had one run batted in.

Third baseman Jeimer Candelario had two doubles in a 2 for 6 game. He scored two runs and had one RBI. Left fielder Reggie Golden went 2 for 4 and was hit by a pitch. He had one run batted in.

Boise Hawks

The Boise Hawks lost to the Eugene Emeralds (Padres), 5-4.

Paul Blackburn pitched in his first game since July 12 and was limited to one inning. He gave up two runs in the first on two hits and a hit batter. He struck out two and didn't walk anyone.

Tyler Skulina relieved Blackburn and gave up his first two runs as a professional in his two innings of work. Skulina surrendered four hits. He neither walked nor struck anyone out.

Duane Underwood was Boise's most effective pitcher with three scoreless innings. Underwood gave up four hits. He struck out four and didn't walk anyone. A real positive effort.

Carlos Martinez-Pumarino started the bottom of the ninth and gave up the winning run. He pitched two-thirds of an inning and gave up the one run on three hits. He struck out one and didn't walk a batter.

Right fielder Yasiel Balaguert was 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI single. David Bote was 2 for 4 with a double.

Center fielder Jacob Hannemann was 1 for 3 with a two-run single in the second inning. However, he exited the game in the sixth inning with an apparent injury to his left leg.

Kris Bryant was 0 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.

AZL Cubs

Lost to the Athletics, 7-3.

Brett Jackson was 1 for 4 with two strikeouts in a rehab appearance.

During the grind of the baseball season, many reporters ask players the same questions over and over.

"What is your approach right now?"

"How disappointed are you about being in Triple-A instead of the big leagues?"

"What do you have to do to make it to the big leagues?"

There’s a time and place for those questions, but sometimes you have to ask the crazy question – one that will draw the player’s personality out. I found a few such interviews with two minor league players recently.

The first one is with KGUN in Tucson and it features Tucson Padres first baseman Cody Decker. Decker, 26, is hitting .268 this season with 11 HR and 46 RBIs:

In addition to doing imitations, accents and pretending to be a rock star, Decker’s larger than life personality shines through in this interview with Tucson radio broadcaster Tim Hagerty. Decker talks about what he wore after being fined for wearing shoes that were too casual, flight attendants and his one hundred career minor league home runs:

Danny Duffy, the 24-year-old left-handed pitcher in the Royals farm system who is coming back from Tommy John surgery, is 2-2 this season with a 4.75 ERA pitching for the Omaha Storm Chasers and NW Arkansas Naturals. He could be Decker’s long lost cousin, given the answers he gave in this interview with KMTV in Omaha about his favorite color, his nicknames and the size of his head.

A player's final game is a bittersweet thing to celebrate the anniversary of. One one hand, it's the end of something somebody aspired their whole life toward. On the other hand, it's the beginning of a whole new life. Mark Grant made the most of his second act, getting into broadcasting and becoming one of the most beloved characters in Padres history. As the wise Rick Sutcliffe once said, "Anybody on Earth that doesn't like Mark Grant... they got... they got problems, man."

After being traded by the Padres to Atlanta mid-1990, Grant also pitched for Seattle and Houston. By the time July 26, 1993 rolled around, Grant was a member of the expansion Colorado Rockies. He was amidst his worst season in the big leagues when manager Don Baylor brought him in with two outs in the top of the seventh inning of a game the Rockies were losing 8-2 to the Braves. Mudcat promptly struck out Atlanta catcher Damon Berryhill to end the inning; so far, so good.

Grant came back out for the eighth inning and retired the first two batters; Mark Lemke lined out to right and Greg Maddux struck out looking. Then up stepped Deion Sanders, who had already singled and hit an inside-the-park home run. Prime Time singled again; so far, still not so bad. Breakout shortstop Jeff Blauser then took Grant deep to left for his tenth of 15 homers that season. Four pitches later Ron Gant hit a rope over the wall for his twenty-third out of 36 he hit in 1993 to make the score 11-2. Mud stuck around and got recently-acquired Brave Fred McGriff to ground to short for the third out. Grant came out for pinch hitter Daryl Boston and that was all she wrote; he was released the next day.

About a month later, Grant signed with the Angels but only pitched one game for their AAA team before taking a year off. He came back in 1995 and pitched well in 11 starts for the AAA Iowa Cubs but didn't get the call back up to the bigs. After that, he shoved his spikes in the closet for good and the rest is history.

San Diego Padres set-up man Luke Gregerson is drawing more interest from teams than closer Huston Street, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

Gregerson has consistenly been one of the best relievers in the game over the past five seasons, as he has a career 2.93 ERA over 336 appearances. The right-hander has looked just as sharp this season, as he owns a 2.98 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings.

Street closed games for the Oakland Athletics and Colorado Rockies before serving the same role for the Padres. The veteran owns a 3.78 ERA with 18 saves on the season, but there are a number of red flags that should make potential suitors wary. Street has seen his strikeout numbers evaporate, as he has only fanned 22 batters in 33 1/3 innings, and has already surrendered 10 home runs.

Gregerson, who is making $3.2 million this season, has one more season of arbitration left and will be eligible for free agency after 2014. Street is due $7 million in 2014 with a club option for $7 million in 2015.

More from SB Nation:

• The Dayton Moore All-Stars

• Braves will survive Hudson's tough break

• Cashman responds to A-Rod's second opinion

• Why do we obsess over the trade deadline?

• Brisbee: On the roid rage of fans and columnists ...

Well, it just wasn't the Padres' day today. Eric Stults got hit early and often and it never got better from there. The gruesome details follow:

1st inning:
Everth Cabrera led off the game with a single on the first pitch but Chase Headley and Carlos Quentin made unproductive outs to put matters in Yonder Alonso's hands. Yonder's hands didn't do any better. Arizona starter Randall Delgado only threw 12 pitches but Evy did make him burn like a billion throws to first. Hey, it's something.

Arizona's leadoff guy singled too. But unfortunately he did not get stranded. Aaron Hill doubled him home on Eric Stults's sixth pitch of the night. Stults then struck out MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt before Martin Prado singled in Hill. After a fly ball by Cody Ross for the second out, Wil Nieves struck out to limit the damage.
Padres 0, D-backs 2

2nd inning:
Jedd Gyorko and Will Venable popped up for the first two outs and Alexi Amarista went down swinging for the third.

Cliff Pennington singled with one out in the bottom of the inning to bring up the pitcher and that's when things got all sorts of Little League. Delgado bunted, Nick Hundley picked it up and threw it into right field foul territory to score Pennington with Delgado winding up on second. After A.J. Pollock flew out, Aaron Hill struck again with another RBI double. Stults then retired Goldschmidt for the second time on the night to end the inning.
Padres 0, D-backs 4

3rd inning:
Delgado got his 1-2-3 on again.

Stults did no such thing, allowing a leadoff double to Prado, who then took third on a Cody Ross groundout. Wil Nieves hit a single to score Prado and then got forced at second on a fielders choice for the penultimate out. Gerardo Parra didn't stay at first for long, promptly scoring on a double by Cliff Pennington. Delgado then struck out and returned to the mound up 6-0.
Padres 0, D-backs 6

4th inning:
No 1-2-3 for Delgado this time, as Chase Headley led off with his twenty-first double of the season. After a groundout by Quentin, Alonso popped out to the catcher before Gyorko grounded out. But we got a baserunner, damn it.

Eric Chavez got aboard with a one-out double and stayed there as Goldschmidt struck out for the second time. Prado worked a walk before Ross singled to plate Chavez and move Prado to third. Wil Nieves then popped up. Combo breaker! They only got one run this time.
Padres 0, D-backs 7

5th inning:
William and Alexi grounded out to second and then, just to shake things up, Nick grounded out to second.

Stults was one strike away from getting his first 1-2-3 inning when the opposing pitcher singled to left, reaching base for the second time. He was erased on a force two pitches later and Stults at least had his first shutout inning of the evening. He threw 101 pitches, striking out five while allowing five earned runs on 11 hits and a walk.
Padres 0, D-backs 7

6th inning:
Yep. 1-2-3. Uh-gain.

But on the positive side, Colt Hynes came in for the Padres and also retired the side.
Padres 0, D-backs 7

7th inning:
Yonder walked with one out but got stranded there.

Hynes came back out and gave up a leadoff homer to Ross followed by singles to Nieves, Pennington, and Delgado to load the bases. Pollock came up and got a single of his own to drive in the second and third runs of the inning. Hynes finally got a pair of strikeouts to get out of the inning.
Padres 0, D-bags 10

8th inning:
1-2-3? 1-2-3.

Joe Thatcher came in amongst a number of defensive substitutions and was greeted by a double off the bat of Prado. He got the next three guys out though, so that was cool.
Padres 0, D-backs 10

9th inning:
Delgado came back out to finish what he started and got two outs before surrendering a single to Chris Denorfia. He recovered to retire Alonso for the last out of his complete game three-hit shutout.
Final score: Padres 0, D-backs 10

Welp, get 'em tomorrow, fellas.

It took Randall Delgado just 100 pitches to complete his first career shutout, on 70's Night at Chase Field. He allowed only three hits and a walk, with three strikeouts, and gave the Padres almost no chances at all. They managed only three at-bats with a runner in scoring position. though a help was a great play by Gerardo Parra in the outfield. Delgado helped his own cause out with a pair of hits, becoming the first D-back with a shutout and a multi-hit game in close to a decade, since the Big Unit did the feat in September 2003. Delgado evened his record at 3-3, and reduced his season ERA to 2.85.

Meanwhile, the offense gave him far more than enough support, plundering 17 hits in total. Martin Prado led the way, going 3-for-4 with a walk, and Cliff Pennington also had a three-hit night. Including Delgado, five Arizona batters enjoyed two-hit games, including Aaron Hill. He doubled the first two times he was up, but appeared to experience a twinge on the second, and was pulled for precautionary reasons with a tight hamstring. Cody Ross had his sixth home-run of the year in the seventh, and about the only D-back who struggled was Paul Goldschmidt who had an 0-for-5 night with three strikeouts.

The Dodgers won, so we remain one-half a game back. We play San Diego again tomorrow, with Tyler Skaggs facing Andrew Cashner. Full recap to follow in a bit.

The "news" came out about a week and a half ago that Matt Antonelli officially retired. I put "news" in quotes because it wasn't news to anybody who keeps up with Antonelli's blog, where he announced that he "decided to hang up the cleats and move on to the next phase in [his] life" two weeks before that.

Antonelli was picked seventeenth overall in the 2006 draft and worked his way up to San Diego by 2008. Unfortunately, he hit below the Mendoza Line in 57 AB over 21 games and never made his way back. Due to injuries, he was never able to put together another full season on the field as he bounced from AAA team to AAA team in the Nationals, Orioles, Yankees, and Indians organizations.

I already had a couple of Matt Antonelli cards but then I saw this one a week or so ago and knew I had to have it. It's from an insert series Topps Finest put out where they manufactured 75 letter patches of each letter of a player's last name and then the player autographed all of them. In other words, this one is one of 75 'E' patch Matt Antonelli cards(#50 of 75), and there are 75 'A' patches out there and so on. Some high-end collectors seek out one of each letter of a player and put them on a shelf in order. Whatever. I definitely wasn't planning on doing all that. I just want to make it cease to be a card and sew the signed patch on the Sisterhood of the Traveling Jersey jersey eventually.

When I had the Sisterhood jersey last year, I sewed on a small jersey swatch from a David Wells game-worn card that I destroyed just for the occasion. This one seemed even cooler because it would add to the jersey's collection of autographs. Plus, I just like the idea that people who take collecting way too seriously would be outraged by someone purposely destroying a relic card.

...but until then I'll just put it with my other autographed cards. No need to cut it up until I have to.

Quick Quotes

"He was in total command tonight," Gibson said. "He's been really good and he's kind of been building up to this; he's just got some good stuff."

Kirk Gibson on Randall Delgado's complete game shutout

"He was basically fastball, changeup; he didn't use the breaking ball much," Nieves said. "The biggest thing was throwing strikes and attacking the strike zone."

Wil Nieves on how Delgado got his results

"This is what we've been waiting for all year," Nieves said. "We haven't been able to do it much, but we got all three today. Hopefully this is the start of a good thing. We're just hoping this keeps going because you've seen what we can do when we play together."

Wil Nieves on the roster/lineup plan finally coming together for a game

Daily Diamondback Digest

Offense Explodes to Support Delgado's CGSO Gem

Randall Delgado refuses to surrender his position in the rotation without a fight - nor is he going to be denied by hard luck. The young pitcher threw a three-hit complete game shutout on Friday night and contributed to the offense by going 2/3 with a run scored at the plate as well. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks' offense laughed at a rare down night from Paul Goldschmidt and an early injury-exit from Aaron Hill in the second inning en route to a 17 hit, 10 run outburst.

Nicks, Dings, Rehab, and a Manager's Warning

Aaron Hill joins Miguel Montero on the list of the walking wounded. Trevor Cahill looked sharp in his first rehab start. And Adam Eaton pays the price for his "lucky" success showing off his wheels.

Diamondbacks Top 20 Prospects Updated

MLB has updated the top 20 prospects by organization. Some new faces grace the landscape as the 2013 draft class is included and other faces have moved on up out of prospect status.

Related:The Top 20 List

Ziegler Stepping Up as Closer

He only has five saves on the season so far, but Brad Ziegler is easing some minds by holding down the ninth in the desert.

Chuck Powell's Recipe for Winning the NL West

After winning 3/5, the Diamondbacks sit only a half game out of first behind the Dodgers, who will not continue to play ball at an almost .700 winning percentage.

Around MLB

Gonzalez Signs with Philly

Cuban pitching prospect Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez signed with the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday. The Cuban right-hander signed a deal potentially worth close to $60 million. To put it in perspective, that's more than the Dodgers will be paying Puig, and even more than what the Rangers will be paying Cy Young candidate Yu Darvish.

Bailey 0-4 Since No-Hitter

Homer Bailey was robbed in Los Angeles by a latino with attitude problems and a scruffy-looking repeat offender. Hanley Ramirez hit a 2-run HR off the Reds' ace, while Clayton Kershaw continued to dominate the NL, throwing yet another complete game gem, in which he only surrendered one run. The result? Homer Bailey took a tough-luck loss and failed to notch his first victory since his no-no against San Francisco way back on July 1^st.

Junior Lake: A Look Back

Now that the Diamondbacks are done playing the Cubs, it's okay to take a brief pause and look at just how much fun the young center fielder has been bringing to the game since his call-up.

The Highlight Reel

Randall Delgado Dominates

CGSOs don't grow on trees.

Parra Flashing the Gold Glove

Delgado's CGSO almost wasn't.

Edwin Encarnacion

The Toronto third baseman had himself a good week of production - in the seventh inning

HanRam Out at Home

Some plays are just so odd, you have to watch them more than once.

LOL Belt

The title says it all.

The Padres got off to an early lead and never looked back. Andrew Cashner allowed a pair of homers for the first time in like decades or something and felt so bad that he hit one of his own. It was not only his first career homer, but his first extra-base hit of any kind. He walked a bunch of guys but only one of his walks scored, so all was well at the end of the story. Here's how it all went down:

1st inning:
The Padres got an early lead after Chris Denorfia walked with one out and Carlos Quentin plated him one out later with his twenty-first double of the year.

Arizona also got a one-out walk, followed by a stolen base and another one-out walk. After that came yet another one-out walk. That's three of them in a row, if you weren't keeping track. He got out of the jam unscathed though, getting Martin Prado to roll into an inning-ending double play.
Padres 1, D-backs 0

2nd inning:
The Padres went down 1-2-3. Happens sometimes.

Miguel Montero homered with one out to tie the game. That also happens sometimes, I guess. Then Didi Gregorious hit a ground rule double but got stranded.
Padres 1, D-backs 1

3rd inning:
Norf walked again, this time with two outs, and then Chase Headley got hit by a pitch. Quentin then worked a walk to load the bases and bring Jesus Guzman to the plate. Tyler Skaggs walked him too and forced in a run to put the Padres back out front. Three pitches later, Yonder Alonso added three more runs with a base-clearing double.

Cashner settled down for his first 1-2-3 frame.
Padres 5, D-backs 1

4th inning:
Cashner, of all people, got a walk but was erased on a fielders choice. Everth Cabrera then stole second and scored when Denorfia hit his eighth homer of the year to put the Friars up by six and chase Skaggs out of the game. Speaking of chase, Headley hit reliever Tony Sipp's first pitch out to stretch the margin to seven.

Jason Kubel doubled with one out and then Miguel Montero walked, but Cashner got Gregorious to bounce into a double play.
Padres 8, D-backs 1

5th inning:
The Friars were retired in order. Oh, darn.

Cashner gave up his fifth walk and his second homer of the game. Still no big thing.
Padres 8, D-backs 3

6th inning:
Cashner? More like Crushner! Young Money took Josh Collmenter deep for hist first career extra-base hit. After that Everth reached base on an error and stole second base but was called out.

Cashner had no problems with the Snakes in the bottom of the frame, sitting them down one after the other.
Padres 9, D-backs 3

7th inning:
Headley led off with a walk but got erased on a double play.

Tim Stauffer came in to replace Cashner, who allowed four hits and five walks over 103 pitches for a Quality Start. Stauff did his thing, getting three quick outs.
Padres 9, D-backs 3

8th inning:
Yonder led off with a single but nothing became of it.

Cody Ross worked Stauffer for a walk but nothing became of that, either.
Padres 9, D-backs 3

9th inning:
Chase got on and Q got him in. Double digits. It's nice to be on this side of it. Alexi Amarista came in as a pinch hitter and joined the walk parade to push Carlos into scoring position. Yonder then took him out of scoring position with an RBI single. After that, Alexi moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on another one.

Dale Thayer came in and got two outs and loaded the bases, bringing Paul Goldschmidt to the plate. Luckily he hit it to Everth so disaster was averted and the Friars walked away unscathed.
Final score: Padres 12, D-backs 3

It was a great win by our guys to bounce back from yesterday's ugly affair. Tyson Ross will be facing Patrick Corbin tomorrow afternoon for the rubber match.

After acquiring pitchers Scott Feldman and Francisco Rodriguez earlier in the month, the Baltimore Orioles are far from done with their trade deadline shopping. The team is focusing on adding a bat to their lineup, and is currently looking into many options for an upgrade at the designated hitter position.

The second Wild Card's impact on the trade deadline

One unexpected consequence of the second Wild Card may be more deals after the July 31st trade deadline. Here's how.

Baltimore is one of the most active teams in trade talks for Phillies' third baseman Michael Young, according to Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com, who notes that Young would make most sense for the O's at designated hitter. Young has drawn significant interest from teams like the Red Sox, Yankees and Reds throughout July, but Philadelphia may still be reluctant to move him due to their refusal to sell key assets at the deadline.

According to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com, a reunion with the Rangers is not in the cards for Young as previously speculated. The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo notes that the Red Sox are expected to put together the best package in talks for Young, but that does not necessarily mean that Boston is the favorite to land him. The 36-year old has a full no-trade clause in his contract, but would likely be willing to accept a deal to a contender.

The Orioles have also had "preliminary talks" with the Twins about Justin Morneau, according to a report from Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. Baltimore sent a top scout to Seattle this week to watch the 32-year old, who is a free agent after the season. While Morneau may stay with the Twins at the deadline due to a relatively slow market for him, the Pirates, Yankees, Twins and Rays have all been linked to interest in the former MVP.

Mariners' outfielder Mike Morse, who is currently working his way back from injury, has drawn interest from the Orioles for years, according to Connolly. Seattle has not declared that they are selling veteran assets like Morse at the deadline, but Baltimore would likely inquire if he is made available. ESPN's Buster Olney reports that the Orioles have also had internal discussions about Padres' outfielder Carlos Quentin, but his high price tag and San Diego's reluctance to trade him makes a deal unlikely.

More from MLB Daily Dish:

• Orioles acquire Francisco Rodriguez from Brewers
• Phillies willing to listen on Cliff Lee
• Phillies agree to sign Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez
• Red Sox "just kicking the tires" on Peavy
• Orioles acquire Alex Liddi from Mariners

Tyson Ross RHP, 1-4, 3.35

Patrick Corbin LHP, 12-1, 2.31

Diamondbacks line-up

1. Adam Eaton, CF
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
4. Eric Chavez, 3B
5. Jason Kubel, LF
6. Miguel Montero, C
7. Gerardo Parra, RF
8. Cliff Pennington, SS
9. Patrick Corbin, P

Despite Gibby's comments yesterday, no day off for Goldschmidt - instead, it's Martin Prado who gets to take a breather for the day, with Eric Chavez continuing his run of games, with another right-handed pitcher on the mound. Anyone want to bet on whether Chavez will be able to make it the rest of the season at this pace without breaking? This will be his 36th time written into the line-up card in the field, on pace for 56. He hasn't had that many non-DH games since 2007, and there's a pretty good reason for that. I hope we kept the receipt. Failing that, I guess there's always the shiny new toy, Matt Davidson, to unwrap.

The other roster move, as noted by Clefo in the recap, is the rapid optioning of Tyler Skaggs back to Reno - that didn't take long, did it? for now, his spot will be used to provide an extra bullpen arm, in the shape of Chaz Roe. However, that will only be for a few days, as the plan is to bring Brandon McCarthy back off the DL when Skaggs' spot in the rotation next comes up, which I think is scheduled to be on the East-coast trip against the Red Sox, though don't quote me on that.

Skaggs' latest stint was inconsistent, shall we say: like his first time up, his debut was so good you wondered if he'd ever go back down. But subsequent performances demonstrated exactly why he was in the minors to start with. His last three outings had a combined line of 13 ER in 14 innings, with a K:BB ratio of 14:8, and an opponent's line of .305/.400/.525. Counterpoint: Tyler turned 22 this month. When Patrick Corbin turned 22, our current staff ace was pitching in Double-A Mobile, and putting up a largely uninteresting 4.21 ERA. Writing Skaggs off, as some appear to be doing, would seem premature, though the drop in velocity we've seen is certainly concerning.

I wonder if Zeke Spruill might get the next shot, if we need another starter. As John reported earlier this morning, Spruill has been almost unhittable for the Aces of late, not allowing a run in his last four starts, which is damn impressive, considering the league in which he pitches. And speaking of Corbin, there was a largely glowing piece on ESPN.com about him, calling him "Arizona's savior" - I particularly liked the paragraph entitled "Slider from hell." :) Nate Shroyer is scheduled to be your guest recapper today, though I'm awaiting a confirmation on that. Otherwise, it'll be me, in between chowing down since we're having a family gathering for Mrs. SnakePit's birthday.

After watching the Orioles futile offensive effort against Jon Lester on Sunday, do you have any interest in seeing them add another bat before the trade deadline? Does Carlos Quentin sound like a good name to you? He sounds good enough to the Orioles to at least fuel this tweet from Buster Olney:

One of the players BAL has talked about internally is Carlos Quentin of the Padres, who is signed through 2015 for about $24m guaranteed.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 28, 2013

The phrase "talked about internally" could mean a lot of things. It could mean that the Orioles are really serious about making some kind of offer concerning the Padres slugger, or it could just mean that Dan Duquette was laughing around a water cooler and said, "Yeah, Quentin would look great in an Orioles uniform," and then that was characterized as an internal discussion.

Quentin turns 31 next month and he has two years remaining beyond this year on his contract. That would be $20.5 million guaranteed beyond this year, with a $3 million buyout on a $10 million mutual option for 2016. In an eight-year career, Quentin's slash line is .255/.351/.492. He's averaged 31 home runs per 162 games, but he has never played more than 131 games in a single season, and played only 86 games for the Padres last season.

A player who can slug over .500 in the wasteland that is Petco is probably worth that salary for the Orioles, but what would it cost to get him in trade? There is no indication that the Orioles have even called the Padres to find out what San Diego would want for him. Notably, one year ago, it was another Padres player the Orioles were considering at the deadline. That was Chase Headley, because the Orioles had a huge void at third base, but they decided to say screw that trade nonsense and called up Manny Machado. That worked out pretty well.

In his career, Quentin hits lefties and righties equally well, so he could just be the DH, no platooning needed. Against right-handed pitchers, his career OPS is .845 and against lefties it is .837. He also has a no-trade clause in his contract, so he would have to waive that in order to come to Baltimore, even supposing the Orioles would pay whatever the Padres wanted for him. That would probably be a significant cost given that there's two years beyond this of Quentin to come.

As far as the no-trade clause, the Orioles being a playoff team last year and a winning team this year should make them a more attractive destination than in the past.

Recent reports have indicated the Orioles may be more aggressive in trading prospects and taking on salary than was first indicated. If that is serious, then Quentin is a player who may be worth targeting, though there is always the risk of injury, and possibly the risk of decline as he moves into his 30s. At the very least, it would not be paying for a rental.

Dream if you like about acquiring a player with a .366 on-base percentage and a .500 slugging percentage while playing half of his games in Petco, but don't get too excited. The standard for trade rumors is that most of them amount to nothing, and "talked about internally" isn't even a full-blown trade rumor.

It's something, though. The Orioles may very well decide to forego the prospect and salary cost and go with L.J. Hoes and Henry Urrutia. That probably won't work out as well as the Machado decision last year, but you never know.

More from Camden Chat:

• O's 0, Red Sox 5: Shut Out at Home
• Orioles news: L.J. Hoes to be recalled from Triple-A Norfolk
• Hall of Fame: Do any current Orioles stand a chance of being inducted?

The Streamer Report provides you with daily startng pitcher streaming selections for owners who prefer to stream starting pitchers on a daily basis. This report identifies starting pitchers who are owned in less than 50% of ESPN Yahoo leagues, and who either has a decent track record vs their opponent, has pitched well of late, or has a decent matchup.

Note: I don't actually play in any leagues on ESPN, so I am having a hard time accessing the ownership data, so while Ray is out I will be using Yahoo data.

First, let's look at how Ray's picks did this weekend:

Dillon Gee vs Nationals - 7 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, L

Tyler Skaggs vs Padres - 3.2 IP, 3 H, 7 ER, 5 BB, 5 K, L

Samuel Deduno vs Mariners - 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W

Ivan Nova vs Rays - 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, L

Saturday's Total: 24.2 IP, 20 H, 12 ER, 10 BB, 18 K, 1 W, 3 L, 4.37 ERA, 1.21 WHIP

Rick Porcello vs Phillies - 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W

Hector Santiago vs Royals - 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, ND

Jarred Cosart vs Blue Jays - 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 1 K, ND

Sunday's Total: 18.2 IP, 16 H, 6 ER, 11 BB, 11 K, 2.89 ERA, 1.47 WHIP

Monday's Streamers

Jacob Turner vs. Mets

Jeremy Hefner vs. Marlins

Zach McAllister vs. White Sox

On this day in 2001 the Padres stomped the Brewers at Miller Park, riding a three-run fourth and six-run sixth inning to a 12-5 victory. Leading the way for San Diego was 42-year-old leadoff hitter Rickey Henderson, who went 2-for-5 with a run scored and a pair of RBI in his final game in Milwaukee.

158 of Henderson's 3081 career major league games came against the Brewers, including appearances in four different decades. The Brewers first faced the speedy outfielder on September 3, 1979. Henderson stole 87 of his MLB record 1406 bases against Milwaukee, and scored 116 of his 2295 runs. The Brewers actually kept Henderson more or less in check over the years: His .777 career OPS against them was 43 points lower than his overall career mark (.820).

Henderson ranks 31st on the all-time list with 158 games played against Milwaukee. The career leader is Reggie Jackson, who appeared in 233 games against the franchise between 1969-87.

With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:

• 2004-06 Brewer Mike Adams, who turns 35.
• 1996-97 Brewer Todd Dunn, the #35 overall pick in the 1993 draft, who turns 43.
• 1980 Brewer Dave LaPoint, who turns 54.

Today is also the 25th anniversary of Paul Molitor hitting career home run #100 in 1988, and the 13th anniversary of the Brewers holding Bob Wickman Poster Night one day after trading Wickman to Cleveland in 2000. We covered those events in this space last year and two years ago, respectively.

Yankees 6, Rays 5:Derek Jeter hit a home run on the first pitch he saw in his return to the lineup, and Alfonso Soriano capped off a big day with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning. Soriano went 4-for-5 on the day with a homer and three RBIs. Ichiro Suzuki added four hits for New York. Wil Myers went yard twice in the loss for Tampa Bay. Here's Soriano's game-winner:

Indians 6, Rangers 0:Ubaldo Jimenez struck out six in eight shutout innings to lead the Indians past the Rangers. Mike Aviles hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning and Michael Bourn drove in two runs for Cleveland. The Rangers only managed two hits off Jimenez and Indians reliever Vinnie Pestano.

Blue Jays 2, Astros 1:Colby Rasmus hit a walk-off single off Wesley Wright to push the Blue Jays past the Astros. Todd Redmond struck out 10 in six innings for Toronto, but he took a no decision. Jarred Cosart gave up one run in six innings for Houston.

Tigers 12, Phillies 4: Jhonny Peralta hit a grand slam in an eight-run sixth inning that blew the game open for Detroit. Ramon Santiago added three hits and Victor Martinez drove in two runs. Miguel Cabrera and Tigers manager Jim Leyland were both ejected early in the game for arguing balls and strikes.

Marlins 3, Pirates 2:Jose Fernandez gave up two runs and struck out 13 in eight innings to earn the victory for Miami. Giancarlo Stanton hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth inning that would stand up for the Marlins the rest of the way. The Pirates scored two runs in the second inning, but that was the only offense they could muster.

Red Sox 5, Orioles 0:Jon Lester tossed seven shutout innings as the Red Sox blanked the Orioles. Lester allowed just four hits and struck out eight in his seven innings of work. David Ortiz went 4-for-4, hitting his 20th home run of the year and knocking in two runs. With the win and Tampa Bay's loss, Boston has regained a half-game lead in the AL East.

Nationals 14, Mets 1: The bottom of Washington's order did a lot of damage in a rout of the Mets, with Ian Desmond, Denard Span and Wilson Ramos combining for 10 hits and 10 RBIs. Ramos hit a grand slam in the third inning, while Desmond and Span both went 4-for-4. Taylor Jordan earned his first MLB win by giving up just one run in six innings.

Royals 4, White Sox 2 (12 innings):Alex Gordon hit a go-ahead two-run blast in the top of the 12th inning and Greg Holland shut the door in the bottom of the 12th as the Royals capped off a sweep of the White Sox. Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko drove in the only runs for Chicago, with Dunn hitting his 25th homer of the year in the sixth inning.

Athletics 10, Angels 6:Yoenis Cespedes went 3-for-5 and knocked in four runs as the Athletics came back from an early 5-0 deficit to snatch the victory from the Angels. Oakland starter Jarrod Parker gave up four runs in the first inning and another in the second before settling down and making it through five innings. The A's overtook the Angels thanks to a five-run sixth inning.

Cubs 2, Giants 1: The Cubs swept the Giants with three-straight one-run wins. In Sunday's win, Travis Wood gave up one unearned run in seven innings and also homered in the fifth inning to get Chicago on the board. Wellington Castillo hit a home run in the seventh inning that proved to be the game-winner. Tim Lincecum struck out 10 in seven innings of work, but he picked up his 11th loss of the year.

Dodgers 1, Reds 0 (11 innings): Dodgers rookie sensation Yasiel Puig broke a scoreless tie in the 11th inning with a walk-off blast off Curtis Partch. Brandon League pitched two scoreless innings to nab the victory. Chris Capuano started for the Dodgers, giving up just three hits in 6⅔ innings. Tony Cingrani gave up only one hit and struck out 11 in seven innings for Cincinnati.

Rockies 6, Brewers 5:Nolan Arenado hit a go-ahead single in the bottom of the eighth to rally the Rockies to victory in a back-and-forth affair. Dexter Fowler put the Rockies ahead 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh with a home run, but the Brewers went ahead 5-4 in the top of the eighth. Troy Tulowitzki went yard and Michael Cuddyer knocked in two runs for Colorado.

Mariners 6, Twins 4:Nick Franklin homered twice and knocked in four runs to push the Mariners past the Twins. Seattle used a four-run fourth inning to seize control of the game, and Franklin's second home run of the game in the seventh inning provided some insurance after Minnesota got within one run.

Padres 1, Diamondbacks 0:Tyson Ross allowed three hits and struck out seven in eight shutout innings to earn the victory for San Diego. Carlos Quentin drove in the only run of the game in the first inning. Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin gave up only one run in eight innings while striking out eight, but he was saddled with the loss.

Braves 5, Cardinals 2:Jason Heyward homered and drove in two runs as the Braves swept the Cardinals in Atlanta for the first time in 10 years. The game was tied at 2-2 in the sixth inning before pinch-hitter Joey Terdoslavich knocked in the go-ahead run with an RBI single. Heyward followed that up with an RBI single of his own. Kris Medlen pitched six innings of two-run ball to notch the victory, while Craig Kimbrel picked up his 31st save of the year.

More from SB Nation:

• Yasiel Puig hits first career walk-off homer

• Phillies sign Cuban RHP Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez

• Albert Pujols out for up to a year

• Minor League Ball: Early 2014 draft rankings

• Yankees ownership overruled Cashman on Soriano trade