Top News:
Marc Topkin / St. Petersburg Times:
Tampa Bay Rays' B.J. Upton surprised, disappointed to be benched for matchup reasons — ST. PETERSBURG — Manager Joe Maddon had his reasons for not starting CF B.J. Upton on Monday, primarily Upton's 1-for-13 career mark against Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka compared with four other Rays who Maddon felt needed to play.
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Associated Press:
Rays erase four-run deficit to put away Red Sox — ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Timely hitting and another stellar job by the bullpen. After a rough June, the Tampa Bay Rays seem to be getting their act together again. — “ I like the way we're playing,” manager Joe Maddon …
Fox Sports:
Twins may go all out to land Lee — Ken Rosenthal has been the senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com since Aug. 2005. He appears weekly on MLB on FOX. Follow him on Twitter. — In the past, the Twins never would have traded a prospect as good as Single-A outfielder Aaron Hicks …
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Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Cliff Lee Rumors: Monday — Yesterday Cliff Lee had another dominant outing and the Dodgers, Yankees, Cardinals and Phillies had scouts in Detroit to watch it. We'll keep track of all the day's Cliff Lee rumors right here, so check back later in the day to see if we have moved this post back to the top of the page with updates.
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com, Twins Insider, Phillies Nation, HardballTalk, U.S.S. Mariner, MLB Daily Dish, Cincinnati Reds and River Avenue Blues
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Catcher Martinez hasn't received call from team — ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It's a familiar scene before Red Sox games. Victor Martinez shagging flies in the outfield, and watching his son, Victor Jose Martinez, and Little Papi (D'Angelo Ortiz), chasing each other around.
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Bryan Hoch / MLB.com:
Swisher has early AL Final Vote lead — Outfielder trying to win last roster spot for All-Star Game — OAKLAND — Nick Swisher heard the buzz spilling from his Bleacher Creatures in right field at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, shortly after Major League Baseball announced nearly all of the participants …
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Andrew Baggarly / Extra Baggs:
POSTGAME NOTES: Sabean has an eye on Brewers, Posey wrist update, notes on Huff, Renteria, Ishikawa, etc. — There's a lot of stealth activity at the July 31 trade deadline, and for us beat reporters, that means a whole Chinese province full of tea leaves to read.
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Mark Feinsand / NY Daily News:
Former Alex Rodriguez foe Dallas Braden appalled by Oakland's ‘Get Off My Mound’ T-shirts — OAKLAND - Robinson Cano broke out a “Get Off My Mound” T-shirt in the visiting trainer's room before Monday night's game, causing an eruption of laughter inside the Yankees' clubhouse.
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Andrew Marchand / ESPN:
Oakland A's are selling T-shirts to keep up Dallas Braden-Alex Rodriguez feud
Discussion:
NESN.com
Pantagraph:
Ex-Cardinal Dmitri Young jailed in Bloomington — BLOOMINGTON — Former major league baseball player Dmitri Young was arrested by McLean County Sheriff's Department police early Monday on preliminary charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana.
Discussion:
Fanhouse MLB Blog
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Teams Are Inquiring On Yunel Escobar — Teams are calling the Braves about shortstop Yunel Escobar, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (links all via Twitter) . The Braves are hesitant to move the 27-year-old, despite his first half slump. GM Frank Wren will listen, but the team isn't anxious to move its starting shortstop.
Discussion:
Talking Chop
Associated Press:
Halladay fires five-hitter as Phils gain on Braves — PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nearly an hour after going the distance again, Roy Halladay walked over to reporters with ice on his arm and sweat dripping from his forehead. — Maybe it's his postgame workouts that make Halladay such a workhorse on the mound.
Discussion:
Blogging Baseball, The Good Phight, Talking Chop, Phillies Nation, Yahoo! Sports and Associated Press
Woody Paige / Denver Post:
Dealin' Dan flipped over Rox's future — Dealin' Dan has made 106 trades in 11 years. — Daniel J. O'Dowd's office at Coors Field should be called Bartertown. On Jan. 14, 2000, the Rockies' new general manager pulled off his first deal — sending pitchers Lariel Gonzalez and Bobby Jones to the Mets for pitcher Masato Yoshii.
NY Daily News:
Madden: Ace stuff not there for Pelfrey — For the Mets, it's been kind of a season of mini-seasons, beginning with that 4-8 start that didn't include Ike Davis and certainly didn't bode well for the summer of opportunity it's become. — After that, there was the 9-1 first long home stand …
