The Angels acquire Scott Kazmir, the winningest pitcher in Tampa Bay Rays history, in a trade for P Alex Torres, IF Matt Sweeney and a player to be named later (IF Sean Rodriguez). Also on the trade front, Minnesotaobtains reliever Jon Rauch from the Diamondbacks for a player to be named later.

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The Angels acquire Scott Kazmir, the winningest pitcher in Tampa Bay Rays history, in a trade for P Alex Torres, IF Matt Sweeney and a player to be named later (IF Sean Rodriguez). Also on the trade front, Minnesotaobtains reliever Jon Rauch from the Diamondbacks for a player to be named later.

John Hester, appearing as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning, homers in his first major league at-bat in Arizona’s 14-7 victory over Houston. The 25 year-old catcher becomes the 101st player to accomplish the feat, and the second Diamondback player this season, joining Gerardo Parra, who also went deep in his first big league plate appearance in May.

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John Hester, appearing as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning, homers in his first major league at-bat in Arizona’s 14-7 victory over Houston. The 25 year-old catcher becomes the 101st player to accomplish the feat, and the second Diamondback player this season, joining Gerardo Parra, who also went deep in his first big league plate appearance in May.

Pinch-hitting in the 6th inning, John Hester hits a home run in his first major league at bat to help Arizona beat Houston, 14 – 7. He hits the homer off Wilton Lopez, who is also making his major league debut.

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Pinch-hitting in the 6th inning, John Hester hits a home run in his first major league at bat to help Arizona beat Houston, 14 – 7. He hits the homer off Wilton Lopez, who is also making his major league debut.

2009 – Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn hit home runs in Washington’s 5 – 4 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Washington is 20-21 since Jim Riggleman took over for Manny Acta as manager, while Chicago has gone 6-15 since August 5th, when the Cubs were in a first-place tie with St. Louis in the NL Central. In the game, Nats CF Nyjer Morgan breaks a bone in his left hand sliding into third base and will miss the remainder of the season.

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2009 – Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn hit home runs in Washington’s 5 – 4 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Washington is 20-21 since Jim Riggleman took over for Manny Acta as manager, while Chicago has gone 6-15 since August 5th, when the Cubs were in a first-place tie with St. Louis in the NL Central. In the game, Nats CF Nyjer Morgan breaks a bone in his left hand sliding into third base and will miss the remainder of the season.

2009 – Three home plate umpires are needed to call Toronto’s 3 – 2 win over Tampa Bay. Jerry Crawford is struck by a foul tip in the 2nd and has to leave the game, then his replacement, Tom Hallion is struck by a Scott Kazmirfastball. After a 20-minute delay during which he is attended to by training staff from both clubs, Hallion moves back to the bases, and Brian O’Nora assumes the role of home plate official. Toronto wins in the bottom of the 9th when J.P. Howell uncorks a wild pitch after loading the bases with three walks.

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2009 – Three home plate umpires are needed to call Toronto’s 3 – 2 win over Tampa Bay. Jerry Crawford is struck by a foul tip in the 2nd and has to leave the game, then his replacement, Tom Hallion is struck by a Scott Kazmirfastball. After a 20-minute delay during which he is attended to by training staff from both clubs, Hallion moves back to the bases, and Brian O’Nora assumes the role of home plate official. Toronto wins in the bottom of the 9th when J.P. Howell uncorks a wild pitch after loading the bases with three walks.

Zach Greinke breaks the Kansas City Royals franchise record for most strikeouts in a single game, striking out 15 in a 8-inning effort. The Royals beat Cleveland, 6 – 2.

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Zach Greinke breaks the Kansas City Royals franchise record for most strikeouts in a single game, striking out 15 in a 8-inning effort. The Royals beat Cleveland, 6 – 2.

The Rockies continue to catch up on the Dodgers. Trailing by 15 1/2 games in the NL West on June 3rd, the Rocks have cut the lead to just two games with a 5 – 4 win over Los Angeles today. Troy Tulowitzki singles off James McDonald with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 10th for the win.

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The Rockies continue to catch up on the Dodgers. Trailing by 15 1/2 games in the NL West on June 3rd, the Rocks have cut the lead to just two games with a 5 – 4 win over Los Angeles today. Troy Tulowitzki singles off James McDonald with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 10th for the win.

With a 5-4 win in ten innings over the Dodgers, the Rockies move 18 games over .500 for the first time in franchise history. The wild-card leader, winning 52 of their last 74 games, the latest on a Troy Tulowitzki bases-loaded single, has cut LA’s Western Division lead from 15.5 games on June 3 to just two games.

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With a 5-4 win in ten innings over the Dodgers, the Rockies move 18 games over .500 for the first time in franchise history. The wild-card leader, winning 52 of their last 74 games, the latest on a Troy Tulowitzki bases-loaded single, has cut LA’s Western Division lead from 15.5 games on June 3 to just two games.

After a shaky defensive bottom of the ninth inning at Citi Field, in which he makes an error and another poor play allowing a batter to reach on an infield hit, Eric Bruntlett redeems himself when he turns the Mets’ attempted double steal into a game-ending unassisted triple play. The fourteenth single-handed regular-season triple killing, only the second one which results in the last three outs of a game, occurs when the Phillies’ second baseman snares Jeff Francoeur’s line drive up the middle for the first out, steps on second to double up Luis Castillo, and then tags the runner coming from first base, Daniel Murphy, for the last out of Philadelphia’s 9-7 victory.

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After a shaky defensive bottom of the ninth inning at Citi Field, in which he makes an error and another poor play allowing a batter to reach on an infield hit, Eric Bruntlett redeems himself when he turns the Mets’ attempted double steal into a game-ending unassisted triple play. The fourteenth single-handed regular-season triple killing, only the second one which results in the last three outs of a game, occurs when the Phillies’ second baseman snares Jeff Francoeur’s line drive up the middle for the first out, steps on second to double up Luis Castillo, and then tags the runner coming from first base, Daniel Murphy, for the last out of Philadelphia’s 9-7 victory.