Tampa Bay will play host to the Toronto Blue Jays for the last series before the All-Star Break. Tonight, Chris Archer takes the mound against Mark Buehrle as the Rays look to gain more ground in the AL East standings.
Adam Berry of MLB.com listed five reasons for Rays fans to remain optimistic for the remainder of the season, with the number one reason being that David Price is still on the team. Joe Maddon told Berry, "I know the math is totally against us, I get it, but I don't believe it." Same, Joe. No giving up until the team has been mathematically eliminated from contention!
Links:
-The Yankees announced yesterday that Masahiro Tanaka has a partial tear of the UCL. Tanaka will try to rehab his elbow first and New York is hopeful that he will avoid Tommy John Surgery.
-Josh Donaldson and Justin Morneau were named as the final competitors for the Home Run Derby. Fans will have the opportunity to win $25,000 for completing a perfect Home Run Derby bracket this year.
-Twitter was flooded with #FinalVote tweets yesterday. Chicago swept the Final Vote with Chris Sale and Anthony Rizzo being named to the All-Star Teams of their respective leagues.
-Brian Tuohy of Sports on Earth takes a look at Babe Ruth's history with baseball.
-Yadier Molina will miss 8-12 weeks with a torn ligament in his right thumb.
-After being activated from the DL yesterday, it appears that Carl Crawford will be a really expensive benchwarmer.
-Well done, Cleveland. The Indians gave Derek Jeter a really neat LEGO mosaic, along with a guitar, as a retirement present yesterday.
-Bruce Schoenfeld of the New York Times talks with Hector Santiago about his screwball.
-The Rockies owner had to apologize yesterday after telling a fan not to come back to the stadium.
-It may come as a little bit of a shocker, but it turns out that AJ Pierzynski wasn't exactly well-liked in Boston.