With his single up the middle in the seventh inning, Derek Jeter of the Yankees is now tied with one of his boyhood idols, Cal Ripken Jr., for 13th place on baseball's all-time hit list, according to an ESPN.com report Thursday night.

Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners singled to lead off Tuesday night's game against the Diamondbacks for the 2,500th hit of his major league career, according to an ESPN.com report.

The National League The Kevin Towers Steve Gilbert of MLB.com: "It seems hard to imagine now, after he's spent 15 years in the big leagues as a catcher, but Henry Blanco was a third baseman in the Dodgers organization in 1995. With Blanco's path to the big leagues blocked by Paul Konerko and Adrian Beltre, Mike Scioscia, who was then the Dodgers' catching coordinator, suggested a shift behind the plate." The Frank Wren Carroll Rogers of Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "After eight years in the Braves organization, including the past four in Triple-A Gwinnett, Todd Redmond finally got his big league chance. The 27-year-old right-hander was called up to take Brandon Beachy's roster spot and give the Braves another arm in the bullpen." The Jed Hoyer Gordon Wittenmyer of Chicago Sun-Times: "With the Boston Red Sox and a good portion of their so-called Nation descending on Wrigley Field, this weekend has turned into an ad-nauseam reminder of the Red Sox Way that Cubs president Theo Epstein is trying to mold for his new team." The Walt Jocketty Joey Nowak of MLB.com: "As much deserved attention as Aroldis Chapman has received in the back end of the Reds' bullpen this summer, his fellow relievers have been equally formidable, providing the club with the top bullpen staff in the National League." The Dan O-Dowd Andrew T. Fisher of Purple Row: "19-year-old southpaw Jayson Aquino posted a 1.02 ERA as a 17-year-old in 2010, then "regressed" to a 1.30 ERA last season. After throwing eight shutout innings with 13 strikeouts yesterday, his ERA sits at a cool 0.43 after three starts." The Michael Hill Cole Harvey of South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "Marlins hitting coach Eduardo Perez has good reason to be disappointed, frustrated and downright angry at his batters who in recent weeks have stumbled into sudden and surprising offensive mediocrity." The Jeff Luhnow Zachary Levine of Houston Chronicle: "Lance McCullers Jr., the Astros' supplemental first-round pick, is on his way to Houston for a physical and is on the verge of signing a professional contract, according to a person with knowledge of the situation." The Ned Colletti Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A.: "The Dodgers were able to pull out a comeback win on Sunday afternoon, a 2-1 extra-inning triumph over the Chicago White Sox at Dodger Stadium. With the win, that lessened the blow of an earlier call that took a run off the scoreboard for the Dodgers." The Doug Melvin Michael Hunt of Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: "There was a time when I thought the Brewers had a chance to re-sign Zack Greinke, just the kind of guy to give up a few million after-tax dollars for the sake of his personal comfort. His social-anxiety disorder and the low-pressure, small-town vibe of Milwaukee seemed like an ideal match at something close to market price. Then, three events changed everything." The Sandy Alderson Filip Bondy of New York Daily News: "The Mets will not rise or fall because of Jason Bay's unfortunate injury problems. They will hang in there, or not, behind a starting rotation anchored by R.A. Dickey and Johan Santana." The Ruben Amaro Jr. Ryan Dinger of Phillies Nation: "The loss [Saturday] marks the eighth time this season the Phillies have lost on a walk-off win." The Neal Huntington Charlie Wilmonth of Bucs Dugout: "Pedro Alvarez -- what a frustrating, intriguing, bizarre season he's having. He vanishes for a month, and then he practically wins games by himself. After hitting two homers on Saturday, he added two more today as the Pirates beat the Indians 9-5 to win two out of three." The John Mozeliak Viva El Birdos: "Lance Lynn has surprised everyone this season. He now ranks 9th on the MLB list of qualified starters by K%. I don't think that was on anyone's list of expected outcomes." The Josh Byrnes San Diego Union-Tribune: "[Carlos] Quentin has been hit by pitches five times in 16 games this season, but [Bud] Black doesn't think teams are intentionally throwing at the outfielder." The Brian Sabean Henry Schulman of San Francisco Chronicle: "Why so long? Why have the Giants gone to Seattle three times since 2002 and not set foot in Orange County? Did the Giants plead with the league not to send them to the site of one of the franchise's most harrowing moments?" The Mike Rizzo James Wagner of Washington Post: "Nationals closer Drew Storen is throwing off the mound three times a week, slowly increasing his workload, and still hopes to return to the team in a month or less, and remain around the team rehabbing until then." The American League The Dan Duquette Eduardo E. Encina of Baltimore Sun: "Jake Arrieta said he's going into his next start Monday against the New York Mets at CitiField refreshed and with a much better frame of mind than the cluttered one of frustration he experienced before being demoted to the bullpen." The Ben Cherington Alex Speier of WEEI.com: "Mark Prior worked a perfect ninth for his first save with Pawtucket. He punched out two, and in 6 2/3 innings, he's now recorded 15 of 19 outs by strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .130 against him." The Kenny Williams Mark Gonzales of Chicago Tribune: "Instead of visiting his teammates this weekend, third baseman Brent Morel stayed 110 miles north of Dodger Stadium to embark on a lower-back rehabilitation program with the hope he can rejoin the White Sox at the start of the second half." The Chris Antonetti Paul Hoynes of Cleveland Plain-Dealer: "The streak is over for Michael Brantley. It lasted 22 games, the longest by an Indians player since Casey Blake hit in 26 straight games in 2007, and ended with Saturday's 0-for-3 in a 9-2 loss to Pittsburgh." The Dave Dombrowski Jason Beck of MLB.com: "Jim Leyland isn't going to get committed to starting Quintin Berry every day. Likewise, Berry isn't going to go outside of his skill set to try to prove he should be starting all the time." The Dayton Moore Royals Review: "The goal of Isolated ERA (iERA) is to eliminate the effects of the rest of a pitching staff on an individual pitcher's ERA. When a pitcher leaves runners on base that they are "responsible for", whether or not the next pitcher(s) allows these runners to score no longer influences the original pitcher's ERA." The Jerry DiPoto Lance Pugmire of Los Angeles Times: "For losing his starting job, enduring eight of 23 April games on the bench and playing only his second full season in the big leagues, Mark Trumbo has proved resilient." The Terry Ryan Joe Christensen of Star-Tribune: "Twins catcher Joe Mauer said Rickie Weeks' knee gave him a Charley horse in his right thigh, when Weeks made a hard slide into home in the second inning Sunday. And Mauer didn't sound too pleased." The Brian Cashman Mark Feinsand of New York Daily News: "Andy Pettitte said Friday that he felt no different after celebrating his 40th birthday. Based on the way he pitched Saturday, he meant it." The Billy Beane Athletics Nation: "If Grant Green's career so far were a flip book, on page 6 you might find him peeking out, upside down, from the top right-hand corner of the page. "There he is!" a delighted 4-year boy would squeal. "Next page, daddy!" He seems to be repositioned that frequently." The Jack Zduriencik Geoff Baker of Seattle Times: "The Mariners' relievers are working on a streak of 15 consecutive scoreless innings. Mariner relievers have the best ERA in the majors in the month of June (1.36)." The Andrew Friedman DRB.com: "The story of the day was Alex Cobb who continued the dominance shown by the Rays starting staff this weekend with arguably the best outing of his young career and a very positive sign as he gets further and further away from last years surgery and closer to the pitcher many in the Rays organization think he can be." The Jon Daniels Gerry Fraley of Dallas Morning News: "Nelson Cruz started in left field for the first time this season in the Texas Rangers' game against Houston on Sunday. With the Astros starting left-hander Dallas Keuchel, manager Ron Washington put the right-handed bat of Brandon Snyder in the lineup." The Alex Anthopoulos Adam McCalvy and Jeremy Warnemuende of MLB.com: "Back in 2008, after the Brewers made a prep catcher from British Columbia their first-round Draft pick, Brett Lawrie predicted he'd ride the fast track to Miller Park. "One hundred percent," Lawrie said then, "I see myself there, hopefully, in a year and a half." It took four years and a change of uniforms, but here he comes."

Carlos Beltran became the first switch hitter in major league history to record 300 home runs and 300 steals when he stole second against the Royals on Friday night, according to an ESPN.com report.

The National League The Kevin Towers AZ Snake Pit: "Top prospect Archie Bradley took the hill for South Bend [Sunday] and his wildness and own error did not get him the desired result. He didn't get through the 5th as he allowed 3 hits, 4 runs (2 earned) and walked 5 while only striking out 1. His wildness has been alarmingly high of late while his K rate has declined." The Frank Wren Talking Chop: "Prior to Sunday afternoon's game, the Atlanta Braves had won six in a row. So complaining about the manager who oversaw those victories would come as a shock, right? Not when it's Fredi Gonzalez, maligned by many fans for his decisions on the field." The Jed Hoyer Paul Sullivan of Chicago Tribune: "The 2012 Cubs are currently on pace to go down as the worst team in franchise history, with 40 losses in 59 games heading into today's finale of the 10-game road trip. That translates to 110 losses over a 162-game season." The Walt Jocketty Mark Sheldon of MLB.com: "Driving home runners in scoring position has been a Reds weakness much of the season. They entered Sunday 11th out of 16 National League teams with a .228 average with runners in scoring position. Teaching hitters how to handle those situations has been an ongoing process, especially for a Reds team with many younger hitters." The Dan O-Dowd Andrew Martin of Purple Row: "In what appears to be a season that will rank among the crappiest in franchise history, the Rockies have taken an awful lot of heat. We know the team's current problems; we also know that help is on the way in the forms of other prospects and MLB growth for a lot of the younger players. But all of the evidence, conjecture, analysis, and complaining points to the front office, namely GM Dan O'Dowd." The Michael Hill Juan C. Rodriguez of South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "The idea was to meet in Kansas City: Emilio Bonifacio as a member of the National League All-Star team and younger brother, Jorge, a World Team member in the Futures Game. Emilio is hurt, but Jorge has a good chance of holding up his end of the deal." The Jeff Luhnow Zachary Levine of Houston Chronicle: "The Astros acquired outfielder D'Andre Toney from the Royals to complete the trade that in March sent Humberto Quintero and Jason Bourgeois to Kansas City." The Ned Colletti Andrew Owens of Los Angeles Times: "The Dodgers and Angels renew their interleague rivalry, opening a three-game series at Dodger Stadium on Monday with both clubs contending in their divisions -- but having arrived there by very different paths." The Doug Melvin Todd Rosiak of Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: "Marco Estrada had another workout to test his strained right quadriceps Sunday and has shown enough progress that he may head out on a minor-league rehabilitation assignment by the weekend if everything goes according to plan." The Sandy Alderson Matthew Cerrone of Mets Blog: "Jon Rauch let up a game-winning, walk-off home run to Yankees catcher Russell Martin yesterday, which he insisted after the game had nothing to do with his recent elbow issues." The Ruben Amaro Jr. The Good Phight: "The question I am asking myself is whether this is 1979 for the Phillies or 1984? Is this just "one of those years" (and do we even know that yet?) or is this the end that has been long-predicted by people who have anxiously waited for the Phillies to come crashing back down to earth? Beyond the question of whether the 2012 season can be salvaged, should the Phillies blow it up and go back to the drawing board? Trade 'em all, and let Amaro sort 'em out!" The Neal Huntington Bucs Dugout: "Indianapolis put six on the board early and breezed to an 8-1 win over Rochester. #FreeRudyOwens went six, allowing one run on six hits and a walk. He fanned three." The John Mozeliak Viva El Birdos: "Jake Westbrook entered this season in the Best Shape Of His Life. Last year, the reason why Westbrook was bad was because he got fat and wasn't confident in himself. Now that he's lost 20 pounds, he can't be anything other than confident and thus pitching like an ace. It might be time to reconsider that notion and Westbrook's slot in the rotation." The Josh Byrnes Gaslamp Ball: "It always helps to have extra picks, and with three supplemental first-rounders the Padres had a chance to make a big splash. They chose one intriguing college outfielder, speedy Stony Brook product Travis Jankowski, but the biggest impact could come from three highly-promising high school arms." The Brian Sabean Scott Ostler of San Francisco Chronicle: "Tim Lincecum's next scheduled start is Saturday, in his hometown of Seattle, which is famous for coffee, grunge music and Tim Lincecum, not necessarily in that order." The Mike Rizzo Adam Kilgore of Washington Post: "The Nationals played three taut, close games at Fenway Park, and they needed [Tyler] Clippard in all three games during their sweep of the Red Sox. And so for the first time this year, Clippard pitched three consecutive days, earning the save in all three victories." The American League The Dan Duquette Peter Schmuck of Baltimore Sun: "Orioles center fielder Adam Jones was mired in an 0-for-18 slump less than 24 hours ago, but you'd never know it now. When he singled off Phillies starter Cliff Lee to start the Orioles' brief two-out rally in the first inning Sunday, it was his third consecutive hit -- including, of course, his dramatic walk-off homer in the 12th inning Saturday." The Ben Cherington D.J. Bean of WEEI.com: "Mark Melancon is back with the Red Sox after a disastrous start to his Boston tenure. The veteran reliever gave up 11 runs over two innings in four appearances in April for the Sox, but he dominated Triple-A in allowing only two runs in 21 2/3 innings." The Kenny Williams Dave van Dyck of Chicago Tribune: "The White Sox are looking at ways to preserve Chris Sale's valuable left arm, including giving him extended rest during the All-Star break. So even if Sale throws one or two innings in the big game July 10, it will be timed so it would coincide with a side session day. In other words, Sale's likely All-Star appearance would be almost like him skipping a start to throw one or two innings of relief." The Chris Antonetti Paul Hoynes of Cleveland Plain-Dealer: "Catcher Carlos Santana could use a stronger neck and a quicker bat. Santana says the heavier catcher's mask he's been using since he came off the disabled list has worked out fine." The Dave Dombrowski Tom Gage of Detroit News: "Their search for a springboard finally may have found one. Either that or it'll be turnaround teaser No. 10 of the season for the Tigers, give or take a few. Needing something to get them back on track, a come-from-behind 7-6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in a national ESPN game on Sunday night -- before an upcoming three-game series in Chicago against the lowly Chicago Cubs -- could have been just what the Tigers ordered." The Dayton Moore Royals Review: "This season hasn't gone as planned for Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas. Hosmer has been way way down, while Moose has been better than just about anyone expected. Now, many want that next long-term extension to go to Moose, who has also been better defensively than some foresaw." The Jerry DiPoto Halos Heaven: "Batting second in the lineup as an Angel for the first time, Torii Hunter went 9 for 15 over the weekend as the Angels swept the Rockies in Coors Field." The Terry Ryan Twinke Town: "According to Ben Goessling of the Pioneer Press, the Twins could recall Liam Hendriks for a start next weekend. If that's the case I have to wonder why the team continues to hold eight relief pitchers. Jeff Manship could certainly start, particularly with enough notice. Nick Blackburn, P.J. Walters, Scott Diamond, and even Francisco Liriano could start again before the Twins would need a fifth starter on Saturday." The Brian Cashman Mike Axisa of River Avenue Blues: "Sidelined with an oblique strain for the last month, David Robertson made his first minor league rehab appearance for Triple-A Empire State this afternoon. He retired all three batters he faced -- grounder to second, strikeout, fly ball to right -- and threw eight of eleven pitches for strikes." The Billy Beane Susan Slusser of San Francisco Chronicle: "Grant Balfour's tenure as closer didn't work out. Brian Fuentes also had his struggles. So now, the A's will use three closers, manager Bob Melvin said Saturday. Balfour and Fuentes will be in the mix, and so will hotshot rookie right-hander Ryan Cook." The Jack Zduriencik Geoff Baker of Seattle Times: "It was just an all-around lackluster day at the ballpark in front of a crowd of 34,807, second-biggest of the season after Opening Day. And the night before, when 30,287 showed up for an 8-3 loss to Clayton Kershaw, was the third-biggest crowd of the season." The Andrew Friedman DRB.com: "After their sweep of the Miami Marlins this weekend, the Tampa Bay Rays are entering the week on a high note. I'm still somewhat amazed by this, but the Rays currently have the best record in the American League." The Jon Daniels Lone Star Ball: "The Texas Rangers selected lefty-hitting third baseman Joey Gallo with the first of their two supplemental first round picks, although he was considered to potentially be a tough sign, with Kevin Goldstein saying he heard Gallo's asking price was $2.5 million. Well, whatever his asking price is, it sounds like the Rangers are meeting it." The Alex Anthopoulos Teddy Cahill of MLB.com: "With the Blue Jays' offence averaging 2.7 runs during their three-game losing streak entering Sunday, manager John Farrell wanted to do all he could to put together the best lineup for their series finale against the Braves. That desire led to Edwin Encarnacion making his first appearance as an outfielder in the Major or Minor Leagues."

The Opsera is a statistic RealGM Executive Editor Chris Reina created in order to objectively rank teams by how well they hit (OPS) and pitch (ERA). In order to determine the Opsera rating for each, we take their OPS, multiply that number by 10 to move the decimal point over one place to the right and then subtract their ERA from that number. Below are the rankings through the Thursday, June 7th games: The rankings from last week are in parenthesizes. 1. (1) Texas Rangers - 4.26 2. (3) Los Angeles Dodgers - 4.13 3. (4) Washington Nationals - 4.05 4. (2) St. Louis Cardinals - 3.95 5. (7) New York Yankees - 3.92 6. (9) San Francisco Giants - 3.80 7. (8) Cincinnati Reds - 3.65 8. (5) Baltimore Orioles - 3.59 9. (6) Tampa Bay Rays - 3.54 10. (17) Los Angeles Angels - 3.47 11. (13) Chicago White Sox - 3.45 12. (16) Boston Red Sox - 3.43 13. (20) Arizona Diamondbacks - 3.40 T14. (10) Philadelphia Phillies - 3.29 -- (11) Toronto Blue Jays - 3.29 -- (14) Atlanta Braves - 3.29 17. (18) Miami Marlins - 3.22 18. (19) Detroit Tigers - 3.12 19. (23) Pittsburgh Pirates - 3.07 20. (28) New York Mets - 3.05 21. (22) Kansas City Royals - 2.99 22. (26) Milwaukee Brewers - 2.90 T23. (12) Houston Astros - 2.84 -- (25) Oakland Athletics - 2.84 25. (24) Seattle Mariners - 2.64 26. (15) Cleveland Indians - 2.63 T27. (21) San Diego Padres - 2.59 -- (27) Chicago Cubs - 2.59 29. (29) Colorado Rockies - 2.56 30. (30) Minnesota Twins - 1.95