Starting Five: Napoli Lifts Angels to Top

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That Mike Napoli is one of the best power hitters you've never heard of. Napoli, the Angels catcher, blasted his 10th homer, a tie-breaking 428-foot shot in the ninth inning to lead the Angels to a 2-1 victory over the Diamondbacks. Later in the day, when the Rangers lost, the Angels moved alone into first for the first time all season.

The last time the Angels played in Arizona, in 2006, Napoli hit a 470-foot homer that is the third longest ever hit at Chase Field. Napoli has 56 homers in 890 big league at-bats. His ratio of one homer per 15.9 at-bats in the highest in big league history for any catcher with at least 50 homers, according to Stats LLC.

"He's got sick pop. He's got the most pop on this team by far," Angels starter John Lackey said. "I was actually in the clubhouse, telling the people about the one [in 2006]. People were up there eating [in the restaurant where Napoli's ball landed]."

---

---

From The Trainers' Room ...
Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre is going to have surgery to remove bone spurs from his left shoulder on Sunday. Beltre will be out six to eight weeks. That hurts the Mariners on two levels, in that they don't have him and they probably can't him trade him before the July 31 deadline.

Numbers Game ...
Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield started his 382nd game in a Boston uniform, tying Roger Clemens for the franchise lead. Wakefield, 42, is 174-148 with Boston.

In Their Own Words ...
"I got a little nervous when I saw A.J. (Pierzynski) and (Jim) Thome in full sprint. Thome in full sprint doesn't happen much and he was moving pretty fast. It was pretty exciting, obviously, to get that kind of hit and have the team come get you like that, that's pretty cool." -- White Sox rookie Gordon Beckham, on being mobbed by his teammates after getting the game-winning hit against the Cubs.

Advance Scouting...
Sure, if you want to pick the obvious, you could watch the Cubs-White Sox, with Carlos Zambrano and John Danks. However, if you are looking for another game with some entertainment value, check out the Marlins and the Rays (1:38 PM ET). Not only are both teams playing well, but Florida's Andrew Miller starts against Tampa's David Price. Those are the top two pitching prospects from the 2006 and 2007 drafts -- as judged at the time, anyway.