Top News:
Scott Lauber / Boston Herald:
Power outage for Adrian Gonzalez — MINNEAPOLIS — When Adrian Gonzalez agreed to compete in the Home Run Derby, he shrugged off the notion that his swing might be adversely affected. — But he has only one homer since the All-Star break. — Coincidence?
RELATED:
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Reserving judgment on bench moves — MINNEAPOLIS - Even when the Red Sox lose it's easy to think they should have won. — The Sox took a respectable two of three games against the Twins, but last night it was easy to think they should have swept the series.
Discussion:
Twinkie Town and Associated Press
R.B. Fallstrom / Associated Press:
Wolf, Brewers beat Cards for 13th win in 14 games — ST. LOUIS (AP)—The Milwaukee Brewers showed no sense of satisfaction in the clubhouse, even though they'd just won for the 13th time in 14 games and appeared to be pulling away in the NL Central. — Far from it.
Discussion:
Viva El Birdos
RELATED:
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Pirates Re-Sign Michael Crotta — The Pirates re-signed Michael Crotta to a minor league contract, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (on Twitter). Pittsburgh designated the right-hander for assignment at the end of July and appear to have released him since.
Matthew Pouliot / HardballTalk:
MLB announces postseason schedule, eliminates off days — Except for travel days, there will be no off days in this year's postseason schedule. MLB announced the postseason dates today, with the ALDSs beginning on Friday, Sept. 30, followed by the NLDSs on Saturday, Oct. 1.
Discussion:
6-4-2
RELATED:
MLB.com:
MLB Announces 2011 Postseason Schedule
MLB Announces 2011 Postseason Schedule
Discussion:
Getting Blanked, Baseball Nation and Yahoo! Sports
Associated Press:
Collmenter helps D-backs beat Astros, move atop NL West — PHOENIX — Josh Collmenter scattered four hits over seven innings and Willie Bloomquist homered to start a three-run first inning and help the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Houston Astros 6-3 on Wednesday night.
Discussion:
Arizona Republic, The Crawfish Boxes, baseballmusings.com and BBTF's Baseball Primer …
Associated Press:
Curtis Granderson's 2 HRs lift Yankees over Angels 9-3 — NEW YORK - Curtis Granderson hit a three-run homer off Garrett Richards before the rookie got his first major league out and the New York Yankees snapped their three-game losing streak with a 9-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night.
RELATED:
Sam Miller / Angels blog:
Happy Garrett Richards day. Here's what to expect.
Happy Garrett Richards day. Here's what to expect.
Discussion:
6-4-2 and BBTF's Baseball Primer …
Sports Illustrated:
Under The Knife: Cards need more than threats to protect Pujols … The Moneyball movie is coming out soon and with a trailer that makes the story seem like a cross between Seabiscuit and Hoosiers, a whole population of people who haven't read the book, seen the term used and misused …
Discussion:
THE BOOK
Associated Press:
Lawrie Hits Grand Slam as Blue Jays Beat Athletics — TORONTO (AP) — Brett Lawrie hit his first career grand slam and the feisty Toronto Blue Jays beat the Oakland Athletics 8-4 on Wednesday night. — Before the game, Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos, manager John Farrell …
Discussion:
MLB Daily Dish and Bluebird Banter
RELATED:
ESPN:
Signs of trouble in Toronto
Signs of trouble in Toronto
Discussion:
Mike Silva's …, Chicago Tribune, Getting Blanked, New Jersey Online, South Side Sox, Steal of Home, Baseball Prospectus, Baseball Nation, Yahoo! Sports, HardballTalk, U.S.S. Mariner, The Big Lead, Batter's Box Interactive …, Baltimore Sun, TSN.ca, Yahoo! Sports, THE BOOK, Angels blog and River Avenue Blues
Juan C. Rodriguez / Florida Marlins:
Florida Marlins place Hanley Ramirez on disabled list — At least in the short term, the Marlins ended the speculation about when Hanley Ramirez might suit up again. The answer now is no earlier than Aug. 18. That's when Ramirez will be eligible to come off the disabled list.
Discussion:
HardballTalk
Geoff Morrow / blog.pennlive.com:
Bryce Harper's emotional ejection from Wednesday night's game likely to cause a nationwide stir — Sixteen of the 18 players who started Wednesday night's Eastern League game between Richmond and Harrisburg weren't too happy with the size of home plate umpire Max Guyll's strike zone.
Discussion:
HardballTalk, The Big Lead, Federal Baseball and Deadspin
Associated Press:
Indians' Ubaldo Jimenez wins home debut — CLEVELAND - Ubaldo Jimenez showed why Cleveland traded for him, winning his home debut and rookie Jason Kipnis went 5-for-5 with four runs and three RBIs as the Indians shaved another game off Detroit's lead in the AL Central by beating the Tigers 10-3 on Wednesday night.
Discussion:
Baseball Prospectus, Yahoo! Sports and Associated Press
Associated Press:
Votto takes newly-signed Millwood deep; Reds beat Rockies — CINCINNATI, Ohio — Toronto's Joey Votto hit the last of Cincinnati's three solo homers, spoiling Kevin Millwood's return to the majors, and the Reds turned a season-high four double plays Wednesday night, holding on for a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
Discussion:
Red Reporter and Yahoo! Sports
The Strategic Sourceror:
There's no cryogenics in baseball! Icy technique seen strengthening wooden bats — Over the past few decades, companies have shifted how they manufacture bats, resulting in an uptick in the number of splintered wooden bats in professional games. According to a published report …
Jeff Caplan / ESPN:
C.J. Wilson rips A's fans, mound — ARLINGTON, Texas — Rangers pitcher C.J. Wilson made it clear that he won't have the Oakland A's on his list of potential free agent destinations this winter. — The lefty is slated to open a three-game series at Oakland on Friday night …
Discussion:
ESPN, MLB and BBTF's Baseball Primer …