Did You Know

David Murphy, an outfielder for the Rangers, holds the whimsical record of being the only player in major league history with four straight seasons with between 111 and 122 hits. Starting in 2008, he had 114, 116, 122 and 111 hits over the four years. According to ESPN, Murphy is on pace for 110 hits this season, which could easily waver enough to extend the streak to five years. His best year was 2010, when he hit 12 home runs and batted .291 with 14 stolen bases. 

This Day in Baseball History

6/24/1979: In his first of 3,081 games spanning 25 years, 20-year-old Rickey Henderson goes 2-4. He hits his first of 510 doubles and steals the first of 1,406 bases.  His first hit comes off John Henry Johnson, who, at just 22 years old himself, was on his way to a 14-loss season. The catcher that allowed his first stolen base was three time All Star Jim Sundberg, who threw out 41 percent of base stealers in his career. 

News

Phillies pitcher Jonathan Papelbon let up two runs in the ninth inning to let the Rays tie the game, but Jim Thome homered in the bottom of the inning to win the game 7-6 for Philadelphia. The home run tied him with Sammy Sosa for seventh place in the all-time record books at 609, and his 13th walk off home run pushed him ahead of Frank Robinson and Mickey Mantle for most all time.

Braves pitcher Brandon Beachy will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the remainder of the season, as will Blue Jays pitcher Kyle Drabek.

Rays pitcher Joel Peralta was ejected for having pine tar on his glove and was suspended for eight games.

The Giants put down a four run A's 9th inning to win the game 9-8 in which the bases were left loaded.

Royals traded Sean O'Sullivan (career 10-14, 6.13 ERA over 3 seasons, age 24) to the Blue Jays for cash considerations. He is 6-4 with a 6.07 ERA in the minors this season.

Game Scores

Nationals (41-28) beat the Orioles (40-31) 3-1.

Red Sox (37-34) beat the Braves (38-33) 8-4.

Phillies (34-38) beat the Rays (38-32) 7-6.

Yankees (42-28) beat the Mets (39-33) 4-3.

Dodgers (43-29) beat the Angels (39-33) 3-1.

Rockies (27-43) beat the Rangers (44-28) 11-7.

Diamondbacks (36-35) beat the Cubs (24-47) 10-5.

Top Scorer: Rockies beat the Rangers 11-7.

Standings

AL East: Yankees (42-28, .600 WPCT). AL Central: Indians (37-33, .529). AL West: Rangers (44-28, .611).

NL East: Nationals (41-28, .594). NL Central: Reds (39-31, .557). NL West: Dodgers (43-29, .597).

AL Wild Cards: Orioles (40-31, .563) and Rays (38-32, .543). NL Wild Cards: Giants (40-32, .556) and Pirates (38-32, .543).

Bottom Team: Cubs (24-47, .338). Longest Winning Streak: Pirates and Diamondbacks, 3 games. Longest Losing Streak: Marlins, 6 games.

League Leaders

Offensive: AVG: Joey Votto (Reds), .360. Home runs: Jose Bautista (Blue Jays) and Adam Dunn (White Sox), 23. RBI: Josh Hamilton (Rangers), 64. Stolen bases: Tony Campana (Cubs), 24.

Pitching: Wins: R.A. Dickey (Mets), 11. K's: Stephen Strasburg (Nationals), 110. ERA: R.A. Dickey (Mets), 2.00 (99 innings, 22 earned runs). Saves: Chris Perez (Indians), 23.

Top Performers

Offensive: Nelson Cruz (Rangers): 3-5, 2 home runs (11), 4 RBI, 2 runs, AVG up .006 from .258 to .264, hitting streak to 2 games (5-8, .625 AVG).

Pitching: Johnny Cueto (Reds): Win (9-3), 7 shutout innings, 3 hits, 1 walk, 9 K's (76), ERA drop: 0.17 runs from 2.38 to 2.21.

Worst Pitching Performance: Paul Maholm (Cubs): Loss (4-6), 3.1 innings, 7 runs (6 earned), 9 hits, 3 walks, 0 K's, ERA jump: 0.50 runs from 4.88 to 5.38.

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Teams followed in this update: Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies

If your team is not included, please leave a comment.

HR: home runs. RBI: runs batted in. AVG: batting average. SB: stolen bases. ERA: earned run average. BAA: batting average against. K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage

Zack Silverman