The Texas Rangers won their 12th straight game last night, shutting out the Los Angeles Angels of Carmageddon 7-0 behind the strong pitching of Alexi Ogando.  Ever so quietly, the defending AL champs have put together the longest winning streak in the majors this season.  The 12 game streak is the second longest in franchise […]

The Cleveland Indians find themselves in an interesting situation. They started the season red-hot, but hit a major slump in June. Still, the Tribe remains a half-game up on the Detroit Tigers and in a situation where they need to buy some outside pieces if they want to remain the AL Central’s top dog. The Indians have […]

Sorry that this is a day late. I spent all weekend traveling between DC, Philly, and Baltimore, and there was no time for anything. Anyway, without further ado … Arizona State University develops good ballplayers. Andre Eithier, Dustin Pedroia, Ian Kinsler, Mike Leake, Ike Davis, Brett Wallace, and the indomitable Brooks Conrad have all called […]

There are only so many milestones in sports that portray outright dominance a player has over their game of choice. I imagine that most football fans would not be able to tell you if Brett Favre’s touchdown record is in the 400’s or 500’s (it’s 508), and many basketball fans would be hard-pressed to answer […]

At about midnight, the Pittsburgh Pirates closed out a 2-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds just minutes after the Arizona Diamondbacks finished up a 3-0 win over the Milwakee Brewers. Those two results put the Pirates into first place all by themselves by a half-game over both the Brewers and the Cardinals.  For most teams, […]

Cheating. It’s a word with negative connotation. It’s also a word that is synonymous with sports. This past week, Yankees’ skipper Joe Girardi suggested that the Blue Jays may be stealing signs by means outside of the playing field. This accusation was shrugged off by the Jays, but it still begs the question: Should stealing signs be a part of the […]

The Rockies aren’t looking to trade ace Ubaldo Jimenez. But there have been reports that a few teams, including the Yankees, have interest in the pitcher. Initial reports have the Rockies being interested in four top Yankees prospects: Jesus Montero, Dellin Betances, Manny Banuelos, and Ivan Nova. The Yankees are willing to move pitching, but […]

Good thing the West Coast guy got Dugout Digest duties tonight, huh? All my other TOC associates would have been deeply sleep-deprived this morning if they stayed up to watch the end the Red Sox-Rays game last night… that is if they didn’t fall asleep due to sheer boredom before the game finally came to […]

CC Sabathia won his 7th in a row – moving to a major league high 14 wins – as he shut down the Blue Jays yesterday (8 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 8 K). Jered Weaver stayed on top in the AL with his 1.90 ERA as he won his 12th, beating the […]

The Pittsburgh Pirates moved into a tie for first place in the NL Central yesterday, as Jeff Karstens tossed an 83 pitch complete game shutout against the Astros. That moved Karstens to 8-4 on the season, and his 2.34 ERA now is the third best in the league. Joe talked a little about Karstens recently, […]

The 126 million dollar man has not made many fans in his first half-season with his new ballclub. Jayson Werth has hit just .215/.319/.362 with spotty defense, but things should turn around for the National’s right fielder in the second half.   Most of Werth’s peripherals are similar to that of his career norms. He […]

The unofficial midway point of the season is here and gone, and now it’s time for us to start thinking about the march to the playoffs. There are 16 teams within five games of the playoffs, and the race should continue to be very tight down the stretch. There are several players that will mold […]

New York Mets All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes was arguably having one of the best offensive seasons in franchise history. After seeing limited time on the field since 2009, he was silencing his critics in proving that he could put together an injury free season, something he accomplished in 2005-2008. However his MVP caliber year was […]

The Arizona Diamondbacks made a few roster moves today and among them was designating the mammoth of a man, Wily Mo Pena, for assignment. The team now has 10 days to trade or release Pena, who has the option of accepting his assignment and return to triple-A Reno. Clearly, the D-Backs have no room for the defensively challenged Pena […]

Baseball finally returned to action after the All-Star Break last night, but only kind of. Only 14 of MLB’s 30 teams were in action on Thursday night, which means that more than half of the league actually gets a four-day All-Star Break. The Wednesday after the All-Star Game is always one of the most excruciating […]