Starling Marte becomes the 28th player in history to homer on the first pitch he sees in the major leagues when he goes yard to deep left-center field at Minute Maid Park off Houston’s Dallas Keuchel. The 23 year-old left fielder is the first Pirates player to hit a home run in his first big league at-bat since Don Leppert accomplished the feat against St. Louis in 1961.

Matt Harvey strikes out 11 Diamondback hitters in his major league debut, beating the Mets franchise record of 9 held by Tom Seaver and Bill Denehy; it is the most in a debut since Stephen Strasburg fanned 14 for the Nationals two years ago. Harvey allows no runs on three hits in 5 1/3 innings, before leaving because of pitch count issues; for good measure, he also goes 2 for 2 at the plate, with a double off Wade Miley for his first major league hit. He gets credit for the Mets’ 3 – 1 win at Chase Field.

Not to be outdone, Pittsburgh’s Starling Marte homers on the first pitch of the game in his big league debut (only the third Pirate ever to do so), going yard against Houston’s Dallas Keuchel. Pittsburgh goes on to a 5 – 3 win as A.J. Burnett improves to 12-3. Marte adds another hit before the night is through.

Deals continue to be announced ahead of the trading deadline, with Los Angeles acquiring 3B Hanley Ramirez and P Randy Choate from Miami in return for Ps Nathan Eovaldi and Scott McGough. In other moves, the Phillies sign P Cole Hamels to a six-year extension worth $144 million, taking him off the market, while the Rays release veteran DH Hideki Matsui, who is hitting only .147, to make room for Ryan Roberts, who was acquired in a trade yesterday.

In his first game for the Dodgers, Hanley Ramirez goes 2 for 4 with a walk, a run and a RBI, but the Cardinals win, 3 – 2, as Rafael Furcal singles home the winning run in the 12th inning.

The Athletics crush the Blue Jays, 16 – 0, for their 7th straight win, handing the Jays the most lopsided loss in team history. Coco Crisp homers twice in support of A.J. Griffin as the A’s erupt for 8 runs in the 2nd inning off Ricky Romero. If that isn’t enough, Brandon Inge fouls a ball off C J.P. Arencibia’s bare right hand, breaking a bone, then RF Josh Reddick rubs some salt in the wound by making a Spiderman catch in the bottom of the frame, climbing the fence and holding on with his right hand for a pair of seconds before catching the ball, robbing Travis Snider of extra bases.

Cole Hamels becomes the best paid Phillies player in history when he signs a guaranteed six-year, $144 million contract. The deal, the second richest contract for a pitcher, only behind the Yankees agreement with CC Sabathia, includes an option for a seventh season that could pay the 28 year-old southpaw as much as $162 million through 2019.

Seattle’s Felix Hernandez breaks Alex Rodriguez’s hand with a pitch in the 8th inning of a 4 – 2 win over the Yankees. The Yanks make history by becoming the first team since the 1927 Athletics to have three players with 2,500+ career hits in the starting lineup. New York uses Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and the newly-acquired Ichiro Suzuki to pull that off.

The Rays acquire 3B Ryan Roberts from the Diamondbacks in return for minor league infielder Tyler Bortnick, and the Pirates obtain P Wandy Rodriguez from Houston for three solid prospects – Rudy Owens, Colton Cainand Robbie Grossman.

Jordany Valdespin sets a new Mets single-season record when he hits his fifth pinch-hit home run of the season in the team’s 5-2 loss to Washington at Citi Field. The 24 year-old’s accomplishment also ties Cliff Johnson (Astros, 1974) for the second-highest single-season total ever recorded by a rookie, trailing only Craig Wilson, who was a freshman with the Pirates in 2001 when he tied Dave Hansen’s major-league mark for pinch-homers with seven.