Projo Sox Blog

Associated Press

THURSDAY'S GAME TO WATCH

Seattle at Cleveland (7:05 p.m. EDT). The Indians host the Mariners in baseball's first game after the All-Star break. Cleveland's Cliff Lee (4-9, 3.47 ERA), the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, is scheduled to face fellow left-hander Garrett Olson (3-2, 4.42).

RATINGS DOWN

The All-Star game's television ratings were down slightly from last year. Fox said that the American League's 4-3 win Tuesday night earned a 8.9 fast national rating and 15 share. That's down 4 percent from the 9.3/16 for the first nine innings of the 15-inning marathon in 2008 at the old Yankee Stadium.

PEDRO TO PLAY

Pedro Martinez agreed to a $1 million, one-year contract with the Phillies. The team put the three-time Cy Young winner on the 15-day disabled list with a shoulder strain. Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. says he has confidence Martinez will be ready pitch in two to three weeks.

MOVING UP

The Minnesota Twins are recalling right-hander Kevin Mulvey from Triple-A Rochester to add some depth to their bullpen. Mulvey was 3-6 with a 3.93 ERA in 17 starts for the Red Wings this year. He came over from the New York Mets in the trade for Johan Santana before last season.

SPEAKING

"Manny did all the right things so there's not a lot of changes to make. We've got to get some results. We feel like if we continue with what Manny was trying to do on the field and his strategy, certainly sooner or later this talent that we have is going to surface and produce the results we want to produce. We're not going to reinvent the game." -- Washington Nationals new manager Jim Riggleman on succeeding Manny Acta, for whom he served as bench coach.

THIS DATE IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1897 -- Chicago's Cap Anson became the first major leaguer to reach 3,000 hits when he singled off Baltimore's George Blackburn.

1902 -- John McGraw was named manager of the New York Giants, a post he would hold for 30 years.

1909 -- Ed Summers of the Detroit Tigers allowed only seven hits and pitched all 18 innings of a 0-0 tie with the Washington Senators, the longest scoreless game in AL history.

1920 -- Babe Ruth broke his own season record of 29 homers with his 30th as the New York Yankees beat the St. Louis Browns, 5-2. Ruth would finish the season with 54.

1933 -- Red Lucas of the Cincinnati Reds pitched a 15-inning 1-0 win over Roy Parmelee and the New York Giants in the opener of a doubleheader.

1941 -- Joe DiMaggio extended his hitting streak to 56 games with a 3-for-4 day as the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 10-3.

1948 -- After 8 1/2 years as Brooklyn manager, Leo Durocher stunned baseball by taking the helm of the archrival Giants at midseason.

1970 -- The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pirates 3-2 before 48,846 fans in the first game at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium.

1985 -- Sparky Anderson became the first manager to lose an All-Star Game in both leagues. The National League won 6-1 for the 21st win in the last 23 games.

1996 -- Colorado's streak of scoring seven runs in a game ended at 11. The Rockies beat the Giants 5-3 and tied the 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates, 1938 New York Yankees and 1976 Cincinnati Reds with 11 7-run games.

2006 -- Chipper Jones hit a two-run homer in Atlanta's 10-5 win at San Diego to give him an extra-base hit in 14 straight games, tying a 79-year-old major league record. Jones tied the record set in 1927 by Pittsburgh's Paul Waner.

2006 -- Mariano Rivera earned his 400th save, escaping two jams and getting six outs to preserve the New York Yankees' 6-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Rivera joined Lee Smith, Trevor Hoffman and John Franco in the 400-save club.

 Tags  Baseball Today

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