August 3

The Royals and Athletics are involved in a strange play tonight. With the Royals’ Mitch Maier on third and Yunieski Betancourt on first base with none out in the 7th, Gregor Blanco lays a bunt down the third base line. C Kurt Suzuki fields it and catches Maier in a rundown between third and home. When P Jerry Blevins runs Maier back to the third sack, Betancourt is already standing there. Blevins tags both runners and umpire Bill Hohn calls Betancourt out for being on an occupied base, while Blanco advances to second. However, the umpires then confer, and crew chief Gary Darling rules Maier out for stepping off the bag after being tagged, thus abandoning his effort, making Betancourt’s presence on the bag legal. A’s manager Bob Geren comes out to argue that both runners should then be out and when he insists too much, he is ejected. In the end, the unusual play doesn’t figure in the final score as the Royals win, 3 – 2.

For the second consecutive game, the Brewers score 18 runs against the Cards, winning, 18 – 4. IF Aaron Miles makes the fourth pitching appearance of his career, tossing a scoreless 9th inning for St. Louis; he is their only pitcher not to allow any runs over the past two days.

Justin Verlander of the Tigers gives up 5 runs to the Orioles in the 1st inning, before settling down. Brian Roberts leads off the game with a home run, and four more runs score before the second out is recorded. Detroit scores three in the bottom of the inning, on doubles by Placido Polanco and Miguel Cabrera, who then homers to tie the game in the 5th. With two outs in the bottom of the 9th, Clete Thomas homers to deepest center field off Danys Baez to give Detroit the comeback 6 – 5 win, which extends its lead over the idle White Sox to 2 games in the AL Central.

Francisco Liriano, sent down to the minors after an 0-3 start in April attempting to come back from Tommy John surgery, blanks the Indians for six innings in his return to the Twins’ rotation. The right-hander’s performance propels Minnesota into first place in the American League Central with the eventual 6-2 victory over the Tribe along with a White Sox loss.

The home run ball hit by Barry Bonds to pass Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time career list fetches $220,100 during a ten-day eBay auction. The money, which will go to Andrew Morbitzer, the fan who caught #715, is much less than the $800,000 dished out in 2004 for the ball the Giants’ left fielder hit for his 700th career homer.

In a game in which Cardinal first baseman Albert Pujols becomes the first player in history to hit at least 30 homers in each of his first four big league seasons, Tony Batista goes deep twice, knotting the score with a two-run blast in the ninth and hitting a grand slam in the 12th. The Expos third baseman’s 199th and 200th career blasts help Montreal beat St. Louis in extra innings, 10-6.

In just the first four innings, Edgar Martinez ties the major league record for sacrifice flies in a game with three. The Mariners’ designated hitter becomes the 11th player in history to accomplish the feat, doing it in his first three at-bats in Seattle’s 12-4 victory over the Indians.

Darin Erstad agrees to a four-year contract extension worth $32 million to stay in Anaheim through 2006. The Angels’ center fielder joins Troy Glaus, Garret Anderson, and Tim Salmon as one of the key players the organization has signed at least through the 2004 season.