Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.You Oughta Know ...
That the Nationals may have just needed the spark of their manager's impending firing to get rolling. They have now won a season-high four games in a row, including Saturday's 5-3, 12-inning victory over the Blue Jays. What's more, the Nats have taken those four from the Blue Jays and Yankees, two teams with winning records in the American League.
"We really feel like we can win every game," Nationals outfielder Willie Harris said. "When you're losing ballgames, you get a gut feeling you're going to lose a game somehow. Things are going well for us now."Harris was first supposed to bunt with the score tied in the 12th, but he failed. Then he was going to hit-and-run, but he failed at that, too. Finally he swung away, and hit a game-winning homer. After the game, Nationals president Stan Kasten pulled Acta aside and said something to him. Acta then told a reporter:
"I'm not getting fired."
From The Trainers' Room...
Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran will have an MRI on Monday to determine the cause of nagging pain his right knee. Beltran said he's felt some discomfort in his knee for the past few days. He said it affects him more when he's running than hitting. He missed some time in May with the same injury.
"If it's something that's going to get worse, I can't keep playing," Beltran said.By The Numbers...
The Phillies blew a ninth-inning lead and lost, 6-5, to the Orioles. It was the sixth time this season that the Phillies have lost a game when leading after eight innings, after going 79-0 in those situations during the regular season last year.
In Their Own Words...
"Albert hits good pitches hard and bad pitches even harder. When he gets in the batter's box, you start praying. If you don't pray, you think about starting (to pray)." -- Royals pitcher Brian Bannister, on facing Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols, who hit a homer in the Cardinals' 7-1 victory over Kansas City.
Advance Scouting...
The Rangers and Giants will conclude their series (4:05 PM ET) with a matchup that's got a lot of history. Rangers righty Kevin Millwood has only five wins against the Giants, but one of them was a no-hitter, with the Phillies in 2003. Giants lefty Barry Zito has 17 victories against the Rangers, most of them when he pitched for the A's. The Rangers drafted Zito, but failed to sign him, a year before the A's.
