Padres 4, Cubs 1: With two outs in the ninth, the often charitable Kevin Gregg served up an RBI double and a three-run homer. One out away from a 1-0 shutout to that? Painful. It’s his third blown save this month. Thankfully, Lou has already said changes would be made — “I think we are going to make some changes as far as what we’re going to do late innings. We’ll see what we do. I’m going to think about it tonight.” Translation, you’re fiiiiiiiiiiiiired.

Cards 3, Dodgers 2: Albert Pujols hit his league leading 39th home run but he’s actually two behind Prince Fielder in RBIs (105 vs. 107). He really needs to step it up. Chris Carpenter has won eight straight and hasn’t lost since June 30. The Cards are enjoying a roomy six game lead in the central.

White Sox 8, Royals 7: They’re lucky they got some clutch hitting from Posednik in the bottom half of the eighth, otherwise Kevin Gregg would likely have some welcome company in the musically gifted Scott Linebrink (1 IP, 3 ER).

A’s 3, Yanks 0: Five innings from recently-released Yankee Brett Tomko, who hadn’t started in over a year, and three other relievers combined for the shutout. A.J. Burnett’s eight innings were wasted and the only Yankee who showed up offensively was Jeter, who went 3-for-4 and caught a fly ball in his hat.

Angels 8, O’s 5: Is the fork out of Vladdy’s back? Last night was his second two-homer game in a week. Matt Wieters defined failure by leaving four men on base.

Rangers 8, Twins 5: It’s tough when the difference in the game was Marlon Byrd and his three RBIs. He’s having a decent season, but I’m not a believer. Frank Liriano was awful, giving up seven hits and seven runs in two innings and will be placed on the DL today with a tired arm.

Braves 9, D-Backs 4: Tommy Hanson improved to 8-2, going six innings and allowing two runs while striking out seven. Not since Ian Kennedy has a rookie made such a silky smooth transition.

Pirates 9, Brerwers 5: Carlos Villanueva, who was apparently told losing a lot will land him top notch road beef*, got pummeled for 11 hits and six runs over four innings. He’s now a slightly ineffective 2-10.

Giants 10, Mets 1: The only Mets pitcher who didn’t allow a run in this one was a 38-year old dude named Elmer Dessens. That about sums it up.

Why is Mark Hendrickson pitching to a 7-year old to begin with?

*Speaking of road beef, it appears a nice slice has Mr. La Russa’s attention, and quite frankly, he’s beyond intrigued.