Coco Crisp gambles and loses: in the 8th inning, with the A’s trailing the White Sox, 4 – 3, he attempts a straight steal of home with left-handed reliever Matt Thornton on the mound, but C A.J. Pierzynski manages to tag him out as he slides. The Sox hold on for the win.

Justin Verlander does his best Johnny Vander Meer imitation but comes up short in his first start since pitching the second no-hitter of his career on May 8th. The Tigers ace is still masterful, though, keeping the Royalshitless until Melky Cabrera’s two-out triple in the 6th. He ends up allowing two hits in 8 innings in a 3 – 1 win. His losing opponent in last week’s no-hitter, Toronto’s Ricky Romero, also has a low-hit game, giving up the first of his four hits with two outs in the 6th. He comes up one out short of a complete game shutout, leaving Frank Francisco to get the final out of a 2 – 0 victory over the Twins.

Jeremy Hellickson also shines on a night of great pitching performances. The Rays rookie pitches a four-hitter for the first complete game and shutout of his career in Tampa Bay’s 3 – 0 win over the Orioles, on his way to winning the Rookie of the Year Award. Matt Joyce and Johnny Damon hit homers that account for all of the Rays’ runs.

The Indians’ 14-game home winning streak comes to an end at the hands of the Rays’ David Price, who shuts them down in an 8 – 2 win. The Indians have vaulted to the top of the AL Central standings on the strength of their success at home; logically, the team that finally beats them – the Rays – sports the best road record in the majors at 12-5.

Tim Wakefield takes the mound for the Red Sox at age 44 years and 282 days. He breaks Deacon McGuire’s record as the oldest performer in Boston Red Sox history – McGuire was 44 years and 280 days old on August 24, 1908, his last game for the franchise.

The Blue Jays and the Red Sox play a thriller in Toronto. The Jays take an early lead with three runs off struggling starter Jon Lester in the 1st, but Boston comes back with 4 runs off Kyle Drabek, highlighted by homers by David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez. The Jays take back a 5 – 4 lead on homers by Jose Bautista and J.P. Arencibia, but the Sox tie it again. In the bottom of the 8th, David Cooper, who came into the game in the 6th inning as a pinch-runner after Yunel Escobar was hit by a pitch, belts his first major league homer off Daniel Bard to put Toronto back ahead, but Boston ties the game right back when Gonzalez hits his second homer of the game off Frank Francisco. Toronto finally wins the game in the 10th when Rajai Davis hits a single off Matt Albers, steals second and third base on consecutive pitches, and comes in to score on Cooper’s sacrifice fly. The Jays win 7 – 6, although being outhit 16 to 9.

It’s a battle of aces in Miami as Josh Johnson outpitches his idol Roy Halladay for a 2 – 1 Marlins win over the Phillies. Johnson gives up a solo homer to Ryan Howard over 7 innings, but Halladay gets in trouble in the 3rd by walking Josh, who comes in to score on Emilio Bonifacio’s sacrifice fly. The Fish score an unearned run off Halladay in the 8th for the win.

Bill Gallo, the creator of colorful characters such as General Von Steingrabber, a caricature of the late George Steinbrenner, and Basement Bertha, who radiated good-humored optimism for the fans of the fledgling Mets, dies from complications of pneumonia at the age of 88. The cartoonist’s last drawing, which was published in mid-April in the Daily News, his employer for seven decades, featured Bertha window shopping with the hope of being invited to the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine.