– The Milwaukee Brewers have raced of the All-Star Break like a bat out of hell. After the Cardinals’ Skip Schumaker hit a sac fly to tie the game 3-3 and push it into extra innings, the Brewers scrapped across three runs in the top of the 10th to beat the Cardinals 6-3. Milwaukee has now won five straight and have inched within two games of the Cubs in the NL Central.
– Speaking of the Cubs, they continue to slide after losing 2-0 to the Diamondbacks. Rich Harden took the loss despite only giving up one run on one hit and striking out 10 over seven innings. Chicago gave its new starter zero run support as Randy Johnson shut down the Cubs over seven innings. The Big Unit struck out four and gave up just two hits and no runs.
– The Yankees have hit their second-half surge apparently. The Bronx Bombers have now won four in a row after crushing the Twins 12-4 thanks to a barrage of home runs. Alex Rodriguez (21), Derek Jeter (6) and Robinson Cano (8) each homered in the win, and Sidney Ponson improved to a stunning 6-1 on the year.
– The Yankees couldn’t make up any ground in the tight AL East, however, as both the Rays and the Red Sox each won. Tampa used another strong outing by ace Scott Kazmir and a home run by sensational rookie Evan Longoria (19) to beat the slumping A’s 4-0. Boston won by the same score, as Jon Lester shutout the Mariners 4-0 and Jason Varitek hit his eighth dinger of the year.
