Buck on sports broadcasting

Awful Announcing is upset with Joe Buck (what's new), but to listen to Buck's lament about the time it takes to follow sports is somewhat disappointing. He says sports are no longer as "special or unique" as they once were because of the overwhelming access these days. He'd rather watch the primetime reality stuff on network TV.

The access these days is what makes is easier to follow sports, Joe, not more difficult. As someone who has broadcast games and sports shows, I can understand how overwhelming all of the preparation can be - but that preparation gives you the opportunity to do what no one else does. You're there, you have the access, you have the opportunity to reach people.

I don't think Buck is a bad guy necessarily, nor is he out of his mind to complain about his job (who doesn't). I don't, however, think he's a very good sportscaster on many, many levels. Maybe this explains it.

Cleveland needs to sell

It's time for the Cleveland Indians to sell. Another extra-inning heartbreaking loss to the White Sox leaves them 12.5 games out of first with four teams to catch in the A.L Central. With ten teams ahead of them for a Wild Card berth and just 28 days from now until the trade deadline, expect offers to fly in for high-priced stars like C.C. Sabathia. The big lefty actually started Wednesday's loss, a 6-5 no-decision that A.J. Pierzynski put to bed with his 10th-inning solo home run. It was Pierzynski's second home run of the night.

Rays of hope

The Tampa Bay Rays swept the Red Sox with three hard-fought wins, giving themselves a very possible shot at not only first place in the A.L. East at the All-Star break, but also a chance for the best record in baseball in the first half of the season. The Rays own one fourth-place finish and nine fifth-place finish in their 10-year history. Since the Rays inception only one team, the 2006 Blue Jays, has cracked the Yankees/Red Sox 1st-2nd lock at the top of the division. Toronto missed the post season that year, but if Tampa plays .500 ball the rest of the way, they're almost guaranteed to make the playoffs.

Nothing magical about Madrigal

Warner Madrigal's Major League debut for Texas is about as scary as they come. The first time out he blows a save in spectacular fashion, giving up six runs on five hits while only retiring one Yankee. He came in with the lead, left with a certain loss and his ERA is 162.00 -- as New York put it on Texas 18-7.

Kuroda returns

The Dodgers Hiroki Kuroda made a solid impression in his first game back from the disabled list. Kuroda pitched seven innings, giving up just five hits and no runs in a 4-1 win over Houston.

Fantasy Impact: Kuroda was on the DL for just under a month with shoulder tendinitis. He was mixing in good and bad starts leading up to the injury, and now with clearance to pitch again, expect a few more good outings. If the shoulder is healthy, he's a good fifth starter or better on a fantasy roster.

60 saves

The Angels' Francisco Rodriguez is well on his way to breaking the single-season saves record. Wednesday he closed out number 34 on the year, going one inning and striking out a batter to preserve a 7-4 win over Oakland. K-Rod is just 23 shy of Bobby Thigpen's 57, and we've not yet reached the All-Star break.

Fantasy Impact: K-Rod is pitching as well as he ever has, despite the fact that he is striking out less than a batter per inning for the first time in his career. At this point 60 saves seems a possiblity.

Bruce bruises Pirates pitching

Jay Bruce homered twice tonight for the Reds. Bruce hit the first in the bottom of the first in a response to the four runs Pittsburgh scored in the top half of the inning. Bruce then hit a three-run homer in the third, giving Cincinnati a brief 5-4 lead in a game they eventually lost, 9-5.

Fantasy Impact: Bruce is busting out of his power slump. His last home run before tonight's dual blasts came on June 13th. He's now up to six homers this season to go along with a .292 average. Bruce has been hailed the next Larry Walker. You should drool over that, but it might not be fair to compare just yet. He's a rookie, so expect more slumps like the one he just jumped out of.

Thompson hit hard

Reds rookie Daryl Thompson struggled in his second Major League start, and he really struggled tonight. Thompson worked just 4.1 innings, giving up seven runs on eight hits in a 9-5 loss to the Pirates. Thompson yielded four runs in the first, then settled down the rest of the way. He did cough up two solo shots to Xavier Nady in the third and the fifth.

Fantasy Impact: Thompson is just another one of those Reds rookie starters who has to take a few lumps on his way to serviceable MLB pitcher. It might take a while, but he's got a ton of upside.

Thanks to Danks

The White Sox can thank starter John Danks for their dramatic 3-2 win over Cleveland Tuesday. Danks matched Cleveland ace Cliff Lee pitch-for-pitch, going eight innings, striking out eight, while giving up just one run. With their teams deadlocked after eight, things were turned over to the bullpens, which, in turn, gave up three runs in the ninth inning. The Sox win the game, 3-2 on an RBI base hit by Orlando Cabrera in the 10th after Alexei Ramirez's game-tying home run.

Fantasy Impact: Danks is making the South Siders forget the guy they traded for him. Brandon McCarthy was dealt to Texas for Danks and two other prospects just before Christmas, 2006. McCarthy is hurt this year. He hasn't pitched. Danks has pitched brilliantly. His ERA is down to 2.50, and he deserves better than his so-so total of five wins.

Cain can pitch

Giants starter Matt Cain turned in his best performance of 2008 against the Cubs Tuesday, striking out 10 while yielding just one run over eight innings. He wins his 5th game, 2-1.

Fantasy Impact: This is Cain's second double-digit strikeout game of the year, of which he only had one all of last season. Cain held opponents to one run or less eleven times in 2007, but many of them came early in the year. With this victory, Cain's picked up his fifth start of holding an opponent to one run or less -- which has to make you wonder if he's saved something special for the second half. His ERA is down to 4.13 as it was 6.64 back on April 18th.

Cubs still chasing C.C.

Speaking on WSCR radio in Chicago this afternoon, baseball analyst and White Sox broadcaster Steve Stone said the Chicago Cubs were still in the hunt for C.C. Sabathia. Stone believes the Cubs have the right combination of "Major League ready" talent and prospects to land the Indians ace should Cleveland consider itself unlikely to compete for the postseason.

Some of the "MLB ready" players who came up in the discussion were pitcher Sean Gallagher and infielder Ronny Cedeno. Stone mentioned prospects Donny Veal, Tyler Colvin and Jeff Samardzija as trade possiblities.

Stone also mentioned the A's Rich Harden and the Blue Jays' A.J. Burnett as players the Cubs could go after.

Lance - a lot of production

Lance Berkman hit his 22nd home run, knocked in his 68th RBI and scored twice as the Astros beat the Dodgers, 4-1. Berkman's average is up to .365.

Fantasy Impact: Anyone who thought Berkman would cool down by now is dead wrong. The Astros' first baseman is cooking. Last year at this time he was hitting just .263, which scared off some fantasy owners in this year's draft. Berkman, however, is a career .304 hitter with 281 home runs. If you jumped on him in an early round he's rewarding you now.

Mr. Smith goes to Anaheim

The A's Greg Smith dominated the Angels in Anaheim, going for his first complete game in a 6-1 win. Smith improves to 5-6 on the year, giving up just a run on four hits. The Angels 3-4-5 slots, filled with Vlad Guerrero, Torii Hunter and Howie Kendrick, combined to go 0-12.

Fantasy Impact: A great rebound outing for the rookie left-hander who lost 4-0 to Philadelphia the last time out. Smith's ERA drops to 3.44, and he could be in the running for A.L. Rookie of the Year.

Hawpe's hot

The Rockies' Brad Hawpe finished up a torrid June with his eigth home run in Colorado's 15-8 loss to San Diego. Hawpe's season average is up to .260 after hitting well over .300 for the month. He batted just .218 in May and spent time on the disabled list.

Fantasy Impact: I heard somebody call Hawpe the left-handed Manny Ramirez in the offseason. Not quite, but he's pretty good when he's going well. It looks like he's solved what was keeping him from hitting the ball with authority. He's a good number two outfielder.

Gonzalez, Padres snap skid

Losers of eight straight, the Padres finally got it right in Denver tonight. Edgar Gonzalez hit his first home run since June 11th, and then hit a second homer to cap off a seven-run 9th, going 4-5 with three runs and three RBI in a career game for him. San Diego wins, 15-8.

The Padres put up their 15 runs on 22 hits, as seven different players had multi-hit games including Edgar's little brother Adrian.

Fantasy Impact: Adrian Gonzalez hasn't homered in a week, but he's still hitting the ball well. Edgar was a fill-in for the injured Tadahito Iguchi. Now he's hitting .325 and has three homers in 123 at bats. Although they look very similar despite despite a near four-year age gap, Edgar will never been confused with his brother. Adrian's hit 21 home runs this year and is a fantasy stud. Like the Padres, pick up Edgar for the time being as a hot stop gap.

Pirates batting pitcher eighth

The Pittsburgh Pirates are making batting the pithcer eighth an National League Central trend. The Cardinals started the trend when they played their backup catchers, followed by the Brewers trying it with catcher Jason Kendall hitting ninth. Now the Pirates will bat shortstop Jack Wilson last.

Cordero done for year

The Natinoals' Chad Cordero is out for the year. Jon Rauch inherits the job full-time, which he's handled quite well to this point, notching 16 saves in Cordero's absence. He doesn't get a lot of chances, however, playing for Washington.

Fantasy Impact: Rauch is allowing less than a base runner per inning. That's a good recipe for earning saves. He's no worse than a second-tier closer, and probably one of the best at that.

Ram out

The Cubs' Aramis Ramirez is gone for at least the next three games attending to a family matter in his native Puerto Rico. Chicago is on the road for four games in San Francisco, meaning Ramirez will miss all but Thursday's game at this point.

Fantasy Impact: He's too valuable to pass on in weekly leagues. Ramirez is arguably the most productive third baseman this side of Alex Rodriguez. David Wright also comes to mind.

A.L. dominance

After Sunday play interleague play has resulted in the American League outperforming the National league 149-102 this year for a .594 winning percentage. If the A.L. played the N.L. over a 162 game schedule the Junior Circuit would got 96-66.

The A.L. finished play togday with a 8-6 win total over the national league for a winning percentage of .571. The lower winning percentage for today did impact the A.L.'s overall winning percentage just a touch, but averaged out over 162 games it was not enough to lower the 96-66 record.

Dan (Ugh)la

Florida Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla rolled his ankle Saturday rounding third base, putting a scare into both Marlins fans and fantasy owners. It turns out it's only a sprain as x-rays came back negative. Now the Marlins are saying Uggla might only miss a few days.

Fantasy Impact: Great news for fantasy owners. Uggla leads the National League with 23 home runs, and appears to be a safe bet for at least the end of this week's games.