Alex Liddi becomes the first player born and raised in Italy to play in the major leagues. The Mariners’ third baseman, who goes 0-for-2 in the loss to L.A., is the first MLB European Academy alumnus to make the show.

Stephen Strasburg makes his return to the major leagues barely a year after undergoing Tommy John surgery. The Nationals’ prize hurler throws 5 scoreless innings against the Dodgers, allowing only two hits, and leaves with a 3 – 0 lead. The Dodgers rally for a 7 – 3 win, however.

David Ortiz and Marco Scutaro both have 4 hits and Jon Lester throws seven scoreless innings to win his 15th game as the Red Sox romp over the Blue Jays, 14 – 0. Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Josh Reddick both homer as the Sox collect a season-high 20 hits.

The Giants edge a little closer to the Diamondbacks in the NL West with a 6 – 4 win over San Diego. Eric Surkamp wins his first major league decision while Brett Pill hits a two-run homer in his first major league at-bat for the Giants. Meanwhile, the D-Backs lose, 8 – 3, to the Rockies, to see their lead fall to 6 games. Colorado scores 7 times in the 8th inning, highlighted by Troy Tulowitzki’s three-run homer. Tulowitzki becomes the second NL shortstop to have a 30-HR, 100-RBI season.

Joey Terdoslavich hits his 52nd double of the season, off Jake Petricka, in a 4-3 Lynchburg Hillcats win over the Winston-Salem Dash. Terdoslavich breaks Woody Fair’s 65-year-old record for doubles in a Carolina Leagueseason.

Rookie Zach Stewart takes a perfect game into the 8th inning against the Twins, before Danny Valencia leads off the frame with a double. Stewart allows no other baserunner, settling for a complete game one-hit shutoutwin, 4 – 0, for the White Sox to complete a doubleheader sweep. The Pale Hose win the opener, 2 – 1, behind the pitching of Philip Humber, who tosses seven scoreless innings.

Philadelphia’s Cliff Lee records his 6th shutout of the season in beating Atlanta, 9 – 0. Lee also reaches 200 strikeouts for the first time of his career as he strikes out 6 and walks none.

Craig Counsell pinch hits a ninth-inning single against Houston reliever Enerio Del Rosario to snap an 0-for-45 hitless streak. The Brewers’ veteran infielder’s first hit since June 10 leaves him tied with Bill Bergen (1909) and Dave Campbell (1973) for the longest drought by a position player without a hit.

The Tigers crush the White Sox, 18 – 2, behind Max Scherzer. Miguel Cabrera homers and drives in 4 runs, while Alex Avila has 4 hits. Over the last two days, the Tigers have scored 26 unanswered runs against Chicago, coming back from 8 – 1 down yesterday to win, 9 – 8, then taking an 18 – 0 lead today before surrendering two 9th-inning runs.

In a game that doesn’t want to end, the Marlins eventually dispose of the Phillies, 5 – 4 on a “walk-off walk” in the 14th. The Marlins place runners in scoring position with less than 2 outs in the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th innings against David Herndon, but he always manages to wiggle out of the jams, issuing 5 intentional walks over that span. The last one, to Logan Morrison to load the bases with two outs in the 14th, is too much, though, as Herndon then walks Mike Cameron, unintentionally, to end the game, his 4th walk of the frame. Both teams have run out of available players by then, which explains why Herndon keeps returning to the mound one painful inning after another, one day after giving up three homers to the Fish in another difficult outing. The game takes close to 5 hours to play, and the Marlins strand a team record 23 baserunners. The Phillies play the game under protest, the result of a 6th-inning call, when the umpires use a video review to determine whether Hunter Pence’s double to deep right field left the ballpark; they decide instead that fans – clad in Phillies gear at the Marlins’ home park – reached over the fence and interfered with RF Bryan Petersen’s attempt to make a leaping catch, and declare Pence out. The game is delayed 10 more minutes as a livid Charlie Manuel argues the decision until he is ejected, and bench coach Pete Mackanin continues the argument some more before deciding to file a protest. Major League Baseball Vice-President for baseball operations Joe Torre will announce on September 7th that the protest is denied as the umpires applied the rules correctly.