If you read only one thing…..

American sports fans are a unique bunch. We love dominant teams and most fans could be called bandwagon fans, but there is the other side. The Cubs have been called the loveable losers and the Dodgers were the Boys of Summer in the 1950s when they seemingly couldn’t get over the Yankees hump. We love to rag on our fallen heroes like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Alex Rodriguez, but we also love to celebrate a return to grace. Enter Josh Hamilton.

Hamilton returned to the Rangers lineup about a week ago and has been playing himself back into shape. On Friday night, he hit two home runs, scored three runs, and drove himself in twice. Is he back? Only time will tell, but I think most people are rooting for him. After all, there is a huge difference between addiction and just cheating to get ahead.

Just as we expected….

It’s been another season and another dynamic performance by Paul Goldschmidt. Goldschmidt had two more hits on Friday night. It might not have been his best night, but it is yet another example of his continuing dominant play. Both hits were doubles (giving him eleven on the season) to go along with his twelve home runs. His 36 runs and 38 RBI are pacing the senior circuit and his .333 average may not be leading the league, but he looks like an early Triple Crown candidate.

He may not be a household name yet, but Chad Bettis is on a roll in Colorado. He had another brilliant outing in Philadelphia on Friday night. He brought a no-hitter into the eighth inning, but was unable to finish the job. He still finished with eight scoreless innings to give him a 2-0 record with a 2.96 ERA.

But we didn’t see this coming….

The Marlins have been a trainwreck this season. Furthermore, they’ve become a joke since they hired general manager Dan Jennings as the manager. That being said, they have a couple of bright spots on the team and Dan Haren is one of those. He stands now at 5-2 with a 3.03 ERA. Add in Dee Gordon’s dominant performance at second base this season and that trade with the Dodgers is looking pretty darn good.

Torii Hunter just never ages. It’s hard to explain how he seems to perform every year after we expect him to slip. After Friday night’s game, he is hitting a respectable .281 with seven home runs, 25 runs, and 30 RBI. If we extrapolate that over the course of a full season we’ll see his customary 20+ home runs with 80 or more runs and RBI. That’s not bad for a guy that will turn 40 before the end of the season.

The Rest of the Details

Save Chances

• Trevor Rosenthal (converted)
• Shawn Tollenson (converted)
• Aroldis Chapman (converted)
• A.J. Ramos (converted)

Lineup Moves

• Blast from the past Mark Reynolds seems to be the temporary replacement for the injured Matt Adams in St. Louis. When healthy, Reynolds is usually good for 20+ home runs and around 150 strikeouts. Adams is likely to miss three to four months with a quad tear.

Rumors and Transactions

The latest rumor mill has the Cubs hot to trot to acquire Ben Zobrist. Everyone that has ever read anything I’ve written knows how I feel about Zobrist. In this case, it would fit perfectly with what the Cubs are trying to do. Their holes are at second base and left field. He can play both of those spots, so if they find another option in their system he is versatile enough to move around.