Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.You Oughta Know ...
That Sunday was a good day to steal home in the major leagues. With an assist from Carlos Zambrano, who airmailed a pitch to the backstop as Dewayne Wise attempted to suicide squeeze, Chris Getz was credited with a steal of home in the White Sox's 6-0 victory over the crosstown rival Cubs. Zambrano followed by plunking Wise, pushing the oft-heated interleague rivalry close to fisticuffs.
Later in the afternoon, the Angels' Gary Matthews Jr. pulled off a straight steal of home in Los Angeles' 12-8 win over the Diamondbacks.
"I got a good jump and pulled it off," Matthews said. "The key was getting a big lead. They're definitely not expecting it with two strikes. If there was a right-handed hitter up there, I wouldn't have even tried."
From the Trainer's Room ...
Josh Hamilton, on the disabled list since early June after tearing a muscle in his abdomen, will start a minor-league rehab assignment Monday at Double-A Frisco. He'll play designated hitter there, work out with the Rangers on Tuesday, then join Triple-A Oklahoma City for a three-game series in which he will play the field. There's no set return date for Hamilton at this point, but he could be back with Texas by next weekend.
Numbers Game ...
From the minor leagues come two of the most bizarre lines you will ever see. Recently demoted Pirates starting pitcher Ian Snell made his first start in Triple-A since asking the team to be sent down and he was impressive. Snell fanned 17 for Indianapolis, including a stretch of 13 straight whiffs after walking the first hitter he faced in the game.
"I haven't felt like that all year. It's just amazing," Snell said. "These guys are great and these guys are a bunch of goofballs. It makes you want to be here and pitch well here."And then there was Sunday's otherwise forgettable meeting between the Lake Elsinore Storm and the High Desert Mavericks in the California League (advanced Single-A). The Mavericks scored 18 runs on 26 hits and lost.
By 13 runs.
The Storm crossed the plate 33 times on 32 hits in a slugfest. This isn't the first time in recent history that Lake Elsinore has been involved in an otherworldly offensive display. The Storm beat the Lancaster JetHawks 30-0 in May 2007, the most lopsided victory in the history of the California League.
In Their Own Words ...
"If he was sick, I don't want to see him when he's not sick." -- Red Sox manager Terry Francona on Braves rookie pitcher Tommy Hanson, who ran his scoreless innings streak to 20 with six shutout innings against Boston in Atlanta's 2-1 win. Flu-like symptoms made it unlikely that Hanson would even start as late as Saturday, but he pitched anyway. His last 11 1/3 scoreless innings have come against the Sox and the Yankees, two of the most potent offenses in all of baseball.
Advance Scouting ...
The return of Roy Halladay from the disabled list highlights a showdown between the two "other" teams turning the American League East into a four-horse race. Coming off of a heartbreaking loss to the Phillies Sunday that dropped Toronto into fourth place in the division, the Blue Jays play host to the surging Rays (7:07 PM ET), who have won five straight.
