Top News:
Associated Press:
Marte Homers, Angels Sweep Rangers to Get Out of Last Place — By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSJULY 21, 2016, 1:21 A.M. E.D.T. — ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jefry Marte hit a three-run homer and the Angels shut down a late rally by the AL West-leading Texas Rangers for a 7-4 win Wednesday night that gave Los Angeles a three-game sweep.
Discussion:
Halos Heaven, Lone Star Ball and Yahoo Sports
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Associated Press:
Rangers' Prince Fielder may need neck surgery; Shin-Soo Choo on DL
Rangers' Prince Fielder may need neck surgery; Shin-Soo Choo on DL
Discussion:
MLB Daily Dish and baseballmusings.com
Associated Press:
Tillman Gets 14th Win, Orioles Avert 4-Game Sweep vs Yankees — NEW YORK — Chris Tillman tied for the major league lead with his 14th win, pitching four-hit ball for seven innings and helping the depleted Baltimore Orioles avert a four-game sweep at Yankee Stadium, beating New York 4-1 Thursday.
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Mark Gonzales / Chicago Tribune:
Cubs shore up left-handed relief with addition of Mike Montgomery — The Cubs acquired relief pitcher Mike Montgomery from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for minor league left-handed hitter Dan Vogelbach. — Chicago Tribune — The Cubs addressed an urgent need Wednesday …
Discussion:
Lookout Landing
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Steve Adams / MLB Trade Rumors:
White Sox Reportedly Open To Dealing Veteran Bats, Relievers — The White Sox appear to have reversed course in the midst of a significant slump, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the club is now open to selling off veteran pieces this summer (Twitter link).
Discussion:
Bless You Boys
Steve Adams / MLB Trade Rumors:
Orioles' Hunter Harvey To Undergo Tommy John Surgery — Orioles top pitching prospect Hunter Harvey will undergo Tommy John surgery, general manager Dan Duquette revealed on today's Baseball Tonight Podcast with ESPN's Buster Olney (audio link). “He's had a strain in his elbow …
Discussion:
ESPN, School of Roch and Camden Chat
Associated Press:
Homer-Happy Hanley (3) Powers Boston to 11-7 Win Over Giants — By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSJULY 21, 2016, 12:00 A.M. E.D.T. — BOSTON — Hanley Ramirez told his Red Sox teammates in the dugout that he wasn't going to swing for the fences in his final at-bat. — It doesn't work for him that way.
Discussion:
Surviving Grady, Over the Monster, FenwayNation and ESPN
FiveThirtyEight:
Are Juiced Balls The New Steroids? — Maybe it was the 23 first-half homers hit by unknown outfielder Adam Duvall. Maybe it was when Giancarlo Stanton kept making Chris Berman say “back-back-back,” or when Bartolo Colon broke into a 30.6 second trot around the bases.
Discussion:
ESPN and South Side Sox
ESPN:
MLB looking at possible limits on the use of relief pitchers — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred acknowledged that MLB is looking at possibly limiting the use of relief pitchers in games. — Average length of MLB games — YearAvg. — Manfred was a guest Thursday on ESPN's Mike & Mike …
Discussion:
CBS Chicago
Tommy Birch / Des Moines Register:
In Iowa, Dexter Fowler itching for return to Chicago lineup — The Chicago Cubs have desperately missed Dexter Fowler as the jump-starter of the offense ever since he went down with a hamstring injury in June. — He'll be back helping the lineup soon. — Fowler said he planned …
Discussion:
Chicago Tribune, Booth, Justice … and Bleacher Nation
Jon Heyman / Todays Knuckleball:
Stewart defends D-backs from unnamed accusations — The trade of Brad Ziegler incited some unexpected controversy when unnamed executives complained to a couple reporters that their teams offered a better package (or packages) for the reliever. And one exec even told Peter Gammons …
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball and FenwayNation
Jon Heyman / Todays Knuckleball:
Dodgers looking for outfield help, CarGo and Bruce will get looks — The Los Angeles Dodgers are looking hard for a bat as well as an arm, and seem to be in win-now mode. While they are expected to at least talk about Carlos Gonzalez, they are expecting the price to be quite high.
Discussion:
USA Today, redsminorleagues.com and MLB Daily Dish
David Pinto / baseballmusings.com:
Games of the Day — The two best games take place Thursday afternoon, starting with the rubber game of the series between the Dodgers and the Nationals. Julio Urias takes on Stephen Strasburg. The 19-year-old rookie Urias posted a high strikeout rate so far.
Discussion:
True Blue LA and Federal Baseball