In the early hours of the morning, the group led by Nolan Ryan and Chuck Greenberg is confirmed as the winning bidder in the court-ordered auction of the Texas Rangers, part of the bankruptcy proceedings for owner Tom Hicks’s sports properties group. The winning bid, valued at $385 million in cash, beats one from Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association; its total value reaches $593 million when the portion of Hicks’s debts assumed by the new owners is taken into account.

A routine pop-up by Jason Kubel with two outs in the 9th hits a catwalk high above Tropicana Field and lands safely behind the pitcher’s mound to give Minnesota the lead on its way to an 8 – 6 win. The freak hit negates a six-run comeback by the Rays in the 8th, capped by Jason Bartlett’s pinch grand slam. After the loss, manager Joe Maddon lets out his frustration with his home ballpark: “There’s a crying need for a real baseball field to be built”, he tells the St. Petersburg Times.

The Phillies obtain Mike Sweeney from the Mariners for a player to be named later or cash considerations. The deal is necessitated for Philadelphia when their All-Star first baseman Ryan Howard is put on the disabled list with a severely sprained ankle.

Vicente Padilla throws a two-hit shutout as the Dodgers beat the Padres, 9 – 0. Padilla uses mainly slow breaking balls, including his version of the eephus pitch, to mystify San Diego’s batters, keeping them hitless until one out in the 7th. But it’s not all good news for the Dodgers: before the game, C Russell Martin is placed on the disabled list because of a torn musle in his right hip and will be out for the remainder of the year.

Toronto keeps banging out homers by the bushel, hitting four more in today’s 8 – 2 win over the Yankees at New Yankee Stadium. Aaron Hill, Vernon Wells, Travis Snider and José Bautista connect for the Jays. Starter Ricky Romero gives up a two-run shot to Mark Teixeira in the 1st, then limits the Bronx Bombers to an infield single the rest of the way to take the win with a complete game two-hitter. The Jays have now hit a major league-leading 167 home runs.

Meanwhile, the Rays take sole possession of first place in the AL East with a 6 – 4 win over Minnesota. Sean Rodriguez and B.J. Upton both hit three-run homers, while Jeff Niemann notches his 10th win, the fourth Rays starter to reach the mark already this year.

The Royals and Athletics are involved in a strange play tonight. With the Royals’ Mitch Maier on third and Yunieski Betancourt on first base with none out in the 7th, Gregor Blanco lays a bunt down the third base line. C Kurt Suzuki fields it and catches Maier in a rundown between third and home. When P Jerry Blevins runs Maier back to the third sack, Betancourt is already standing there. Blevins tags both runners and umpire Bill Hohn calls Betancourt out for being on an occupied base, while Blanco advances to second. However, the umpires then confer, and crew chief Gary Darling rules Maier out for stepping off the bag after being tagged, thus abandoning his effort, making Betancourt’s presence on the bag legal. A’s manager Bob Geren comes out to argue that both runners should then be out and when he insists too much, he is ejected. In the end, the unusual play doesn’t figure in the final score as the Royals win, 3 – 2.

Two of the top first basemen in th majors go on the disabled list today: the Phillies’ Ryan Howard is the victim of a sprained ankle, while Boston’s Kevin Youkilis has a thumb injury. Also going on the DL are Cleveland C Carlos Santana and DH Travis Hafner, who have respectively a sprained knee suffered in a collision at home plate, and inflammation in the shoulder.

For the second consecutive game, the Brewers score 18 runs against the Cards, winning, 18 – 4. IF Aaron Miles makes the fourth pitching appearance of his career, tossing a scoreless 9th inning for St. Louis; he is their only pitcher not to allow any runs over the past two days.

The Brewers bang out 26 hits in beating the Cubs, 18 – 1, at Wrigley Field. Prince Fielder drives in 5 runs on 5 hits, Ryan Braun also collects 5 hits and Corey Hart has 4 in support of Yovani Gallardo’s 12 strikeouts; Casey McGehee hits a three-run homer in the rout. “Nothing worked”, comments Cubs acting manager Alan Trammell, filling in for Lou Piniella, who is in Florida to attend a funeral. It ties the Cubs’ franchise record for hits allowed, set back in the 1950s.