White Sox slugger Jim Thome hit the 536th home run of his career on Sunday against the Red Sox, tying Mickey Mantle for 14th place on the career list, according to MLB.com. Alex Rodriguez (546) and Mike Schmidt (548) are next on the list ahead of Thome, and he should past Schmidt at some point early next season.

Grady Sizemore hit two home runs to join the 30-30 club and help the Indians win their eighth straight, 4-3 over the Tigers on Monday night, as reported by the Associated Press. Sizemore homered on the game?s second pitch and became the second Indians' player to have at least 30 homers and 30 stolen bases in a season.

New York shortstop Derek Jeter recorded the 2,500th hit of his career on Friday night in the team's comeback win over the Orioles in Baltimore, according to The Hartford Courant. The hit was a single in the first inning off starter Radhames Liz. He is just the third Yankee to accomplish the feat, joining Lou Gehrig (2,721) and Babe Ruth (2,518). "It means we won the game today. If you play long enough, you're bound to hit some milestones," Jeter said.

White Sox outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. hit career homer No. 609 against the Mariners on Wednesday, tying Sammy Sosa for fifth on the career list, as reported by the Associated Press

Mark Kotsay became the fifth player in Braves' history since 1900 to hit for the cycle on Thursday against the Cubs, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Kotsay tripled to right field in his first at-bat and homered in his second. He singled past second baseman in the sixth inning in his third at-bat. In the seventh, he sent a line drive to the right-field corner, which turned into a double. "I was actually thinking about the ball I lost in the twilight and how embarrassing a moment that was," Kotsay said afterward, referring to a ball he had lost in center field.

Outfielder Carlos Lee of the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers outfielder Marlon Byrd have been named Bank of America Presents the Players of the Week for August 4-10, 2008. Lee led the N.L. with a .550 (11-20) batting average, a 1.100 slugging percentage, a .640 on-base percentage and 22 total bases, and he tied for the league lead with 11 RBI. The 32-year-old left fielder recorded 11 hits (2 2B, 3 HR) and scored seven runs. The native of Aguadulce, Panama, recorded three multi-hit games, including a four-hit performance, on August 8th at Cincinnati. Carlos homered in consecutive games on August 5th and 6th at Wrigley Field and posted four consecutive multi-RBI games from August 5-8. Lee is hitting .314 with 28 home runs and 100 RBI on the season. This marks the second time that Lee has earned N.L. weekly honors and his first as an Astro (previous: 5/8/2005 with MIL). Last week, Byrd hit .571 (16-28) with four doubles, two home runs, and eight RBI. The 30-year-old outfielder posted a .929 slugging percentage along with a .625 on-base percentage. During a four-game home series against the New York Yankees, Marlon went 8-for-15, which included a two-out, bottom of the ninth, walk-off grand slam on August 4th. The next night, Byrd went 3-for-4 with three runs and two stolen bases in an 8-6 win over New York. Byrd continued his hot hitting at Baltimore over the weekend, going 8-for-13, including Sunday?s 4-for-6 performance, featuring a double, a three-run homer, and four RBI.

Texas Rangers first baseman Chris Davis and Colorado Rockies infielder Ian Stewart have been named the July recipients of the Rookie of the Month Awards presented by Gillette. In 25 games last month, Davis hit .303 (30-99), led all Major League rookies with eight home runs, and was tied for first among all rookies with 16 RBI. Davis, a fifth round selection in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft from Navarro Junior College in Corsicana, Texas, added eight doubles, a triple, and 23 runs scored with a .646 slugging percentage and a .337 on-base percentage. In 12 games last month, Stewart led all N.L. rookies with a .432 (19-for-44) batting average and 15 RBI. The 23-year-old infielder added one home run, five doubles and eight runs scored with a .614 slugging percentage and a .519 on-base percentage for the Rockies. Stewart, the 10th overall selection in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft from La Quinta High School (CA), recorded a hit in 11 of the 12 games he appeared in, including four, two-hit games and two, three-hit games.

Boston's Jon Lester and Milwaukee's C.C. Sabathia, pair of lefty hurlers, were named the Pitchers of the Month for July on Monday. The 24-year-old Lester went 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA and 28 strikeouts in July. The 24-year-old pitched a total of 30.2 innings, allowing seven earned runs on 31 hits and six walks for the month. On July 3rd he pitched a complete-game shutout against the New York Yankees in his first game ever at Yankee Stadium, giving up five hits and fanning eight. The gem snapped a five-game Boston losing streak and marked the first shutout by a Red Sox left-hander at Yankee Stadium since Roger Moret did so on July 4, 1973. He has not taken a loss at Fenway Park since April 9th. Sabathia, who was acquired from the Cleveland Indians on July 7th, won his first four starts as a Brewer, allowing eight earned runs, 29 hits and 10 walks with 34 strikeouts over 39.2 innings. The 28-year-old southpaw won his Milwaukee debut on July 8th vs. Colorado, working 6.0 innings, permitting two earned runs on five hits, while striking out five. Sabathia, a native of Vallejo, California, threw three consecutive complete games on July 13th vs. Cincinnati, July 18th at San Francisco and July 23rd at St. Louis. On July 13th, Sabathia hit his second home run of the season and third of his career, and became the first pitcher to hit home runs in both leagues in one season since Earl Wilson did it in 1970 for Detroit and San Diego. On July 18th, Sabathia gave up one run on four hits and struck out 10. On July 23rd, the reigning A.L. Cy Young winner tossed a shutout, allowing three hits and striking out seven. CC, whose 166 total strikeouts this year currently rank second in Major League Baseball, became the first Brewers pitcher to toss at least three consecutive complete games since Cal Eldred went the distance in four straight in 1994.

Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers and Ryan Braun of the Brewers were named the Players of the Month in the American and National Leagues respectively on Monday. In 25 games last month, Cabrera batted .330 (35-for-106) with eight home runs and a Major League-high 31 RBI. The 25-year-old infielder posted a slugging percentage of .848 and an on-base percentage of .357. The Venezuela native collected 14 extra-base hits, including six doubles. During the month, Cabrera put together a nine-game hitting streak (July 18-27) and collected 11 multi-hit games. On July 8th, Cabrera posted a perfect 4-for-4 effort with two home runs and three RBI against Cleveland. He went 5-for-6 with two doubles and a career-best-tying six RBI on July 21st at Kansas City. Cabrera is batting .298 with 20 home runs and 82 RBI on the season thus far. The right-handed hitting slugger batted .366 (37-for-101), with six doubles, three triples, nine home runs, 23 RBI, 16 runs scored and a .752 slugging percentage in July. The 24-year-old Braun homered in three consecutive games on July 26th and 27th vs. Houston, and on July 28th vs. the Cubs. The University of Miami (FL) product recorded consecutive four-hit games at St. Louis on July 23rd and 24th, becoming the fifth player in Brewers history to accomplish that feat. Ryan, the fifth overall selection in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft, posted 10 multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games. On July 20th at San Francisco, the 2007 N.L. Rookie of the Year collected a career-best five RBI in the 7-4 win over the Giants. On July 24th at St. Louis, Braun connected on a go-ahead, ninth inning, two-run homer, lifting the Brewers to a 4-3 victory over the Cardinals.

Kansas City infielder Mike Aviles, New York outfielder Xavier Nady and St. Louis outfielder Ryan Ludwick were named the Players of the Week for the period ending August 3rd. Aviles hit .577 (15-26) with three doubles, a triple, two home runs and five RBI. The 27-year-old posted a 1.000 slugging percentage along with a .593 on-base percentage. During a three-game series at Oakland (July 28-30), Mike went 8-for-14 with a home run and two RBI. He then posted a 7-for-12 showing with a home run and three RBI against the White Sox (August 1-3). Nady hit .526 (10-19) last week with three doubles, three homers and 10 RBI. He posted a 1.158 slugging percentage along with a .571 on-base percentage. Nady went 7-for-11 with two home runs and seven RBI in New York?s four-game set against the Angels. He drove in a career-high six RBI in yesterday?s game, going 4-for-5 with a double and a home run. Ludwick led the N.L. with a .538 (14-for-26) batting average, 14 hits, a .613 on-base percentage, eight RBI and 27 total bases. The thirty-year-old right fielder hit four home runs, added a double, scored seven runs, and recorded a 1.038 slugging percentage. The 2008 National League All-Star went 4-for-4 vs. Philadelphia on August 1st, including two home runs. It was his fourth career four-hit game, all this season, and his fifth career multi-home run game (third this season). Ryan also homered on August 2nd and August 3rd vs. Philadelphia, giving him home runs in three consecutive games, marking the fourth time this season that he has homered in at least three straight games.