While Josh Hamilton adds another milestone to his amazing season by joining Barry Bonds as the only hitters in the past 60 years to receive an intentional walk with the bases loaded, here are some notes from around baseball .
* Edinson Volquez has been mediocre for the past two months, although his amazing start to the season hid his recent struggles for anyone not looking beyond the surface. Volquez began the season 10-2 with a 1.71 ERA, but came into his start Sunday afternoon with a 5.07 ERA over his last nine outings. Seven shutout innings later and Volquez is now 15-5 with a 2.73 ERA overall, putting him one good start away from becoming the Reds' first 16-game winner in a dozen years.
Volquez's secondary numbers-strikeouts, walks, ground-ball rate-suggest that he's performed more like a 3.50-3.75 ERA pitcher than someone with a 2.73 ERA. In particular, his control has often been spotty, as he's walked 70 batters and hit 10 more in 151.2 innings. However, between 150 strikeouts in those 151.2 frames and 50 percent of his balls in play going on the ground those expecting the clock to strike midnight on the 25-year-old right-hander shouldn't hold their breath.
* Mike Mussina allowed three runs in the first inning Sunday, but found his groove after that once the Yankees clobbered Brian Bannister for 10 runs in the bottom of the frame. Mussina retired the last 14 batters he faced on the way to his 16th win and will go for No. 17 against his old team in Baltimore. Despite double-digit 200-inning seasons and top-10 ERA finishes, five trips to the All-Star game, and eight top-10 finishes in the Cy Young voting, Mussina has never won 20 games.
Meanwhile, Bannister has been awful since beginning the year 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA, going 4-12 with a 6.86 ERA in 22 starts since. Bannister is a self-proclaimed stat-head who pays attention to stuff like batting average on balls in play and Fielding Independent Pitching, but sadly that hasn't kept him from predictably falling back down to earth following a surprisingly strong rookie season. Bannister is smart enough to get back on track, but he's a marginal starter long term.
* Jensen Lewis has emerged recently as the unlikely closer in the Indians' mess of a bullpen and picked up his third save in nine days Sunday. A former 33rd-round pick who failed to show much promise as a starter, Lewis has thrived since switching to the bullpen last year. Since becoming a reliever he has a 2.25 ERA and 79-to-25 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 72 minor-league innings to go along with a 3.24 ERA and 67-to-32 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 78 big-league frames.
* Melvin Mora looked headed for a third straight sub par season when hit just .234/.302/.388 in 87 games before the All-Star break, but he continued an amazing second-half run Sunday by going 5-for-6 with two homers, two doubles, and six RBIs Mora is hitting .432 with nine homers and 43 RBIs in 28 games since the break-including 33-for-66 (.500) so far this month-raising his OPS from .690 to .834 in just 30 days.
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* Jason Kubel had a big weekend series against the Mariners, going 3-for-4 with a homer Friday, delivering a game-tying single off the bench in the eighth inning Saturday, and going 4-for-5 with two doubles Sunday. Add it all up and he was 8-for-10 with six RBIs, making him 17-for-46 (.370) with three homers in 13 games this month. Beyond that, following a rough first two months he's hit .313 with 11 homers in 55 games since June 1, emerging as the Twins' third-best hitter.
AL Quick Hits:Josh Beckett failed to make it out of the third inning Sunday, allowing eight runs for the second time in four starts . According to manager Joe Girardi, Hideki Matsui (knee) could come off the disabled list as soon as Tuesday . Javier Vazquez tossed eight innings of one-run ball Sunday, making him 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA and 18-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his last two starts . Adam Lind went 3-for-6 with a homer Sunday and has now hit .330 with eight homers and 34 RBIs in 46 games since returning from Triple-A . Todd Jones' (shoulder) return from the DL lasted just 48 hours, as he headed back to the shelf Sunday following one ugly outing . Raul Ibanez went 5-for-5 with two doubles Sunday and is now hitting .377 with eight homers, 21 total extra-base hits, and 28 RBIs in 28 games since the All-Star break . Alexi Casilla (thumb) is scheduled to begin a brief minor-league rehab assignment Monday at Single-A . Alex Rios went 5-for-6 with four doubles Sunday and is now hitting .320 with six homers and 28 total extra-base hits in the past 45 games.
NL Quick Hits:Billy Wagner (shoulder) had been hoping to come off the disabled list Monday, but instead will be examined by doctors Tuesday after having further discomfort . After another big game Sunday, Manny Ramirez is 25-for-59 (.423) with six homers and 21 RBIs in 16 games with the Dodgers . Roy Oswalt tossed eight scoreless, one-hit innings Sunday, improving to 4-0 with a 3.27 ERA since returning from a hip injury . Taking matters into his own hands Sunday, Johan Santana got his 11th win with a complete-game shutout . Tim Lincecum tossed 7.2 innings of one-run ball Sunday, striking out 10 while improving to 13-3 with a 2.60 ERA . General manager Ned Colletti said Sunday that he hasn't ruled out Brad Penny (shoulder) pitching again this year as a reliever . Ryan Dempster is one win short of a new career-high after picking up his 14th victory while racking up 10 strikeouts Sunday . Bullpen problems cost him a win, but another impressive outing Sunday gives Clayton Kershaw a 1.45 ERA and 29-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his last five starts.
