Rays announcer Dewayne Staats, before calling his 5000th major league game, throws out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the hometown team’s 2-1 loss to San Diego at Tropicana Field. The veteran broadcaster, in his 25th season, has also done play-by-play for the Cubs, Astros, and ESPN.

The GCL Yankees rip the GCL Pirates, 11 – 4. In the 5th, the Bucs turn to Dovydas Neverauskas, who will allow two runs in 2 1/3 IP. He becomes the first Lithuanian to play in the minor leagues.

The White Sox extend their unlikely winning streak to seven games with a 9 – 6 victory over Atlanta to move one game above .500. They are helped by a freakish play with two outs in the 4th, when Alex Rios hits a ground ball that jumps inside 3B Brooks Conrad’s shirt for an infield single. Paul Konerko follows with a single and Carlos Quentin with a three-run homer for a 9 – 3 lead. Before the streak, both manager Ozzie Guillen and general manager Kenny Williams were rumored to be on the verge of losing their job.

The sale of the Texas Rangers by Tom Hicks to a group headed by Chuck Greenberg is not proceeding smoothly. Although announced in January, it is now before a Federal Bankruptcy Court. Judge Michael Lynn issues a ruling today that creditors are adversely affected by a plan to pay them $75 million and are entitled to vote on it. The sale could fall through if the creditors veto the deal, valued at $575 million overall; at issue is the treatment of $525 million in loans on which Hicks’s ownership group defaulted last year. Meanwhile, on the field, the Rangers beat Pittsburgh, 6 – 3, thanks to Josh Hamilton’s 17th homer of the year, extending his hitting streak to 17 games.

Arizona State University, the #1 seed, gets bumped from the 2010 College World Series by losing their first two games. ASU had not lost consecutive games all season until this point.