Cole Hamels becomes the best paid Phillies player in history when he signs a guaranteed six-year, $144 million contract. The deal, the second richest contract for a pitcher, only behind the Yankees agreement with CC Sabathia, includes an option for a seventh season that could pay the 28 year-old southpaw as much as $162 million through 2019.

The Athletics crush the Blue Jays, 16 – 0, for their 7th straight win, handing the Jays the most lopsided loss in team history. Coco Crisp homers twice in support of A.J. Griffin as the A’s erupt for 8 runs in the 2nd inning off Ricky Romero. If that isn’t enough, Brandon Inge fouls a ball off C J.P. Arencibia’s bare right hand, breaking a bone, then RF Josh Reddick rubs some salt in the wound by making a Spiderman catch in the bottom of the frame, climbing the fence and holding on with his right hand for a pair of seconds before catching the ball, robbing Travis Snider of extra bases.

In his first game for the Dodgers, Hanley Ramirez goes 2 for 4 with a walk, a run and a RBI, but the Cardinals win, 3 – 2, as Rafael Furcal singles home the winning run in the 12th inning.

Deals continue to be announced ahead of the trading deadline, with Los Angeles acquiring 3B Hanley Ramirez and P Randy Choate from Miami in return for Ps Nathan Eovaldi and Scott McGough. In other moves, the Phillies sign P Cole Hamels to a six-year extension worth $144 million, taking him off the market, while the Rays release veteran DH Hideki Matsui, who is hitting only .147, to make room for Ryan Roberts, who was acquired in a trade yesterday.

Jordany Valdespin sets a new Mets single-season record when he hits his fifth pinch-hit home run of the season in the team’s 5-2 loss to Washington at Citi Field. The 24 year-old’s accomplishment also ties Cliff Johnson (Astros, 1974) for the second-highest single-season total ever recorded by a rookie, trailing only Craig Wilson, who was a freshman with the Pirates in 2001 when he tied Dave Hansen’s major-league mark for pinch-homers with seven.

The Rays acquire 3B Ryan Roberts from the Diamondbacks in return for minor league infielder Tyler Bortnick, and the Pirates obtain P Wandy Rodriguez from Houston for three solid prospects – Rudy Owens, Colton Cainand Robbie Grossman.

Seattle’s Felix Hernandez breaks Alex Rodriguez’s hand with a pitch in the 8th inning of a 4 – 2 win over the Yankees. The Yanks make history by becoming the first team since the 1927 Athletics to have three players with 2,500+ career hits in the starting lineup. New York uses Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and the newly-acquired Ichiro Suzuki to pull that off.

Hours after being acquired in a trade, Ichiro Suzuki singles off Kevin Millwood in his first at-bat as a Yankee in a 4 – 1 win over his former team, the Mariners. Hiroki Kuroda is the winner while Alex Rodriguez hits his 15th homer of the season.

Teams get an early start on the trading deadline, as a number of deals are consumated today. Most stunning is the Mariners sending OF Ichiro Suzuki to the Yankees in return for minor league Ps D.J. Mitchell and Danny Farquhar. In other trades, the Marlins send P Anibal Sanchez and IF Omar Infante to the Tigers in return for P Jacob Turner and minor-leaguers Rob Brantly and Brian Flynn; in a major league first, the teams also swap picks in next season’s amateur draft. The Angels acquire P Barry Enright from the Diamondbacks for future considerations, while the Cubs send P Ryan Dempster to the Braves, although that deal is pending Dempster’s approval, which will not come.

The A’s, after tying the game with a run in the bottom of the ninth, complete their sweep of New York with a 5-4 walk-off victory in the 12th inning at The Coliseum. It marks the first time in Yankees history that the Bronx Bombers have been swept in a four-game series while losing all four by one run.