AL – Alex Rodriguez reached the dual plateaus of 35 home runs and 100 RBI in the Yankees’ 5-1 win over Chicago, the 12th such time he’s done that in his career, besting Babe Ruth’s mark of 11 seasons with those numbers.  Ruth, however, nailed chicks that looked like women… The Rays extended their AL East lead to two games with a 10-3 whuppin’ of the Red Sox.  David Ortiz homered twice for Boston, while those young guys you’ve maybe heard of a couple times combined to batter Tim Wakefield in front of a sellout crowd at the Trop… Ichiro Suzuki tied Wee Willie Keeler’s mark of eight 200-hit seasons to begin a career in the Mariners’ loss to KC.  At this point, he’s the only reason the M’s still play games.

NL — Breathe into that paper bag, Mets fans: the bullpen didn’t blow the 7-1 lead; it merely tried to.  Jerry Manuel used seven pitchers to get the final twelve outs, while Carlos Delgago, Jose Reyes, and Carlos Beltran all homered to preserve the win… The Brewers and Phillies both kept pace in the NL East/wild card showdown that will leave one team in the cold, but Milwaukee’s victory may have been Pyrrhic: Ben Sheets left after two innings with a tender elbow.  Asked for comment, CC Sabathia said, “Mmmmm… tender.”