Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with quick nod to what is ahead.You Oughta Know ...
That now might be a good time for general managers to call the Giants' Brian Sabean and see what he's willing to give up for a bat. The Giants, one of the surprises of the first half, have opened the second half by scoring one run in 23 innings... against the Pirates. They were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position in the two losses.
Solid pitching has helped the Giants lead the wild-card race for most of the season, but their lead is now just a half-game over the Rockies. Offense has been an issue, though, and the need has become glaring in the first two games after the break, including a 2-0 loss at Pittsburgh on Saturday. The Giants have now lost 18 of their past 23 games to the Pirates.
The good news for the Giants is they've got some extra money to afford a bat, and they have the flexibility to put that bat at just about any spot in the lineup other than catcher.
From the Trainers' Room...
The Rays got a scare when left-hander Scott Kazmir summoned the trainer to the mound before leaving Saturday's game. The word after the game was that he just had a cramp, probably a result of dehydration, and he's expected to make his next start.
By The Numbers...
Arizona right-hander Dan Haren has lived under the radar this season because he's pitched for a struggling team, but Haren quietly lowered his earned-run average to a major-league best 1.96 with eight scoreless innings against the Cardinals. That's better than Zack Greinke, better than Tim Lincecum, better than Roy Halladay. All this from a guy who wasn't even voted on to the All-Star team by the players. He had to be added by manager Charlie Manuel.
In Their Own Words...
"It was one of our worst games of the year. It was all really early. We [made] a couple weeks' worth of mistakes -- all, it seemed like, in one inning. They were all different styles and types. It was a very poor performance." -- A's manager Bob Geren, who normally finds a way to put a positive spin on just about anything, after an 11-6 loss to the Angels. The A's made four errors, and another bad throw that should have been scored an error, in the first four innings to fall behind 8-1.
Advance Scouting...
Roy Halladay makes his first start of the second half, his first of three stars before the trading deadline. Halladay will pitch against the Red Sox in Toronto (1:07 PM ET). It's not like anyone needs to see anything out of Halladay to know what kind of pitcher he is, but Halladay has been quietly off his game for about a month. He's 0-2 with a 4.30 ERA over his past four starts, since returning from a groin injury. If he continues to pitch poorly, some teams may wonder if he's still hurt.
