The Morning Cup

More to come on the Buccos South Side Meltdown last night, but first...

The Yankees do what the Yankees do, beating the Fathers 8-0 in New York. Thus begins their inevitable climb toward the top of the division, where they will battle it out with the Red Sox throughout September for the AL East title, and we're subjected to yet another montage of Bucky Dent, Aaron Boone, and Dave Roberts clips for 30 days straight.

The A's take some heat off the Pirates by pulverizing the Diamondbacks 15-1 at the (former) BOB. I know Billy Beane is the Frank Sinatra of baseball GMs thanks to Moneyball, but someone ought to write a story about how this team is now 39-31 and 3 games out of first place in the AL West. Since coming out of the gate teeth-first to start the season, the Snakes are 11-19 in their last 30.

Mark Teixeria makes his first trip to Arlington since being traded to help the Braves lose to the Rangers 7-5, and gets some sweet chin music from Vicente Padilla in the process. Josh Hamilton hits his 19th HR of the season, and sits at .315/.361/.595 (OPS+ of 155) for the year.

King Felix goes 7 1/3 and befuddles the Marlins en route to a 5-4 win, further solidifying his case to play in Yankee Stadium at the All-Star Game. Hernandez struck out nine, including the side on nine pitches in the fourth. That's Bugs Bunny type stuff.

The Gambler Kenny Rogers knows the secret to survival is knowing what to throw away, and knowing what to keep, as evidenced by his 5-game streak (and counting) of surrendering two earned runs or less. The Tigers continue to play well after beating the Giants 5-1. They sit at 33-38, 8 1/2 games out of first, but their Pythagorean record is 35-36. Either way, I'm in agreement with Rob Neyer that we haven't heard the last of the Tigers or the Tribe in the AL Central.