Baseball

Boston sports fans coming off their Stanley Cup hangovers are beginning to notice the Red Sox again, and what they are seeing is a team defying all expectations.

In fact, the Sox are on pace for one of the greatest single-season turnarounds in franchise history.

Since his call-up from the minor leagues on June 3, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig has set the baseball world on fire with a barrage of big hits, long home runs and laser throws (not to mention a few boneheaded base running mistakes).

It's not even July and already we've seen some prominent players sent down in the Seattle Mariners system. A season that was supposed be one of contention and progress has, thus far, been yet another year of rebuilding and disappointment.

The Mariners are currently 35-45, 12 games back in the American League West. Barring a drastic turnaround, they'll be sellers at the trade deadline, allowing for some young prospects to get a taste of major league action, a process all too familiar among the club and its fans by now.

Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies and the word “injury” have been used together in the same sentence for more than a year now. 

We've reached the midway point in the 2013 MLB season, and the Baltimore Orioles have provided plenty of intrigue during the first few months.

There have been plenty of surprises (Manny Machado's doubles, Chris Davis' home runs) and just as many disappointments (pitching struggles, injuries) throughout the season so far, as baseball often provides.

Heading into the second half, one interesting thing to keep an eye on will be whether or not players having strong years can keep that going as well as struggling players turning their years around.

I know that I have recently written that Andrew Bailey will get a chance if he starts to pitch well, but Koji Uehara is just phenomenal in the closer's role for the Boston Red Sox.

The Cleveland Indians swept the Chicago White Sox on Friday by scores of 19-10 and 9-8 in what has to rank as one of the weirdest and most exciting doubleheaders in Cleveland Indians history. According to the MLB Network, the 19 runs tied the Indians' own mark for the most runs scored in a single game in the MLB this season.

After a while, the MLB All-Star Game can become, well, kind of boring.

While it's great to see the biggest names in baseball go head-to-head for the right to home-field advantage in the World Series, it doesn't always reflect the players who are having the best seasons—and isn't that what the All-Star Game is all about?

Cole Hamels is getting a pass from Philadelphia Phillies fans—and the city's media—for his horrible pitching this season.

That stops now.

One thing the Los Angeles Dodgers have to be given credit for on a night where nothing went right—they know how to end a streak in grand fashion.

Backed by a 21-hit attack and a six-RBI night from embattled outfielder Delmon Young, the Philadelphia Phillies whipped the Dodgers, 16-1.

It represented the Dodgers' worst loss at home since they moved out west in 1958.