Stars
Wednesday
Justin Morneau, Twins, matched a career high with five hits, one of them a game-winning homer in the 11th inning of a 7-6 win over the Tigers.
Paul Maholm, Pirates , allowed two runs in eight innings in a 4-2 victory over the Yankees.
Fernando Tatis, Mets, went 3 for5 with 4 RBI, as the Mets swept a three-game series from the Giants with a 7-3 victory.
Ryan Howard, Phillies, homered twice and drove in three runs in a 4-1 win over St. Louis.
Dave Bush, Brewers, had a career-high 13 strikeouts in an 11-1 win over Colorado.
Adam Lind, Blue Jays, had a game-winning RBI single in the ninth inning in a 6-5 win over Baltimore to complete a three-game sweep.
Tribal trouble
The Rays can't seem to figure out Cleveland, where they lost 13-2 in the series opener. It was the 10th straight loss in Cleveland, their last win there coming on Sept. 29, 2005, when Lou Piniella was manager. The Rays' 26-56 record overall against Cleveland is their worst against any opponent.
Late-scoring burst
More runs were scored in the last 2.5 innings (10) of the Diamondbacks-Nationals series than in the rest of the three-game series combined (nine).
All-Star party
Corey Hart celebrated making the NL All-Star team with his 15th homer in Milwaukee's 11-1 win over Colorado. Hart said it was difficult concentrating on playing during the vote.
"It was a frustrating experience, but it paid off with all the campaigning," he said. "Now, it's worth it."
Phill-er up
Phillies slugger Ryan Howard is hitting .353 (18 for51) with eight homers and 18 RBI over a 13-game hitting streak. He leads the National League with 27 homers, two better than teammate Chase Utley, and 83 RBI.
Newest Mr. Met
Fernando Tatis homered, doubled twice and drove in four runs as the Mets beat San Francisco 7-3 for their sixth straight victory.
Giant struggles
The Giants ended their scoreless streak at 21 innings, but still lost their fourth in a row. They were held to three hits in each of the three losses to the Mets.
Red menace
David Ross hit two of Cincinnati's seven homers, a long-ball barrage that included Ken Griffey Jr.'s 605th, and the Reds avoided a sweep with a 12-7 victory over the Cubs. It was only Chicago's 11th home loss this season.
Let go
Slugger Richie Sexson was finally released by the Mariners after a slump that lasted for most of two seasons and made him a target of constant booing from frustrated Seattle fans. The Mariners would have loved to have been able to trade Sexson, but his $14 million salary this season made that nearly impossible. So now Seattle is eating the rest of that money -- $6,120,219 Sexson is owed from Friday through the end of the season -- in what may be the first of multiple moves to rid the last-place team of underperforming veteran players.
Speaking
"It feels pretty good -- a lot better than what we had been doing. That stunk."
-- Indians first baseman Casey Blake, who had three RBIs to help end a 10-game losing streak.
Seasons
July 12
1901 -- Cy Young of the Boston Red Sox won his 300th game with a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia A's.
1945 -- Tommy Holmes of the Boston Braves went hitless to end his consecutive-game hitting streak at 37 games, an NL record that stood until Pete Rose broke it in 1978.
1949 -- Larry Doby of the Cleveland Indians and Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe of the host Brooklyn Dodgers became the first black players to appear in an All-Star game as the AL took advantage of five NL errors to win, 11-7, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.
1951 -- Allie Reynolds of the New York Yankees beat Bob Feller of the Indians 1-0 with a no-hit game at Cleveland. Gene Woodling's home run was the difference.
1955 -- St. Louis' Stan Musial hit Frank Sullivan's first pitch of the 12th inning for a home run to give the NL All-Star team a 6-5 victory over the AL at Milwaukee's County Stadium. The AL had led 5-0 after six innings.
1979 -- In the most ill-fated promotion in baseball history, thousands of fans overran the Comiskey Park field during "Disco Demolition Night" and caused the Chicago White Sox to forfeit the second game of a doubleheader after losing to Detroit 4-1 in the first.
1990 -- Melido Perez pitched the record-tying seventh no-hitter of the season as the Chicago White Sox beat the New York Yankees 8-0 in a game shortened to six innings by rain. That was one inning longer than the rain-shortened no-hitter pitched in 1988 by Melido's brother Pascual, who watched from the Yankees' bench.
1994 -- Tony Gwynn barely slipped past Ivan Rodriguez on Moises Alou's double in the 10th inning to give the NL an 8-7 victory and end its record six-game losing streak in the All-Star game. Fred McGriff's two-run homer in the ninth off Lee Smith had tied it and earned him MVP honors.
1997 -- Francisco Cordova and Ricardo Rinco combined for a 10 inning no-hitter, as the Pirates defeated the Houston Astros, 3-0. Cordova pitched nine innings, walking two and striking out 10, before being removed with the score 0-0. Rincon pitched the 10th and got the win when Mark Smith hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the inning.
2001 -- Mark McGwire hit his 563rd homer to tie Reggie Jackson for sixth on baseball's career list in a 7-5 loss to the Tigers. It was also McGwire's 200th homer since joining the Cardinals at the trade deadline in 1997, making him the third player in history to hit 200 homers in both leagues.
2005 -- Miguel Tejada and Mark Teixeira led the American League to a 7-5 win over the National League 7-5 in Detroit for its eighth straight win. Tejada, the game's MVP, homered off John Smoltz to start the scoring and Teixeira added a two-run drive off Dontrelle Willis.
