Scott Kazmir pitched like an All-Star again, shrugging off trade rumors and helping the Tampa Bay Rays slow down the streaking New York Yankees. Kazmir outpitched CC Sabathia to win for the first time in more than two months, and the defending AL champions backed the young left-hander with timely hitting and superb defense in a 6-2 victory Tuesday night.
Still stewing after being beaten by a couple of bloop hits in the seventh inning of a start that began oh so perfectly, White Sox ace Mark Buehrle sounded nothing like a pitcher that had just delivered a record-setting performance. "It's just frustrating after a loss," Buehrle said following Chicago's 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.
Adam Dunn hit a ball out of Miller Park on a hop. The rest of the Washington Nationals are knocking the Milwaukee Brewers right out of the postseason chase. Dunn hit a 445-foot blast that he never saw land, Nyjer Morgan and Cristian Guzman also homered and the Nationals beat the reeling Brewers 8-3 on Tuesday night, tying their longest winning streak this season at four games.
The Texas Rangers got a tag-team effort from their bullpen. Doug Mathis came out of the bullpen to give Texas four innings in an emergency spot start, and four other relievers shut out Detroit on one hit the rest of the way as the Rangers beat the Tigers 7-3 on Tuesday night. Ex-Tiger Jason Grilli (1-1) pitched two perfect innings of relief with three strikeouts to pick up the decision.
Chicago White Sox ace Mark Buehrle set a major league record by retiring 45 straight batters. Coming off a perfect game in his last start against Tampa Bay, Buehrle retired the first 17 Minnesota Twins batters on Tuesday night to surpass the record of 41 straight set by and San Francisco's Jim Barr in 1972 and tied by teammate Bobby Jenks, a reliever, in 2007.
At least Randy Johnson is able to maintain his sense of humor, even as his pitching future this season is in doubt. The San Francisco Giants' left-hander learned Tuesday he has a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder and won't be able to throw for at least three weeks. "Obviously the first thing I thought is that I won't be able to do my instructional hitting video," joked…
Houston Astros right-hander Roy Oswalt left Tuesday night's game against the Chicago Cubs in the second inning because of a left lower back strain. Oswalt pitched a scoreless first inning then struck out the first two batters he faced in the second. After throwing a 1-1 pitch to Alfonso Soriano, catcher Ivan Rodriguez noticed something was wrong with Oswalt and met with him on the mound.
The company that owns the Toronto Blue Jays needs to control costs. Rogers Communications remains committed to the Blue Jays, CEO Nadir Mohamed said Tuesday on a conference call discussing the company's quarterly earnings. The team has put ace Roy Halladay on the trading block. Rogers bought the Blue Jays in 2000.
Jim Rice waited 15 years for his induction into the baseball Hall of Fame and only two days to have his number retired by the Boston Red Sox. Rice's No. 14 went up on the facade at Fenway Park along with the team's other Hall of Famers in a pregame ceremony before Boston's game against the Oakland Athletics.
In a swap of outfielders, the Boston Red Sox traded Mark Kotsay and cash to the Chicago White Sox for Brian Anderson on Tuesday. The Red Sox are second in the AL East, and designated the 33-year-old Kotsay for assignment last week. The White Sox are second in the AL Central and sent the 27-year-old Anderson to Triple-A last week.
