M.L.B. Morning

Good morning baseball lovers! Before we get to yesterday's scores, an update on Alfonso Soriano. After further tests on his quad, a small tear was shown and the Cubs superstar will be out at least until Labor Day. "The latest from the MRI was that there is a small tear in the quad" Said Lou Piniella. He went on to say that Soriano will be out 4-6 weeks.

In more bad news for the Cubbies, Eric Munson hit an RBI single in the 10th to lead the Astros to a 2-1 win over Chicago. The Cubs remain one game behind Milwaukee in the NL Central, who fell to Colorado 6-2. Brad Hawpe homered and drove in 3 for the Rockies, who gained a game on 2nd place San Diego. The Pads fell 10-5 to St Louis on Monday Night Basball, Scott Rolen homered and drove in 3 for the Redbirds, who are 7 game out in the NL Central. The Rockies are 5 games behind first place Arizona, 3 games behind San Diego. Barry Bonds went 0-3 last night in his quest to break Hank Aaron's home run record, and a Randy Winn single in the 11th led the Giants to a 3-2 win over Washington.
The Yankees continue to make a run at the Wild Card. New York logged a come from behind win over Toronto 5-4 yesterday at the Rogers Centre. They remain a half game back of Detroit, who scored 4 in the 7th off of Gary Glover to defeat Tampa Bay 6-4. BJ Upton homered and drove in 3 in the loss for the Rays. Fernando Rodney pitched a scoreless 8th for the Tigers, which is a good sign for their struggling bullpen. Detroit is a half game back of first place Cleveland in the AL Central, who got a complete game 4 hit shutout from Paul Byrd in a 4-0 win over Minnesota. The Twins are 5.5 game out of first place. The Yankees are now within 6 games of first place Boston in the AL East, the Red Sox fell 4-2 in Anaheim against the Angels. Curt Schilling allowed the 4 runs in 6 innings in his return from injury and suffered the loss. Casey Kotchman drove in 2 for the Angels, who now take a 4 game lead on Seattle in the AL West. Oakland got RBI singles from Mike Piazza and Mark Ellis in the 13th as they outlasted Texas 9-7. Marco Scutaro homered and drove in 4 for the A's.

Eric Hinske was placed on the bereavement list by Boston, Colorado optioned Chris Ianetta to AAA, and the Angels activated Erick Aybar from the DL. Fred Lewis was optioned by the Giants, and Mike Maroth was placed on the DL.

David Wells could soon be dropped from the Padres rotation, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The Twins are trying to trade for Mike Piazza, according to the St Paul Pioneer Press. Bobby Kielty will sign with Boston, meaning that Wily Mo Pena's days are numbered, says the Providence Journal. The signing deadline looms, but the Houston Chronicle reports that Astros GM Tim Purpura is still hopeful that they'll ink their top 2 picks.