Tigers Attack - Moose Loose - Utley Awesome

I think the Tigers' offense is officially out of its slump. They 19 on the board against the Rangers, including 11 in the sixth inning alone. Every Detroit starter was one base at least twice, and Carlos Guillen went 3-4 with 5 RBI. After a very tough start, Detroit is now 9-13 and tied with the Indians for last place in the Central.

Hanley Ramirez and Mike Jacobs each homered (the seventh for both) as the Marlins beat the Braves 7-2. Florida is in first place with a 13-8 record despite being outscored 104-101. The Braves, on the other-hand, are 10-11 even though they've outscored their opponents 105-81. I think their places in the standings will be switching some time soon.

Ken Griffey Jr. homered in the first inning and Edwin Encarnacion homered in the ninth inning for the Reds. Too bad for them that they were outscored 9-1 by Houston in between, and so lost 9-3. The 7 run fourth was more than enough for Chris Sampson (7 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K), as he picked up his first win of the year. The 9-13 Reds fired their GM, Wayne Krivsky, in favor of Walt Jocketty (the former Cardinals GM). I don't think this is much more than a lateral move, as Krivsky actually did an OK job. He made a few great moves (getting Brandon Phillips, Jeff Keppinger, and Josh Hamilton for almost nothing) but also gave money to not very good players (Mike Stanton, Alex Gonzalez, and Juan Castro).

Mike Mussina may have bought himself some extra time in the rotation with a quality start against the White Sox (7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K). Jorge Posada went 4-5 with 2 RBI, and the Yankees move to 12-10 with their three-game win-streak.

The Giants didn't score for the first 8 innings, but Bengie Molina hit a solo home run to tie the game against the Padres at 1-1 in the top of the ninth. San Fransisco scored 2 more in the top of the 13th, and ended up with a 3-2 win. Starters Matt Cain (7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 7 K) and Greg Maddux (7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K) pitched well but weren't involved in the decision. The Giants and the Padres are both 9-13 now.

The A's keep getting quality pitching performances from "unknown" guys, and this time it was Chad Guadin (7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K). Embree and Street each K'ed a pair as Oakland beat the Twins 3-0. The A's are 13-9 and tied with the Angels for the AL West lead. It's legit too, as they've outscored their opponents 98-80.

Dan Haren finally had a bad start for the D'Backs (4.2 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 5 K) as they lost to the Dodgers 8-3. Andruw Jones batted second for LA, and went 1-5 with 2 K's. Rafael Furcal continued his hot hitting (.398 for the year) with 2 hits and a pair of steals. Arizona's Chris Young went 0-5 with 4 K's and is hitting .212 for the year (though with a .330 OBP and 5 HR).

Chase Utley hit his 7th home run in his last 7 games. His HR streak was stopped at 5 games, but he only took one off before getting back to it. He's hitting 368 / 441 / 839 for the year, and is a god bet to win the MVP if the Phillies are in the play-off hunt. Oh, and the Phillies lost to the Brewers 5-4, as Prince Fielder hit his second and third home runs of the year (he's only 7 behind Utley now).