MLB

The bronze baseballs that adorn Camden Yards' Eutaw Street walkway provide four pieces of information—the batter, his team, the date, and the distance—but that's only half the story. Who were the pitchers?

Presumably, no organization would create a monument to shame pitchers, although if that option ever came in vogue I have some candidates in mind for the first statue—2007 bullpen, I'm looking in your general direction.

It's July 2. Currently, the Philadelphia Phillies sit in first place in NL east.

Read the last sentence alone, and it's exactly what you would want as the GM.

Now let's add in some more facts. The Florida Marlins are only a half game back, the New York Mets are hanging around at two games back, and the surprising Atlanta Braves are only three games back. One bad weekend and the Phils might be fighting for the wild card.

Sprinkle in some misfortune; Brett Myers unexpected injury has affected the entire pitching staff, and not in a good way.

I’m about to embark on a 10-day trip back home to Virginia, which means keeping up with the Seattle Mariners will be as difficult as if they were playing on Mars. No ESPN highlights, no box scores in the paper, no asking anyone about last night’s game, no nothing.

Sure, there’s the Internet for all that information, but I truly believe my parents’ computer is powered by a small rodent, making easy access to late-game action almost impossible, and me mostly out of the loop for one of the most important stretches of the season.

After watching his club trade away three more players on Tuesday, Jack Wilson questioned when the continued practice of trading proven players for "good prospects" was finally going to pay off.

"The biggest question is, when do things start turning around? It's hard for guys who have seen these exact kinds of trades happen before and seen it do absolutely nothing," Wilson told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.  "For nine years, I've seen these trades two or three times a year, every year, and we still haven't had a winning season."

The Yankees haven't trailed in a ballgame since the sixth inning of last Wednesday's contest against the Braves.  That's a span of 58 innings.

Andy Pettitte made sure that streak would continue until at least Thursday.

The lefty gave up just two runs on six hits and one walk through seven innings to earn his team-leading eighth victory of the season, as the Yanks beat Seattle 4-2 for their seventh consecutive win.

Wednesday, for the first time all season, the Minnesota Twins ascended to two games over the .500 mark. It is hard to believe that, given this situation and the fact that there are only nine more games before the All-Star break, the team would be looking to buy at the deadline.

Usually, if a team has stumbled around the .500 mark for the entire first half of the season, they are looking to sell and rebuild for next year. However, with the rest of the AL Central playing below expectations as well, the Twins are right in the thick of the fight. 

So, Lou Piniella is finally starting to show signs of the manager we all thought he was.

He's sent troubled Milton Bradley home. He's sat down struggling Alfonso Soriano. He's even gotten thrown out of a game—Wednesday versus the Pirates on what appeared to be a bad call at first base.

But he needs to continue to be the tough guy and continue to sit Soriano. Sadly, it's not likely.

Now, I don't say this simply because Soriano's replacement, Sam Fuld, had a great game on Wednesday. I say this because Soriano has hit below the Mendoza line in June.

The NL East has proven to be the free-for-all many thought it would be. The Atlanta Braves are in fourth place, but are only three games out of first place on July 1.

The New York Mets are injured and their roster is depleted, yet they broke out of a five-game losing streak against Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo on Wednesday.

The Florida Marlins have shot up the standings to within a half-game of first place after a 17-11 June.

The Philadelphia Phillies hit the skids in June with an 11-15 mark, but are still at the top in the division.

In just his fourth season as the Red Sox closer, Jonathan Papelbon has already made a place for himself in the Boston record book.

With his 20th save in 22 chances Wednesday, Papelbon became the club’s all-time saves leader as he notched No. 133.

Starting in 2006—when he recorded 35 saves (the third highest total ever for a rookie closer)—Papelbon has steam-rolled past his predecessors, continually moving up the team's all-time saves list.