The big news out of New York had very little to do with a game unfortunately, as Francisco Rodriguez will miss the rest of the season with a torn ligament that appears to have stemmed from his altercation that got him arrested last week. Hisanori Takahashi seems like the most likely pickup, especially considering he picked up the save last night. But it's a situation worth monitoring as we see whether or not it is him that gets all the save opportunities.
At some point, the Athletics are going to need some offense. They were 1 hit by Shaun Marcum last night, who only gave up a solo homerun to Conor Jackson. Marcum recorded his 11th win of the season, and lowered his ERA to 3.69.
Max Scherzer continues his excellent streak of starts with a 6 shutout inning performance last night against the Yankees. I honestly think that he could be a top 20 pitcher next season, as he strikes out almost a batter per inning and really appears to have figured it out.
Andrew McCutchen hit his 10th homer of the season, and stole his 25th base last night in the victory against the Marlins. I think he still has an outside shot at 15-40, but it is looking a lot more unlikely than it has in the past.
Dan Uggla went 3 for 4 last night, and is actually threatening to hit .300 with his batting average now at .291 on the season. I'd be shocked if he is able to maintain this batting average, and I think we're just waiting for a regression any day now.
Chad Billingsley had a great start last night, going 7 innings of 1 run ball while striking out 8. To me, he remains that completely toxic pitcher. He's either going to give you a great start (last night), or get destroyed and kill all your numbers. I just can't trust him.
Cliff Lee took the loss yesterday, and a tough one at that for his owners. The 10 strikeouts were nice, but the 6 earned runs in 7 2/3 innings... not so much. His ERA is now up to 2.77, and some regression was to be expected. It's not like you're not going to put him in for every start he has left, or at least you should be starting him. Don't worry about this. You don't want to be the owner that went too conservative and sit Cliff Lee because of a start like this.