Al Jackson's reign as the Mets all-time wins leader was as short as the little lefty's stature. Jackson won 43 games for New York between 1962 and 1965, assuming the title of the young team's winningest pitcher in June 1963 only to lose it on this date in 1969 to Tom Seaver, the man who's held it ever since. Tom picked up his twelfth victory of the year and his 44th career triumph by tossing a complete game against the Pirates, striking out ten in the process.

Exactly two years later, Seaver reached another milestone. Facing Philadelphia on June 29, 1971, the Franchise fanned 13 unlucky Phils, including Willie Montanez in the bottom of the seventh for his 1,000th career K. Amazingly, the four-hit, 4-0 blanking was only Seaver's fourth-best start of the '71 season according to game score. Dude could pitch.

That said, the best pitching performance turned by a member of the New York Mets organization on this date belongs to James Popoff. On June 29, 1992, the 21-year right-hander for Low-A Pittsfield, drafted out of Cal State Fullerton earlier in the month, whiffed 19 Batavia Clippers to earn his first professional victory. That remained the Pittsfield record for most strikeouts in a game until 2001 when the team folded. Popoff's feat wasn't a New York-Penn League record, however. That honor belongs to another Amazins farmhand, Paul Alspach, who rang up 24 batters in a 1963 start for the Auburn Mets. Oddly, neither hurler made it to the majors. Alspach topped out at Triple-A because of control issues, while Popoff retired after his lone season in professional baseball. Said Steve Phillips, then the Mets minor league director, "It was very surprising. [Popoff] had what we thought was a very good first year."

Birthdays

• Pitcher Bob Shaw would have been 80 today. Shaw picked up two MVP votes during his 11-year career. One came in 1959 when he compiled an 18-6 record for the American League champion Chicago White Sox. The second came seven years later when he was a member of the 1966 Mets. While he was one of the better pitchers in the team's rotation that season (not like that's not saying much), he wasn't anywhere elite. Based solely on the 0.9 bWAR he amassed for the Mets, Shaw was the 45th most valuable hurler in the National League. That said, he started the '66 campaign with the San Francisco and was so bad that he cost the Giants half a win in just over 30 innings. Clearly, BBWAA voters were pulling some kind of down ballot shenanigans that year.
• Larry Stahl, briefly a teammate of Bob Shaw on the 1967 Mets, is 72. Twice Tom Seaver carried no-hitters into the ninth inning against the Cubs only to see them broken up by punch-and-judy batsmen. Stahl, never much of a hitter himself, got a modicum of revenge for Seaver in 1972 when he was a member of the Padres. On September 2, Milt Pappas of the Cubs was just one strike away from completing a perfect game, but Stahl took two borderline pitches to work a two-out walk. To date, it's the only perfect game in MLB history ruined in such a manner.

Game of Note
John Rocker returned to Shea Stadium on June 29, 2000 for the first time since uttering several moronic comments regarding the 7 train and its multicultural ridership in a Sports Illustrated profile. Much to the relief of the NYPD, Rocker backed down on his promise to take the International Express to the game, choosing instead to commute via an unmarked police van. The heavy law enforcement presence carried over to Shea, where the majority of the 700 officers Police Commissioner Howard Safir put on Rocker detail were stationed.

By mid-game, most had gone home. Despite the threat of a D battery hailstorm, the Shea faithful was mostly on its best behavior. Police only perp-walked one person out of the stadium, a Long Island man who chucked a beer bottle in Rocker's direction while he was warming up. Lest you think New York is losing its edge, while just one arrest was made, according to the New York Times, the NYPD did issue 63 open container citations.

As for Rocker, he tossed a one-two-three eighth, striking out Robin Ventura and inducing wormburners from Todd Zeile and Jay Payton to successfully protect a two-run Braves lead. Righty Kerry Ligtenberg, granted closing duties during the two-week unpaid vacation MLB forced Rocker to take for his comments, pitched a scoreless ninth to secure a 6-4 Braves victory. It'd be one of the few triumphs left in Rocker's sad, unlamented career.

Amazin'-ly Tenuous Connection
Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner celebrates his 48th birthday today. Mad Men, of course, takes place in 1960s New York, so there have been more than a few Mets references woven into the narrative. Transplanted Brit/doomed CFO Lane Pryce sports a Mets pennant in his office, a piece of memorabilia that [SPOILER ALERT] gets a surprising amount of screen time during the character's lowest moment.

Then, in this past season, Don Draper had the following exchange with his cuckolded downstairs neighbor:

Arnold: I've been meaning to knock on your door anyway. You know, catch a game or something. I get baseball tickets. Mostly the Mets.

Don: Well, I'm glad you didn't.

Joke's on Don. When the show's calendar flips to 1969 in a few short months, those Shea seats are going to be the hottest ticket in town.

Ryan Sweeney - Chicago Cubs (1% Owned) - Sweeney has been excellent since filling in for the injured David DeJesus, with 7 R, 3 HR, 10 RBIs, 1 SB, .260 AVG, and .888 OPS in the past 14 days. I really like Sweeney for the rest of the year as he is capable of playing all 3 OF positions and will find consistent AB's on the North Side. Jump on him now if you need some OF depth.

Luke Scott - Tampa Bay Rays (1% Owned) - Now the full time DH in Tampa, Luke Scott could be a great source of cheap power for teams in need of HRs. Scott is a streaky hitter, so cut bait fast if he really starts to struggle, but buy in now in anticipation of an upcoming power streak.

Darwin Barney - Chicago Cubs (3% Owned) - Riding a 7-game hit streak, Barney is looking like a nice temporarily fill in for a MI position. Similar to Scott, I don't expect him to be a solution for the rest of the season, but he's playing well and should be rosterable for the next few weeks.

Juan Francisco - Milwaukee Brewers (5% Owned) - Francisco homered in 3 straight games against the Chicago Cubs this week and appears to be locked in. He's very much a ‘feast or famine' type, and I'd rather roll the dice on Luke Scott, but Francisco's dual eligibility at 1B and 3B is useful and might be worth a spot start.

Ryan Flaherty - Baltimore Orioles (2% Owned) - Due to his position eligibility and recent play, Flaherty might be the most intriguing name on this list. Eligible for 2B, 3B, and OF in Yahoo leagues, Flaherty has hit 3 HRs with a .387 AVG over the past 2 weeks. Flaherty is really starting to grow on me, and I'm willing to trust him for the rest of the season at a MI spot.

Nathan Eovaldi - Miami Marlins (3% Owned) - Since rejoining the rotation in 2013, Eovaldi has looked great in his two starts. He threw a quality start in each outing, to go with a 3.33 K/BB ratio against two of the better offenses in the NL (SF and ARI). Eovaldi provides excellent strikeout potential to go with a spacious home ballpark and he will be pitching in a division lacking in offensive threats. His fastball velocity has jumped to an average 96.8 mph this year. Eovaldi could break out here in the second half.

Martin Perez - Texas Rangers (4% Owned) - Similar to Eovaldi, Perez has been great in every start since joining the rotation in 2013 and he's faced equally as difficult offenses (ARI, STL, CIN - oddly all interleague games). Granted 1 start was back in May, Perez has pitched very well and should hold on to a rotation spot for the foreseeable future. I prefer Eovaldi this season because Perez doesn't offer the same strikeout potential, but Perez does have the better offense supporting him and better secondary pitches which make Perez the more attractive long-term option.

Robbie Erlin - San Diego Padres (1 % Owned) - I'm not the biggest Robbie Erlin fan, or anyone else who relies heavily on an 89 mph fastball, but his success early this season cannot be ignored. As a starter, Erlin has pitched 13 innings with 11 K's, 1 BB, and a 2.77 ERA. As long as the Padres are playing well and winning ballgames, Erlin is worth rolling out almost every start.

Stephen Fife - Los Angeles Dodgers (2% Owned) - Fife has really grown on me with his 52.0% GB% and 7.9 K/9. He has a propensity for giving up the long ball, but his sample is still small with only 34.1 IP and I'm hoping this normalizes as the season progresses.

Scott Kazmir - Cleveland Indians (5% Owned) - With back-to-back dominant performances, Kazmir is back on our fantasy radar. I'm not buying in this time, but the upside is at least worth mentioning. Kazmir is nothing but a tease and I'm not falling for this act.

Follow me on Twitter (@BrianCreagh)

Brian Omogrosso took one for the team on Friday afternoon, and then Simon Castro took his place on Saturday.

That shouldn't have been the way the Sox started officially thinking about the great beyond. It could've happened a week ago, when Omogrosso was recalled to replace Deunte Heath, which set the stage for the kind of pounding -- nine runs over 2⅓ innings -- that figured to be inevitable.

It's only a week in a lost season, though. As long as the White Sox look at Castro as the first step in a rather dramatic bullpen restructuring, rather than merely a fresh arm to replace a tired one, the delay shouldn't matter.

Castro is a recent convert to relief pitching -- like, fortnight-ago recent -- but it's long been considered his most likely destination. The Sox had been keeping him on a starter track since acquiring him from San Diego in the Carlos Quentin trade after the 2011 season, but between injuries and mechanical inconsistency, steadiness proved too elusive. He posted a 4.95 ERA as a starter for the Knights, but that number seldom reflected how he looked on a given start, as his game log shows.

If he were less experienced, running hot and cold like that might be encouraging. Alas, at 25, in his eighth pro season and last option year, the Sox aren't in a position to chase fading dreams. So the Sox moved him to the bullpen, and so far, it's been the same experience, thanks to the impact of home runs on short stints.

While moving to the bullpen is usually considered a demotion, changing roles might be the best thing for everybody involved. The Sox need strong relief arms, and Castro's stuff fits the profile. He's got a heavy mid-90s fastball with a good slider, plus a splitter that can keep lefties honest (and he was equally effective against both this year). The challenge for Castro has been staying on top of his slider, but that might be easier for him pitching only one or two innings at a time, and always out of the stretch.

He certainly offers the best chance at high-leverage relief, and that's what the Sox have to pursue if veterans disappear. A month from now, Jesse Crain and/or Matt Lindstrom and/or Matt Thornton may not be around, and Castro is the Sox's best bet to fill those shoes. Don Cooper seemed to enjoy working with him in the spring based on quotes, if that's worth anything.

Castro should get a few weeks with Cooper to work up to more important situations. It'll be a lot to ask, but he offers the kind of immediate upside that suggest he could survive getting thrown into the deep end when the sell-off takes place. Other areas and players won't be so fortunate.

Trade rumor season approacheth

Jon Heyman reported on Thursday that the Sox are "open for business," with everybody but Chris Sale and Paul Konerko available. Konerko is a strange exclusion, although his back could be making the decision for everybody involved.

Dan Hayes backed that up, and added that if the Sox were to make Sale available, he could get a better haul than the Padres received for Mat Latos. Of course, the Latos trade is an argument against dealing Sale, because they received Edinson Volquez (disappointing), Yonder Alonso (uninspiring), and Yasmani Grandal (promising, aside from the 50-game suspension), along with Brad Boxberger (a toss-in and replacement level).

Or, to use WAR as a quick-and-dirty contribution estimator, over 2012 and 2013:

• Latos: 5.3 fWAR, 6.3 bWAR
  
• Three Padres: 4.7 WAR, 5.0 bWAR

The trade isn't a bust, but it leaves a lot to be desired -- so much so that "More than Latos" isn't nearly enough to be interesting on its face.

Even if Volquez, Alonso and Grandal matched Latos' production in terms of wins, they lose in efficiency, because that's two roster spots down the drain. It's the same principle that made the idea of tradingJohn Danks for Jason Vargas, Mark Lowe and Jose Lopez so ridiculous, and unlike Danks, Sale is a bona fide star.

Attendance: 15,929
Hero of the Game:Nathan Eovaldi (0.325 WPA)
Goat of the Game:Chad Qualls (-0.246 WPA)
Play of the Game:Carlos Quentin homered in the seventh inning. Yasmani Grandal scored. (-0.238 WPA)

The Miami Marlins got the worst start so far of this season from Nathan Eovaldi. Against the San Diego Padres, Eovaldi was significantly worse than in his previous two outings, and it started with his velocity. Whereas in previous outings, he was averaging more than 97 mph on his fastball. Today, that speed was down to around 96 mph, which is closer to 1.5 mph less than his season average. As a result, the fastball was not as effective, and hitters never once swung through the pitch. Eovaldi's only two swings and misses were off of his sliders.

His pitches were also a little more wild than before.

via www.brooksbaseball.net

As a result of his lack of control, Eovaldi threw no strikeouts and three walks on the day in six innings. It took some strong defense by the Fish to hold off the Padres, who lined out and hit balls decently, only to land in gloves. The Padres' only chance at a run against Eovaldi came in the fourth inning, when they loaded the bases with two outs against him off of two singles and a walk. Pedro Ciriaco hit a 2-0 inside pitch on the ground for an easy force-out to end the inning.

The Marlins' offense was not necessarily strong either, but a couple of two-out bloop singles and a Derek Dietrich double did have them ahead 2-0 before Chad Qualls gave up a two-run pinch-hit homer to Carlos Quentin. It came down to the ninth inning and Padres reliever Tyson Ross. Ross quickly ran into a situation with a walk to Logan Morrison and a single by Marcell Ozuna. Dietrich hit a long fly ball that moved Morrison to third, and the Padres decided to intentionally walk pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs.

That brought Jeff Mathis to the plate. Mathis was 0-for-3 prior to that appearance and was hitting .121/.188/.159 this season and .195/.253/.312 for his career. The Fish had Rob Brantly, a lefty hitter, on the bench who could face the righty Ross. Instead, Mike Redmond went with Mathis, and surprisingly, it paid off. Mathis took a fastball out to the bullpen in left field and hit his second homer of the year, this time in grand slam walk-off fashion.

The Marlins will look to finish the series win tomorrow night with Jose Fernandez on the mound.

Drew Pomeranz was not able to deliver the season debut that the Rockies had hoped for. Pomeranz struggled with his command and worked just 4.1 innings with four walks and seven hits, allowing four runs. Even if Pomeranz had pitched better the Rockies still may have found themselves on the losing end of this one.

The offense was held almost completely in check by Giants starter Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner pitched seven innings and gave up just one run on a Carlos Gonzalez home run in the sixth inning. For Gonzalez, it was his league leading 22nd home run, but the Rockies mustered little else against Bumgarner.

In the first inning the Rockies had runners on first and third with nobody out, but they were unable to capitalize and Bumgarner cruised the rest of the afternoon. There were few offensive bright spots for the Rockies today, but Michael Cuddyer was able to extend his franchise best hitting streak to 27 games with an eighth inning single in his final at bat of the day. Wilin Rosario doubled home Cuddyer to make the score 5-2, but Nolan Arenado struck out to end the threat.

Still, winning two of three against the Giants is a solid series and with the Diamondbacks and Padres both losing, the Rockies didn't lose any ground in the division. The Rockies finished June with a 13-15 record.

Source: FanGraphs

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were shut out by the Omaha Storm Chasers (Royals), 3-0.

Starter Brooks Raley had the textbook "quality start," but that obviously wasn't good enough today. Raley allowed three runs on seven hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out two.

Iowa managed five hits, all singles.

Memphis lost to Albuquerque, so Iowa kept their two game lead in the division.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies got burned by the Montgomery Biscuits (Rays), 4-3 in ten innings.

Another good start for Alberto Cabrera, who gave up two runs on seven hits over 6.1 innings. He walked two and struck out three.

Kevin Rhoderick was one out away from his third save, but he couldn't keep the save. After retiring the first two batters of the ninth inning, he walked a batter who went to third on a single and then scored on a wild pitch. Rhoderick then came out to pitch the tenth, but he faced four batters and failed to retire any of them.

Rhoderick's final line was 1+ innings, allowing two runs on four hits, a walk and a hit batsman. He did not strike anyone out.

Shortstop Arismendy Alcantara gave the Smokies a 3-2 lead with a solo home run in the sixth inning. It was his eleventh homer this season. Alcantara went 1 for 4 with a walk and two runs scored.

Left fielder John Andreoli had two doubles in a 2 for 4 game. Right fielder Rubi Silva was 2 for 4.

Daytona Cubs

Looks like the rainy season is coming to Florida early this year.

Kane County Cougars

The Kane County Cougars skinned the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Brewers), 4-3.

Starter Brian Smith allowed three runs on five hits over 4.1 innings. He walked one and struck out three.

Lendy Castillo got the win with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief. He only allowed one hit, but he had control issues as he walked three. He did not have a strike out.

Michael Hamann got the save in his Kane County debut. He pitched 1.1 innings and issued a walk, but no hits and no runs. Hamann struck out one.

Left fielder Reggie Golden provided the winning margin with a solo home run to lead off the top of the eighth. It was Golden's third homer of the year. Golden was 1 for 3 with a walk.

Right fielder Kevin Encarnacion was 3 for 5 with a double and a stolen base. He scored two runs.

Shortstop Marco Hernandez was 2 for 4 with a hit by pitch. Catcher Willson Contreras went 2 for 5 with an RBI. Center fielder Oliver Zapata was 2 for 4 with an RBI.

Boise Hawks

The Boise Hawks scored three times in the bottom of the eighth to win their fourth game in a row, 6-5 over the Eugene Emeralds (Padres).

The Hawks went to a pitching staff by committee today. Carlos Martinez-Pumarino threw the first three innings and allowed two unearned runs on three hits. He walked two and struck out two.

Jasvir Rakkar pitched the next three innings and he gave up one run in each of them. His final line was three runs, two earned, on four hits. He walked two and struck out one.

Andrew McKirahan got the win in his first game in Boise this season. McKirahan threw two scoreless innings, allowing only one hit. He walked one and struck out one.

After Scott Frazier loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth inning, Matt Iannazzo got a groundout to end the game and get his first save.

Right fielder Yasiel Balaguert hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the third inning to give Boise a temporary 3-2 lead. It was his fourth home run of the season. Balaguert was 2 for 4 and scored two runs.

Jose Dore 2 for 4 with a double. He scored once.

AZL Cubs

Beat the Indians, 6-4.

Do you have some trade offers you are consider, but need to bounce them off of someone? Are you pondering a roster move and want a second opinion? Feel free to post your questions in the Fantasy Baseball Questions thread.

Fake Teams Podcast, Episode 13: We Can Handle the Truth

Zack and Andrew hosted episode 13 of the Fake Teams podcast where they discussed Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kipnis, John Lackey, scouting grades and much more. You can listen to the podcast in two ways:

MP3

ITunes

Yasiel Puig: All Star?

Yasiel Puig is having one amazing start to his big league career, and yesterday he filled up the box score in the Dodgers 6-1 win over the Phillies. He went 4-5 with two runs scored and two stolen bases, and was a home run shy of the cycle. He came up with two men on in the eighth inning and struck out. He is now hitting .436-.467-.713 with 7 HRs, 5 doubles, 19 runs, 16 RBI and 4 stolen bases in just 101 at bats.

Some think he should be an All Star, and I would love to see him named to the NL roster, but if he did not, I would not have a problem with it. I think an All Star should have played more than a month and a half to be named to the All Star team. I keep waiting for Puig to go into a slump and I have yet to see it happen.

For more on Puig, and the Dodgers, please check out True Blue LA, SB Nation's Dodgers fan site.

Mariners call up Brad Miller

I didn't get a chance to do a write up a piece on the Mariners call up of Brad Miller on Friday, but he is probably someone you want to pick up if he is not already rostered in your leagues. Miller was tearing up the Pacific Coast League, hitting .356-.426-.596 with 6 HRs, 26 runs, 28 RBI and 2 stolen bases in just 104 at bats. All this after hitting .294-.379-.471 with 6 HRs, 27 runs, 25 RBI and 4 stolen bases in AA. So, the guy can hit.

Yesterday, Miller went 2-3 with 2 doubles and a walk in the Mariners 7-6 loss to the Cubs. The two hits were the first of his big league career, after going 0-8 with two stolen bases in his first two games.

For more on Miller and the Mariners, check out Lookout Landing, SB Nation's Mariner's fan site.

Round'em Up

The Royals designated Jeff Francoeur for assignment on Sunday morning, and the reason for the DFA has been the play of outfielder David Lough. Lough went 4-4 with 4 extra base hits yesterday, 3 doubles, a HR, 4 runs and 3 RBI and is now hitting .314-.336-.471 with 2 HRs, 9 doubles, 14 runs, 14 RBI and a stolen base.

Indians starter Justin Masterson is having himself a great bounce back season, and yesterday his success on the mound continued in the Indians 4-0 win over the White Sox. Masterson threw a complete game six hit shutout, walking one and striking out eight to win his 10th game of the season. Masterson is now 10-6 with 3.48 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and a 125-45 strikeout to walk rate in 124 innings.

Coming into this season, I was not a believer in Ian Desmond's breakout power year in 2012. Well, his power is for real. Desmond went 2-4 with a HR, double, 2 runs and 3 RBI yesterday, and is now hitting .276-.315-.508 with 15 HRs, 36 runs, 48 RBI and 8 stolen bases this season. He is on pace to hit 30 home runs, drive in 96 runs and steal 16 bases. A mini-Tulo?

iMarlins starter Nathan Eovaldi has been a pleasant surprise for the team since his return from the DL. On Sunday, Eovaldi shut out the Padres for six innings, giving up four hits, three walks and striking out none. He did not figure in the decision, but is 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and a 10-6 strikeout to walk rate in 18 innings. He has seen his fastball velocity from 94 mph to just under 97 mph this season.

Rangers ace Yu Darvish has been pitching well this season, but has not won a game since May 16th. Until Sunday. Yesterday, he shut out the Reds for 6.2 innings , giving up 4 hits, walking 4 and striking out 8 in the Rangers 3-2 win. Darvish is now 8-3 with a 2.78 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and a 151-37 strikeout to walk rate in 113.1 innings across his 17 starts. He is on pace for 298 strikeouts this season, and he has to be one of the top 2-3 starters in 5 x 5 leagues going forward.

More from Fake Teams

2013 Prospect Rankings: The Midseason Top-100

Complete SP Rankings: Week 14

Fantasy Baseball: Two-Start Pitchers for Week 14

Minor League Level Review (AAA): Singleton and Walker Debut, Middlebrooks and Wacha Back

Around the League - N.L.

Low Level Prospect Review: Miguel Almonte, RHP, Kansas City Royals

Waiver Wire: 10 Under 10%

Deep league advice -- We're a go for LoMo

The Unexpected Competence of Adam Lind

Nationals 13, Mets 2: Washington roughed up Zack Wheeler, tagging the starter for five runs in 4 2/3 innings to give the right-hander his first major-league loss. Gio Gonzalez countered with seven scoreless innings, only allowing three hits while fanning seven Mets.

The Mets brought in backup catcher Anthony Recker to pitch the ninth inning, which did not impress Ian Desmond, who blasted a homer off the windows of the stadium club seats.

Royals 9, Twins 8: David Lough went 4-for-4, hitting three doubles and the go-ahead solo home run in the top of the eighth inning. Lough became just the fifth Royals player in history to collect four extra-base hits in a single game. Johnny Giavotella collected three hits in his first game of the 2013 season.

A Royals fan made an impressive catch during the fourth inning, falling over backwards to snare a foul-ball with his glove.

Indians 4, White Sox 0: Justin Masterson threw his league-leading third complete game shutout of the season, allowing six hits while striking out eight White Sox. The victory moved Cleveland into a virtual tie with Detroit for first place in the AL Central.

Marlins 6, Padres 2: Jeff Mathis clubbed a walk-off grand slam for Miami, his second home run of the season and the second grand slam in the catcher's career:

Nathan Eovaldi tossed six scoreless innings for the Marlins for his third quality start in June.

Braves 6, Diamondbacks 2: Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer off Arizona starter Trevor Cahill, while Brian McCann and Dan Uggla also smacked homers off the right-hander. The Braves improved to a major league-best 28-11 at home, while the Diamondbacks have gone 22 straight games without a win from a starting, the longest streak in the majors since the Padres went 25 games without a win in 2009, according to STATS Inc.

Athletics 7, Cardinals 5: Oakland battered Jake Westbrook for six runs on ten hits in four innings. Jed Lowrie went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI, while Seth Smith, Yoenis Cespedes and Josh Donaldson all had multi-hit games. Carlos Beltran, Alan Craig and Matt Carpenter all hit homers for St. Louis.

Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 4: Toronto first baseman Josh Thole committed an error on a Shane Victorino groundball in the ninth inning, which allowed Jonathan Diaz to score the game-winning run.

Thole entered the game in the second inning as a replacement for Adam Lind, who left with a mid-back injury. Jose Bautista had tied the game for the Blue Jays in the top of the ninth inning with a solo homer off Koji Uehara, his fourth game-tying home run in the ninth inning or later this season, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Angels 3, Astros 1: Josh Hamilton drove in the go-ahead run with an eighth-inning double, extending the Angels winning streak to six games. C.J. Wilson threw seven innings to earn his fourth straight victory, striking out 10 for this third double-digit strikeout game of the season.

Rays 3, Tigers 1: Jeremy Hellickson recorded his fifth win in the month of June, tying Matt Moore, David Price and Scott Kazmir for most victories in a month in Rays history. Both benches were warned early in the game, when Rick Porcello hit Ben Zobrist with a pitch in the first inning. Miguel Cabrera yelled at Fernando Rodney in the tenth inning of last night's game after the closer threw up-and-in against the third baseman.

Rays manager Joe Maddon handled the situation in his own way, sending out the following Tweet after the game.

For those looking for a response as to why we didn’t retaliate today, please read Mario Puzo.

— Joe Maddon (@RaysJoeMaddon) June 30, 2013

Puzo wrote a number of novels and screenplays about the Mafia, and is best known for writing The Godfather.

Rangers 3, Reds 2: Yu Darvish out-dueled Mat Latos, allowing no runs on four hits while striking out eight over 6 2/3 innings to earn his first victory since May 16. Texas scored their first two runs on an Elvis Andrus squeeze bunt; Devin Mesoraco could not handle the Latos throw after Adrian Beltre slid into the catcher, which allowed Leonys Martin to score.

Dodgers 6, Phillies 0: Yasiel Puig went 4-for-5 at the plate, scoring two runs and finishing a homer shy of the cycle. Puig finished with 44 hits in June, breaking Steve Sax's Dodgers' record for most hits in a single month. Puig's 44 hits rank as the second most hits in the first month of a player's career:

Puig will likely finish the month of June with 44 H. The 2nd most all-time by a player in their first-career calendar month (DiMaggio, 48).

— Dodgers PR (@DodgersPR) June 30, 2013

Pirates 2, Brewers 1: The Pirates' winning streak is still alive, thanks to Russell Martin. The catcher came in as a pinch-hitter and singled home the winning run in the 14th inning to beat the Brewers, 2-1, and extend the Pittsburgh winning strak to nine games. The Pirates will now head into July with the most wins in the majors as they go in search of their first winning season in 21 years.

Giants 5, Rockies 2: The Giants may be in fourth place in the NL West, but they are just three games out of first place after beating the Rockies. Colorado will be disappointed not to have won to move within one game of first-place Arizona, but Madison Bumgarner's seven innings of four-hit, one-run ball was enough to snap San Francisco's six-game losing streak. The only good news for the Rockies is that Michael Cuddyer extended hitting streak to 27 games.

Cubs 7, Mariners 6: True to Cubs form, Chicago almost blew a six-run lead on Sunday. True to Mariners form, they couldn't finish the comeback. The Cubs led 7-1 after four innings, but the Mariners started to chip away at Edwin Jackson, then they really beat up the Chicago bullpen that has blown 16 saves this season. It wasn't enough, though, The Cubs held on. Barely.

Orioles 4, Yankees 2: The Orioles rode the long ball to upend the Yankees as Manny Machado, Chris Davis and Nate McLouth all hit solo homers. That, along with six solid innings by Chris Tillman and three shutout innings from the bullpen was all Baltimore needed to stay within 2.5 games of Boston for the AL East lead.

More from SB Nation:

• The ins and outs of Yasiel Puig

• Mets may limit Harvey’s innings

• Scherzer’s 12-0 start best since 1986

• Yankees, Red Sox interested in Michael Young

• MLB trade rumors | MLB Daily Dish

Here we are, juuuust past the midpoint of the season.

In the last ten games, the top three teams in the division have slipped into mediocrity by going 4-6. The Giants have plummeted to 4th place by going 2-8. The sleeping giants, the Dodgers, have awoken. They were 9.5 games back from the division leader on June 21st and have rallied and ridden Yasiel Puig's coattails to go 8-2 and are now only 4 back.

This is the closest division race in baseball and probably the worst bunch of teams. One wonders how many wins it will take to clinch the division. Could it be in the low 80's again like in 2005 when the Padres won with 82 wins? The first half records says, "yes, most definitely".

The Padres have cooled off considerably in the last 2 weeks. Losing to the Miami Marlins yesterday on a walk-off grand slam could be a season low point. It's hard to know what to expect from this team on a day to day basis, especially with most of the infield on the disabled list.

Things haven't turned out as expected so far. Pre-season hopes of Chase Headley carrying the team and receiving a huge contract extension haven't panned out. Worries about Andrew Cashner not having what it takes to be a starting pitcher have been for naught. Petco Park and its shrunken outfield seem to be giving the Padres a home field advantage. The team is 25-18 at home and 15-24 on the road. And still, after a 5-15 start the team is shockingly in the midst of a pennant race and poised to confuse us some more.

In franchise history 15 teams out of 45 have had a winning record after 81 games. The 2013 team isn't one of them, but they're close.

Let's compare the first 81 games to those Padres teams of yesteryear.

First 81 games by Winning %

The Padres have had 16 managers in their 45 years as a major league franchise, starting with-- oh, man, I almost gave you a free answer. But, yeah, how many of them can you name?

I'm sure you know how this works by now. You only need their last names and you don't get penalized for wrong answers. Since this quiz only has 16 answers, I set the timer at four minutes. As clues, both the years they served as manager and their win-loss records are provided. Included in the 16 is one man who served as interim manager for one game in 1977, after-- whoa, that was another close one. We should probably get right to the quiz before I really do let an answer slip.

Can you name the 16 managers in Padres history?

When you're finished, be sure to note in the poll how many you got and leave spoiler-proofed comments.

A recap of today's minor league transactions:

Rays sign Ramon Ramirez, Evan Frey; release Will Inman

The Tampa Bay Rays have signed right-hander Ramon Ramirez and outfielder Evan Frey, according to Marc Topkin of Tampa Bay Times. Both players were assigned to Triple-A Durham, and pitcher Will Inman was released to create roster space.

Ramirez, who has eight years of major league experience with the Rockies (2006-2007), Royals (2008), Red Sox (2009-2010), Giants (2010-2011, 2013) and Mets (2012), was designated for assignment by San Francisco on June 13th and released four days later. In 5.2 innings in the majors this season, he posted a 11.12 ERA and 2.471 WHIP. The 31-year old is best known for his stellar pitching in 2010, when his 0.67 ERA in 25 innings with the Giants helped lead the team to a World Series championship.

Frey, who has spent seven seasons in the Arizona Diamondbacks' system, was released from Triple-A Reno on Wednesday. In 61 games with Reno, the 27-year old hit .282 with 8 RBI.

Inman, who signed a minor league deal with the Rays in November, is 0-2 with a 6.47 ERA in 21 relief appearances on the season. He has previously spent time in the Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, and Boston Red Sox organizations.

Phillies release Andy Gonzalez

The Philadelphia Phillies have released infielder Andy Gonzalez from Double-A Reading, according to a tweet from Reading's PR director Eric Scarcella. The 31-year old has hit .143 with 1 RBI since signing with the Phillies on May 30th, and may return to the York Revolution of the Atlantic League, where he spent the first part of the season. Gonzalez has major league experience with the Miami Marlins, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Indians.

Lancaster Barnstormers sign Rich Rundles

Ex-major leaguer Rich Rundles will sign with the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League this week, MLBDailyDish's Chris Cotillo has learned. Rundles, 32, was released from the Baltimore Orioles' system in April and will return to Lancaster, where he spent part of the 2012 season. He appeared in nine games with the Cleveland Indians in 2008 and 2009, posting a 1.50 ERA in six innings of work.

Today is International Signing Day. Here is an open discussion thread to share news and signing information. Here are some informative links for you:

Matt Garrioch's International Signings Preview
TheAncientMariners's International Prospects Report. WARNING: slow loading, but chock full of information and videos.
Jonathan Mayo's 2013 Top 30 International Prospects List

Toolsy outfielder Eloy Jimenez, Venezuelan shortstop Gleyber Torres, and third baseman Rafael Devers may command the largest bonuses, but there are three other players I am keeping a particular eye on:

Luis Barrios, LHP: From Colombia. Very projectable but already throws fairly hard with a clean delivery. Linked to the Braves like many Colombian prospects often are.

Lewin Diaz, 1B-OF: From the Dominican Republic, a left-handed bat with explosive, if raw, power potential and good hitting skills for his age. Reportedly linked to the Twins.

Joan Mauricio, SS: From the Dominican Republic, a left-handed bat with athleticism and projectability. Unclear who he is linked to although today's Baseball America Bed Badler report indicates it may be the Houston Astros.

Those three would be key targets for me if I were running a team.

International Bonus Pools for 2013-2014

Less than half of the league hit the field on Monday, but plenty of highligh ensued in the seven games that took place. Below are the MLB scores and highlights from Monday.

Nationals 10, Brewers 5: Remember when Bryce Harper was on the disabled list? It sure seems like Harper doesn't because he hit a home run on his first swing since coming off the disabled list over the weekend. Harper missed all of June with a left knee injury and, after letting the first pitch go by, the slugger hit his 13th home run into left field while sending the Brewers to their sixth-straight loss.

Yankees 9, Twins 4: Andy Pettitte entered the game needing two strikeouts to become the Yankees' franchise leader in the category and the lefty eventually fanned Justin Morneau in the fifth inning to surpass Whitey Ford for his 1,958 strikeout as a New York Yankees pitcher. Robinson Cano had two home runs to help make Pettitte's record-breaking night a good one as the Yankees snapped a five-game losing streak.

Mets 5, Diamondbacks 4: Andrew Brown hit a two-run single to left-centerfield in the bottom of the 13th inning to give the Mets the win in a game that lasted an incredible five hours and 13 minutes. Cody Ross opened the top of the 13th with a home run to give the Diamondbacks a 4-3 lead, but Josh Collmenter struggled with his location in the bottom of the 13th, walking two and giving up two en route to the eventual loss.

Marlins 4, Padres 0: Marlins rookie Jose Fernandez pitched a career-high eight innings and tied a career-high 10 strikeouts as Miami shutout the Padres. Jeff Mathis had a three run double for his seventh RBI in two games as the Marlins won their sixth of seven games.

Reds 8, Giants 1: The Giants recent slump continued after the Reds pounded rookie Michael Kickham for seven earned runs. Todd Frazier did much of the damage, leaving no doubts about his 10th home run before finishing the game with four RBIs. Heavy rain began in the sixth inning and, after a nearly two hour rain delay, the game was called.

Blue Jays 8, Tigers 3: Toronto had a happy Canada Day as R.A. Dickey pitched seven innings and Jose Reyes hit a three-run home run to send Detroit home with a loss, putting them a half-game behind the Cleveland Indians for the AL Central lead. Dickey started off the season a bit up and down, but has increased the velocity on his knuckleball and put up his third-straight quality start in this outing.

Rays 12, Astros 0: After a rough go around in June, Matt Moore was definitely looking for the calendar to change over. It worked, too, as he shut out the Astros for seven innings while striking out nine. Virtually everyone on the Rays got in on the party as the team finished with 17 hits and eight different players driving in a run. The Astros couldn't get any offense going against Moore, either, collecting just two hits in the game.

More from SB Nation:

• Royals discuss trade for Chase Utley

• Will the Pirates' best record in baseball be enough?

• Bryce Harper returning from disabled list

• The ins and outs of Yasiel Puig

• MLB trade rumors | MLB Daily Dish

The "Voice of the Padres"Jerry Coleman did a reading of the Declaration of Independence to celebrate our nation's 237th birthday. The recording will be available at thearamcogroup.com/Coleman indefinitely starting July 4th.

If you've seen at least one Padres game this season then you've no doubt seen dozens of commercials for the Aramco Group for whom Coleman is a spokesperson.

"Our goal is to share the reading of this revered document by both a baseball legend and proud U.S. Marine Corps officer with students, teachers, fellow veterans and anyone who who appreciates what this country stands for," said Andy Strasberg, President of ACME. "These timeless words are truly inspirational, especially so when read by a man like Jerry."

Andy Strasberg. Does that name sound familiar? He was the Padres VP of Marketing for 22 years and the one who signed Cole Hamels to a lifetime Padres contract at birth. But I digress...

Here's just a snippet of Jerry's reading to whet your appetite:

When it comes to Jerry Coleman I have to disagree with our Founding Fathers. Not all men were created equal.

The Baltimore Orioles have acquired starter Scott Feldman and catcher Steve Clevenger from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for right-handers Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop, MLBDailyDish's Chris Cotillo has confirmed. Keith Law of ESPN.com was the first to report the move, and adds that the Cubs will receive $388,100 in international signing slot money as well.

Orioles 'aggressively pursuing' rotation upgrades, sitting on 2B

Baltimore is considering Ricky Nolasco, Bud Norris, Jason Vargas, and others -- but will likely stand pat at 2nd base.

Feldman, 7-6 with a 3.46 ERA in 15 starts on the season, was one of many players that the Cubs have been shopping in recent days along with Matt Garza and Kevin Gregg.

The Orioles have been searching all over for a starter, and had interest in Bud Norris, Garza, and Ricky Nolasco, as reported in Sunday's piece. Feldman will immediately slot into the rotation and provide the Orioles with the proven starter they have been searching for.

Clevenger, a 27-year old Baltimore native, was placed on the trading block within the last 24 hours after a disagreement with the Cubs over his medical situation, a source has confirmed to MLBDailyDish.

After being recently activated from the 60-day disabled list, he asked for a second opinion on the injury (which he is entitled to as a 40-man roster player) within the last 24 hours and was immediately put on the trading block and told to pack up his gear.

The Orioles, reportedly interested in Clevenger for the last couple of years, jumped on the opportunity to acquire him as soon as he became available. Clevenger was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk, where he will serve as depth behind Matt Wieters and Taylor Teagarden.

Arrieta, recently drawing significant interest from the San Diego Padres in recent days, will join Triple-A Iowa. At 27 years old, the Cubs hope that a change of scenery will help the promising right-hander reach his full potential with a new organization. In 69 major league appearances since 2010, Arrieta is 20-25 with a 5.46 ERA, and has spent much of the 2013 season with Triple-A Norfolk.

Strop, who has posted a 7.25 ERA in 29 appearances on the season, will join the Cubs' big-league bullpen later in the week. The 28-year old is coming off a superb 2012 season in which he went 5-2 with a 2.44 ERA, and hopes to put his struggles behind him with his new team.

With the first big deal of the month done, the Cubs will now likely focus on moving Garza, who is drawing interest from many teams. The Orioles, who may have been the frontrunners to acquire Norris, are likely out of those sweepstakes, and the Padres will have to turn elsewhere in their pursuit of a young starter with Arrieta off the board. With San Diego very interested in both Arrieta and Garza, the Cubs could flip Arrieta in a package deal with the Padres for an appealing package of prospects.

More from MLB Daily Dish:

• Orioles acquire Eric Thames from Mariners
• Cubs trade rumors: Matt Garza drawing interest from many teams
• Yankees rumors: Robinson Cano likely headed for free agency
• Phillies trade rumors: Red Sox, Yankees interested in Michael Young
• Join the MLBDD community and write a fanpost!

I recently had the chance to speak with Greg Stanwood from Purple Row. Here's what he had to say about Colorado so far this season.

DAVID: Easy question to start this off, well, kind of easy. Have the Rockies surprised you at all this season? The Dodgers haven't played to their potential due to injuries, the Diamondbacks are in a slump but have played very well, the Giants aren't playing like defending champs, and the Padres are playing better than people expected.

GREG: Coming off a season where your team put up their worst record in franchise history, it's hard to feel good about your squad's chances in the near future. There was a lot of understandable doom and gloom around Rockies nation. I had said in the offseason that while I wasn't optimistic going in, a .500 team would not be that much of a surprise. With us hovering right around that mark right now, I can say that the total collected results of the Rockies' season is on the upper end of "not surprising". However, the fact that we're in a division where .500 is a contending record is a big surprise to me.

DAVID: If you could pick right now, who would be Colorado's Cy Young and MVP?

GREG: There have been a lot of positive stories coming out of the season this year. Troy Tulowitzki was having an MVP caliber season before his injury. Dexter Fowler is proving that last year's success wasn't an anomaly. Michael Cuddyer is making people feel a lot better about that contract. Jorge De La Rosa's slow rehabilitation from surgery has been long forgotten, as he's as stable and effective as ever. Jhoulys Chacin was slowed by injury in May, but has put up the best Colorado starting pitcher performance in April and June since 2010 Ubaldo Jimenez. But my honest answer to both may come as a surprise: Rex Brothers. Brothers has been nails in the bullpen, having matured into just about everything we had hoped he could. He responded well in his brief time in the closer's role while Rafael Betancourt was injured. Having now returned to setup, Brothers continues to be a big part of the Rockies' late-game success, even as the rest of the bullpen has hit a rough patch. His strikeouts are down, but so are his walks, and he's cut his hits/9 down by a full hit and a half this year. At the time of me answering this question, he's only allowed his second run of the year.

DAVID: What exactly was the deal with the Rockies' starting pitchers' pitch limit last season? Is it still in effect this year?

GREG: The team's front office was not expecting such a total crash and burn performance last year, and as player after player began to drop to injury, the team began to panic, wondering whether some of the nightmare theories they had developed about pitching at altitude over the past decade were being realized. Apparently, the idea of moving to a "two-step" rotation had been in their back pocket for some time, and a season as unsuccessful as last year's made for as ideal a time as any to give it a go. Essentially, the Rockies built a second "hybrid" rotation underneath the traditional starter rotation. Starters would have a strict 75 pitch limit (often giving them just four innings on the mound, even if they were good) with the hybrids kicking in afterward to bridge to the end of the game.

GREG: I'm all for experimentation in baseball management, and I actually found the idea intriguing. That said, I criticize the team's implementation of the system last year. Being that it was only at the MLB level, was constantly being tooled with and the players involved never settling into consistent roles, we learned almost nothing from it. A terrible pitching staff was still terrible, and it didn't seem to help the injury bug.

GREG: For all intents and purposes, that system is no longer in place in 2013, but the philosophy behind it is still key in this year's pitching management. Starters have a strict, but much more reasonable, 100-pitch limit, and while not strictly hybrid starers, our bullpen is built out of a lot of guys that can throw 2-3 innings if necessary. So while you probably won't see starters dropping out in the fourth very often anymore, we still have some starter longevity issues, problems with efficiency, and a somewhat overpowered bullpen. But it doesn't feel quite so much like a house of cards in a windstorm anymore.

DAVID: How do you think Walt Weiss has done in his first season as Colorado's manager? With the division this wide open, he has a shot at taking them from last to first.

GREG: To be honest, I've never felt myself a great evaluator of managers in general. I often feel that their contributions are frequently minimal compared to others. While a manager can definitely be "the wrong guy for the job", is a manager ever "the right guy for the job?" So with that said, Weiss' first season as a manager has flown somewhat under the radar with all of the player-related stories around the team. He's done... fine, and as simplistic as that is, it's the most apt description I can think of. He's neither an embarrassment nor a godsend, and it's hard to gauge exactly how much of the team's success or failure can be laid at his feet. I think if the Rockies finish on pace with where they are now, playoffs or not, he probably gets a contract extension.

DAVID: Carlos Gonzalez was incredible in 2010, and then faded in 2011 and 2012. This year he seems to be "back." Do you think his success is crucial to Colorado?

GREG: Gonzalez is definitely key to the Rockies' success, perhaps less so with Cuddyer and Fowler playing the way they are this year, but with Tulowitzki only about half way to returning, his importance to the lineup is far greater. More on this question below.

DAVID: Troy Tulowitzki is still out with a broken rib. What does this team need to keep doing to stay competitive until he comes back?

GREG: Last year, when Tulowitzki went down in May and was unable to be healthy enough to return for the rest of the season, Carlos Gonzalez's performance suffered incredibly. That can't happen again. This lineup is more complete than last year's, but still has some frustrating weaknesses and we need Gonzalez to adjust to being the lynchpin in there. Fowler is currently nursing a hagging hand injury, and it would be great if that gets sorted over ASAP. Most importantly, the team needs to not worry about rushing Tulo back. Last year, they sent him on a rehab assignment that aggravated his injury and sent him back to square one. Make sure Tulo is healthy before worrying about bringing him back. Two extra weeks without him is a lot less dire than two extra months.

DAVID: Michael Cuddyer was out a lot at the end of last season, and a little bit earlier this season. Now he is on fire with a 27-game hit streak. How do you think that's happened? Did you expect this out of him when the team signed him?

GREG: You could look at Cuddyer's 2013 as just a sort of extended return to the mean, correcting for his underperformance in 2012. Cuddyer seems like the kind of player who responds to a positive environment, and last year's chaotic series of disappointment after disappointment could easily have had a negative effect on this type of player. I didn't expect a season this good when we signed him, but I didn't expect one as bad as 2012 either. After this season is over, his numbers will probably reflect something closer to the window we expected. 2014 will likely be the real deciding factor on whether his signing was a good idea or not.

DAVID: The All-Star Game is coming up. Who do you think on the Rockies deserves to represent the team more than anyone else? Also, on a more Dodgers' related note, do you think Yasiel Puig should be playing in the game?

GREG: Even though he wouldn't be able to play, Troy Tulowitzki has to be the guy. And yes, Puig deserves a nod.

DAVID: Series prediction?

GREG: Ooph. I'm going to say that the Rockies drop game 1 to Clayton Kershaw, and come back to win games 2 and 3. But you guys have been surging, while the Rockies are only just beginning to maintain average again. I think either team is capable of winning all three.

July 2 marks the beginning of the international free agent signing period, where athletes from outside the United States can sign with MLB teams as long as they are 16 years of age. Teams now need to stick to slotted pool space when allocating money for their signings so that bad teams get to spend more and good teams have to spend less. The Yankees have one of the lower pools in baseball this season with only $1.8 million allotted to them in 2013. They can trade for more pool space, like the Rangers, Orioles, and Dodgers did, in order to spend more money, but so far that hasn't happened and it looks like they're going to miss out on the international market as teams have already snatched up many of the best prospects from the Caribbean, South America, and Central America.

Baseball America's top 30 international prospects:

1. Eloy Jimenez, of, Dominican Republic
2. Gleyber Torres, ss, VenezuelaCubs for $1.7M
3. Rafael Devers, 3b, Dominican RepublicRed Sox for $1.5M
4. Luis Encarnacion, 3b, Dominican Republic
5. Leonardo Molina, cf, Dominican Republic
6. Marcos Diplan, rhp, Dominican RepublicRangers for $1.3M
7. Yeyson Yrizarri, ss, Venezuela/Dominican Republic Rangers for $1.35M
8. Yeltsin Gudino, ss, Venezuela
9. Micker Zapata, of, Dominican RepublicWhite Sox for $1.6M
10. Jose Herrera, c, Venezuela Diamondbacks for $1M
11. Carlos Herrera, ss, VenezuelaRockies for $1M
12. Marten Gasparini, ss, ItalyRoyals for $1.3M
13. Erick Julio, rhp, ColombiaSigned by Rockies
14. Jesus Lopez, ss, NicaraguaAthletics for $960K
15. Lewin Diaz, of/1b, Dominican Republic
16. Erling Moreno, rhp, Colombia Cubs for $800K
17. Carlos Hiciano, ss, Dominican Republic Athletics for $750K
18. Freddy Rodriguez, of, Venezuela
19. Mayky Perez, rhp, Dominican Republic
20. Nicolas Pierre, of, Dominican RepublicBrewers for $800K
21. Greifer Andrade, of, Venezuela
22. Cristhian Vasquez, of, Venezuela
23. Jen-Ho Tseng, rhp, Taiwan
24. Wilson Amador, ss, Dominican Republic
25. Ali Sanchez, c, VenezuelaMets for $690K
26. Michael de Leon, ss, Dominican Republic
27. Ricardo Sanchez, lhp, Venezuela
28. Carlos Talavera, of, Venezuela Cardinals for$500K
29. Anderson Franco, 3b, Dominican Republic
30. Luis Carpio, ss, Venezuela

Those listed as some of the top talent over at Minor League Ball:

14. The Rangers signed outfielder Jose Almonte (DR) for $1.8M

36. The Astros signed shortstop Joan Mauricio (DR) for $600K

38. The Astros signed outfielder Nestor Tejada (VZ)

44. The Cardinals outfielder Carlos Talavera (VZ) for $500K

48. The Yankees signed shortstop Yonauris Rodriguez (DR) for $575K

49. The Red Sox signed left-handed pitcher Emmanuel DeJesus (VZ) for $780K

Other Signings:

The Padres signed shortstop Ruddy Girón (DR) for $600K

The Mets signed right-handed pitcher Luis Silva (VZ) $275K

The Diamondbacks signed outfielder Francis Martinez (DR) for $350K and third baseman Josue Herrera for $150K

The Indians signed outfielder Junior Soto (DR) $600K

The Tigers signed catcher Elys Escobar (VZ) for $350K

The Brewers signed catcher Johel Atencio (PAN) for $130K

The Cardinals signed right-hander Sandy Alcantara (DR) for $150K

The Cubs signed right-handed pitcher Jefferson Mejia (DR) for $850K

The Tigers signed shortstop Hector Martinez (DR) for $400K

The Mets signed shortstop Yeffry de Aza (DR) for $475K

The Cardinals signed shortstop Hector Linares (DR) for $400K

The Cardinals signed left-handed pitcher Kerrion Bennett (NIC) for $30K

The Astros signed shortstop/outfielder Osvaldo Duarte (DR)

The Astros signed shortstop/catcher Jonathan Matute (VZ)

Do you have some trade offers you are consider, but need to bounce them off of someone? Are you pondering a roster move and want a second opinion? Feel free to post your questions in the Fantasy Baseball Questions thread.

Fake Teams Podcast, Episode 14: Super Duper American

Andrew and Zack hosted their twice weekly Fake Teams podcast on Sunday night, and discussed Matt Adams, Brad Miller, Bartolo Colon and much more. You can listen to the podcast via MP3 or ITunes:

MP3

ITunes

Homer Bailey no hits the Giants

Reds starter Homer Bailey tossed his second no-hitter in the last four months, going back to September of 2012 when he no hit the Pirates. Bailey needed 109 pitches to complete the no-no, and was one walk away from a perfect game. He struck out nine Giants, and is now 5-6 with a 3.57 ERA, 2.66 FIP, 1.06 WHIP and a 111-26 strikeout to walk rate in 111 innings this season. He owns a 9.00 K/9, a 2.21 BB/9 and an excellent 48.6% ground ball rate, and is approaching #HolyTrinity status.

In his no-hitter vs the Pirates on September 28, 2012, Bailey struck out 10 and walked one, so he was one strikeout away from duplicating that feat last night. I assume the Giants don't want to see Homer Bailey any time soon. Here is a tweet from MLB:

Giant among Giants? Homer Bailey’s last 2 starts vs @SFGiants: 16 IP, 19 Ks, 1 hit.

— MLB (@MLB) July 3, 2013

Bailey seems to be having his way with the Giants lately eh?

Jose Fernandez dominates the Padres

I realize Jose Fernandez pitched on Monday night, but he was so dominant that I had to post my thoughts. I watched some of this game and saw him throwing 95-97 mph into the 8th inning, and if I remember correctly, he reached 98 mph in the 8th inning as well. That is Justin Verlander-ish, right? And he is only 20 years old.

Fernandez needed only 100 pitches to shutout the Padres on 2 hits, a walk and struck out a season high 10 batters in 8 innings of work. Fernandez is now 5-4 with a 2.72 ERA, 3.00 FIP, 1.06 WHIP and a 94-33 strikeout to walk rate in 92.2 innings. He has made 16 starts this season, giving up two runs or less in twelve of them, and his 2.72 ERA ranks 13th in MLB, right behind a couple guys named Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee. If he's not an ace right now, I don't know what one looks like. 20 years old.

Round'em Up

Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg is back to his old self after some early season struggles and a DL stint. Strasburg shut out the Brewers on 3 hits, 4 walks and 8 strikeouts last night, but once again got zero run support. Strasburg has given up two runs or less in 10 of his last 11 starts, and is now 4-6 with a 2.24 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and a 98-31 strikeout to walk rate in 100.1 innings of work this season. The Nationals have scored two runs or less in seven of his last eleven starts.

Is John Lackey back to being the ace he was with the Angels a few years back? I think he is. Last night, Lackey limited the Padres to just one run on 6 hits, a walk and 6 strikeouts in the Red Sox 4-1 win. Lackey moved his record to 6-5 with a 2.81 ERA, 3.61 FIP, 1.17 WHIP and a 79-18 strikeout to walk rate in 86.1 innings this season. He has now given up two runs or less in 10 of his 14 starts this season.

Braves catcher Brian McCann will be a free agent at the end of the season, and I am wondering what the Braves will do with him. Will they resign him if they go far into the playoffs, or will they let him walk to allow Evan Gattis to catch every day? Last night, McCann went 3-5 with a run and 2 RBI, and is now hitting .262-.360-.489 with 9 HRs, 15 runs, 26 RBI and an excellent 26-20 K-BB rate in 141 at bats this season.

Marlins first baseman Logan Morrison recently returned from the DL and has been on fire ever since. Morrison went 204 with a run and 2 RBI and is now hitting .321-.387-.554 with 2 HRs, 10 runs, 7 RBI and a 8-6 K-BB rate in just 56 at bats this season. He is owned in just 4.8% of ESPN leagues for some reason, so go pick him up if you need a bat.

Yankees starter Phil Hughes had his second straight excellent start on Tuesday night, limiting the Twins to just one runs on 6 hits, 2 walks and 3 strikeouts in the Yankees win over the Twins. Hughes is now 4-7 with a 4.55 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. Hughes has been mentioned in trade rumors recently and I think he could benefit with a change of scenery.

Blue Jays outfielder Colby Rasmus is quietly having a pretty good season at the plate. He isn't hitting for average, but he is showing some power this season. Last night, Rasmus went 2-4 with a HR, 2 runs and 4 RBI, raising his triple slash line to .244-.316-.465 with 15 HRs, 36 runs and 42 RBI. He still strikes out way too much, but is on pace for 29 HRs and 80+ RBI so far.

Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig just keeps amazing me with his performance this season. I keep wondering when he will begin his regression, and he appears to be from another planet. Puig went 3-5 with a HR, double, 2 runs and an RBI, and is now hitting .443-.473-.745 with 8 HRs, 21 runs, 17 RBI, 4 stolen bases and a 22-4 K-BB rate in just 106 at bats thus far. He has to regress at some point, right? I mean, his BABIP is .513 right now.

Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw dominated the Rockies on Tuesday night, tossing a complete game 4 hit shutout in the Dodgers 8-0 win. Kershaw gave up 4 hits, walked none and struck out 8, and ended Michael Cuddyer's 27 game hitting streak to boot. Kershaw is now 7-5 with a 1.93 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and a 126-33 strikeout to walk rate in 130.1 innings on the mound this season. He has given up two runs or less in 13 of his 18 starts this season.

More from Fake Teams

Don't Stop Believing: Nick Swisher and Adam LaRoche

Coming Soon to A Stadium Near You: Noah Syndergaard, RHP, New York Mets

Complete SP Rankings: Week 14

Fantasy Baseball: Two-Start Pitchers for Week 14

Minor League Level Review (AAA): Singleton and Walker Debut, Middlebrooks and Wacha Back

Around the League - N.L.

Low Level Prospect Review: Miguel Almonte, RHP, Kansas City Royals

Waiver Wire: 10 Under 10%

Deep league advice -- We're a go for LoMo

The Unexpected Competence of Adam Lind

Here are your MLB scores and highlights from an exciting first Tuesday in July:

Reds 3, Giants 0:Homer Bailey threw a no-hitter and has now recorded baseball's last two no-no's. The last guy to have that distinction was Nolan Ryan in 1975. Bailey struck out nine Giants and was perfect until he walked Gregor Blanco to start the seventh inning. That was the only baserunner Bailey would allow during his magical performance, which garnered a game score of 95.

Dodgers 8, Rockies 0:Yasiel Puig went 3-for-5 and hit his eighth home run of the year, but Clayton Kershaw's complete-game shutout was the most impressive performance in this game. Kershaw allowed just four hits and ended Michael Cuddyer's 27-game hitting streak en route to conquering Coors Field. The Dodgers are now just two-and-a-half games out of first place in the NL West. You know times are good in L.A. when you don't get penalized for doing this:

Mets 9, Diamondbacks 1: New York handed Patrick Corbin his first loss of the season by scoring seven runs in the seventh inning. The Diamondbacks are now 2-8 in their last ten games, but they're still clinging to first place thanks to all of the other teams in the division not named the Dodgers combining for a 5-21 record over the past ten days (hat-tip to Eric Stephen).

Rays 8, Astros 0:David Price struck out ten batters and allowed just three hits in seven innings of work in his return from the disabled list. Desmond Jennings had three hits, including a two-run homer in the sixth inning, and drove in four runs.

Tigers 7, Blue Jays 6:Torii Hunter capped off a four-hit day with a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning. Miguel Cabrera homered and drove in three before leaving the game in the ninth inning with back stiffness. The injury isn't considered serious and the reigning AL MVP should be ready to play on Wednesday, according to MLB.com's Jason Beck.

Phillies 3, Pirates 1: Pittsburgh's nine-game winning streak was snapped thanks to the 4-5-6 hitters in Philadelphia's order, which combined for five hits and three RBIs. The Phillies used seven pitchers to preserve Jonathan Pettibone's win. Pettibone allowed a run on three hits while striking out six batters in 5 ⅔ innings.

Athletics 8, Cubs 7: Derek Norris hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the A's sole possession of first place in the AL West. Oakland also got deep flies from Josh Donaldson and Chris Young. Alfonso Soriano hit a three-run homer as part of the Cubs' five-run fourth inning.

Red Sox 4, Padres 1:John Lackey continued his resurgence, lasting eight innings and allowing a run on six hits. He struck out six and lowered his ERA to 2.81. The Red Sox scored three times in the bottom of the fourth inning to provide Lackey with all the run support he would need.

Braves 11, Marlins 3:Justin Upton, Brian McCann and Chris Johnson had three hits apiece for the Braves, who racked up a total of 16 hits against Miami pitching. First-place Atlanta has won four straight games, and six of its last seven, to climb to 15 games over .500.

Yankees 7, Twins 3:Robinson Cano hit his 20th homer of the season, a three-run shot in the seventh inning, to break the game open. Phil Hughes lasted seven innings and allowed a run on six hits to pick up the win. Mariano Rivera earned the save, his 27th of the year.

Indians 6, Royals 5:Alex Gordon hit a game-tying grand slam off of Corey Kluber in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Tribe answered with two runs in the seventh to win their fifth consecutive game. Nick Swisher finished with three hits and Carlos Santana drew three walks and collected a pair of RBIs.

White Sox 5, Orioles 3:Adam Dunn hit his 22nd homer of the year, a two-run shot off of Jason Hammel in the seventh inning, and Conor Gillaspie added a long ball to power Chicago to a win over the O's. John Danks allowed a pair of runs on six hits in seven innings, picking up just his second win of the year.

Mariners 9, Rangers 2: Kendrys Morales homered twice and drove in six runs and 41-year-old Raul Ibanez hit his 20th home run of the year. Joe Saunders limited the Rangers to two runs -- one earned -- in 6 ⅔ innings despite scattering ten hits.

Brewers 4, Nationals 0: Milwaukee scored all four of its runs in the eighth inning, the first two of which came on a double by Juan Francisco to break a scoreless tie. Stephen Strasburg exited after seven shutout innings. He allowed three hits and four walks and struck out eight.

Angels 5, Cardinals 1: The Angels scored five times in the second inning and Jered Weaver kept St. Louis off-balance for seven frames, allowing a run on six hits while racking up five strikeouts. Howie Kendrick led the Angels with three hits. Albert Pujols went 0-for-3 with a walk and a pair of strikeouts against his former team.

As Jon Lester takes the mound Wednesday against the Padres, many Red Sox fans will be wondering just which Jon Lester will show up.

After six starts in the month of April, it looked like Jon Lester was on his way back to the form that made him a Cy Young contender in 2010. He had a 3.11 ERA and a 3.11 FIP for that month. He was getting nearly 50 percent ground balls while striking out hitters just above the league–average rate and walking them slightly less than the league average.

His success carried into May and on May 10, Lester had his best outing of the season, a near-perfect complete-game, one-hit, shutout against the Blue Jays. Instead of heralding the return of Boston’s left-handed ace to the upper tier of American League pitching, this game turned out to be the high mark of his season to this point. His next two starts were solid enough, but since that dominant performance, things have gone consistently downhill. His ERA has risen nearly two full runs and his FIP and xFIP have spiked up to above average rates as well.

The simple and obvious explanation for these struggles is a lack of control. From the start of the season through May 10, Lester walked 15 batters in 50-2/3 innings. Since that date, he has thrown 53 2/3 innings more and walked 24 batters. He walked 5.1 batters per nine in June, his worst rate since 2008, back in his first full season as a starter. During his early season success he was throwing his sinker 69 percent of the time, but since May 10, that pitch has gotten a strike 60 percent of the time. Just a brief glance at those sinkers mapped out by Texas Leaguers, makes this difference perfectly clear:

Pre- May 10, 2013

Since May 10-

Lester threw 198 sinkers before May 10 and he has thrown 277 since then. The pitches from that early stretch are tightly concentrated in the zone, while the pitches since his near-perfecto have been far more erratic. Since sinkers don't generate many swings-and-misses, the pitches falling down away from the zone have little value. His strike percentages on his most used offering, the four-seam fastball, have remained fairly stable throughout the season, and his cutter has actually gotten more strikes, percentage-wise, during his recent struggles. The key difference has been in his sinker and, to a far lesser degree, his change up.

While his four-seamer gets a bit more use, the sinker may actually be the most important pitch for Lester. Of the 277 sinkers he has thrown since May 10, more than half have come on the first two pitches. This is fairly typical for him, and when the sinker is working well, this usage pattern is a major key to Lester’s ability to pitch deep into games. Sinkers give him ground balls and ground balls lead to quick outs and low pitch counts. With his recently reduced ability to locate this pitch, he is bound to begin an increasing number of at-bats behind in the count, leading to more pitches, which in turn forces Lester to return to the pitch in an attempt to get more quick outs as his pitch counts rise. So while his sinker has been less effective over the past six weeks, he has actually gone to it more, throwing it 29 percent of the time in that run, compared to 23 percent prior.

While identifying the cause of Lester’s recent struggles is not particularly difficult, finding the fix may be a bigger challenge. The Red Sox seem to believe that a mechanical issue is at the root of the problem and that certainly sounds like a reasonable theory. At the end of April, Doug Thorburn of Baseball Prospectus had an excellent take on Lester and Buchholz’s improved mechanics under John Farrell. Thorburn noted that one of the key improvements for Lester early this season was his improved momentum. It seems to me that this is the most likely mechanical culprit behind Lester’s recent struggles. He is one of the more consistent pitchers you will find in terms of things like arm slot, posture and balance, but he can tend to slow down his motion from his foot plant to his release, making it more difficult to locate the ball down in the zone consistently.

Buster Olney: Red Sox think Jon Lester is "fouled up mechanically

According to Buster Olney, the Red Sox think Jon Lester is having mechanical issues. Well, yeah?

Things are not all doom and gloom, however. Lester’s last start was not necessarily impressive in simple statistical terms. He went seven innings and allowed four runs on five hits and three walks while striking out five. That is solid enough and with the Red Sox offense, it gives him a good shot at the win most nights, but it is still a long way from what Jon Lester can do when everything is working right. Even so, this start featured some important evidence that Lester is figuring things out and may be back to his dominant ways in the near future.

In this start, Lester’s sinker was probably his most effective pitch. He threw it 23 times and though it did not generate a single whiff, between called strikes, foul balls and balls in play, it went for a strike 74 percent of the time. He was able to get two double-plays on ground balls and just one of the five hits went for extra bases. Of the four singles, three were ground balls. Over seven innings, he threw just 95 pitches as well, giving the start very high marks for efficiency after two straight starts under six frames that required more than 100 pitches each.

Not only was the sinker more effective than it had been in recent outings, but Lester’s control was stronger than his line reflects. After walking Jose Reyes to start the game, Lester walked just one batter through seven innings. That batter was Jose Bautista, and Lester induced an inning-ending double play in the next at-bat. His third walk came against the last batter he faced and he was removed mid-at-bat with a hip injury after throwing three straight pitch out of the zone. For the majority of this game, Lester was very much in control of the zone.

Read more Red Sox:

• John Lackey finally living up to his contract
• Is Boston's bullpen overused? Or are we all just crazy?
• Red Sox scouting Matt Garza before trade deadline
• Red Sox trade targets: Cheap relievers
• The Celtics, the Red Sox, and two franchise-saving trades