Talented Snakes - Unlikely Ace - Lame Tiger

CC Sabathia's tough year for the Indians continued, as he gave up 9 runs on 12 hits without getting out of the fourth inning. Oakland won 9-7, and now are tied for first in the West with a 7-4 record. Jack Cust went 1-4 with an RBI and 3 K's. He now has 15 K's in 34 at bats on the year.

The Cubs hit three home runs (Lee, Soriano, and Ramirez) but they were all of the solo variety, and the lost to the Phillies 5-3. Pat the Bat homered and drove in 3 for Philadelphia.

Chien-Ming Wang had a Maddux-like performance for the Yankees, pitching a complete-game with 1 run one 2 hits and no walks. He K'ed 3, and needed only 93 pitches in the team's 4-1 win. Boston's Clay Buccholz gave up only 1 run himself, but was removed after 6 innings having thrown 99 pitches, and the Sox bullpen wasn't able to hold New York down.

Jason Bay hit a home run in the sixth inning of the Pirates-Reds game, and that was it. Pittsburgh won 1-0, wasting another good start for Cincinnati's Edison Volquez (5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 K). Volquez has an 0.84 ERA on the year, and is teaming with Johnny Cueto to give the Reds a back of the rotation with a lot of upside.

Nelson Figueroa started a major league game for the first time since 2004, and ended up with the win as the Mets beat the Brewers 4-2. He even pitched well (6 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K) and the bullpen backed him up with three perfect innings.

The Nationals lost again (for the eighth time in a row), 3-0 to the Braves. Tim Hudson pitched 8 shutout innings, and Peter Moylan pitched a perfect ninth to record the save in place of injured closer Rafael Soriano.

The Florida Marlins continue to roll, beating the Astros 10-6. They now have a 7-3 record for the year. Jeremy Hermida homered twice, as the Fish put 8 on the board against Houston ace Roy Oswalt. Oswalt is now 0-3, and has a 9.00 ERA on the year.

Josh Hamilton homered and drove in 4, but it wasn't enough as the Rangers fell to the Blue Jays 8-5. The Jays stole one of those runs - literally, as Gregg Zaun came home as Buck Coats took second on a double steal. Both teams are now at .500 with 5-5 records.

The mighty Royals fell to their AL Central rivals, the Minnisota Twins. Twins #1 starter Livan Hernandez was brought in to eat innings, but he has been pitching like an Ace so far. He's now 3-0 with a 2.57 ERA.

The Tigers picked up their second win of the year (though they still have baseball's worst record) over the White Sox, 5-2. Detroit's Dontrelle Willis walked a pair without getting an out, before being removed in the first inning with a leg injury. The Tigers don't have the pitching depth to cover for him if he is out for a while.

Brandon Webb pitches well (8 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K) to pick up his third win of the year, and Arizona hit three home runs (Eric Byrnes, Orlando Hudson, Justin Upton) as they beat the Rockies 8-2. The D'Backs have the best record in the majors at 8-2, and are really looking like one of baseball's best teams. That young offense is coming together, and the pitching is fairly strong. If the bullpen can come close to repeating their success from last year, they may be the favorites to represent the NL in the Fall Classic.