Tadahito Iguchi becomes the 4th new member of the meikyukai this season, taking Masahiro Tanaka deep for his 2,000th hit in MLB and NPB combined. Iguchi is only the fifth player to get 2,000 hits between the two leagues, following Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, Kazuo Matsui and Norihiro Nakamura.

The Yankees repatriate OF Alfonso Soriano from the Cubs, in return for minor league P Corey Black. Soriano plays DH and bats clean-up in tonight’s game against the Rays, but goes 0-for-5 as the Yankees lose, 10 – 6. Tampa Bay’s win, combined with Boston’s loss to the Orioles, puts the Rays in first place in the AL East for the first time since April 6th.

The Phillies sign Cuban pitcher Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, who defected to Mexico earlier this year, to a six-year contract worth $60 million.

2013 – Down 3 – 2 with two outs in the 9th, the Dodgers wake up. With Yasiel Puig on first, Andre Ethier lines a soft single to center against Blue Jays closer Casey Janssen, but the ball is misjudged by CF Colby Rasmus and it bounces over his head, allowing the tying run to score. The Dodgers then burst out for five runs in the top of the 10th, thanks to homers by Puig and Mark Ellis, and end up with an 8 – 3 win, their 6th straight. The Jays are headed in the opposite direction, having now lost 7 in a row and 9 of 10.

Wearing their home whites and batting in the bottom of the innings, the visiting Reds drop a 5-3 decision to the Giants in the second game of the twin bill at San Francisco’s AT&T Park. The make-up game of a washout of a July Fourth contest, which could not that could not take place in the home ballpark, set up the possibility for the first time in major league history that an away team produced a walk-off win on the road had Cincinnati come back from their two-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth.

2013 – The Orioles acquire veteran reliever Francisco Rodriguez from the Brewers for infield prospect Nick Delmonico.

The Rangers trade three prospects, third baseman Mike Olt, pitchers C.J. Edwards, and Justin Grimm, to the Cubs for Matt Garza, a player the team has attempted to land for the past two seasons. The deal also includes the Cubs receiving a player to be named later, most likely Neil Ramirez if his shoulder is sound, or two other minor-leaguers if the right-hander is still injured.

The Cubs trade P Matt Garza to Texas in return for Mike Olt, C.J. Edwards, Justin Grimm and a player to be named.

Brewers OF Ryan Braun is suspended for the rest of the season for violating MLB’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The suspension is the first to result from the well-publicized inquiry into the practices of Miami’s Biogenesis Laboratories, but some 20 other players are being investigated and face similar punishment. Braun, who had escaped a 50-game suspension for testing positive for a PED last year because of a lapse in the protocol for handling his urine sample, decides not to fight the results of the inquiry this time and accepts his immediate suspension.

In an on-field ceremony, former first baseman Carlos Delgado becomes the 10th member inducted on the Level of Excellence, an award bestowed by the Blue Jays in recognition of an individual player’s accomplishments for the team. Previous recipients of the prestigious award include Dave Stieb, George Bell, Joe Carter, Cito Gaston, Tony Fernandez, Pat Gillick, Tom Cheek, Roberto Alomar, and Paul Beeston.