The Giants visit Miami as Ryan Vogelsong takes on Anibal Sanchez. Both pitched well so far in May, Vogelsong with a 0.95 ERA, Sanchez at 1.93. Sanchez owns much better K and BB numbers, however.

Enjoy!

Rumors are flying in Major League Baseball and New York banking circles that the family that has owned Major League Baseball’s premiere franchise since Cleveland shipbuilder George Steinbrenner purchased the club for $8.8 million in 1973 is exploring the possibility of selling the Yankees.

Multiple baseball and finance sources told the Daily News they are hearing that the team the Steinbrenner family has led to seven World Series titles could be put on the block in the wake of the record sale price of $2.175 billion the Los Angeles Dodgers went for in April.

The team might go for $3 billion. That’s not a bad 40 year return.

Hat tip, BBTF.

Carlos Beltran hit his league leading 14th home run and David Freese added a solo shot at the Cardinals beat the Padres 6-3. St. Louis is scoring 6.05 runs per game at home this season, 4.58 on the road. The pitchers also allow more runs per game at home, as Busch Stadium is playing like a hitters park this season. Will Venable missed the cycle by a triple for San Diego.

Ted Lilly pitched his first poor outing of the season as the Diamondbacks touched him for eight runs in 3 1/3 innings. Ted walked five as Arizona wins 11-4. The keystone combination had a big night for Arizona as Willie Bloomquist and Aaron Hill each knocked out three hits, Willie scoring three time and Aaron driving in two runs.

Will Clayton Kershaw continue his dominance Friday night? Photo: © Chris Humphreys-US PRESSWIRE

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Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki, the 3-4 batters for the Rockies combined for the cycle as Carlos singled and tripled while Troy doubled and homered in the 8-4 win over the Marlins. Tulowitzki is for a low batting average and low power in May, coming into the game with a .235 BA and a .353 slugging percentage in the month. His two for four should help that. Gonzalez, on the other hand, picks up his eighth multi-hit game of the month. He’s been consistent, with nearly identical averages in April and May.

Cleveland now holds a five game lead over last season’s division champions, as the Tigers fall three games under .500.

Bryce Harper went one for three with a walk.

Alex Liddi hit a grand slam and Kevin Millwood pitched six shutout innings as the Mariners take two out of three from the Rangers, Wednesday by a score of 5-3. Liddi only hit six home runs in his short career, but he times them well as five came with men on base. Thirteen of his 15 career RBI came on home runs, this his first grand slam.

Millwood let the Rangers put the ball in play, as 20 of 23 batters put the bat on the ball. Only three of them recorded hits against Kevin.

The eighth inning did demonstrate how quickly the Rangers can score, as a single by Ian Kinsler, a double by Josh Hamilton, and a two run homer by Adrian Beltre produced three runs.

B.J. Upton went 3 for 6 against the Blue Jays Wednesday afternoon. His third hit and second double drove in Rich Thompson in the bottom of the 11th to give the Rays a 5-4 win. Upton is having a pretty good year at the plate, finishing the day at .300/.357/.482. Upton lost his home run power after the 2007 season possibly due to a shoulder injury, but with 23 homers last season, it seems to be working it’s way back.

The Rays now stand just one game out of first place in the AL East after the Orioles loss earlier today.

Starter Marco Estrada left Wednesday’s game against the Giants with a strained right hip flexor in the bottom of the first inning.

The right-hander began limping as he rounded first after hitting a two-run double and grabbed at the leg upon reaching second base.

Pitchers getting injured batting or running the bases is one of the best reasons out there for using the designated hitter.

David Wright goes 1 for 4 with a double and an RBI, but finishes with his BA under .400 at .399.

Nick Johnson hit two homers for Baltimore in the slugfest, and eight of his 13 hits this season went for extra bases.

Will Leitch writes about how Bryce Harper is truly an old school player.

The funny part about this is that I can’t think of a more old school player—in the way I think Hamels was trying to define it—than Bryce Harper. I interviewed Harper earlier this year, and all he could talk about was how much he admired—and patterned every aspect of his game around—guys like Pete Rose and Ty Cobb. Harper is one of those guys who plays every game like it’s his last, who dives and spits and knocks over catchers and loves baseball in a profound, aggressive way.

His favorite play?

“When I get to hit somebody,” he said. He’s an ornery cuss, precisely like the type of players we generally think of when we imagine old school baseball. (Certainly a lot more than pretty boy Hamels.)

I especially like that Harper is taking it out on the Phillies with hits and stolen bases.

Ricky Romero faces James Shields as Tampa Bay and Toronto play the rubber game of their series. Romero walked 30 in 59 1/3 innings in 2012, but his wildness did not hurt his record (5-1) nor his ERA (3.64). Shields has yet to pitch a complete game after spinning 11 in 2011. His hit and home run rates are up as his ERA stands nearly a run higher than last season.

The battle of the J-ds takes place in Oakland as Jered Weaver meet Jarrod Parker. Weaver continues to be tough to hit with opponents holding a .199/.243/.303 slash line against him. Parker walks nearly as many as he strikes out (16 BB, 17 K), but allowed just one home run in 27 2/3 innings pitched.

The game to watch in the early evening pits Washington against Cole Hamels as the first place Nationals go for a sweep of the Phillies. Edwin Jackson takes the hill for the Nats. Jackson is showing the best control of his career with just ten walks in 51 2/3 innings. Hamels hit Bryce Harper in the back the last time the two teams met. Hamels admitted he did it on purpose, earning him a five-game suspension. Since then, Haper is six for 12 against the Phillies with a double, triple and two stolen bases, including one of home.

Finally, Ted Lilly attempts to go 6-0 on the season as the Dodgers visit Joe Saunders and the Diamondbacks. Ted found a way to control his home runs allowed this season, and his ERA fell to 1.79 in seven starts. Saunders owned a 0.90 ERA at the end of April, but a 7.40 ERA in May push his overall number up to 3.55. He allowed just one homer in April, but five in May.

Enjoy!

Texas and Seattle engaged in a pitchers duel, the Rangers coming out on top 3-1. With two out in the third, Elvis Andrus tripled to drive in two, then scored on a Josh Hamilton hit for all the runs the Rangers would need. Hector Noesi and Matt Harrison each should good control, combining to walk four and strikeout 13 in 15 innings.

The Marlins beat the Rockies in a close, high-scoring game 7-6. Ricky Nolasco gave up four runs in six innings, but walked one and struck out six as he became the all-time Marlins leader in wins with 69. Given the good pitcher they had on that team over the years, I’m surprised the number is so low. That’s what happens when the front office constantly sells off the team.

Houston beats the Cubs 2-1 as Jose Altuve stays hot with a 2 for 4 day, hitting a double and a home run. J.A. Happ allowed one run in six innings for the win. Houston and Pittsburgh stand tied for third in the NL Central just four games behind the Cardinals.

Matt Cain gave up eleven hits, but his offense decided to give him some runs as the Giants beat the Brewers 6-4. Buster Posey and Joaquin Arias homered for San Francisco. Cain actually gets a win!

Adam Wainwright pitched like a Cy Young candidate as the Cardinals shut out the Padres 4-0. The recovering Tommy John arm allowed just four hits in a complete game with one walk and nine strikeouts. It’s been an up and down year for Adam, but this game points to the ups coming more often.

Arizona blew a 5-0 lead as they lose to the Dodgers 8-7. Two Arizona relievers in the seventh inning allowed seven Dodgers to reach in a row, twice on fielder’s choices that turned into errors. Arizona did lead 7-6 going into the ninth, but J.J. Putz lost his third game when he walked two batters, then gave up a double to the young Ivan de Jesus.

Tampa Bay beat Toronto 8-5 as the Rays out-homered the Blue Jays 3-1. Carlos Pena hit the biggest bomb of the night, a three-run shot that helped Tampa Bay to a 6-0 lead after four innings. Luke Scott and B.J. Upton both homered and doubled for the Rays.

Ubaldo Jimenez continues to be a worry for the Indians. He lasted six innings, but walked six while striking out just two. That gives him 38 walks with 30 K in 52 innings. That’s not going to work long term.

Matusz came into the game with 18 BB and 29 K. If this is a sign of him getting his walk rate down, the Orioles have a much better chance of staying at the top of the division.

The Yankees still hit poorly with runners in scoring position, 2 for 7, but a Robinson Cano home run helped.

Update: Pedro Alvarez boots a grounder at third, and the Mets lead 3-1.

Update: The Mets hold on for a 3-2 win. David Wright went 0 for 4 to lower his batting average to .403.

Bryce Harper singled in the first and tripled in two runs in the third off Roy Halladay, the latter hit giving the Nationals a 2-1 lead over the Phillies. He has four hits in the two games against the Phillies, making Thomas Boswell look prescient:

The Phils/Hamels probably just made a big mistake. Hamels said, “I was trying to hit him” Harper: “It’s all good. ”

What if, as I mentioned, Harper actually does turn out to be Pete Rose with five tools? Sure, a long long way in future. Not talking about 20+ year career. Just the similarities as young players. A young Rose with more skills is certainly my first impression of Harper’s style of play. If that analogy proves correct, then the Phillies may have just bought themselves years of Harper hell. He’ll just use the “I did it on purpose” as fuel.

Are the Phils really that dumb? Well, maybe they just wanted to find out who/what they were dealing with in Harper. If so, they found out.

He’s giving Halladay hell tonight. Haper now has 23 hits on the season, 11 for extra bases.

Update: Harper scores on a sacrifice fly to make the score 3-1 in favor of Washington.

Update: Ian Desmond homers to extend the Nationals lead to 4-1. That’s 22 extra base hits for Desmond this season. He hit 40 last year.

Update: Carlos Ruiz just got tossed from the game. I don’t know what he said to the umpire, but after an inside pitch was called a ball, he turned around and talked to the ump for a long time. I guess the ump decided he argued the call too long, or Ruiz just said a magic word.