Stephen Strasburg undergoes reconstructive elbow surgery in which Dr. Lewis Yocum takes a piece of ligament from the 22 year-old right-hander’s left leg and transplants it into the rookie’s pitching elbow. The ‘Tommy John’ surgery might keep the Nationals’ much-heralded phenom out of the starting rotation until the start of the 2012 season.

Major League Baseball penalizes six players, both skippers, and a coach following an ugly brawl which occurred two days ago between the Nationals and Marlins in Miami that was the result of Chris Volstad throwing at Nyjer Morgan for the second time in the game. The Florida outfielder, who became a target when he ran over Brett Hayes, separating the catcher’s shoulder in the previous contest, retaliated to being hit in the fourth by stealing two bases, but charges the mound after the sixth inning incident, setting off the melee.

With a number of pitchers unavailable following a 13-inning loss to Detroit during which starter Scott Baker had to leave after only two innings, the Twins turn to rookie Matt Fox to start a key game against the Rangers. Fox delivers in his major league debut, pitching 5 2/3 solid innings after being called up from AAA Rochester in the middle of the night. His teammate in the minors, Alex Burnett, then pitches 1 1/3 innings to get credit for the 4 – 3 win.

The Phillies pull to within one game of the NL East-leading Braves with a 1 – 0 win over the Brewers. Cole Hamels pitches 7 scoreless innings, while the lone run scores after Shane Victorino’s fly ball drops between LF Ryan Braun and CF Lorenzo Cain for a double; the Flyin’ Hawaiian then scores on two consecutive ground ball outs. Meanwhile, the Braves drop a 6 – 1 decision to Florida as rookie Logan Morrison hits a pair of triples.