Left-handed starter Tom Milone hits a home run on the first pitch he sees in the big leagues. The 24 year-old southpaw’s three-run blast gives him a 5-0 lead at the time, but the rookie goes only 4.1 innings in his debut and doesn’t get the win in the Nationals’ 9-8 victory over New York.

The Phillies pull to within one game of the NL East-leading Braves with a 1 – 0 win over the Brewers. Cole Hamels pitches 7 scoreless innings, while the lone run scores after Shane Victorino’s fly ball drops between LF Ryan Braun and CF Lorenzo Cain for a double; the Flyin’ Hawaiian then scores on two consecutive ground ball outs. Meanwhile, the Braves drop a 6 – 1 decision to Florida as rookie Logan Morrison hits a pair of triples.

With a number of pitchers unavailable following a 13-inning loss to Detroit during which starter Scott Baker had to leave after only two innings, the Twins turn to rookie Matt Fox to start a key game against the Rangers. Fox delivers in his major league debut, pitching 5 2/3 solid innings after being called up from AAA Rochester in the middle of the night. His teammate in the minors, Alex Burnett, then pitches 1 1/3 innings to get credit for the 4 – 3 win.

Major League Baseball penalizes six players, both skippers, and a coach following an ugly brawl which occurred two days ago between the Nationals and Marlins in Miami that was the result of Chris Volstad throwing at Nyjer Morgan for the second time in the game. The Florida outfielder, who became a target when he ran over Brett Hayes, separating the catcher’s shoulder in the previous contest, retaliated to being hit in the fourth by stealing two bases, but charges the mound after the sixth inning incident, setting off the melee.

Stephen Strasburg undergoes reconstructive elbow surgery in which Dr. Lewis Yocum takes a piece of ligament from the 22 year-old right-hander’s left leg and transplants it into the rookie’s pitching elbow. The ‘Tommy John’ surgery might keep the Nationals’ much-heralded phenom out of the starting rotation until the start of the 2012 season.

Former All-Star pitcher Jerry Koosman is sentenced to a six-month prison term for failing to pay federal income taxes in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

After starting 13 games with two different clubs, Pat Misch’s team finally wins a game he starts when the Mets beat the Rockies, 8-3. The former Giants’ starter, who earned the Coors Field victory for New York, had tied a dubious mark established over the 1993-94 seasons by Seattle’s John Cummings for the longest winless streak endured by a team with the same starter of the mound.