Around The Majors- Monday

Today on ATM, a recap of Sunday's games, some news and notes, a look at the standings and wild card races, and the latest rumors.

Sunday Recap
Fausto Carmona improved to 11-4 as Cleveland edged the Royals 5-3. The Indians are 33-13 at home, the best home mark in the majors. Despite 2 homers from Jermaine Dye, Baltimore beat the White Sox 5-3. The Yankees are over .500 as they defeated Tampa Bay 7-6. Toronto bested Boston 2-1, Minnesota completed a 4 game sweep of Oakland 4-3, Mark Teixiera's homer in the 11th pushed Texas past the Angels 5-4, and Detroit outscored Seattle 11-7.
Atlanta and Buddy Carlyle beat Pittsburgh 5-1, two Miguel Cabrera home runs led the Marlins over the Nationals 5-3, and the Mets defeated the Reds 5-2. Milwaukee edged Colorado 4-3, the Cubs scored 6 in the 2nd to edge Houston 7-6, and the Dodgers beat the Giants 5-3 to complete the sweep. Justin Germano and the Padres shut out Arizona 4-0, and 2 Albert Pujols home runs sent the Phillies to their 10,000th loss as a franchise as the Cards romped 10-2.

News and Notes
- Ichiro bruised his knee yesterday against Detroit, but x-rays were negative. If you remember, Derek Lee broke his wrist 4 days after signing an extension with the Cubs. History will apparently not repeat itself in this instance.
- On the day of the Phillies' 10,00oth franchise loss, there was some good news. Tom Gordon was finally activated from the DL yesterday, and will provide some much needed bullpen help. Brian Sanches was optioned to AAA Ottawa. Freddy Garcia was transferred to the 60 day DL. The Dodgers placed reliever Chin Hui-Tsao on the DL, and recalled righty prospect DJ Houlton. The Mets actiavted starter Oliver Perez from the DL before yesterday's game and sent down Mike Pelfrey. Pittsburgh put Jose Bautista on the DL with a hand injury, and actiavted disgruntled reliver Salomon Torres from the DL. The Bucs also designated John Wasdin for assignment. Seattle activated starter Horacio Ramirez from the DL, Jake Woods was demoted to AAA Tacoma. St Louis placed Scott Spiezio on the shelf and brought up infielder Brendan Ryan. Toronto recalled Brandon League and sent down Jordan De Jong.
- On tap for today, Rich Hill and the red hot Cubs face Tim Lincecum and the Giants (7pm ESPN). Bush faces Owings as the Brewers and D-Backs open up a series of struggling contenders in the desert. Jorge Sosa faces David Wells as the Mets begin a set in San Diego. Brad Penny looks to get his 11th win as the Dodgers host Jaime Moyer and the Phillies.

Standings
The Yankees have won 7 of 10 and now trail first place Boston by 9 games in the AL East. Tampa Bay has lost 8 of 10 and fall to 20 games behind. Detroit may have won 7 of 10, but their lead is only half a game over Cleveland in the AL Central. Minensota has won 4 straight and 7 of 10 and trail by only 6 games. The Angels are 3 games clear of Seattle in the AL West, and Oakland has lost 7 straight to basically put themselves out of the race. Atlanta has won 4 straight and 7 of 10 to pull within a game and a half of the first place Mets in the NL East. Philadelphia is 5 games behind. The Cubs have won 3 straight and 7 of 10 to get to 3.5 back of the first place Brewers in the NL Central. The Dodgers have won 4 in a row to take a 1 game lead over San Diego in the NL West, and Arizona has lost 7 of 10 to go 3.5 back. Cleveland leads the AL Wild Card by 2 games over the Mariners, 5.5 over the Twins, and 8 over the Yankees. San Diego leads the NL Wild Card by 1 game over Atlanta, 2.5 over Arizona, 3 ahead of the Cubs, and 4.5 of the Phillies.

Rumors
- Dan Johnson is still getting interest from the Twins and Yankees. (Contra Costa Times)
- Angels owner Arte Moreno would be very hesitant to shell out 25 million a season for Alex Rodriguez. (LA Times)
- With the slowing developments of outfielders Brian Anderson and Ryan Sweeney, the White Sox might just not trade Jermaine Dye, they may even resign him to an extension. The Dodgers, Padres, and Mets have all shown interest in Dye but would be reluctant to deal top prospects. (Chicago Tribune)
- If Dye stays with the White Sox, it won't be because of a contract extension. (Daily Southtown)
- Zambrano is seeing the potential of a lot of green if Mark Cuban buys the Cubs. (Chicago Sun-Times)
- The Twins plan to keep Torii Hunter for the rest of the season and then offer him a contract extension. (St. Paul Pioneer Press)
- Pittsburgh could deal Shawn Chacon, Damaso Marte, and Salomon Torres before the deadline, but they'll be neither buyers nor sellers. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
- Torres walked in to the Pirates clubhouse and said that he wanted to stay for the rest of his career even though he asked for a trade last week. (Pittsburgh Tribune Review)
- With the improving play of Kevin Millar, his trade value is soaring for the Orioles. (Baltimore Sun)
- Reggie Sanders will likely be traded or released before the deadline. (KC Star)
- Cleveland manager Eric Wedge is expected to get a contract extension. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)