AL – With all the talk of the Rays stumbling going into the All-Star break, it's the Red Sox who falter out of the gate in the second half, getting swept by the Angels, a team that has beaten them in five out of six meetings this year.  K-Rod may have this single-season saves record wrapped up by August at this rate after picking up his 40th yesterday in the 5-3 win. The Angels put the rally monkey to work, getting three in the 8th to them up to stay… Meanwhile, the concomitant Rays and Red Sox slumps coupled with the Yankees surge you knew was going to happen have put the Bombers within striking distance of the Wild Card after capping a sweep of the A's to go eight games above .500 for the first time this year…Cliff Lee becomes the AL's first 13-game winner, spreading out 11 hits in a complete game victory over the Mariners, who also lost starter David Silva in a development sure to affect their late-season pennant hopes. They had really put themselves in a position for a historic run. Why else would you be 20 games under .500 at the break, right?… The Rangers bounce back from allowing 14 runs to the Twins on Saturday to win – wait, what? -a pitcher's duel on Sunday. Taylor Teagarden, who might be one of Polly Pocket's friends, broke up Scott Baker's perfect game in the 6th, providing the only run support Vicente Padilla would need in blanking Minny 1-0.

NL – The plot thickens in each of the NL division races. Two of the three are tied (even the NL West where you needn't have a better record than the Tigers to contend) and the lead in the other, better one, is separated by two games. The Mets caught the Phillies in the NL East race yesterday by winning their 11th of the last 13, 7-5 in extra innings over the Reds, as the two teams face off for a three-game set in Shea. Naturally, as soon as their bullpen comes together, Billy Wagner falls apart…The Marlins aren't to be forgotten either, winning two of three against Philly over the weekend, including their league-leading ninth walk-off win yesterday,  to pull a half-game out of the top spot… The Dodgers get five runs in the 9th off the Dbacks' Brandon Lyon to beat Arizona 6-5 and tie the NL West race at a gaudy 48-50. The conquering team's race to 78 wins should be thrilling…Ryan Dempster got his first road win in two years by shutting out the Astros yesterday. Glad that's settled. The Cubs probably don't need to end any other draughts this year…Aaron Miles might only have three homers on the season, but two have come in the last week! Power surge! The diminuitive one hit a wall-off gland slam to put the Cards over the Padres 9-5. 

British Open – Another Greg Norman choke job (sorry Gene) leaves the door open for injured Padraig Harrington, who probably won't receive the Tiger Woods heroic treatment for winning hurt. Of course, that treatment involves European models he can't afford. Elsewhere, Michelle Wie is disqualified from the LPGA State Farm Classic for failing to sign her scorecard after the second round. Can you blame her? Those three letters in her last name have to wear the ol' signing hand out.

this SI gallery via Hot Clicks; other photos by Marion Curtis/Startraks)

UPDATE: Now with non-Captain Morgany Menounos-Keibler goodness.  Not to be confused with Menounos cobbler, which I imagine is delicious.

Hey, we finally made to to the MLB All-Star Break, meaning we're but a month away from the games actually meaning something. For the time being, I hope you have a high tolerance for Yankee Stadium hagiography, because that's getting crammed down your throat in well above recommended doses. In the meantime, let's recap how everyone limped into the break.

AL – The Indians completed a four-game sweep of the Rays, continuing to own Tampa on the home field and knocking the slumping baseball darlings, losers of seven straight, out of first place… And into top of the division climbs the Sawx, who got six shutout innings from Dice-Kin a 2-1 win over Bawlmer, giving baseball talking heads all the more reason to patter on about them during All-Star festivities, which is a big load of gggguuuhhh…The Tigers end a frustrating first half of the season right at .500-hood with a sweep-deterring 4-2 win over the Twins thanks to a solid seven-inning, eight-strikeout performance…The Rangers and White Sox combine for 23 runs, but Chicago's three in the 9th leaves them just short in a 12-11 loss. The Rangers Ian Kinsler extended his hit streak to 25 games…The Halos got a two-run 9th inning rally to take two of three from the A's and giving K-Rod his 9,000th save on the season, or so it seems. Would a number that ridiculous make me care more? I don't like typing all those zeroes, so sure, yeah.

NL – That C.C. Sabathia trade is looking okay for Milwaukee so far, as the rotund one went yard and picked his second win, going the full 9 innings in the Brewers' 3-2 win over the Reds…The Nats get shutout 5-0, which seems like a thrice weekly occurrance this season, though usually it comes at the hands of pitchers slightly better than Brandon Backe. No matter. They're becoming more open to who they down for…Tim Lincecum is wasted on the Giants, but he's still putting on impressive shoowings. Yesterday, he struck out nine to improve to 11-2 and gave Ryan Dempster his first loss at Wrigley in the Giants' 4-2 win against the Cubs…As the Rays fall apart, so do the Mets surge. The Amazin's got their ninth win in a row, making Jerry Manuel look like a bit of a smart move, even if he'll cut you if you get out of line. Manuel is 17-9 since taking over for Willie Randolph and the once laughable (maybe still) Mets bullpen has gone 19 1/3 scoreless innings.

I ignored Julie Donaldson-domestic abuse story for a couple days because I saw "Red Sox reporter" and was immediately not interested.  But it turns out that the former Miss USA contestant's abusive boyfriend is a SlamBall player, which ratchets up the comedic value of anything.  Well, anything but domestic abuse.  Anyway, the details are these:

Julie Donaldson, the former Miss Florida USA, testified that her boyfriend, professional Slamball player Ivan Lattimore, beat her on Wednesday [misplaced modifed: she testified on Wednesday -Ed.]…

Lattimore, who stands 6-foot-4, 215-pounds, bruised her arms at the Super Bowl in Arizona. The second time, Lattimore grabbed her hair and forced her to punch herself after a Boston Celtics game against the Miami Heat on March 30.

The latest incident took place June 27, the night of Donaldson's 32nd birthday, when Lattimore threw her five feet against a wall. After locking herself in the bathroom, Donaldson kicked in the door, punched her twice and bit her left cheek. The assault occurred during a party in which one of the other guests called the police. After Donaldson was arrested, he called Donaldson 47 times on her cellphone.

Wow, that guy's an asshole.  But I guess that's the kind of thing you can get away with if you live the glamorous life of a professional SlamBall player.

A couple kids in Greenwich, Connecticut had the idea to construct a mock-up version of Fenway Park for their wiffle ball games, even if they inaccurately put the Green Monster in dead center instead of left field and didn't capture the spirit of the place by neglecting to include a single pink hat. Neighbors, of course, were enraptured with the kids' sense of whimsy and ingenuity. Just kidding. They freaked the fuck out and called some lawyers.

Vincent Provenzano, 16 years old, experienced his Kevin Costner moment one Sunday afternoon in May after a thrilling day of Wiffle ball in a friend’s backyard. He came home, gazed at a field of weeds, brush and poison ivy in an empty lot off Riverside Lane, turned to his friend Justin Currytto, 17, and proclaimed: “If we build it, they will come.”

After three weeks of clearing brush and poison ivy, scrounging up plywood and green paint, digging holes and pouring concrete, Vincent, Justin and about a dozen friends did manage to build it — a tree-shaded Wiffle ball version of Fenway Park complete with a 12-foot-tall green monster in center field, American flag by the left-field foul pole and colorful signs for Taco Bell Frutista Freezes.

But, alas, they had no idea just who would come — youthful Wiffle ball players, yes, but also angry neighbors and their lawyer, the police, the town nuisance officer and tree warden and other officials in all shapes and sizes. It turns out that one kid’s field of dreams is an adult’s dangerous nuisance, liability nightmare, inappropriate usurpation of green space…

Blah, blah, blah and other joykilling NIMBY bullshit. "THIS PROPERTY WASN'T ZONED FOR A FAKE FENWAY PARK! GET THE PROPER PERMITS, YOU LITTLE WINSOME SHITS!"

According to the article, the land belongs to the town and is worth $1.25 million, which was being used for the vital purpose of, well, nothing. Oh, I'm sorry, it was a drainage area, so now that some kids are playing wiffle ball there, surely the next great flood is coming to Greenwich. Divert all recovery efforts from Iowa, toot-sweet!

Hey, did you hear?  The Red Sox and Yankees played each other this past weekend.  Naturally, ESPN barely covered it, but you can always tell when the teams meet because of the spike in Sox-Yanks fan assaults. 

Anyway, here's the video (finally) of Kevin Youkilis's unlikely triple that tied the game in Boston's 6-4 win on July 4th.  Not only can you enjoy the near-impossible image of a fly ball perched on the edge of the outfield fence for several moments, but you can also drink in the joy of Johnny Damon getting injured while botching the catch.  It's the best 2-for-1 special you're gonna get outside of Spearmint Rhino before 10 p.m.  Speaking of 2-for-1s…

Watch as Aaron Rowland displays his skills from the opposite spectrum of amazing outfield plays.