The lengthy investigation and prosecution of Barry Bonds for obstruction of justice come to an end when the Department of Justice reveals it will not challenge the reversal of his felony conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court. Baseball’s career home run leader was convicted of obstruction of justice in 2011 for giving convoluted answers to a federal grand jury when probed about PED injections.

In an interleague game in Philadelphia, Rays pitcher Nathan Karns homers off Aaron Nola, who his making his major league debut. The homer comes in the 3rd inning for Karns’s first major league hit. It turns out to be the only run of the game, the first time a homer by an American League pitcher has accounted for the sole run in a 1-0 game since Milt Pappas did so for the Orioles on April 18, 1962.

Shin-Soo Choo hits for the cycle to lead the Rangers to a 9 – 0 win over the Rockies as Matt Harrison records his first win in 14 months. Delino DeShields pitches in with four hits and Prince Fielder homers in the rout.

Xu Guiyan signs with Orioles, becoming the first player who is Chinese by birth and ancestry to ink a contract to play in the United States. The 19 year-old outfielder/first baseman nicknamed ‘Itchy,’ at the MLB China Development Center in Wuxi, Jiangsu will be evaluated by the Orioles scouts in the spring, before being assigned to a minor league affiliate.

The Angels host their first doubleheader since 2003, caused by a rare rainout the day before, and sweep the Red Sox, 11 – 1 and 7 – 3. Albert Pujols hits three homers to lead the offensive barrage.

The Mets strand 25 baserunners but manage to defeat the Cardinals, 3 – 1, in 18 innings. Ruben Tejada drives in the winning run with a sacrifice fly and Eric Campbell follows with a successful squeeze bunt as the Mets go 1-for-26 with runners in scoring position. Starter Carlos Martinez is pressed into service for the Cards and takes the loss, pitching 4 innings. The game is scoreless for 12 innings, until Kevin Plawecki drives in a run for the Mets in the 13th, but Kolten Wong replies with a solo homer.

After a two-and-a-half-hour delay, the Angels finally call off their game against the Red Sox, making the postponement the team’s first home game canceled because of inclement weather in twenty years. The last rainout in Anaheim occurred on June 16, 1995, covering a span of 1,609 consecutive games, when the Halos and White Sox were washed out.

Zack Greinke of the Dodgers extends his streak of shutout innings to 43 2/3 by tossing 8 innings without allowing a run in defeating the Nationals, 5 – 0. It is the longest such streak in the majors since Orel Hershiser pitched 59 straight innings without allowing a run in 1988 to set the major league record.

Chris Tillman allows a single to the first batter he faces, Ian Kinsler and a walk to Victor Martinez later in the 1st inning, but he then retires 23 straight batters in combining with Zach Britton on a one-hitter. The Orioles beat the Tigers, 3 – 0.

The lights go out in Washington as the Nats’ first home game after the All-Star break is interrupted with the Dodgers leading, 2 – 1, in the 4th inning when a bank of lights on the third base side of the field at Nationals Park go out. Stadium personnel manage to turn them back on after a one hour, 22 minute delay, play resumes for 9 minutes, and the lights go out again. This time, 40 minutes are needed to restore power, but it lasts just 12 minutes. The game is finally suspended at 10:42 pm in the 5th inning, the Nationals having in the meantime taken the lead on a two-run homer by Danny Espinosa during the second brief resumption of play.