The Minnesota Twins trade OF Delmon Young to the Detroit Tigers for Class A pitcher Cole Nelson and a player to be named later.
Jim Thome hits two home runs for the Twins in their 9 – 6 win over Detroit to become the 8th player to reach 600 home runs. Thome hits a two-run homer off Rick Porcello in the 6th for number 599, then a three-run shot against Daniel Schlereth in the 7th to reach the mark.
The Brewers turn the sixth triple play in team history in the 2nd inning of their 3 – 0 win over the Dodgers. With two on and none out, James Loney hits a ground ball up the middle that 2B Josh Wilson ranges to his right to field, and then flips to SS Yuniesky Betancourt with his glove for the first out. Betancourt throws to 1B Prince Fielder for the second out. Prince then sees Matt Kemp trying to score from third base and fires to C George Kottaras who tags out Kemp to end the inning. “You find weird ways to win when you’re hot”, comments winning pitcher Randy Wolf after the game.
With 23 of 33 first round picks in the 2011 amateur draft still unsigned when the last day to sign drafted players begins, there is a flurry of signings today. Both the top and second picks in the draft, Gerrit Cole and Danny Hultzen, accept deals. Cole gets $8 million from the Pirates in what becomes the largest minor league contract in history, and Hultzen agrees to $8.5 million from the Mariners and a major league contract. When the dust settles, only Tyler Beede, picked 21st by Toronto, has failed to sign.
Kevin Slowey of the Twins pitches 7 no-hit innings against the Oakland A’s, but is taken out of the game having reached his pitch count limit. Slowey skipped his last start because of elbow tendinitis and manager Ron Gardenhire is being careful with him. The Target Field crowd boos when Jon Rauch comes out to start the 8th, and the second batter Rauch faces, Cliff Pennington, breaks up the no-hit bid with a double. The Twins still come out ahead, 4 – 2, thanks to a three-run homer by Jim Thome in the 7th.
Albert Pujols becomes the first player to hit 30 homers in his first 10 seasons with a 1st-inning shot off Ryan Dempster of the Cubs, but the Cardinals lose, 9 – 7, in spite of scoring 5 runs in the 9th. Pujols has also hit over .300 and driven in over 100 runs each season he has played so far, and is on pace to reach those totals once again. Meanwhile, the Reds complete a three-game sweep of the Marlins with a 2 – 0 win and retake first place by a game over the Cards in the NL Central.
2009 – Kazuo Matsui beats out an infield single in Milwaukee for his 2,000th career hit combined from his career as a star shortstop in the Japanese majors as well as his six years in the National League. Play is stopped as Japanese officials recognize Matsui’s automatic induction into Japan’s Meikyukai, similar to our Hall of Fame. The event gets live television coverage back in his homeland. The Astros, however, fall in a 6-2 defeat.
Julio Borbon collects four hits and four stolen bases, out of a team record 8 steals, as the Rangers beat Boston, 7 – 2. Elvis Andrus swipes three bases and Ian Kinsler one in what is the second time Boston has allowed 8 stolen bases to an opponent this year.
Closer Brad Lidge’s difficult season continues, after his heroics of 2008. He commits two errors on one play and pick up his 8th blown save of the year in a 4 – 3 Phillies loss to the surging Atlanta Braves.
Buster Posey, the fifth overall pick in the June amateur draft, gets the largest up-front bonus in major league history when he agrees to a $6.2 million signing deal with the Giants. The highly touted catcher gets slightly more than infielders Tim Beckham (first pick/shortstop), who receives $6.15 million from the Rays, and Pedro Alvarez (second pick/third baseman), who gets $6 million from the Pirates.