Drag Bunts

-Francisco Liriano threw one of the ugliest no-hitters in the history of baseball. Liriano walked six and struck out only two, throwing only 66 of his 123 were strikes. That's 57 balls! One man, Juan Pierre, actually raised his on-base percentage from .307 to .321 by walking three times! Liriano emerged from his no-hitter with a 6.61 ERA. Oh, the weird world of baseball!

-Phil Hughes is reporting feeling better after getting a cortisone shot back in April. Wait a minute, I thought Phil wasn't complaining of any pain...so why the shot? Following his saga is like following information from the White House and other government organizations regarding the bin Laden takedown. What the hell is actually going on? Whatever it is, it was reported by Kim Jones that he is out another 6-8 weeks. Not good news, but at least its better than him having something seriously wrong with his arm.

-The Texas Rangers signed twenty-three year-old Cuban defector Leonys Martin to the second largest contract ever given to a Cuban defector, a five-year major league deal worth $15.5 million. The largest contract ever given to a Cuban? That would be the Reds' contract with Aroldis Chapman which was a six-year $30.25 million deal.

-On a sports card collecting note, if there is no football this season, will there be football cards issued? And if there is no football and players can't sign contracts, what does this mean for rookie cards of the players just drafted?

-Blake Griffin unanimously won the NBA Rookie of the Year. He is the first unanimous choice since David Robinson won it in 1990.

-According to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com, the San Francisco Giants have looked into acquiring Mets SS Jose Reyes. Nothing is close to be being done as these were just internal discussions. One thing is for sure, the Giants anemic offense surely needs a boost.

-When the Knicks picked up point guard Chauncey Billups' $14.2 million option I couldn't help but wonder if it is just so the Knicks can dangle his expiring contract in a trade. Billups may have been a slight upgrade over Raymond Felton but injuries caused him to miss 3 of the 4 games in the playoffs but the Knicks need to ask themselves whether or not Billups, 34, will be able to hold up over a full season and still be effective for a playoff run. I think Billups is still a good point guard with boatloads of experience and his expiring contract is worth more to the Knicks as an expiring contract than a trade chip.

-Jesus Montero is currently leading the International LEague in batting average with a .373 AVG. Think the Yankees could use that?

-The Pittsburgh Pirates currently lead the Majors with 11 road wins. Yes, you read that correctly. However, they are tied for the least amount of home wins with 4.

-Has Derek Jeter actually hit the ball out of the infield this year? I know he has but it feels like it was 3 years ago. So far, he only has 2 extra-base hits, is batting .250 and has a paltry .308 OBP. Not exactly a true leadoff hitter by any stretch.

Well, that's it for tonight. Have a great night.