Even though the 81-game mark appeared a few days ago for most teams, we can now say the "first half" of the Major League Baseball season is over. It is now officially the All-Star break. And on the last day of the "first half" of the 2012 season, we saw what may have been the first gem of many from a promising young talent.
Full Sunday scoreboard with recaps and box scores for every game
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Trevor Bauer, Diamondbacks: The third overall pick in the 2011 draft struggled in his first two big-league starts, but Sunday may have been the start of what most believe will be an impressive major-league career. Bauer, 21, worked six shutout innings and gained his first career victory, allowing only two hits and one walk while striking out six. And don't look now, but the D-Backs are only four games out in the NL West.
Max Scherzer, Tigers: It's been a rough year for Scherzer, for the most part, but he was nails Sunday. He worked seven innings, allowing only five hits, one walk and one earned run while striking out seven. The Tigers have now won five straight and are sitting within one series of the second wild card spot. Not too shabby for a disappointing first half, huh?
Neil Walker/Andrew McCutchen/A.J. Burnett, Pirates: Wow. The Pittsburgh Pirates are in first place at the All-Star break. That hasn't happened since the year I graduated high school. They've won 10 of their last 12 and are 28-13 since May 24. Sunday, the Pirates crushed the Giants, 13-2. I don't follow the NHL enough to know if Pittsburgh is a big hockey town, relatively speaking, but I know they love their Penguins -- so let's go with the three stars route here. Walker was 5-for-5 with a double, home run, four runs scored and two RBI. McCutchen was 3-for-5 with two homers, four RBI and three runs. Burnett ran his record to 10-2 with 6 1/3 innings of strong work (five hits and two earned runs allowed). And Pittsburgh fans don't have to yearn for football and hockey season to see some winning this year.
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Chris Perez, Indians: It had been a glorious run for the outspoken Indians closer, but Sunday Perez blew a save for the first time since opening day. In between, he converted 24 straight without a hiccup. He allowed four hits (including a triple and home run) and three earned runs in his one inning, turning the Indians' two-run lead into a loss.
Nationals bullpen: This was a rare day for the Nationals. Jordan Zimmermann was brilliant through seven innings and departed with a 3-1 lead. And the Nats lost. It was only the ninth blown save of the season by the entire bullpen. Sean Burnett allowed three hits and was charged with two earned runs. Mike Gonzalez takes the blown save due to allowing an inherited runner to score and tie it. Then, All-Star closer Tyler Clippard took the loss in the ninth on a wild pitch.
The Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles were stifled offensively by Brad Mills -- making a spot start due to Dan Haren's injury -- and lost 6-0. The O's now hobble into the All-Star break having won only six of their last 19 games.
Note: Tim Lincecum and Heath Bell sucked, too, but that's been the norm for the first half.
All-Star Monday: It's the Home Run Derby, which is then followed on TV by the previously recorded (it's played Sunday night) Celebrity and Legends softball game. 8:00 p.m. ET
• Meet the All-Star wives and girlfriends: KansasCity.com has a nice feature on some of the wives and girlfriends that will be around Kansas City for the All-Star festivities.
• Filthy hats: Some fans tweeted MLB.com pictures of their old and/or dirty baseball hats. A few don't look that bad, but there are some really solid efforts in there.
• Minor League attendance rising, too: We've noted several times in recent weeks that Major League Baseball attendance is going through a bit of a boom, and it appears that it's baseball as a whole that is garnering more interest this summer. BizofBaseball.com has the numbers.
• Realignment proposal: Royals Review takes a look at three different geographically-based realignment proposals. One with six divisions containing five teams each, one with five divisions (six teams each) and one with just three divisions of 10. The conclusion is that dropping the "leagues" and just going to three divisions of 10 teams each would be the best plan for baseball. It's an interesting idea.
• On Kansas City: With the All-Star Game dominating headlines right now, Kansas City is a hot topic, obviously. One of the best sportswriters in the world is Joe Posnanski, and he lived in Kansas City much of his adult life. Here he is, with a simple post titled "Kansas City."
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