A couple of trades, the Blue Jays actually have a hot hitter and the Mets have bullpen problems.
Marc-Andre Fleury Penguins Jersey . Before we get into it, note that the Power Rankings and Player Rankings have been updated, and yesterdays blog was devoted to some background information on how those rankings are generated. Trade Time: - The Diamondbacks brought in Nationals closer Jon Rauch in exchange for 2B Emiliano Bonifacio. Rauch, 29, has been very effective as the Nationals closer in the absence of Chad Cordero, saving 17 games in 19 opportunities and posting a 2.98 ERA with the Nats. Theres no guarantee that Rauch will be the Diamondbacks closer, but incumbent closer Brandon Lyon got rocked against the Dodgers on Sunday, giving up five earned runs in the ninth. With Rauch in-house, the Diamondbacks could afford to put Lyon (who is 20-for-25 in save chances) back into a setup role. Rauch is a long-term solution for the Diamondbacks in the bullpen, as hes signed for next season (at $2-million) and theres a $2.9-million team option for 2010. Bonifacio has a chance to start for the Nationals in 2009. The 23-year-old was hitting .302 with 17 stolen bases at Triple-A while hitting .167 in limited major league duty this year. Ron Belliard and Felipe Lopez havent done enough to hold back Bonifacio, who has long-term upside. With Rauch leaving, the Nats are left without a proven closer, so look to Joel Hanrahan, who has been named to the role. Hanrahan is 5-3 with a 3.94 ERA in 45 games (striking out 65 in 59 1/3 innings) out of the bullpen this season. Of course, the closer role for the 38-win Nats can be a lonely existence at times. - The Astros, almost inexplicably, traded for Padres LHP Randy Wolf, sending 26-year-old RHP Chad Reineke to San Diego. 11 games out of the NL Wildcard, its hard to fathom the need for Wolf, who is a serviceable starting pitcher (6-10, 4.74 ERA). Worse for the Astros, Wolf is moving from pitcher-friendly Petco Park to hitter-friendly Minute Maid Park. Oh, and by the way, Wolfs ERA at Petco this year is 3.17; its 6.63 on the road. Hes probably still good enough to help the Astros rotation, but isnt going to make a big difference in the Astros playoffh hopes and his $4.75-million contract expires at seasons end. Reineke is 5-9 with a 4.41 ERA and has 100 strikeouts in 112 1/3 innings at Triple-A. He may be worth a look at the back end of the Padres rotation, at some point, battling the likes of Clay Hensley and Cha-Seung Baek. - Jays LF Adam Lind is hitting .379 with 17 RBI in 16 games in July. - With LHP Billy Wagner nursing a shoulder injury, the Mets turned to Duaner Sanchez to close out the Phillies. Three hits and no outs later, Joe Smith got a turn, then Pedro Feliciano, then Aaron Heilman. Needless to say, the Mets didnt save the game, but Sanchez is worth watching as a fill-in closer; even after last nights three hits in three at-bats Sanchez has held opponents to a .213 batting average this season. - Orioles CF Adam Jones is hitting .331 since the beginning of June. - The Twins have sent CF Carlos Gomez, hitting .162 in July, to ninth in the batting order while moving Denard Span into the leadoff spot. - Jays RHP Shaun Marcum returned from the DL and delivered his worst start of the season in Baltimore, giving up six earned runs in 4 2/3 innings. - Orioles LHP Garrett Olson has a 10.53 ERA in four July starts. That spot in the rotation may not be too secure at this point. - Athletics LHP Dallas Braden moved into the starting rotation to fill Joe Blantons spot. Braden was 3-1 with a 2.36 ERA at Triple-A and gave up one earned run in five innings against Tampa on Tuesday to move to 2-0 with a 4.05 ERA for the As. - Phillies RHP Joe Blanton gave up five earned runs in six innings of his National League debut. The Phillies may not get the kind of impact they were hoping from the mediocre right-hander. - 23-year-old Marlins RHP Rick VandenHurk had five no-hit innings in his return to the bigs on Tuesday, but he also walked five, so dont expect dominance from him just yet. VandenHurk was 3-3 with a 4.23 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 55 1/3 innings at Triple-A. - Pirates LHP Paul Maholm has recorded quality starts in six of his last seven games. - White Sox LHP Mark Buehrle has eight quality starts in nine starts since the beginning of June, posting a 1.99 ERA in that time. - Brewers 3B Bill Hall is starting to heat up, and not just because hes hit game-tying ninth-inning homers in back-to-back games. In July, Hall has a .370 batting average with 13 RBI in 13 games. - Cardinals RHP Kyle Lohse is 7-0 with a 2.63 ERA since the beginning of June. - Rockies RHP Ubaldo Jimenez threw a complete-game victory against the Dodgers Tuesday, capping an eight-start stretch in which he allowed more than three earned runs just once. - Diamondbacks spot starter RHP Yusmeiro Petit has allowed two earned runs in 11 innings over his two starts this year. If he takes over from Micah Owings, he could provide value. - Angels RHP Jered Weaver left Tuesdays start with back tightness, ending a stretch of four consecutive quality starts. - Add Eugenio Velez into the second base mix for the Giants. Hes a major base-stealing threat if he gets full-time action. - Giants LHP Barry Zito has a 3.50 ERA in July, but tread carefully, he had a 3.49 ERA in May before jumping up to 6.91 in June. Todays Best Pitching Matchups:ATL (Hudson) at FLA (Nolasco)CLE (Laffey) at LA (Lackey)OAK (Smith) at TB (Shields)DET (Galarraga) at KC (Greinke)MIN (Perkins) at NYY (Mussina) Scott Cullen can be reached at
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Mike Iupati Jersey . -- Hamilton Tiger-Cats linebacker Ray Mariuz is leaving the game after eight seasons in the Canadian Football League.Cincinnati, OH (Sports Network) - Pitcher Chris Carpenter enjoyed a career day at the plate, hitting a grand slam and driving in six, as the St. Louis Cardinals routed the Cincinnati Reds, 13-0, in finale of a three-game series. Carpenter also hit a two-run double and equaled his career RBI total with this game alone. He had never before hit a home run in 12 major league seasons, six of which he spent with Toronto. Carpenter (17-4) also took the win after allowing three hits, walking one and striking out six in five innings. Troy Glaus went 2-for-5 with two runs batted in for the NL Central-champion Cardinals, who avoided being swept and snapped a three-game slide. They are a game behind Philadelphia for the second-best record in the National League for a shot at home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. "It was definitely a fun day for me," said Carpenter. "I obviously never did that before and have never been a part of something like that. It was definitely a good day out there." Kip Wells (2-5) gave up five runs on five hits and a walk in two-plus innings to take the loss for the Reds, who lost for just the second time in the last 10 games. St. Louis went ahead in the second inning, after Rick Ankiel hit a one-out double and scored on Glaus single. Yadier Molina then singled and Brendan Ryan was hit by a pitch, bringing up Carpenter. The pitcher got a knee-high pitch down the heart of the plate and smoked it a few rows into the left-field seats for the unexpected grand slam. In thatt same inning, home plate umpire Brian ONora left the game after being hit in the right leg by a pitch.
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Carpenter struck again in the fifth
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