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| Cardinal hitters had a rather enjoyable seventh inning on Saturday. (Associated Press) |
Believe it or not, Jason Kubel's three home runs in Arizona weren't the most amazing thing that happened on Saturday ...
Box scores and recaps for all Saturday games
3 UP
Ben Sheets, Braves: Rescued from the scrap heap, Sheets continues to make the Braves look like geniuses. On Saturday, Sheets worked 6.0 scoreless frames against the Nationals, striking out six and giving up five hits. Sheets, 12 innings into his improbable come back, has yet to allow a run. He might wind up being a more valuable addition than any deadline trade target you can think of.
Mike Napoli, Rangers: Napoli entered Saturday's game in Anaheim with a career slash line of .395/.495/.728 against his old team, the Angels. Then he went out and hit two home runs in a 9-2 thumping of their chief AL West rivals.
Jason Kubel, Diamondbacks: Needless to say, a three-homer night will earn you a spot on this list. Kubel, besides mashing those three home runs, plated six runs against the Astros on Saturday night, which gives him the NL lead in RBI. He's now slugging .566 on the season.
3 DOWN
Miguel Batista, Mets: In what may have been his last outing as a member of the Mets' rotation, Batista allowed four runs on five hits in just 3.0 innings of work. He also struck out two and walked three. Not only did Batista help drop the Mets to the .500 mark for the first time since May 4, but he also forced the Met bullpen to work 6.0 innings for a second consecutive game.
Cubs pitchers in the 7th inning: It's difficult to overstate the horrors that unfolded in the home half of the seventh on Saturday night in St. Louis. The Cubs entered the bottom of the seventh inning locked in a 0-0 tie. By the time they recorded the third out of the frame, the score was 12-0. The unbelievable sequence went like this: single, pop-out, double, single, triple, walk, double, walk, pop-out, double, double, double, walk, double, double, dropped third strike (!), strikeout. As part of the carnage, the Cardinals tied a 1936 record with seven doubles in an inning.
Hideki Matsui, Rays: In a 2-1 loss to the lowly Mariners, Matsui went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, a GIDP and five runners left on base. The Tampa Bay DH is now "hitting" .149/.216/.223 on the season. 
Redemption songs: White Sox right-hander Philip Humber will be making his second start since returning from an elbow injury. He looked solid last time out. He'll be opposed by Jacob Turner. Turner is the Tigers' top prospect, but he was throttled by the Angels in his second start since being recalled. Those Tigers, who moved into first place on Saturday, go for the sweep at home. 1:05 pm ET
Large and in charge: Heavyweight hurlers CC Sabathia and Bartolo Colon square off in the series finale in Oakland. Sabathia makes his second start since returning from the DL, while Colon might be fighting for his spot in the Oakland rotation (Brandon McCarthy and Brett Anderson could return soon). Can the A's continue hanging around in the AL playoff race? Sweeping a four-game set against the Yankees would certainly help. 4:05 pm ET
Hoping for Haren: The Angels get Dan Haren back from the DL on Sunday, and he'll test his mettle against the powerful Rangers. On the other side, Matt Harrison will be going for his 13th win of the season. It's the rubber match of this key series between AL West rivals. 8:00 pm ET.
Sunday probables for all games 
• Shaq's struggles: Alex Speier or WEEI provides some essential context regarding the struggles of Red Sox draftee Shaq Thompson.
• The journey of a lifetime: This is pretty awesome. A South Philadelphia Little League team is traveling around the country in a vintage 1947 Negro League bus, dropping in on major-league parks, visiting sites vital to Negro League history, and even meeting some surviving Negro Leaguers. "I'll never forget this," said one 10-year-old player. "It's hard to explain. It's really fun. I get to do all this stuff, meet all these people. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity." [CNN]
• Soccer on the diamond: The next several days will see a flurry of international soccer matches taking place in major-league ballparks. ESPN.com takes a quick photographic tour of some notable soccer-meets-baseball encounters of the past.
• What about Bob?: MLB.com's Spencer Fordin profiles Bob Elliot, proud Canadian and recipient of this year's J.G. Taylor Spink Award to honor distinguished baseball writing. "Right now, my heart is coming out of my chest," Elliot said during his acceptance speech in Cooperstown. "My job has been like winning the lottery. I could not play baseball. I did lead my high school in 'Does not apply himself' comments. I did not go to university, but I was fortunate to grow up in a sporting family."
• The final bill: Jim Callis of Baseball America runs down how each team fared under the new hard-slotting system for the draft. Take a guess as to which AL East team owes the largest "tax" bill for exceeding the draft budget ...
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