Notables:

- Chris Capuano picked up his first win since 2007 by going five innings against the Pirates. It was a spot start for Capuano in place of the injured Doug Davis.
- Wade Davis held the O's to one run over eight innings, giving up seven hits and a walk while striking out three. Facing the O's cures a lot of ills.
- Nelson Cruz went 3-for-6 with four RBI, hit the game-winning homer in the 14th inning and stole a base. He also made the key defensive play of the game on a play where he didn't record an out - deking Johnny Damon into thinking he was going to catch a bloop hit to prevent him from scoring from second in a sudden situation, only to see the Rangers get out of the inning after that on a double play.
- Drew Stubbs had a wild day, going 3-for-4 with two RBI, a run and a stolen base. However, he also got picked off once and committed a baserunning gaffe early on that the Nats were unable to take advantage of. He's had a handful of rookie mental errors this season.
- Trevor Crowe had four of the Indians' 20 hits against the Twins.
- Chris Young scored three runs while going 3-for-5 out of the leadoff spot for the Diamondbacks, who pounded out 18 hits.
- Daisuke Matsuzaka took advantage of the A's weakened lineup and improved command to throw first-pitch strikes to 19 of the 24 batters he faced, holding them to one run over 6.2 innings in the process.
- James McDonald gave up four runs in his first start for the Dodgers this season to pick up the loss against the Giants.
- David Pauley is still starting in the spot vacated by the Cliff Lee trade for the Mariners. Michael Pineda next pitches on Friday, so he's not too far off of schedule if the M's later want to make a change.

Save Chances:

- John Axford, converted (12). Axford gave up a hit and a walk, but also struck out two.
- Neftali Feliz, converted (25). One single, but two strikeouts in a shutout inning.
- Huston Street, blown (1). Street improbably allowed a walk-off two-run homer to Donnie Murphy.
- Kevin Gregg, blown (4). What's the opposite of improbably? Predictably? Gregg blew the save in the 10th against the Royals, giving up a leadoff triple to Scott Podsednik. All-in-all he gave up three hits, including the game-winning seeing-eye single to Alberto Callaspo. A highlight of Gregg's outing was a four-pitch walk to Jose Guillen - that's difficult to do.
- Jonathan Papelbon, converted (21). Perfect inning, one strikeout.
- Brian Wilson, converted (26). It was a bumpy ride for Wilson, who had the fortune of working with a three-run lead. He loaded the bases with two singles and a walk but managed to get out of it without allowing a run. He's pitched four days in a row, so don't be surprised if he's unavailable on Tuesday.

Other Closer Outings:

- Alfredo Simon threw a clean sheet in a mop-up role.
- Jose Valverde threw a scoreless ninth in a tie game, giving up a single and a walk while striking out two.
- Francisco Cordero finished the Reds' win in a non-save situation, walking one batter in a scoreless inning.
- Joakim Soria pitched a a scoreless ninth in a tie game, giving up one hit.

Non-Closer Reliever Outings:

- Kameron Loe now has 10 holds after throwing 1.1 scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 1.37 and his WHIP to 0.91.
- Future contenders for Pirates saves Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan both threw scoreless innings.
- Matt Harrison threw four shutout innings to get the win in the Rangers' 14-inning win at Detroit, despite walking four (one intentionally).
- Clay Hensley has had a good season, but he might have had one of the worst holds of the season, giving up three runs on a hit (a homer by Ian Stewart) and two walks while recording two outs. The holds stat apparently serves to take attention away from just how bad the saves wins rules are.
- Chad Qualls gave up a run on two hits and a walk in mop-up duty.

Lineup-o-logy:

- Matt Holliday got a token day off, so Sunday's hero Allen Craig started in his place and hit a solo homer. John Jay got the nod in right in place of the injured Ryan Ludwick and had a couple of doubles.
- Luke Scott came off the DL and started at DH. Felix Pie started in left field, with Corey Patterson getting benched.
- Emilio Bonifacio started in left field in place of the injured Chris Coghlan.
- Even when Todd Helton is physically ready to play regularly, isn't it possible that Jason Giambi should start more frequently? He went 2-for-4 while hitting in the cleanup spot on Monday.

Injuries:

- Andrew McCutchen sat out with a sprained AC joint.
- Dan Wheeler suffered a bruised foot when hit by a line drive, but x-rays after the game were negative.
- Brandon Inge is out for 4-to-6 weeks with a broken left hand after getting hit by a Scott Feldman pitch.
- Chris Coghlan sat out with a back injury, though he might be able to return on Tuesday.
- Scott Rolen sat out with a sore hamstring that required a cortisone shot. The DL is still a possibility, though the Reds haven't committed to putting him on there yet.
- Austin Kearns left with a sore right knee. Will he be the one that makes room for Shin-Soo Choo when he returns on Friday?
- Jose Reyes was back in the lineup on Monday, as was Luis Castillo (heel). Castillo hit eighth in the lineup.
- Gabe Gross started in right field with Ryan Sweeney and Conor Jackson both out. Sweeney is out for the season with his knee injury. Does this accelerate the pace of either Chris Carter or Michael Taylor's promotion?
- Kevin Kouzmanoff was scratched with a stiff back. Adam Rosales started in his place.
- Manny Ramirez felt some tightness while running on Monday (clearly during the day) and will need an MRI. Jamey Carroll started in left field in his place.
- Russell Branyan left with back stiffness, coming back from a foot injury. Cascade injury anyone?
- Carlos Quentin sat out with a bruised right hand but probably will play on Tuesday.

Stolen Bases:

- Skip Schumaker (5); Evan Longoria (14); Nelson Cruz (11); Dexter Fowler (9); Hanley Ramirez (19); Drew Stubbs (18); Chris Young (18); Cliff Pennington (15); Juan Pierre (34); Omar Vizquel (3); Alexei Ramirez (4).

Caught Stealing:

- Seth Smith (1); Lance Berkman (2); Matt Kemp (11); Jack Wilson (2).

Home Runs:

- Albert Pujols (22); Allen Craig (1); Skip Schumaker (3); Randy Winn (1); Rickie Weeks (18); Prince Fielder (23); Ian Kinsler (5); Nelson Cruz (12); Magglio Ordonez (12); Miguel Cabrera 2 (23,24); Jonathan Herrera (1) - the Rockies and Marlins staged a battle of unlikely homers; Ian Stewart (12); Michael Stanton (6); Donnie Murphy (1); Jonny Gomes (13); Miguel Cairo (3); Tyler Colvin (13); Aramis Ramirez (12); Chris Johnson (1); Jason Castro (2); Yunel Escobar (2); Jim Thome (11); Mark Reynolds (21); Adrian Beltre (15); Rajai Davis (4); Nate Schierholtz (3); Rafael Furcal (7); Alexis Rios (16); Andruw Jones (13).

Tough Days:

- It was the evil twin version of Kyle Kendrick on the mound on Monday night. He gave up seven runs on seven hits (including three homers) and three walks over five innings. There's seemingly no rhyme or reason when Kendrick pitches well and when he pitches poorly. As a result, and because of his low strikeout rate, I won't own him - there's just not enough of a payoff to take on the downside risk.
- Chris Tillman demonstrated his superb talent in his last start against the Rangers. On this night against the Rays, he reminded everyone why he got sent down last time, giving up eight runs on seven hits and four walks in just 2.2 innings. Of his 76 pitches, only 41 were for strikes.
- Chris Davis went 0-for-7 with a strikeout in the Rangers' 14-inning win over the Tigers.
- Ubaldo Jimenez gave up six runs (four earned) against the Marlins, giving up six hits and three walks.
- Jay Bruce went 0-for-3 with a walk and is 7-for-54 with no homers in July.
- Carlos Silva lasted just one inning, giving up five runs on seven hits and two walks. I'm happy to see that the earth is still round and Carlos Silva is still lousy.
- Scott Baker's extended time off didn't help - he gave up 10 hits over 4.2 innings, allowing six runs to the Indians. He struck out just one while walking three.
- Mike Pelfrey said that his sore neck wasn't a factor, but he gave up six runs on seven hits and two walks over just 1.1 innings, continuing a recent slump. He has a 9.11 ERA over his last six games.

Transactions:

- The Nats optioned Justin Maxwell to Triple-A Syracuse to make room for Luis Atilano to rejoin the team. Atilano will start on Tuesday after spending the All-Star break in Triple-A.
- The Astros will call up Wesley Wright to start on Tuesday against the Cubs after Felipe Paulino's latest setback.