On this day in 1994, the Major League Baseball Players Association went on strike. I believe you know what happened after that.

• On his radio show on WGNU on Friday, former Cardinals first baseman Jack Clark said that "I know for a fact" that Albert Pujols used steroids during his time in St. Louis.
• Albert Pujolsangrily denied Clark's statement, calling it "irresponsible and reckless" to "falsely accuse me of using PEDs." Pujols says he will sue. Additionally, the trainer whom Clark cited as the person who told him that Pujols was using PEDs denied ever having any such conversation with Jack Clark and says he'd bet his life that Pujols never took PEDs.
• In that same radio show, Clark also speculated that Justin Verlander was having a down season because he could no longer take PEDS. Verlander called such comments "moronic" and said his velocity wasn't down this year at all.
• So on Saturday, Jack Clark and his co-host were fired from their radio show.
• So now Clark's co-host, Kevin Slaten, has now said he's going to sue. Clark made a vague statement about doing "something." In the end, the lawyers will get rich.
• Speaking of Verlander, Alex Rodrigueztook him deep on Sunday for his first home run since last September. The RBI allowed ARod to pass Stan Musial for fifth on the all-time RBI list. I can't imagine why MLB didn't hold a celebration over that.
• And that's the perfect segue to report that the Yankees fined Rodriguez $150,000 for not informing the Yankees that he was seeking a second opinion and for missing the minor league rehab game of July 12.
• And BALCO founder Victor Conte, who was at the center of the Barry Bonds steroids scandal, said that MLB contacted him about meetings he had with Rodriguez. Conte said that Rodriguez only wanted advice about legal supplements.
• Diamondbacks closer Brad Ziegler fills in for Buster Olney and writes a column about why MLBPA head Michael Weiner is such a wonderful person as well as a great union boss. As you probably know, Weiner has inoperable brain cancer and is expected to step down this off-season.
• The Phillies are in a deep slump, and manager Charlie Manuel thinks the young players on the team lack confidence, although Jimmy Rollins disagrees.
• Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Bob Brookover thinks the Phillies owe it to the team and Charlie Manuel to fire him now and replace him with Ryne Sandberg rather than let everyone dangle in the wind for the rest of the season.
• Bill Baer takes a look at the Nationals and asks "What happened?"
• Speaking of the Nationals, Astros manager Bo Porter says he's "100% entrenched" with the Astros and is not interested in returning to Washington next season as their manager. There had been some speculation.
• Mets third baseman David Wrightmay miss the rest of the season with a strained right hamstring.
• With all the chaos in the NL East, the Bravesare having a great time on and off-the-field. Yeah, it's easy to have fun when you've got a 14.5 game lead. It's funny, but the only other team in the NL East not in chaos is the Marlins, and that's only because they're just plain old bad.
• The Rangers got Alex Rios from the White Sox for Leury Garcia. Jon Heyman thinks the deal makes sense for both sides.
• The Royals got Jamey Carroll from the Twins. Hard to believe Carroll got through waivers.
• Jerry Crasnick says it feels good for the Royals to be relevant again. They're still 4.5 games out of a wild card spot, but maybe they can pull it off. And wouldn't a Kansas City/Pittsburgh World Series make everyone happy? Well, not FOX, but FOX not being happy would just make everyone else even happier.
• The Rays retired the DodgersJuan Uribewith the hidden ball trick. Oh Joe Maddon. You're such a rascal. The Dodgers still swept the Rays.
• Josh Reddick's five home runs in two days puts him in some elite company. He's only the 25th player to do this in baseball history. Two Cubs have done it and shocking to me, neither one is named Sammy Sosa. One of them is Billy Williams and the other is Dave Kingman.
• Adam Joneshad a banana thrown at him at AT&T Park. Disgusting.
• Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. takes time to honor the St. Louis Browns. Turns out, he has a history with the Browns as his dad owned the team before selling to Bill Veeck. And when Eddie Gaedel needed a jersey, Veeck borrowed the one owned by nine-year old DeWitt Jr. Sometimes the Cardinals just infuriate me with how hard they make it to hate them.
• Jim Leyland thinks that his star slugger Miguel Cabrerais "a little mind-boggling."
• Top Red Sox prospect Xander Bogaertshas the power necessary if he has to make a move from shortstop to third base.
• Rockies manager Walt Weiss is still happy with his team's effort despite all the losses. He also says he's not worried about his job despite being on a one-year contract.
• The Orioles hired Phil Niekro to teach the knuckleball to three of their minor league pitchers.
• Curt Schillingreveals he suffered a heart attack in 2011.
• Cuban slugger Jose Abreu has defected. Abreu has been one of the top players in Cuba over the past several years. Don't expect the Cubs to get in on this one as he's a major league ready first baseman and the Cubs already have that position covered.
• Finally, the Mariners inducted Ken Griffey Jr. into their Hall of Fame. Ichiro Suzuki made a touching video telling The Kid how much he meant to him and thanking him for being both his idol and teammate.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.

This is one of those opinions that can be hard to toss out there because it looks like 20/20 hindsight kicking into gear because the Tigers lost. It could also could be construed as a "Leyland sucks" kind of thought. That would be silly considering the club is on a 17-3 roll and is in first place.

It's not the case on either point. It's not merely hindsight as this is a long held view and I also don't think Leyland is incompetent. Let's just get it out there...Joaquin Benoit, if he was feeling healthy and available, should have been the guy pitching the bottom of the 9th on Sunday in the Bronx.Jose Veras was not a bad idea to utilize but he was not the best idea. This has almost nothing to do with the fact that Veras grooved a heater down Broadway to Brett Gardner for the winning dinger. This was my opinion before Veras threw a pitch and even when Veras got the first two outs looking okay to get out of the inning. It would have been my view if Veras had escaped the inning cleanly.

The Tigers had just had the incredible comeback against Mariano Rivera on the solo shots by Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez. It was quite a sight to behold as the legendary Rivera allowed two homers in a Save Opportunity for the first time in his career. The Tigers tied the game and needed to now hold down the Yankees to keep the game going.

4-4 headed to the bottom of the 9th. Allow a run and the game is finished. There is no margin for error at this point. Tigers manager Jim Leyland made a move that I suspect many of his managing counterparts would also make...he eschewed his best reliever (typically the Closer on most teams) in favor of a slightly less talented set-up man. Bullpen formulations around the game are pretty routine and holding your Closer for Save Opps is near the top of the list of common tactics. (even though this situation to get a save may never materialize)

Benoit is the superior pitcher to Veras in most significant statistical categories starting with good ol' ERA (Benoit- 1.53, Veras- 2.55). Benoit strikes out 29.7% of batters he faces. Veras checks in at 24.9%. Walks? Benoit walks a lower percentage (7.0% to 8.5%). Homers? Check. Benoit's HR% is significantly lower this year at 4.5% compared to Veras' 8.5%. The sainted "eye-test" would also put most people in Benoit's corner here as the better pitcher as well.

Once the game gets to the 9th inning, that really should be the best pitcher's job to extend the game as long as possible. If the Tigers had secured the lead in the 9th, Benoit almost certainly would have pitched. Why not with the score tied? Allowing a run is a guaranteed loss. Benoit hasn't pitched in several days...if he had been taxed heavily in the previous day this entire post would be mothballed...but he was likely available on this day. If you need someone who can "close" later on then you probably do have Veras and he's fresh off closing games in Houston. He wouldn't have freaked over it. But if he had come in later for a save situation, there is more margin for error because he might be protecting a lead of 1 or more runs.

Listen...er, read, I guess, since this isn't radio...I have mostly given up on pleading for the best relievers to roam different middle innings to quash rallies. The 9th Inning Closer Formula is dyed in the game's wool in most places. The Closer gets the 9th. He compiles saves. That's the gig. I get it. But how about once the game gets to the 9th that managers start to yield to basic math, especially in road games. Allow a run in a tie game and you lose. If your best guy is rested, he should pitch because he's the guy most likely to toss a goose egg at the opposition. Figure out the end game later. In this case Veras was a viable option to "close" later if the opportunity presented itself.

The Tigers lost two games in walk-off fashion in New York. Joaquin Benoit did not pitch in either contest. The logic behind that is lost on me. Benoit hasn't actually pitched since the 14-inning victory in Cleveland on Wednesday night!

Al Alburquerque wasn't crushed on Friday night but those chopper singles pushed a run across. I felt Benoit was the better option there as well. If you needed Alburquerque to close later, again, he would have had the cushion of a lead rather than watching a game slip away when he allowed a single run.

Was this a massive foul up by Leyland? The club is purring along at a great pace considering the rash of injuries. The sweep in Cleveland was truly a nice accomplishment by the club. Leyland has to get plenty of credit for that if he's going to get dinged by me for this loss. It's hard to be too critical of him right now. Perhaps chalk this up as more of an indictment of accepted practices around baseball as a whole since I doubt Leyland is the only field general who would have gone to Veras today.

Could Joaquin Benoit have allowed a run in the 9th on Sunday or in the 10th on Friday? Sure. But the odds were better for Detroit that he would have escaped his inning or two had he been called upon over his teammates who did get the chance and ultimately failed to keep the Yankees off the scoreboard in crucial spots.

Joaquin got some nice rest in the Big Apple if nothing else...did I mention he hasn't pitched since Wednesday night?

Miscellaneous Fulminations

• Miguel Cabrera's homer on Friday night will likely be one of the top 5 most memorable moments by a Tiger during a loss in my lifetime. Losing that game does almost nothing to dampen the beauty of the moment. The best hitter in the game steps in. The greatest Closer in history on the hill. Two out. Behind in the count. Limping badly. Trainer on the field. Shake it off. One big swing. Gone. Tied. Epic. Legendary.

• Alex Avila heading to the 7-day Concussion DL is probably a good thing for him physically beyond recovering from the head trauma (which is, of course, paramount). Hopefully a week or more to also rest from the rigors of catching will allow Avila to come back strong for the stretch run. Avila's improving performance at the plate was yielding some nice moments such as the big homer in Cleveland and the two-run double against Cole Hamels. But it's Avila's presence behind the plate that will be most missed. I do believe that Avila is very solid at framing pitches and he benefits Tigers pitchers in this regard. I do not like how Brayan Pena tends to set up so wide at times well outside the outer corner. This can't help the pitcher's cause.

• Steven Moya is a left-hand hitting outfielder in the Tigers system at High A Lakeland. The young man has had a hard time staying on the field due to injury the last couple of years. But once he does play he is really starting to display some nice power skills. Currently sporting a slash-line of: .266/.313/.478...that might not seem too awe inspiring. But I do like that he started to get his K-rate under control, he's drawn a few walks the last couple of days, and his ISO (SLG-BA) is a very nifty .212. The power is starting to show itself in game action and he's not a massive K-machine like he was a few years ago. Moya is one to watch. Perhaps still a long shot...but one with the big ticket item...power. If nothing else he may be a useful trade chip down the line.

• I have not seen anything about it in print...but I do wonder if the Tigers plan to utilize Jose Alvarez on Friday as part of the double-header versus the Royals that day. Alvarez was tagged for 5 runs in 4 1/3 IP on Sunday at Toledo but still sports a very tidy 2.79 ERA down there. He would be on full rest to start with Justin Verlander that day and therefore allow the rest of the rotation to stay on normal rest. We'll see if that's how the Tigers play it. They should have the 26th roster spot open for the twinbill to use Alvarez.

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This is the point in the season where things start to get messy. Doing this the standard way is ugly, doing it with percentages is ugly. The short season players really mess with things this time of year, so I am doing a rating by league and seperating hitters and pitchers.

It's interesting to look at some of these players and compare players from past seasons to players this year. It's amazing how many similar players to Addison Russell have failed. I'll be working on this a lot more this off season. I'm just not sure how to best present it and what other info you guys would like. Let me know in the comments what you would like to see, whether it be comps to other players, MLB projections, odds of reaching MLB, projected length of career, etc..

AAA Hitters

AA Hitters

High A Ball Hitters

A Ball Hitters

Short Season A Ball Hitters

Rookie Ball Hitters (Including DSL/VSL)

AAA Pitchers

Rank Name Team Level Value

AA Pitchers

High A Pitchers

A Ball Pitchers

Short Season A Pitchers

Rookie Pitchers (Including DSL/VSL)

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:L 5-8 vs. Buffalo Bisons

LF Corey Patterson 1-5, K
C JR Murphy 2-4, BB, K - batting .211/.286/.289 over his last 10 games
CF Melky Mesa 2-5, HR, 3 RBI, K - 12th homer of the season
1B Dan Johnson 0-3, 2 BB, K
DH Randy Ruiz 1-4, 2B, BB, K - 10th double with SWB
RF Ronnier Mustelier 1-5 - batting .233 this season
3B Brent Lillibridge 3-5, 2 RBI, SB
SS Alberto Gonzalez 1-5, 2 K
2B Brendan Harris 2-4, K

David Huff 5.1 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 5 K - six groundouts, four flyouts
Mike Zagurski 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Matt Daley 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB
Chase Whitley 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, K

Chien-Ming Wang got the best of the RailRiders despite SWB out-hitting Buffalo 13-11. Scranton failed to score until the seventh inning when they were already down 6-0.

Double-A Trenton Thunder:W 5-1 vs. Akron Aeros

LF Ramon Flores 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB - 18th double of the season
3B Reegie Corona 1-4, 2B, 2 K
2B Jose Pirela 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI, HBP
DH Kyle Roller 1-3, RBI, BB, K
SS Carmen Angelini 0-4, K
RF Casey Stevenson 2-4, K - batting .240 this season
C Jose Gil 1-4, 2 K, PB
1B Saxon Butler 0-2, BB, K, HBP - batting .083 since his promotion
CF Cody Grice 0-3, K

Nik Turley 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, BB, 6 K, WP - six groundouts, seven flyouts
Tom Kahnle 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, BB, 2 K

Trenton got out to an early lead with two runs in the bottom of the first inning before tacking on three more in the fifth. Turley allowed the only run of the game for the Aeros in the seventh and picked up his ninth win of the season.

High-A Tampa Yankees: L 4-5 vs. Daytona Cubs

CF Mason Williams 2-5, K, SB - batting .136/.174/.159 over his last 10 games
DH Rob Refsnyder 2-5, RBI
LF Ben Gamel 0-3, 2 BB, K
3B Peter O'Brien 0-5, 3 K
1B Matt Snyder 0-4, HBP - batting .150 this season
SS Dan Fiorito 2-4, 2 K
RF Taylor Dugas 1-3, BB, SB
C Jeff Farnham 0-3, 2 K, HBP
2B Jose Toussen 1-4, CS

Jairo Heredia 4 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K - one groundout, four flyouts
Manny Barreda 2 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, K
Joel De La Cruz 1.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, BB, K
Alex Smith 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB

Corey Black got the best of his old teammates in his first game against the Yankees as a member of the Cubs. Tampa failed to score until the top of the eighth inning when trailing 4-0. They attempted to rally in the ninth, but only managed three runs to come up one run short.

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs: W 1-0 vs. Rome Braves

CF Jake Cave 2-4, OF assist - batting .282 this season
2B Ty Afenir 0-3, K
1B Greg Bird 0-1, 3 BB - .890 OPS last 10 games
DH Reymond Nunez 1-4, HR, RBI, 2 K
SS Cito Culver 0-3, BB, K
C Jackson Valera 1-3
LF Daniel Aldrich 0-2, K, HBP
RF Danny Oh 0-3, K
3B Francisco Rosario 0-3, 2 K

Eric Wooten 6 IP, 7 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, HB - six groundouts, five flyouts
Tyler Webb 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K
Vicente Campos 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K

Despite being out-hit 4-10 by the Braves, excellent RiverDogs pitching made the one run scored by the offense in the second inning stand up all game for Charleston's 63rd win of the season.

Short Season-A Staten Island Yankees:L 1-3 vs. Lowell Spinners

CF Brandon Thomas 0-4, 3 K
LF Michael O'Neill 1-3, 2B, K, HBP - 14th double of the season
3B Eric Jagielo 0-4, 2 K
RF Yeicok Calderon 0-4, 3 K
DH Mike Ford 1-4, K
1B Bubba Jones 1-3 - batting .291 this season
C Trent Garrison 1-3
2B Hector Crespo 1-3, K
SS John Murphy 1-3

Rookie Davis 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, WP - two groundouts, two flyouts
Conner Kendrick 3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, E1 - four groundouts, one flyout
Kelvin Castro 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, K
Nick Rumbelow 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

Hits were even at six a piece but the Yankees couldn't overcome a two-run seventh inning in which Castro gave up two solo home runs to the Spinners.

Between his mega-contract and his past defensive issues, it's sometimes easy to forget that Alfonso Soriano has been a pretty impressive hitter for much of his career. He's in his 15th season, and back with the club where it all started following his July trade to the Yankees. That set him up to collect career hit number 2,000 at Yankee Stadium while in pinstripes once more, and to do it on a homer to boot:

Soriano even manages to go deep against Justin Verlander for hit 2,000 and career homer 392, adding just that little bit extra to the moment.

The 37-year-old is 17th on the active hit list, and a career .272/.321/.502 hitter, and while he's not going to be in line for the Hall of Fame or anything, barring a career-ending injury in the next few weeks, he's likely to finish with well over 400 homers, maybe 500 doubles, possibly even 300 steals, and a couple hundred hits more before all is said and done. Not bad, especially combined with the almost $140 million he's made playing the game in the last decade-and-a-half.

More from SB Nation:

• Rays get Juan Uribe with the hidden ball trick.

• Jack Clark fired after Albert Pujols steroid comments

• Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta unlikely to participate in postseason

• Grant Brisbee: The MVP debate that isn’t going to happen

• Longform: The death of a ballplayer

Alex Rodriguez hit his first home run of the season Sunday, a second-inning solo shot that accounted for the 1,951st RBI in his career, surpassing Stan Musial for sole possession of fifth place on the all-time RBI list.

The third baseman turned on a 1-0 fastball from Justin Verlander, just barely sending it over the leftfield wall:

The homer was No. 648 in Rodriguez's career, leaving him 12 home runs behind Willie Mays on the all-time home run list. Rodriguez is due a $6 million bonus if he matches Mays' total.

Rodriguez discussed how he felt after passing Musial, telling Bryan Hoch of MLB.com:

"That means I'm getting old. When you think about names like that, it's obviously so humbling. It makes you think that you've been around a long time. Those are things that you kind of reflect years after you're done playing."

MLB has suspended Rodriguez 211 games for violating the JDA and CBA, but he has appealed his suspension and is playing before the hearing.

More from SB Nation:

• Where Delmon Young goes from here

• Video: Alfonso Soriano's 2000th hit was a HR

• Neyer: On being a fan (or not)

• Rays get Juan Uribe with the hidden ball trick.

• Longform: The death of a ballplayer

Last night, slugging Cuban first baseman Jose Dariel Abreu reportedly defected from Cuba and is currently hiding somewhere in the Caribbean. The process to become an international free agent in another country is not short. Ben Badler at Baseball America states that Abreu must establish residency in another country like Haiti or the Dominican Republic, get the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control to clear him to sign, then have MLB declare him a free agent. It will take several months, but numerous MLB teams will be interested in Abreu.

Abreu has been absolutely outstanding in the Cuban Serie Nacional league over the past decade since beginning his career in 2003-04. He's 26 years old, a righthanded hitter, and Baseball America ranked him the #4 player among all who participated in the World Baseball Classic last March unsigned by MLB teams. In the tournament, he hit .360/.385/.760 with three homers in 25 at-bats (those dingers were monster shots at the Tokyo Dome). He has "tremendous raw power to all fields" and would easily become the best first baseman on the free agent market in a weak class led by Mike Napoli. Check out his incredible numbers in Cuba over the past few years:

Bold = Led league*= Shortened season due to WBC

The numbers must be taken with a grain of salt since scouts have evaluated the Serie Nacional as a league with talent somewhere around the High-A level and there have been underwhelming players like Leslie Anderson, who succeeded in Cuba but not in the United States. Nonetheless, the statistics are certainly fantastic and they are better than what Yoenis Cespedes and Yasiel Puig posted in that league.

It's probable that he will sign the biggest contract for a Cuban player yet. Since the beginning of 2012, talented Cuban prospects have done very well for themselves on the open market: 26-year-old Cespedes received four years and $36 million from the Athletics, 21-year-old Puig got seven years and $42 million from the Dodgers, and 20-year-old Jorge Soler got nine years and $30 million from the Cubs. Abreu is a better player than all of them, though he's not as young as Puig and Soler. He's going to receive a nice deal whenever he's ready.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, they are locked into an expensive deal with another first baseman until 2016. Mark Teixeira is owed $22.5 million per year from 2014-16 and is basically limited to either first base or DH. The Yankees could make a run at Abreu and make him the primary DH while the superior fielder Tex plays first base, but Abreu could very well prefer to play the field. It's doubtful that he would he even want to enter a situation where playing time is unclear? Matthew Pouliot at Hardball Talk notes that the Red Sox and Rangers would seem to be more attractive destinations with the potential for big contracts and more clear openings at first base. (Pouliot also mentions the Mets, Blue Jays, White Sox, and Mariners as possible as well, but longer shots.)

Even though it seems unlikely that they could get him unless they pulled a dumptruck full of money up to his house, the Yankees should still make an effort to acquire Abreu. There would be a surplus of hard-hitting first baseman/DH types, but for a player as talented as Abreu, it would be worth figuring something out to accommodate him, Teixeira, and any other players who need to DH from time to time.

More from Pinstriped Bible:

• Mariano Rivera: No such thing as a perfect ending
• Cody Ross' injury reminds me why I'm glad the Yankees have Robinson Cano
• Baby Bomber Recap 8/11/13: JR Murphy picks up two hits in RailRiders loss
• Yankees 5, Tigers 4: Gardner gives Yankees another walk-off win
• Yankees prospects: Brett Marshall continues to make strides with Scranton

The Los Angeles Angels will activate starting pitcher Jason Vargas from the 15-day disabled list prior to their game against the New York Yankees on Tuesday, according to MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez. The club will option fellow starter Tommy Hanson to Triple-A Salt Lake in a corresponding move.

Vargas will make his first start on Tuesday since June 17, when he tossed seven innings of two-run ball while collecting nine strikeouts against the Seattle Mariners. He was placed on the DL the next day after a blood clot was discovered near his left armpit. Vargas owns a 3.65 ERA in 14 starts this season, striking out 6.1 batters per nine innings while walking 3.0.

Hanson has struggled to the tune of a 5.59 ERA in 13 starts with the Angels after putting up solid numbers for the Atlanta Braves in four seasons there. Hanson has posted a career-low strikeout rate and career-high walk rate in addition to allowing 10.5 hits per nine innings.

The Angels dropped their series opener against the Yankees, 2-1, on Monday night.

More from SB Nation:

• Where Delmon Young goes from here

• Video: Alfonso Soriano's 2000th hit was a HR | A-Rod passes Stan the Man

• Neyer: On being a fan (or not)

• Rays get Juan Uribe with the hidden ball trick

• Longform: The death of a ballplayer

Los Angeles Angels star outfielder Mike Trout spoke out against performance-enhancing drug users just hours before his team took the field against baseball's most infamous (alleged) PED culprit.

The 22-year-old phenom told WFAN in New York (via ESPN New York) prior to Monday's contest against the New York Yankees that players who are caught should be banned from the game for life:

"To me, personally, I think you should be out of the game if you get caught. It takes away from the guys that are working hard every day and doing it all-natural."

The Yankees employ Alex Rodriguez, of course, who is in the process of appealing a 211-game suspension imposed by Major League Baseball for his involvement with Biogenesis. Rodriguez played his first game this season on Aug. 5, the same day the suspensions were announced.

Trout added that he is pleased with MLB's effort to crack down on PED users:

"Some people just are just trying to find that extra edge. It's tough as a guy that goes out there and plays hard every day and puts [in] 110 percent effort ... to wake up, see there's a list of guys that are on the list. It's good that MLB caught them and they're moving in the right direction with suspensions and stuff."

Trout refused to answer questions about his comments when asked by reporters in the clubhouse before the game, per ESPN New York's Mike Mazzeo.

The Yankees defeated the Angels, 2-1, on Monday night. Both Trout and Rodriguez finished 1-for-3 with a single.

More from SB Nation:

• Where Delmon Young goes from here

• Video: Alfonso Soriano's 2000th hit was a HR | A-Rod passes Stan the Man

• Neyer: On being a fan (or not)

• Rays get Juan Uribe with the hidden ball trick.

• Longform: The death of a ballplayer

The Daytona Cubs have a 3.5 game lead in the Florida State League North Division second-half standings and their chances of making the playoffs got a huge boost today when third baseman Kris Bryant and first baseman Dan Vogelbach were both promoted to Daytona from Boise and Kane County respectively. The team really needs it as tonight Anthony Giansanti was their cleanup hitter tonight. Nothing against Giansanti, but he's got one home run so far this season. Even his mom would admit he's not a cleanup hitter. Right now, the Daytona Cubs have three or four leadoff hitters in their lineup. The power is much needed.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs dunked the Sacramento River Cats (Athletics), 2-1.

Justin Grimm started and got his second Iowa win. He pitched 5.1 innings and allowed only one run on four hits. He did walk four batters, which is an issue. Grimm struck out six.

In his first game back from the disabled list, third baseman Josh Vitters smashed a ball into the left field skyboxes for his fifth home run of the season. It came in the bottom of the fourth and tied the score at 1-1. Vitters was 1 for 2 with a walk.

In the very next inning, DH Mike Olt provided the rest of Iowa's offense with an opposite field home run, his 14th of the season, 13th in the Pacific Coast League and second with the Iowa Cubs. Olt was 1 for 3.

Second baseman Edgar Gonzalez was 2 for 4 with a double.

Center fielder Jae-Hoon Ha was 0 for 4, snapping his hitting streak at 13 games.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies swept a doubleheader from the Montgomery Biscuits (Rays), winning yesterday's suspended game 3-2 and winning the regularly scheduled game 9-4.

Matt Loosen started the first game yesterday and tossed two scoreless innings before the rains came. He also faced one batter of the third inning. Loosen gave up one hit. He walked three and did not record a strikeout.

Eric Jokisch picked up the game today in the third inning and improved his record to 10-10 as he allowed two runs over 6.1 innings. One of the two runs was unearned. Jokisch surrendered four hits. He walked two and struck out three in his first appearance after his no-hitter.

Jokisch exited after he walked a batter with one out in the ninth. He was replaced by Tony Zych, who got two flyouts to center field to end the game. It was Zych's second save.

DH Javier Baez hit a solo home run in the sixth inning to tie the game at 2-2. It was Baez's 29th home run this season and 12th with the Smokies. Baez was 2 for 4.

The Smokies took the lead in the seventh when catcher Taylor Davis, in his first game since being promoted from Daytona, doubled home Jonathan Mota from first base. Davis was 1 for 3 and Mota was 1 for 2 with a walk.

In the second game, the Smokies broke out to a 9-0 lead after three innings. Starter Yeiper Castillo got into trouble in the fourth inning, however. He allowed a single, a walk and a single to load the bases and then hit a batter to force in a run. Jeffry Antigua then relieved him and let all three runs in. Castillo's final line was four runs on four hits over 3+ innings. Castillo walked two and struck out one.

Antigua may have allowed all three inherited runners to score, but he stayed in the game for three innings and didn't allow any more runs to score. That meant he got his second win because Castillo didn't go five innings. Antigua allowed one hit. He walked one and struck out two.

The Smokies scored six runs in the first inning thanks in part to a pair of home runs. The first was third baseman Christian Villanueva's 16th of the season and it came with two men on. The next came three batters later when first baseman Jonathan Mota hit his sixth of the season with a man on.

Villanueva was 2 for 3 with a walk. He scored twice. Mota was 2 for 3 with a two-run double in the third inning, giving him four RBI for the game.

DH Justin Bour was 2 for 4 with a double. He scored once and had one run batted in. Second baseman Nate Samson was 2 for 3.

Daytona Cubs

The Daytona Cubs won their fourth straight game, 5-4 over the TampaYankees.

Ivan Pineyro won his second game with the Cubs after he allowed only one run over six innings. He did allow eight hits, but he only walked one. Pineyro struck out two.

Jeffry Lorick had to bail out Lendy Castillo in the eighth inning, and he was credited with two full shutout innings for his second save. Lorick gave up one hit but he walked no one and struck out one.

Daytona scored all five runs in the fourth inning. Third baseman Ben Carhart singled and scored in that inning. He also tripled in the sixth inning in a 2 for 4 game.

First baseman Anthony Giansanti was 2 for 4 with a triple. Left fielder Pin-Chieh Chen went 2 for 4.

Kane County Cougars

The Cougars scored twice in the bottom of the ninth inning to stun the Cedar Rapids Kernels (Twins), 4-3.

Michael Heesch started and allowed only one unearned run over five innings. Heesch allowed two hits. He walked one and struck out one.

Andrew McKirahan pitched two innings of scoreless relief for his second win. McKirahan did not allow a hit, although he did walk two batters. McKirahan did not strike anyone out.

Third baseman Jeimer Candelario doubled to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning and would later score on a Rock Shoulders single. Candelario was 2 for 4 and also had an RBI. Shoulders was 1 for 4.

The game ended on a sacrifice fly by right fielder Reggie Golden, which scored Jose Dore, who was running for Shoulders. Golden was 1 for 3.

In his last game in Kane County, first baseman Dan Vogelbach was 2 for 4 and scored a run. Second baseman Giuseppe Papaccio was also 2 for 4 with a run scored.

Boise Hawks

Waiting for the Ems to get to town.

AZL Cubs

Beat Mariners, 7-0.

Yesterday featured some dazzling pitching performances from Yu Darvish, Mat Latos, Hiroki Kuroda, Cole Hamels, Andrew Albers and Chris Sale in which they carried their teams to victory. Meanwhile, the Orioles and Diamondbacks were playing hot potato with win expectancy for the final three innings of their matchup. And the Rockies barraged the Padres in Colorado. All being said, there were eleven games on Monday, most of which featured some amazing performances!

The Smallest Sample Size -- Game Results for 8/12/13

Photo credit: USA TODAY Sports

Rangers 2, Astros 1

Yu Darvish was pitching against the Astros yesterday so we were predictably treated to a dominant, high strikeout performance. Only allowing one hit, a homer off the bat of Carlos Corporan, and one walk, Darvish struck out a career-high 15 batters in eight innings (42% WPA). The Rangers were able to get two runs early in the first, which proved to be the only offense they could muster. Brett Oberholtzer was a hard luck loser, throwing six and two-thirds while striking out six and allowing two runs on nine baserunners. Joe Nathan took over for Darvish and entered a high leverage situation (2.52 pLI) but locked in a Shutdown to preserve the win for Texas. The score suggests the game was rather close but Darvish was practically untouchable throughout his entire outing.

Athletics 5, Blue Jays 1

J.A. Happ and Dan Straily were excellent yesterday. Happ (26% WPA) hurled seven innings of one-run ball with his only mistake being a leadoff homer to Chris Young to start the game. From there on, he only allowed two more hits and two walks while striking out six. Straily wasn't as efficient but was able to get one more out than Happ while allowing nine baserunners and five strikeouts (33% WPA). Ryan Cook came in as relief and the tying run crossed the plate on an error. Starting the eighth, Toronto had a 24.9% chance of winning the game since they were down 1-0, but once they scored and tied the game, their win expectancy bounced up to 67.2%, which was short lived. Casey Janssen came into the game and melted down by giving up four runs on four hits and an ill-advised intentional walk (-48% WPA).

Angels 1, Yankees 2

Hiroki Kuroda (54% WPA) pitched another gem last night with eight shutout innings that only included four baserunners while striking out seven. But the Yankees nearly blew another game in the ninth. With Mariano Rivera unavailable, Boone Logan came in to close out the game and gave up a leadoff single but bounced back to strikeout Kole Calhoun. Joe Giradi had seen enough though, yanking Logan out of the game in favor of David Robertson. Robertson came into the game and walked Mike Trout and then gave up a double to Josh Hamilton that scored a run. With only a one run cushion and men on second and third, the Yankees chose to intentionally walk Erick Aybar to get to Mark Trumbo. Luckily, it worked out as Robertson was able to bounce back and strike him and Chris Nelson out to preserve the win. Easily, Robertson was thrown into the most intense situation of the day (5.51 pLI) but was able to record a Shutdown despite walking two and allowing a hit.

On the other hand, Garrett Richards (12% WPA) was handed a loss despite only allowing two runs over eight innings. His offense just couldn't back him up as they amassed a terrible -62% WPA. Nelson and Trumbo combined for four strikeouts in eight plate appearances, two of which were in an extremely important, game winning situation in the ninth.

Phillies 5, Braves 1

Cole Hamels (39% WPA) continued his bounceback second half with nine innings of one-run ball to preserve Charlie Manuel's 1,000th win. Quieting one of the hottest offenses in the league, Hamels struck out nine and only allowed seven hits in his compete game. Lowering his FIP to 3.43, we should continue to see his ERA to drop from the 3.65 that it currently sits at as long as he continues to regress towards his career average with runners on base.

Opposing starter Julio Teheran (-12% WPA) pitched pretty well but gave up a deflating three run homer to Cody Asche in the sixth that sank the Braves' win expectancy from 29% to 7.7%. Scott Downs and Luis Ayala were able to keep the game from getting further out of reach but Anthony Varvaro allowed a run in the ninth. It didn't really matter as Hamels was excellent and the Atlanta offense simply couldn't figure him out.

Photo credit: Getty Images

Reds 2, Cubs 0

The matchup between the Reds and Cubs also featured another amazing pitching performance. Mat Latos (51% WPA) pitched eight shut out innings while striking out nine and only giving up six hits. Travis Wood (8% WPA) only allowed five baserunners in eight innings but gave up a two-run dinger to Brandon Phillips that proved to be the difference maker. Although Latos had only thrown 94 pitches, Dusty Baker decided to throw in Aroldis Chapman (9% WPA) to handle the ninth. As expected, Chapman struck out the side and recorded his 27th Shutdown. Clearly the Cubs offense couldn't figure out either Latos or Chapman and only Donnie Murphy was able provide any positive winning probability.

Indians 0, Twins 3

Andrew Albers (43% WPA) couldn't complete a complete game shutout in his first start but he was able to do it last night. Only striking out two and allowing two hits, Albers had a 2.60 FIP in a super small sample size. The Twins were able to pounce on Danny Salazar (-13% WPA) quickly and chased him after just four innings. He only allowed three hits but two of them were homers by Brian Dozier and Trevor Plouffe that did all of the damage. They weren't striking out but the Indians just couldn't get any luck with their batted balls as evident by a cruel team BABIP of .074.

Tigers 2, White Sox 6

Chris Sale (29% WPA) put the White Sox in an early hole by giving up a first inning homerun to the red-hot Miguel Cabrera and a run scoring double to Brayan Pena in second but he quickly settled down thereafter. He gave up nine hits in his complete game while only allowing the two early runs and striking out six. The White Sox were able to rally and come back into the game during the fifth inning thanks to back-to-back-to-back singles from Josh Phegley, Alejandro De Aza and Gordon Beckham. Doug Fister (-19 WPA) couldn't miss many bats and gave up four runs on eight hits and three walks over six innings

Marlins 2, Royals 6

Tom Koehler (-29% WPA) struggled last night and barely got through five and a third by allowing five runs on nine hits and two walks while only striking out one. Wade Davis (6% WPA) was able to complete six and gave up two runs on six hits and two walks. Justin Maxwell tripled home a run (15.1% WPA) and scored on a single (9.4% WPA) from Chris Getz to put the Royals up 2-0 in the fourth. The Marlins fought back and tied the game in the sixth and it looked like it could be anyone's game until another Kansas City triple (21.8% WPA), this time off the bat of Alcides Escobar, scored another run. From there on out, the Royals were able to pile on a couple more runs off of Koehler and Ryan Webb and conceivably ran away with a win.

Padres 2, Rockies 14

There was a complete blowout in Colorado last night. Edinson Volquez (-24% WPA) allowed eight runs on 12 baserunners while only recording just 13 outs. By the end of the second, the Rockies were already up 5-0 and had an 86.8% win expectancy. Jhoulys Chacin (24% WPA) was able to complete eight innings and gave up just seven baserunners and one run while striking out six. As you can imagine, the game never threatened to be close and Chacin didn't really face anything more than low leverage situations (.59 pLI). In the eighth, Colt Hynes gave up six more runs to make this game look even more lopsided than it did before.

Orioles 6, Diamondbacks 7

This game was back and forth for most of its duration, even after the Orioles had started to pull away with a 4-2 lead that continued into the seventh. Wade Miley (-10% WPA) threw seven innings but gave up four runs on eight baserunners and Scott Feldman (14%) struck out eight while only allowing one run on four hits and two walks. The Orioles bullpen netted four negative WPA appearances that included three Meltdowns from Troy Patton, Tommy Hunter and Darren O'Day. With a 4-2 lead, Tommy Hunter (-49% WPA) gave up three runs (two earned, one charged to Brian Matusz) on three hits and a walk. Now with the lead, J.J. Putz (10% WPA) came out and got Manny Machado and Adam Jones to fly out to right. Apparently Kirk Gibson didn't trust him to get a third consecutive out and pulled him for Joe Thatcher (-25% WPA), who promptly gave up a homer to Chris Davis that tied the game back up. To start off the eighth, Troy Patton (-17% WPA) gave up a homer to Will Nieves that put Baltimore back into the hole. Continuing the pattern of disappointing relief appearances, Brad Ziegler (-19% WPA) melted down and gave up the tying run in the ninth only for the Diamondbacks to win it on an Adam Eaton walk-off homer against Darren O'Day (-36% WPA).

Photo credit: USA TODAY Sports

Mets 2, Dodgers 4

The Mets ran out to a quick 2-0 lead against Ricky Nolasco and the Dodgers last night but blew it in the sixth. Nolasco (-12% WPA) lasted six and a third with two earned runs and nine baserunners while Jenrry Mejia finished six innings but allowed three runs (two earned). An Adrian Gonzalez single that scored Carl Crawford and Mark Ellis thanks to an error on Juan Lagares proved to be the game changing play with a 36.2% swing in win expectancy. With a 3-2 lead, the Dodgers were able to get an insurance run from a Nick Punto homer off Carlos Torres in the seventh. In relief, Paco Rodriguez (14% WPA) and Kenley Jansen (12% WPA) were able to record shutdowns and struck out five of the nine batters they faced.

. . .

All statistics courtesy of Fangraphs.

Mike Mulvenna is a writer at Beyond The Box Score. You can follow him on Twitter at @mkmulv.

More from Beyond the Box Score:

• PITCHf/x profile: Jhoulys Chacin
• The hidden cost of the sinker
• Site Update: The (updated) Analytics Toolbox!
• Lineouts! 08/12/13: Puig vs. Myers, Rivera and Griffey
• The Smallest Sample Size 8/12/13: Giant meltdowns

Rangers 2, Astros 1: For the second time this season, Yu Darvish flirted with a no-hitter against the poor Astros, and for the second time this season, he fell short. Darvish allowed a one-out solo home run to Carlos Corporan in the bottom of the eighth inning. That came more than four months after he surrendered a two-out single to Marwin Gonzalez in the bottom of the ninth to end his no-hit bid in his first start of the season.

The Rangers picked up both of their runs in the first inning on run-scoring hits by Adrian Beltre and A.J. Pierzynski, who was thrown out of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning for arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Ron Kulpa after Darvish's attempt at a perfect game ended with a walk to Jonathan Villar.

Darvish allowed just the one run on one hit and struck out 15 batters.

Dodgers 4, Mets 2: The Dodgers rallied from a 2-0 deficit to improve to 38-8 since June 22, setting a new modern-era record for the franchise's best-ever 46-game run.

Ricky Nolasco got past a rocky second inning to earn his fourth victory in a Dodgers uniform. He allowed two runs on seven hits in 6 ⅓ innings. Adrian Gonzalez had three hits, including one that scored a pair of runs with the help of a throwing error by Mets center fielder Juan Lagares in the bottom of the sixth. Nick Punto added a solo home run.

Reds 2, Cubs 0:Brandon Phillips hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning to break a scoreless tie and preserve Mat Latos' shot at a win. Latos tossed eight shutout innings, allowing six hits and racking up nine strikeouts. He outdueled former teammate Travis Wood, who gave up just two runs on four hits in eight innings of work.

Cubs third baseman Donnie Murphy was the only player to register more than one hit in the game. He went 2-for-3 with a double.

Yankees 2, Angels 1: Not too long after Mike Trout took to the sports radio airwaves to bash PED users, Alex Rodriguez's Yankees picked up a much-needed win thanks to a stellar effort from starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda. Kuroda tossed eight shutout innings, notching seven strikeouts and giving up just three hits.

Mariano Rivera was left in the bullpen after blowing three consecutive saves. Yankees manager Joe Girardi instead called upon David Robertson, who surrendered a hit and two walks but held on to earn his first save of the year.

Twins 3, Indians 0: Twins rookie starter Andrew Albers followed up his impressive big-league debut with an even better outing. Albers tossed a complete-game shutout, holding the Tribe to just two hits. Albers is now 17 ⅓ innings into his big league career and still hasn't allowed a run. He's given up just six hits, but has only managed to strike out four batters.

Brian Dozier and Trevor Plouffe each hit a solo home run off Indians' starter Danny Salazar, giving Albers all the support he would need.

White Sox 6, Tigers 2:Chris Sale got off to a rough start, giving up runs in each of the first two innings, including one on Miguel Cabrera's 37th home run of the season. However, Chicago's ace settled in and wound up pitching a complete game, scattering nine hits and registering six strikeouts.

Gordon Beckham and Jeff Keppinger had three hits apiece for the White Sox, who were able to shrug off an 0-for-4, seven-LOB performance from former Tiger Avisail Garcia, as well as this tremendous play by Jose Iglesias, who was involved in the same trade that sent Garcia to Chicago:

Athletics 5, Blue Jays 1: The A's scored four times against Jays closer Casey Janssen to break a tie and earn a victory in the first game of the day. That came after J.A. Happ and Dan Straily went toe-to-toe for seven-plus innings. Each hurler allowed just one run during their time on the hill.

Recently acquired Alberto Callaspo led the A's with a pair of hits and two runs batted in.

Phillies 5, Braves 1:Cole Hamels allowed a run on six hits en route to hurling his first complete game of the year and 13th of his career. Hamels struck out nine batters and issued just one walk to help improve his record to 5-13.

Cody Asche hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning off Braves' starter Julio Teheran to give the Phillies a four-run cushion. Asche finished with two hits, three RBI and a pair of runs scored.

Royals 6, Marlins 2: Kansas City won for the 17th time in its last 20 games and moved ahead of Cleveland for second place in the American League Central. Chris Getz finished with three hits, Billy Butler hit a solo home run and Wade Davis allowed two runs on six hits in six innings to earn the victory.

Rockies 14, Padres 2: Colorado piled on with six runs in the eighth inning after a 1:03 rain delay to turn an 8-1 blowout into a 14-2 slaughter. The Rockies pounded out 17 hits and took advantage of four errors -- and numerous others that weren't scored as such -- by San Diego to notch their first four-game winning streak since April.

Jhoulys Chacin surrendered one run in eight innings, marking the fifth straight start in which he has lasted seven or more innings and allowed three or fewer runs. Padres outfielder Jaff Decker's solo home run, which was also his first big-league hit, represented the only damage against Chacin.

Diamondbacks 7, Orioles 6: Adam Eaton's first home run of the season was of the walk-off variety. The 24-year-old outfielder took Darren O'Day deep on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the ninth inning to help Arizona overcome a solid-but-short start by Baltimore starter Scott Feldman, as well as O's slugger Chris Davis' 43rd home run of the season.

More from SB Nation:

• Where Delmon Young goes from here

• Video: Alfonso Soriano's 2000th hit was a HR | A-Rod passes Stan the Man

• Neyer: On being a fan (or not)

• Rays get Juan Uribe with the hidden ball trick.

• Longform: The death of a ballplayer

Received a rather unpleasant wake up call in the form of a EAS alert regarding a Tornado Warning. That's a pleasant way to start the day. I was wondering why the cats weren't bugging me for their morning feeding...Anywho, I hope anyone in the path of this storm is none the worse for wear in it's wake. The same can't be said of those who stayed up to watch the O's bullpen impLOLed last night. I spared myself the tribulation by going to bed just before Tommy went Boom. Late games ain't so bad after all, I suppose! They save me from subjecting myself to the horror....the horror...

(Holy crap, a lightning bolt just struck right outside my balcony. 'Bout jumped through my ceiling right there.)

Baltimore Orioles at Arizona Diamondbacks - August 12, 2013 | MLB.com BAL Recap
The not-so-lovely totals

San Francisco Giants fan apologizes for throwing banana at Adam Jones of Baltimore Orioles - ESPN
I don't know what's in the man's heart, but I'm less than persuaded by his rationale for his action. But I'm also just a grumpy 'ole cynic by nature.

Nick Markakis’ Stunted Power | FanGraphs Baseball

The best we can all hope for at this point is that his issues are related to his hamate bone injury from last season. I've read numerous times that such an injury requires a full year before power fully returns. (Not that Nick had much to begin with, but I digress...)

Steve Melewski: Memo to minor league pitchers: When you throw, keep it low

SteveO rehashes Peterson's String Theory and gives an overview of the playoff aspirations of the minor league affiliates.

The All-Homegrown MLB |

Got any amendments to the squad put forth here? I'll have to do some research first. But, ugh...that's a dreadful lineup

Orioles fans invited to design T-Shirt | Comcast SportsNet Baltimore

We've got some creative types around here. Whatcha got?

On this date in 1969, Jim Palmer tossed a No-Hitter against Oakland. In 1978 Earl Weaver engaged in some shenanigans. After the Yankees take a 5-3 lead in the 7th inning of a game, rains sweep in and the game is delayed. But Earl supposedly gets the grounds crew to take their sweet 'ole time getting the tarp on the field. This results in the game having to be postponed, which, due to a rule at the time means the score reverted back to what it was at the end of the last completed inning: 3-0 in favor of the Birds. The O's go on to win the completed game, 3-0. 25 years ago, former Orioles Owner Edward Bennett Williams passed away. Baseball legend Mickey Mantle passed away on this date 18 years ago.

Today is the birthday of former O's Jeff Ballard, Will Ohman, and Corey Patterson.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders: Off

Double-A Trenton Thunder: Off

High-A Tampa Yankees:L 4-5 vs. Daytona Cubs

DH Mason Williams 1-4, BB
2B Rob Refsnyder 4-4, SB, HBP - batting .274 this season
CF Ben Gamel 1-5, RBI, E8 - throwing error, second of the season
1B Tyson Blaser 2-5, 2B, RBI - third double of the season
RF Taylor Dugas 0-3, SB, HBP
3B Dan Fiorito 3-4, 3B, RBI - batting .282 this season
C Jeff Farnham 2-4
SS Ali Castillo 0-4, K
LF Mikeson Oliberto 0-4, 3 K, OF assist, E7 - fielding error

Branden Pinder 3.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, K - three groundouts, two flyouts
Rigoberto Arrebato 2.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, WP
Pat Venditte 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K, HBP
Taylor Garrison 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K

Tampa jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning but Pinder ran into trouble in the fourth that resulted in a five-run inning for the Cubs. The Yankees attempted to rally, coming up a run short despite 13 hits.

Gulf Coast Yankees 1 Highlights:

SS Tyler Wade 2-3, 2B, 2 BB - batting .325/.413/.400 over his last 10 games
DH Bryan Cuevas 3-5
2B Gosuke Katoh 1-5
C Eduardo de Oleo 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI
3B Kevin Cornelius 2-4, 2B, K

Dallas Martinez 4 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, K, pickoff, HB - eight groundouts, one flyout
Daury Aquino 3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, BB, K
Nestor Cortes 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB

Gulf Coast Yankees 2 Highlights:

C Luis Torrens 1-4, K
3B Miguel Andujar 2-5, 2B, K, SB - seventh double of the season
LF Nathan Mikolas 2-3, HR, 3 RBI, HBP - fourth homer of the season
2B Thairo Estrada 2-4, HR, 2 RBI - second homer of the season
DH Drew Bridges 2-3, BB, K
1B Brady Steiger 2-3, 2B, RBI, BB
RF Jorge Alcantara 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, K, SB, CS

Jordan Cote 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, HB - 0.96 ERA this season
Jaron Long 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Dayton Dawe 0.0 IP, 0 H, 3 ER, 4 BB - welp
Edison Mejia 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Joaquin Acuna 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, BB, K

It would be shortsighted and irresponsible to call Kenley Jansen the next Mariano Rivera. After all, Rivera is the greatest closer ever, having dominated MLB hitters and shattered opponents’ bats with an unparalleled consistency during his 19-year MLB career. The long-time Yankee reliever is, quite literally, without peer.

But Kenley Jansen resembles Rivera in more ways than one. The Dodger right-hander is a great reliever in his own right, possessing a 14.2 K/9 and 1.98 FIP during his four years in the majors. Jansen also relies heavily on the same offering that has brought Rivera such renown and reverence across baseball, a cutter that confounds opponents with its sharp, late break.

So far in 2013, Jansen has thrown his cutter 89.6% of the time, which is only slightly below Rivera’s 90.5% mark with the pitch. Averaging 92.9 mph, Jansen’s cutter has been every bit as good as the long time Yankee closer’s, holding opposing hitters to a .184 batting average against and an .082 ISO this season.

A closer look at the 25-year-old’s pitch usage throughout his career reveals that Jansen has only increased his reliance on the cutter during his career, while throwing less and less off-speed pitches over the last few years.

This simplified approach has led to the best season of Jansen’s career, with the right-hander posting a stellar 13.1 K/9, and a career-best 1.36 BB/9 in 58.1 innings pitched. He also ranks within the top three among MLB relievers in FIP (1.82), strikeout rate (38.5%), and WHIP (0.82).

As the 2013 season has stretched into summer, moreover, Jansen’s performances out of the Dodger bullpen have grown more and more remarkable. He has given up just four earned runs since June 1st, while striking out 50, walking three, and allowing a .383 OPS against during that span. Prior to the single he gave up to David Freese on August 8th, Jansen had not allowed a baserunner in eight straight innings.

Like Rivera’s famed offering, Jansen’s cutter has a deadly amount of break for a pitch traveling so fast, often leaving hitters helpless in trying to square up the ball, much less even make contact. This GIF of a Jansen cutter from back in June demonstrates just how much sharp, sudden movement he generates with the pitch. That Paul Goldschmidt, one of the National League’s best hitters this season, looks so foolish in this at-bat is quite telling.

None of this means, of course, that Jansen is on pace to match Rivera’s multi-decade dominance. He has, however, been able to excel with the same approach that makes the Yankee reliever so unhittable, which is no small feat given how we view Rivera as this unique and incomparable phenomenon.

What Jansen has done in recent seasons is simply rely on his best pitch, knowing opponents will, more often than not, be unable to make solid contact against an offering with so much velocity and movement. Such a strategy has paid clear dividends for the Dodgers, who now have the privilege of trotting out one of the best closers in baseball whenever they need him.

For Los Angeles, Jansen's cutter-heavy approach has been a revelation, even if the right-handed hurler's opponents would disagree.

. . .

All stats courtesy of Brooks Baseball and FanGraphs.com.

Alex Skillinis a Staff Editor for SoxProspects.com and writes, mostly about baseball and basketball, at a few other places across the Internet. You can follow him on Twitter at @AlexSkillin.

More from Beyond the Box Score:

• A three true outcomes collision course
• Jeff Heath and the art of finishing strong
• Lineouts! 08/13/13: Abreu defects, Puig adjusts and Cy Young battles
• The Smallest Sample Size 8/13/13: Darvish dominates
• PITCHf/x profile: Jhoulys Chacin

Alex Rodriguez has had a fantastic career in baseball. Alex Rodriguez has had an extremely controversial career in baseball. Alex Rodriguez might also be one of the weirdest personalities in baseball. There's always been something bizarre about the guy and his relationship with almost everyone around him. He's like the guy at the party who goes up to everyone at the party and says, "BOY, THIS IS REALLY A GREAT TIME, ISN'T IT?! CRANK THE JAMIROQUAI!" Some people are drunk enough to play along with the silliness, like Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano, and other young players with whom he's had solid relationships, but others like Derek Jeter will just kind of bemusedly tilt their heads.

A-Rod's goofiness amid celebration is on full display whenever a teammate hits a walk-off home run. Throwing the helmet on the walk-off dinger is not entirely new, but it's become the norm in recent years. It's a better celebration than potentially breaking a leg on a freak injury when jumping into home plate, so I'm not complaining. Since 2009, A-Rod has developed this odd obsession with catching or simply retrieving the helmet after the hitter rounds third and tosses it. Like clockwork, a teammate will send one out and throw the helmet, and A-Rod will dash away from the dogpile to go get it like a happy-go-lucky puppy playing fetch. As the GIFs of the Yankees' walk-off homers from '09 to the present show, the man is friggin' determined. It's hilarious.

Johnny Damon, 5/17/09

Damon's walk-off shot was the last of the remarkable "Walk-off Weekend" of May '09, when the Yankees walked off the Twins three games in a row. Melky Cabrera won the first game with a two-run single, A-Rod himself did the walk-off homer honors in the second, and Damon capped the festivities with a solo winner of his own on a Sunday afternoon. He threw the helmet in the air where A-Rod, Cano, and Melky all jumped for it.

A-Rod did not catch it at first, but he found it and later showed off his prize to Cano amid the chaos of the home plate scrum. That produced the following priceless GIF:

Hideki Matsui, 7/20/09

Melky: "YES, I GOT THE HELMET THIS TIME!"

A-Rod: "LOLNOPE"

Robinson Cano, 8/28/09

Cano did the honors this time, but while A-Rod jumped for it, Melky came down with it again. A-Rod let him keep it this time.

Nick Swisher, 9/8/09

Hey, Melky's pretty good at this! That's 3-for-4! But holy crap. Look at A-Rod's face (0:27) as he continues to reach for the helmet in Melky's hands.

Mark Teixeira, 10/9/09

In good ol' Horseface's ALDS walk-off two innings after A-Rod's game-tying heroics against Joe Nathan, A-Rod jumped for the helmet, but it ended up going away from him. He gave up on it, and from in the video, I believe that Jerry Hairston ended up holding it.

Marcus Thames, 5/17/10

The video was not clear on Thames's awesome walk-off against Matt Foley, but from the brief snippets, you can see someone jumping for the helmet right after Thames threw it. A couple seconds later, there's the same ol' culprit Ardo running around the pile with it.

Nick Swisher, 9/8/10

It appears that Cano was over the whole helmet-hunting phase by 2010, but A-Rod was clearly not. While everyone at home plate awaits Swish, A-Rod eyes the helmet after the casual toss and goes to get it. Keep on fighting' the good fight, A-Rod.

Russell Martin, 6/10/12

It was almost a year and a half before the Yankees' next walk-off homer, but Russ supplied in a Subway Series game against the Mets. A-Rod was back in form, running from the pile to go get that helmet.

Russell Martin, 9/21/12

Okay, this time Russ HAD to be aware of A-Rod's silly habit, because he just chucked it hard toward first base.

...and the centaur's off to the races.

Raul Ibanez, 10/9/12

On Voldemort's second stunning homer of the night, A-Rod surprisingly abandoned his game and instead decided to awkwardly jump off to the side in his hoodie.

A-Rod was rehabbing in Tampa when Ichiro belted his walk-off homer on 6/25/13, as he was when Melky walked off the A's on 4/22/09. I'd like to think helmet catching was part of his rehab.

Brett Gardner, 8/11/13

A-Rod: "RIGHT HERE. BUDDY!"

Bob: "...still?"

Gardner: "Oh he's doing this again. Guess I'll oblige." /toss/

A-Rod: "YEAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Nix: "Nix."

***

Never change, A-Rod. Never change. I hope he's still doing this at his daughters' Little League Softball games several years from now.

More from Pinstriped Bible:

• Yankees 2014: Don't go, Hiroki Kuroda!
• Yankees Prospect Interview: Eric Wooten
• Baby Bomber Recap 8/12/13: Rob Refsnyder tallies four hits in Tampa loss
• Yankees 2, Angels 1: Kuroda's masterpiece
• The officially unofficial 2013 Yankees drinking game

To Harold and Henry Steinbrenner, owners and co-chairmen of the New York Yankees:

Sup Stein-bros! How's it hangin'? Low and lazy, I'll bet...just like the Yankees' position in the AL East.  Haha! I'm just yankin' your chain; you know I love you guys. Bros gotta stick together.

And that's why I'm writing to you today, to give you guys a much needed heads-up. Word on the street is that Jose Abreu has defected from Cuba, and that the dude is a major offensive talent. I'm fairly certain I'm the first one to bring this to your attention, since the Yankees have all but ignored the international free agent market in recent years.

Look, I get it - you're trying to save some money. We've all been there. I mean, Arabian racing stallions and Cristal fountains don't exactly pay for themselves. I know you'd prefer to operate like the Rays - a team that wins without spending an ungodly sum of money. Of course, you don't do any of the things that make the Rays the Rays - like locking your young players into cheap extensions - but we all can dream, can't we?

The problem here, guys, is that you're not the Rays. You're the Dodgers - a team that wins by outspending the competition. And the Dodgers helped turn their season around due in part to a prescient spending spree on the international free agent market (maybe you've heard of this Yasiel Puig guy). I know Abreu isn't a sure thing - neither was Puig, or Yu Darvish - but in baseball's new economic climate, sure-thing free agents are few and far between. My worry here, Stein-bros, is that you've stopped being proactive with your money. And those who don't spend proactively are doomed to spend re-actively, as you've proven with the deals for Vernon Wells and Alfonso Soriano.

By now I'm sure your baseball people are warning you that signing Abreu would be a mistake, since he's a first basemen. Mark Teixeira is locked into first base for the foreseeable future, and the last thing we need are a punch of weak defenders sharing the same position. First of all: who exactly are your baseball people nowadays? Is Randy Levine involved? If so, I want both of you to turn around and punch him in the face right now - the man is a hobgoblin.

Look, I love defense as much as the next guy. This 2013 team has had defense to spare. Luis Cruz could really pick it. Alberto Gonzalez is a maestro at short. And every time I see Chris Stewart frame a pitch, I drop to my knees and cry. But I believe that the offense-defense pendulum has swung too far in the other direction - defense has become wildly overrated. This team doesn't win because it cannot score runs...like, at all.

Let me tell you about a very different team - the 2005 Yankees. That team couldn't pitch much - except for the legendary Aaron Small - and they were probably the worst defensive team in the history of the game. But they won 95 games and the AL East crown on the strength of an offense that scored 886 runs. This current Yankees team couldn't score 886 runs in two full seasons if you spotted them 200 runs.

There's a dirty little secret to defensive positions in baseball: if the player can hit enough, the positions don't really matter. The Tigers were raked over the coals by defense purists who believed there was no way a team could survive moving Miguel Cabrera to third base. Not only did the Tigers survive, but they won the American League pennant last season and currently hold the best record in the AL this year. The Yankees don't need a certain player to fill a certain position; they need offense, period. I would have hoped that this season has taught you that most of these so-called "position crunches" tend to work themselves out naturally anyway. Should we really be that concerned with finding enough at bats for Teixeira, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez next season, given their old, fragile and/or suspended conditions. Something tells me that Abreu will fit into next year's lineup just fine.

Those are some strictly baseball-specific reasons for going after Abreu...but I've known you dudes long enough to figure you might need some other enticements. Let's face it, boys: this franchise needs some buzz, some juice, a little ring-a-ding-ding. You need to put butts back in the seats and get back on the front page. Haven't you noticed Puig-mania out in LA? How can you not want a piece of that hot Cuban action? Also, you can make a bundle recycling those old Bobby Abreu jerseys and selling them for 75 bucks a pop.

So how about it, bros: a good old-fashioned Steinbrenner spending orgy. Hell, the least you can do is out-bid the Red Sox...it might be the only time we beat them this year.

In conclusion: Treat Yo Self!

More from Pinstriped Bible:

• An open letter to the Steinbrenners, re: Jose Abreu
• Alex Rodriguez and his bizarre infatuation with walk-off homer helmets: A GIF-filled history
• Yankees 2014: Don't go, Hiroki Kuroda!
• Yankees Prospect Interview: Eric Wooten
• Baby Bomber Recap 8/12/13: Rob Refsnyder tallies four hits in Tampa loss

Final Score in the Bronx:Angels Single Digit Yankees Double Digits

The tarps came out on the field in the top of the eighth inning during a sudden cloudburst of a blowout game ...and then eventually the Angels lost. But it wasn't what it seemed by then. The Halos had their momentum castrated by an umpire that you have to wonder is involved in Tim Donaghy like shenanigans.

The Angels had the bases loaded with one out when Tommy Field hit a sac fly to Left to score Chris Nelson from 3B to tie the game at four apiece - but wait, the umpire has signalled that Chris Nelson left 3B early, before the catch was made. Let's look at the replay - oh that's right, Major League Baseball doesn't have replay.

The umpire who made the call was the home plate umpire, whose vantage point from the 1B side of home plate was terrible, was David Rackley, up from the minor leagues because an umpire somewhere is on vacation.

The three veteran umpires in the crew let this egregious call stand, although to implicate them in a bookie-fueled conspiracy would be an overstretch in the climate of backing up a fraternity brother from the loyal order of the Moose-brained Umps. This culture of complicity, though, would seem to allow rogue umpires opportunities to influence games beyond interpreting the rules.

Instead of two outs in the top of the sixth inning with men on 2B and 3B and J.B. Shuck coming up to the plate in a 4-4 tie, it was the Yankees facing J.C. Gutierrez in the bottom of the sixth with a 4-3 lead.

The bullpen floodgates opened as they have so many times this season... and really last year too. If it isn't apparent to you that the single most important Angel player of Mike Scioscia's managerial tenure turns out to be... Scot Shields.

Meanwhile, Josh Hamilton left five men on base. Erick Aybar left the game with a sore calf and Andrew Romine was taken out of the game in AAA Salt Lake and may be with the team tomorrow night in New Jersey or wherever the humid sewer the Yankees call home is located.

The Yankees tied a season high with 14 runs to bury the Angels in a sloppy, soggy game at the Stadium, 14-7.

CC Sabathia started off well...for the first two batters, anyway. In fact, he even had a chance to make it a one-two-three inning, getting Mike Trout to pop the ball down the right field line. Sadly, Joe Girardi decided tonight would be a good time to dust off Vernon Wells' outfield glove. Wells overran the ball, which dropped foul. CC went on to walk Trout and serve up a tasty, Hughes-ian meatball to Yankee-killer Mark Trumbo, who deposited the ball into the bleachers for a 2-0 lead.

Wells did his best to redeem himself in the bottom of the second, smacking a solo homer to to lead off the inning. It was Wells' first dinger since May 15. Michael Kay expressed genuine shock that Wells had gone nearly three months without hitting one out...apparently he hasn't been watching Wells hit this summer. Curtis Granderson followed with a single, and the Yankees were in business.

And then Jayson Nix happened. His supreme dedication to killing this rally should be the subject of the next Yankeeography. He grounded the ball to third, just beating out a double play. Thwarted in first attempt at rally-killing, Nix wasted no time in getting himself picked off first. Lyle Overbay hit what would have been a run-scoring double one batter later.  YES didn't show us a clip, but my sources tell me Nix strutted back into the clubhouse with a machine gun, like Stallone in Rambo 2, shot up everything in sight, and growled, "Mission...accomplished."

The Angels extended their lead in the third, thanks to what might have been the worst defensive inning of the Yankees' season. Following a lead off walk to J.B. Shuck, the Angels decided to roll out a sacrifice bunt, and Nix decided that picking a bunted ball off the grass would be too bourgeois. The Nix error left runners on first and second with two outs. Sabathia bounced back with a strike out of Trout and a ground ball to first base off the bat of Trumbo...which turned into a bases loaded, one out situation after Eduardo Nunez forgot to step on the bag. CC then committed the unforgivable sin of walking in Yankee reject Chris Nelson to drive in a run. He got out of the inning with only one run allowed, which was a minor miracle.

Over the next two innings, CC would settle down and the Yankees would remember they were facing Jason Vargas and not Clayton Kershaw. Jayson Nix drove in a run in the third with a clutch, gritty ground out, and Alfonso Soriano put the Yankees on top with a two-run blast in the fourth.

Sabathia nearly gave up that lead in the sixth, walking the bases loaded. With one out, Tommy Field lined a ball to Soriano and Nelson scampered home to tie the game at...wait, what? The umpire called Nelson out for leaving before the catch was made (bad call, but I'll take it) and just like that, CC was out of danger. He only gave up three runs on four hits in 6-plus innings, but Sabathia wasn't particularly sharp with his control, walking six. Still, I think it's safe to say he has ascended to the lofty level of "starters who are better than Phil Hughes."

The Yankees broke the game open against the Angel bullpen with four runs in the sixth, capped by a two-out, two-run double off the bat of Alex Rodriguez. They would break the game even open-er in the seventh with four more runs off Joe Blanton. Soriano hit his second dinger of the night - a three-run blast - to cap an amazing 3-for-5, six RBI performance. Curtis Granderson joined Soriano in tonight's three-hit club, and every single starter had at least one knock. Still, I get the feeling John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman will give tonight's Game MVP to Nix.

With the team up big, the only question left for Yankee fans was whether or not Dellin Betances would make his season debut. And the fans would get their wish...eventually...kinda. Betances threw one pitch...followed by a 26-minute rain delay. He would come back to strike out Grant Green to end the eighth and Chris Iannetta to start the ninth. Dellin was hitting consistently in the high nineties and pumping strike after strike. And then suddenly it all fell apart. Nunez threw away a ground ball (his second error of the night) and Betances gave up five straight hits and walk, including a three-run bomb to Trout. Joba Chamberlain would come in to finish off the Angels. Tough break, Dellin, we'll see you in three weeks or so.

Mom Quote of the Night:

Following Romine's sixth-inning bunt.

"I hate bunting! Why do they always do that? Ooh...Romine looks like he has bird poop on his shoulder!"

Anyhoo....this game was weird. Satisfying, but weird. Tomorrow's game promises to be tighter, as Ivan Nova puts his newly-earned "ace" status on the line against Jered Weaver.

Minor League Ball: Organization Top 20 Prospects in Review

Minor League Ball's John Sickels is in the middle of reviewing all of his preseason Top 20 Prospects and you can find all of them in the link below:

Organization Top 20 Prospects for 2013

John also hosted an All Questions Answered thread on Monday morning, so go check out the Q & A.

Fake Teams Podcast, Episode 25: Fantasy Decathlon

Andrew and the slacker (ha), Zack, got together on Sunday night to discuss all things fantasy baseball, including Josh Reddick's power-filled weekend, the Buccos calling up Andrew Lambo, and some players with surprisingly similar stats this season.

You can listen to the podcast in two ways:

MP3

ITunes

Ryan Zimmerman: Fantasy First Baseman?

I was listening to Inside Pitch on the MLB station on SiriusXM last night and Casey Stern and Jim Bowden were discussing the Nationals moving third baseman Ryan Zimmerman to first base next season. The move to first base would result in Anthony Rendon moving to his natural position at third base, and the Nationals trading Adam Laroche this offseason. I am not sure what they will get in return for Laroche, but I imagine a return to Pittsburgh could be in the cards for him, as the Pirates could use a veteran, good fielding, power hitting first baseman in the middle of their lineup.

What this does to the fantasy value of Zimmerman and Rendon remains to be seen, but both will have third base and second base eligibility, respectively, so their value won't take that much of a hit. Zimmerman has certainly underperformed expectations this season, and I could see his draft value dropping anyway.

Prince Fielder: Having his "Off" Year

Last offseason, I ranked Tigers first baseman as my top fantasy first baseman heading into the 2013 season, but he has been a bit of a disappointment this season. His batting average, on base percentage and power are down in a big way when compared to last season. Let's take a look:

2011: .299-.415-.566, .267 ISO, 38 HRs, 95 runs, 120 RBI, 569 at bats

2012: .313-.412-.528, .215 ISO, 30 HRs, 83 runs, 108 RBI, 581 at bats

2013: .261-.352-.432, .171 ISO, 17 HRs, 58 runs, 81 RBI, 456 at bats

As you can, Fielder's stats are down compared to the last few seasons, and he is on pace to hit just 23 HRs, score 81 runs, and drive in 111 runs. His RBI totals are fine, but the home runs, ISO and SLG are way down, and now we may know why. According to teammate Torii Hunter, Fielder is dealing with some off the field issues that could be affecting his performance on the field.

Looking into the offseason, his ranking will be impacted by his "off" year, but that could spell opportunity come draft day 2014.

Round'em Up

Jose Fernandez was doing Jose Fernandez type things on Tuesday night, as he shut out the Royals for 7 innings last night, giving up just 3 hits, a walk and striking out 6. Fernandez did not factor in the decision, as he and Bruce Chen took turns tossing shutout innings last night. Fernandez is now 8-5 with a 2.45 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and a 149-48 strikeout to walk rate in 139.2 innings. He has given up two runs or less in 18 of his 24 starts this season.

Royals starter Bruce Chen has been pretty unbelievable since returning to the rotation, and last night was no different, as he matched Fernandez by tossing 7 shutout innings, giving up just 3 hits, walking 3 and striking out 6 in a no decision. Chen has given up two runs or less in his last 6 starts this season, and has given up a total of 4 runs over his last 37.2 innings. He lowered his ERA to 1.62 and his WHIP to 1.04.

Remember when fantasy owners were worried that Kris Medlen would lose his rotation job when Brandon Beachy returned from the DL? Yeah, me too. He hasn't come close to the pitcher we saw in the second half of last season, but he has won four straight starts after last night's gem vs the Phillies. Medlen limited the Phillies to one run on 5 hits, a walk and 5 strikeouts, and is now 10-10 with a 3.72 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and a 113-37 K-BB rate in 145 innings.

Yankees outfielder Alfonso Soriano made older Yankee fans remember the early days of his career in a Yankee uniform last night. Soriano went 3-5 with 2 HRs and 6 RBI in the Yankees win over the Angels. Soriano isn't the same player the Yankees traded away more than a decade ago, but he still has power, as he now has 22 HRs and 65 RBI on the season, with five of those home runs coming since his trade to the Yankees.

His teammate, starter C.C. Sabathia is certainly not the same pitcher he was last season, and I am beginning to wonder if he is pitching hurt. Sabathia came away with the win last night, but gave up 3 runs, 2 earned, on 3 hits, 6 walks and 7 strikeouts. The stat line looks great till you get to the "BB" column. Sabathia is now 10-10 with a 4.66 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and a 140-44 K-BB rate in 166 innings. His strikeout rate and ground ball rate are both down this season, while his home run rate, walk rate and ERA and FIP are up. He fell in our midseason starting pitcher rankings last month, and I could see him falling out of the Top 30 starting pitcher rankings in 2014.

More from Fake Teams:

• Jose Dariel Abreu Defects from Cuba
• Streamer Report: Wednesday's Streamers
• Risers and Fallers: Brian Dozier, Justin Maxwell and Others
• Fantasy Football 2013: Position Rankings and More
• Prospect Preview: Robert Stephenson
• Roto Roundup: Yu Darvish, Clayton Kershaw and Others