The Tampa Bay Rays complete a three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers with an 8 – 6 win at Tropicana Field in what is a possible preview of the postseason. Evan Longoria drives in 4 runs today and goes 7 for 12 overall in the series.

The Braves acquire 1B Derrek Lee from the Chicago Cubs in return for three minor league pitchers (Robinson Lopez, Tyrelle Harris and Jeffrey Lorick) on the same day they place starting 1B Troy Glaus on the disabled listwith inflammation around his left knee. In the game which follows, the first-place Braves beat the Nationals, 3 – 2, on a 9th-inning run-scoring single by Jason Heyward off Tyler Clippard.

The Red Sox just cannot stay healthy this season. Today, OF Mike Cameron decides to have surgery on a torn abdominal muscle which has limited him to 48 games, and he will not play again this season. Fellow OF Jacoby Ellsbury, who has played only 18 games because of broken ribs, goes back on the disabled list for the third time, the victim of another cracked rib expected to keep him out 4 to 6 weeks. Still, Boston manages to hang on to the fringes of the wild card race, beating the Angels, 7 – 5, thanks to a leaping 8th-inning catch by Daniel Nava, just called up to replace Ellsbury; Nava also drives in the winning run with a bases-loaded hit by pitch. Jonathan Papelbon picks up his 30th save, becoming the first pitcher to reach that total in each of his first five full seasons in the majors.

Cheng-Min Peng becomes the fastest player in Chinese Professional Baseball League history to 1,000 hits, getting there in 844 games (topping Chung-Yi Huang’s mark by 32) and 2,838 at-bats (topping Min-Ching Lo by 406 AB). He is the 10th player in league history to 1,000. Chin-Chih Huang gives up the hit.

The front-running Braves acquire slugger Derrek Lee from the Cubs for three minor league pitchers. As a ten-year veteran, who had played at least five years with the same team, the 34 year-old first baseman rejected a trade to the Angels last month because he thought LA had too much of a deficit to make up in the AL West race.

Catcher Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez is traded from the Houston Astros to the Texas Rangers for a minor leaguer and a player to be named later, coming back to the team for which he started his superlative career.

Jamie Moyer pitches 6 scoreless innings in relief as Philadelphia defeats Arizona, 5 – 1. After a rain delay, Moyer takes over for the man who has shunted him from the starting rotation, Pedro Martinez. It is the veteran Moyer’s first relief appearance since he was called in to pitch in an 18-inning game for Seattle in 2004.

The Florida Marlins’ Ricky Nolasco pitches his second career complete game against the Houston Astros, allowing 2 earned runs and 3 hits. Nolasco retires 23 consecutive batters after allowing a two-run home run to Carlos Lee. He does not allow another baserunner until Michael Bourn gets an infield hit with one out in the 9th inning.

In a game marred by conflict at the Beijing Olympics, the United States of America beats the host Chinese national team. Matt LaPorta injures China catcher Wei Wang in a play at home and Chinese manager Jim Lefebvreis ejected after venting anger over the incident. An inning later, Nate Schierholtz roughly collides with Wang’s backup, Yang Yang. Kun Chen avenges China’s honor by throwing a fastball at LaPorta’s head, sending LaPorta to the hospital and Chen to the showers as he is ejected. Overall, 7 batters are hit by pitches in the USA’s 9 – 1 win.