During Friday night's win over the Angels (NYY 8, LAA 7), Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez reached yet another historic milestone, this time recording his 1,997th RBI. That broke a tie with Barry Bonds and gave A-Rod sole possession of second place on the official all-time RBI list.

Rodriguez also went 4 for 5 at the plate and is now just nine hits shy of 3,000 for his career. And, as I'm sure you remember, A-Rod took sole possession of fourth place on the all-time home run list earlier this season with his 661st career blast. He's reaching some major benchmarks all in a short period of time.

Of course, all those milestones are tainted due to Rodriguez's performance-enhancing drug history. There was minimal excitement about his homer to pass Willie Mays a few weeks ago, Friday's RBI milestone came and went with little fanfare, and there is no build up for the upcoming 3,000th hit.

A-Rod brought that on himself, obviously. MLB considers him a player in good standing following last year's suspension, but Rodriguez's name will never be clear in the court of public opinion. He made his bed, and now this incredibly record-breaking season is going for naught.

Fourth place on the all-time homer list? Second all-time in RBI? Then 3,000 hits? Remarkable. And yet not one cares. What a sad way for things to play out.

A-Rod reached another big milestone Friday night.
A-Rod reached another big milestone Friday night. (USATSI)

Giant Rebound: The Giants have had a roller coaster season to this point. After starting 3-1, the Giants lost eight straight and nine of their next 10. After that, they looked like the best team in baseball for an extended stretch, going 26-10 from April 21 through May 29. They followed that with five losses in a row.

San Francisco went into Friday's game at 30-25 and in good shape, though they were looking up at the Dodgers in the NL West. The Giants rallied to beat the Phillies on Friday night (SF 5, PHI 4) after falling behind early, plus the Dodgers lost to the Cardinals (STL 2, LA 1), so the defending World Champs are now just a half-game back of Los Angeles. Both teams have 31 wins. 

So, despite their up and down season -- perhaps we should call it a down then up then down again season -- the Giants remain right in the thick of the NL West race. It helps that the Dodgers have dropped seven of their last 10.

Tim Lincecum helped his Giants stop a losing streak on Friday.
Tim Lincecum helped his Giants stop a losing streak on Friday. (USATSI)

Welcome to The Eye. As as it the case each and every day, this post will feature game recaps, milestones, highlights, injury news, rumors and a look toward the following day's action. We'll help make sure you don't miss a thing.

Today's MLB action (Full scoreboard)

Blue Jays 6, Astros 2 (Box score): A five-run second inning, featuring two-run home runs by Jose Reyes and Jose Bautista, led the Blue Jays to the win. Aaron Sanchez allowed two runs in eight innings and did not walk a batter for the first time all year. Jason Castro hit a solo homer for Houston.

Red Sox 4, Athletics 2 (Box score): The Red Sox chipped away against Scott Kazmir, scoring one run each in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings. Wade Miley held the A's to two runs in 7 1/3 innings, but Josh Phegley came within five feet or so of hitting a game-tying two-run homer off Koji Uehara in the ninth. He had to settle for a double off the Green Monster. This game featured the MLB debut of switch-pitcher Pat Venditte (two scoreless innings) and was marred by an ugly incident in which a fan was hit by a piece of a broken bat.

Nationals 7, Cubs 5 (Box score): Two home runs by Anthony Rizzo weren't enough for Chicago. The Nats got a three-run home run from Danny Espinosa plus run-scoring hits from Denard Span, Wilson Ramos and Dan Uggla. The Cubbies did bring the tying run to the plate against Drew Storen in the ninth, but the comeback fell short.

Yankees 8, Angels 7 (Box score): This one got very, very interesting. The Yankees took an 8-1 lead into the ninth inning, but the bullpen melted down, and the Halos scored six runs and got the tying run to third base. Dellin Betances struck out Carlos Perez to end the game. Stephen Drew hit two homers for the Yankees while Alex Rodriguez had four hits. He's nine away from 3,000.

Giants 5, Phillies 4 (Box score): The Phillies took an early lead on Ryan Howard's two-run home run, though the Giants battled back and took the lead for good in the seventh on Buster Posey's solo homer. Matt Duffy and Justin Maxwell also went deep for San Francisco. Tim Lincecum managed to get the win despite allowing four runs in six innings.

Orioles 5, Indians 2 (Box score): The O's had a really diverse offensive attack on Friday. They scored one run on a single (Ryan Flaherty), one run on a double (Matt Wieters), one run on a triple (Adam Jones), one run a home run (Jones), and one run on a sac fly (Wieters). Jason Kipnis and Michael Brantley stroked RBI singles for the Tribe. The Indians lost for only the fifth time in their last 17 games.

Padres 6, Reds 2 (Box score): San Diego scored two runs in the first, then one each in the second and third. The last two came on solo homers by Will Venable and Will Middlebrooks. Tyson Ross struck out seven in five innings of two run ball before the Padres bullpen took over, and allowed just one hit in four scoreless innings.

Pirates 10, Braves 8 (Box score): This was a wild game. The Pirates had a 6-5 lead going into the eighth, then they scored three insurance runs thanks in part to Andrew McCutchen's double. The Braves answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning, the Pirates scored again in the top of the ninth, but the Braves rallied to score yet again in the bottom of the ninth. Joey Terdoslavich represented the tying run against Mark Melancon ... but he banged into a game-ending double play. Pittsburgh has won 12 of their last 14 games.

White Sox 4, Tigers 3 in 11 innings (Box score): Adam LaRoche's ninth inning game-tying home run off Joakim Soria sent this one into extra innings. The ChiSox eventually won when Alex Wilson hit Avisail Garcia with the bases loaded for the walk-off loss. Ouch, literally and figuratively. Garcia also homered. The reeling Tigers have lost eight straight.

Rangers 4, Royals 0 (Box score): In his second MLB start, rookie right-hander Alex Gonzalez tossed a three-hit shutout for the Rangers. The man they call Chi Chi struck out two, and all three hits allowed were singles. Mitch Moreland went deep for Texas. The Royals have dropped eight of their last 10 ballgames.

Brewers 10, Twins 5 (Box score): This game was tied 5-5 until the eighth inning, when the Brewers went off on Minnesota's bullpen. Adam Lind doubled in a run in the eighth, and Jonathan Lucroy followed that with an RBI infield single. They scored three more runs in the ninth, with Lind's two-run single representing the big blow. Lind drove in six runs in the game. He and Lucroy had three hits apiece.

Cardinals 2, Dodgers 1 (Box score): Carlos Martinez struck out 11 in seven innings, with his only real blemish being a bases loaded walk to Joc Pederson in the second. The Dodgers nursed that 1-0 lead into the eighth inning, when the Cardinals rallied for two runs, one on Kolten Wong's infield single and another on Matt Carpenter's sac fly. Trevor Rosenthal struck out a pair in a dominant ninth. The Dodgers have lost three straight, four of five, and seven of 10.

Diamondbacks 7, Mets 2 (Box score): The D-Backs had a 3-2 lead heading into the eighth, then they blew it wide open. The first five men they sent to the plate in the inning reached base, and sixth had a sac fly, resulting in a four-run inning. A.J. Pollock had three hits -- including two doubles -- while the team's bullpen chucked three perfect frames. The last 14 Mets to bat made outs.

Rays 1, Mariners 0 (Box score): What a wonderful pitching duel. J.A. Happ and Jake Odorizzi (and later Andrew Bellatti) traded zeros for seven innings, and it wasn't until Logan Forsythe took Fernando Rodney deep in the ninth that someone scored a run. The Mariners had a chance to tie the game -- Austin Jackson led the bottom of the ninth off with a triple, but a strikeout, a pop-up and a fly ball stranded the runner.

Marlins 6, Rockies 2 (Box score): This game was interrupted by a rain delay that lasted nearly two hours. Brutal weather in Colorado so far this year. Anyway, Giancarlo Stanton clobbered a solo home run while Dee Gordon, Marcell Ozuna, J.T. Realmuto, Adeiny Hechavarria and Tom Koehler had one RBI apiece. Troy Tulowitzki had three hits for the Rockies.

Milestone Watch

Longest active hit streak: It's Chris Colabello of the Blue Jays, who had three hits on Friday to extend his hit streak to 15 games. Just a measly 41 games away from Joe DiMaggio's record.

RBI milestone: With his fifth inning RBI single, Alex Rodriguez passed Barry Bonds and took over sole possession of second place on the official all-time RBI list with 1,997. Here's the milestone ribbie:

Switch-pitcher debuts: The Athletics called up ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte on Friday afternoon, and later in the day he made his MLB debut with two scoreless innings against the Red Sox. Here he is at work:

Daily Awards

Tweet of the day: The Reds have called on Jon Moscot to start Friday night in place of Raisel Iglesias, and this stuff is always cool to see.

Lineup card of the day: With switch pitcher Pat Venditte now on the roster, the A's had to add a third color to the card. Lefties are in red, righties are in black and Venditte is blue.

Animal of the day: According to Jim Hayes of Fox Sports Midwest, some skunks managed to get caught in the photographer's stand in the visitor's dugout at Dodger Stadium on Friday. Here's a photo:

MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch says the skunks were left under the photographer's stand until after the game, when the proper animal control folks could take care of things. The Dodgers took care of them though -- Langosch says the skunks were fed some salmon.

Dream job of the day: Apparently Yankees utility infielder Brendan Ryan wishes he was mopping floors:

Line drive home run of the day: Check out this laser by Anthony Rizzo off the facing of the second deck at Nationals Park. This was a rocket:

Big fly of the day: Giancarlo Stanton at Coors Fields? That ended with a ball traveling 484 feet:

Painful win of the day: I'm sure Avisail Garcia is happy his White Sox were able to come from behind to win in extra innings, but I don't think he liked driving in the walk-off run with a bases loaded hit by pitch.

Injuries, News & Rumors

Diamondbacks RP David Hernandez nearing long-awaited return

Blue Jays showing interest in free-agent Rafael Soriano

Padres swap Andrew Cashner, Odrisamer Despaigne in rotation

Victor Martinez may start rehab assignment for Tigers next week

Rays SP Matt Moore (elbow) to make rehab start early next week

Athletics' Pat Venditte becomes first switch-pitcher in 20 years

Rays' Jake Odorizzi leaves start with oblique tightness

Suspension of Brewers RP Will Smith reduced to six games

Report: Nationals' Joe Ross will make MLB debut Saturday

Blue Jays' Gibbons: Won't be 'too long' before Devon Travis returns

A's don't expect Coco Crisp, Sean Doolittle back anytime soon

Rays' Cash: John Jaso 'is still kind of a slow work in progress'

Dodgers' Brandon Beachy still about a week away from rehab

Rockies 1B Justin Morneau's (concussion) return still up in the air

A's promote ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte to majors

Tigers expect to have DH Victor Martinez back on Tuesday

Yasiel Puig: I want to be back with Dodgers this weekend

D-Backs unsure how to split time between Castillo, Saltalamacchia

MRI shows no structural damage in Dodgers 2B Howie Kendrick's knee

More player updates

Looking Ahead to Tomorrow's MLB action (all times ET)

It's a Saturday, so we've got both afternoon and night action. Bring it!

Away Home Time Away Starter Home Starter Natl TV
Chi. Cubs Washington 12:05 pm Hammel (4-2) - 2.82 ERA Ross (0-0) - 0.00 ERA  
Houston Toronto 1:07 pm Oberholtzer (0-0) - 3.24 ERA Hutchison (4-1) - 5.26 ERA  
Milwaukee Minnesota 2:10 pm Garza (3-7) - 5.52 ERA Pelfrey (4-2) - 2.59 ERA  
Texas Kansas City 2:10 pm Rodriguez (2-2) - 3.55 ERA Ventura (3-4) - 4.26 ERA FS1
San Francisco Philadelphia 3:05 pm Bumgarner (6-2) - 3.12 ERA Gonzalez (2-1) - 6.88 ERA  
Oakland Boston 4:05 pm Chavez (2-5) - 2.11 ERA Kelly (1-4) - 5.83 ERA  
Miami Colorado 4:10 pm Phelps (2-2) - 3.50 ERA Kendrick (2-7) - 6.55 ERA  
San Diego Cincinnati 4:10 pm Despaigne (3-3) - 4.56 ERA Lorenzen (1-1) - 3.06 ERA  
Baltimore Cleveland 4:10 pm Jimenez (3-3) - 3.12 ERA Salazar (5-1) - 3.79 ERA  
Pittsburgh Atlanta 7:10 pm Locke (3-3) - 5.34 ERA Teheran (4-2) - 4.87 ERA FOX
L.A. Angels N.Y. Yankees 7:15 pm Richards (5-3) - 3.26 ERA Warren (3-4) - 3.75 ERA FOX
Detroit Chi. White Sox 7:15 pm Price (4-2) - 3.15 ERA Danks (3-4) - 4.81 ERA FOX
N.Y. Mets Arizona 10:10 pm Colon (8-3) - 4.72 ERA Anderson (1-1) - 3.26 ERA  
St. Louis L.A. Dodgers 10:10 pm Garcia (1-2) - 2.70 ERA Kershaw (4-3) - 3.73 ERA  
Tampa Bay Seattle 10:10 pm Colome (3-2) - 5.05 ERA Hernandez (8-2) - 2.63 ERA