Starting Lineup: July 11-13
The players to watch and what to watch for this weekend:
Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (7/11-7/13)
The last time the Phillies played the Diamondbacks, Ryan Howard started the series with a .167 average and was benched when the team faced lefty Randy Johnson. While things did not turn around right away for the left-handed slugger, Howard has had an impressive last 25 games. Since June 13, Howard is 31-for-101 with 12 home runs and 31 RBI with three multi-home run games. Unfortunately, the rest of the Phillies' bats have gone cold during that time and the team is 10-15 during the stretch including three shutouts. Now, the race in the NL East has tightened with the Mets and Marlins stalking the Phillies -- just 1 1/2 games behind in the standings. The Phillies carry a two-game winning streak into their series with the slumping Diamondbacks as Howard tries to build on his National League leading 27 home runs and 83 RBI and extend his 13-game hitting streak.
Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers vs. Chicago White Sox (7/11-7/13)
Sure, most of the talk about the Texas Rangers this season has been about Josh Hamilton's amazing comeback to baseball or Milton Bradley's breakthrough season but there's no need to lose sight of Ian Kinsler's impressive third season. This weekend Kinsler attempts to pass fellow All-Star and teammate Michael Young for the longest hitting streak in baseball this season. Earlier this season, Young registered a 23 game hitting streak and Kinsler goes into this weekend's series with a 22 game hitting streak -- his second hitting streak of at least 19 games in 2008. With Hamilton, Bradley, Kinsler and Young all headed to the All-Star Game with averages over .300 (along with Ramon Vazquez) there is a strong likelihood that someone on the Rangers will win this year's batting title. Right now, it's Kinsler on top of the AL with a .333 average and is showing no signs of cooling down. Now, if they could only get some pitching...
Scott Hairston, San Diego Padres vs. Atlanta Braves (7/11-7/13)
Most of the news this season in the Hairston family has come from brother Jerry but July belongs to Scott Hairston. In six games this month, Hairston is hitting .550 with five home runs and eight RBI in six games. Hairston's OPS is a staggering 2.021 and he has hit safely in six games and seven starts. Hairston has little experience against the Atlanta Braves pitching staff but is an impressive 3-for-5 in his limited opportunities. While PETCO Park is never mistaken for a hitter's park, don't tell Scott that -- he is a lifetime .304 hitter with a .952 OPS in 225 plate appearances at San Diego's home field. The Padres have been waiting for Hairston to break out since he teased them last season with a .287 average and eight home runs in 31 games after they acquired him from the Arizona Diamondbacks in a trade deadline deal.
Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers vs. Minnesota Twins (7/10-7/13)
Are they or aren't they for real? That's the question anyone who watches the Detroit Tigers play this season keeps asking themselves. A big part of whether or not they are, indeed, for real has to do with the performance of Miguel Cabrera. Take a look at the team's performance depending on whether or not Cabrera gets a hit. In the 67 games where Cabrera came through with at least one hit, the Tigers are 41-26. Compare that to the 22 games where the team is 5-17. The good news for the Tigers -- Cabrera is one of the few players to avoid missing considerable time due to injury playing in 89 of the team's 91 games. While Cabrera's numbers -- .292 with 16 home runs and 56 RBI -- are below his career averages, his recent boost has given the team hope that trading away some of the future to acquire Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Florida Marlins was not a complete disaster. This weekend's series with the Twins is especially important and the Tigers already dropped the first of the four-game set to the Twins in extra innings on Thursday where Cabrera went 0-for-4.
Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays (7/11-7/13)
While A-Rod ducks Madonna questions and chases history -- he needs one home run to pass Mickey Mantle for 13th on the All-Time Home Runs list -- he is on the verge of his lowest offensive production since 1997 when he hit 23 homers and 84 RBI when he was 21 with Seattle. Typically, Rodriguez struggles in July before catching fire in August. He has a career .296 average in July -- the only month other than September where his average dips below .300. Whether or not Rodriguez is on track to deliver the way he has in his three-time MVP career, the Yankees are considerably better with A-Rod in the starting lineup than without. The Yankees are 41-31 with him in the starting lineup this season and 8-12 without. With the Yankees trailing the Red Sox for the Wild Card spot by five games and the division leading Rays by 6 1/2 games, they need A-Rod to stay healthy and I'm sure the team wouldn't mind him resuming his perennial All-Star caliber production -- they are trying to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 1993.
Chris Volstad, Florida Marlins at Los Angeles Dodgers (Friday, 7/11)
A first round pick in 2005, the 21-year-old right-handed Chris Volstad made the jump from Double-A Carolina directly to the Majors last Sunday and already has his first Major League win. In his Major League debut, Volstad threw two scoreless innings as the Marlins defeated the Rockies 10-5 and soon after was placed into the starting rotation. On Friday, one of the team's top prospects will face off Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Eric Stults. The 6' 7" Florida native is flying his parents, brother and sister in to see him make his starting debut and has had some Hall of Fame help along the way. When Volstad was nine, while playing with the Palm Beach Gardens Little League Marlins, he received some valuable advice from Hall of Famer Jim Palmer in three one-on-one sessions with the youngster as a favor to Volstad's Little League coach Mike Adams who was giving Palmer golf lessons. Coincidentally, Volstad followed in Palmer's footsteps -- Palmer's first Major League appearance came in relief of Hall of Famer Robin Roberts against the Red Sox on April 17, 1965. The Marlins hope he continues to follow Palmer's lead -- the Orioles won the first three games Palmer started although Palmer was only able to pick up one of those three wins.
Rich Harden, Chicago Cubs vs. San Francisco Giants (Saturday, 7/12)
Can the Rich Harden deal be compared to the deal that brought Rick Sutcliffe to Chicago in 1984? Up 1 1/2 games on the Mets in the NL East, the Cubs sent Mel Hall, Joe Carter, Don Schulze and Darryl Banks to the Indians in exchange for Sutcliffe, Ron Hassey and George Frazier. After joining the Cubs, Sutcliffe went 16-1, earned a Cy Young and helped Chicago score their first Division title since 1945. If Harden turns out to be anything like Sutcliffe, the Cubs got a steal from Oakland. Cubs' fans old enough to remember the Broglio-for-Brock deal of 1964 might worry that with Harden's history of injury, the deal could turn out being more like that one. The good news for the Cubs -- Harden has made 13 consecutive starts this season. The bad news -- Harden has only made 20 starts or more once in his previous five seasons. One thing that might have made Harden extra appealing to the Cubs is his dominating record against National League opponents. He is 5-1 with a 1.81 ERA in 10 games. The Giants are not looking forward to facing Harden, either. He is 2-0 with a 0.84 ERA in four games and already beat them this season in six innings of one-hit ball on June 14.
Justin Duchscherer, Oakland Athletics vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Sunday, 7/13)
Any other General Manager in baseball who trades their ace while their team is eight games over .500 and five games out of the playoffs would be under the microscope but when we're talking about Billy Beane, it's business as usual. With Harden gone from the rotation, the American League's best ERA and the title of Athletics' ace now belongs to Justin Duchscherer. Formerly a reliever, Duchscherer was thrust into the starting role he longed for this season and has delivered every step of the way. Duchscherer is 10-5 with a 1.78 ERA -- the lowest in the Majors. He has made nine consecutive quality starts including his last start -- a two-hit complete game shutout of the Seattle Mariners. Teams are batting just .186 against Duchscherer and is looking to avenge his toughest outing of the season against the Angels back on May 1. While he gave up just one earned run that day, Duchscherer gave up two home runs and six unearned runs in five innings but picked up the win thanks to 15 runs from his teammates. There's no chance of a return to the bullpen for Duchscherer which pleases closer Huston Street who grew tired of hearing Justin talk about how he was a much better starter than reliever last year while sitting out in the 'pen.
Sean Green, Seattle Mariners at Kansas City Royals (7/11-7/13)
Take a look at this year's All-Star rosters and it is easy to see how little respect any reliever outside of a closer receives. If Ichiro didn't pick up the Mariners' spot for this year's All-Star Game, would Sean Green have received any consideration to be the team's representative instead? With 46 appearances, Green has made more appearances than any other reliever in the American League. He has not given up a run since June 23 and has 12 holds. If you remove one horrible outing on May 23 against the Yankees where he gave up four runs in 1/3 of an inning, Green's ERA drops from a respectable 2.90 to 2.13. On a team full of disappointment, Green's performance is lost. If the Mariners continue to showcase Green, a team in the race might take a run at the 29-year-old reliever who has consistently eaten up innings and developed into a reliable option in late inning situations.
Colorado Rockies and National League All-Star manager Clint Hurdle announced that Mets third baseman David Wright will replaced injured Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano on the National League roster for this year's All-Star Game.
On Wednesday, the Blue Jays held their breath when their biggest offensive producer Vernon Wells left the game after injuring his hamstring while stealing third base. On Thursday, the team placed Wells on the 15-day disabled list and expect him to miss from four to six weeks. 
The news got about as bad as it could get for Mets outfielder Moises Alou on Thursday. After leaving Wednesday's rehab start with Double-A Binghamton with a hamstring injury, an MRI the next day revealed a tear in his left hamstring. The team is recommending season-ending surgery and Alou's season might be over without the surgery, anyway. The bigger question -- does this latest injury end the 42-year-old outfielder's 17-year career?
The Pittsburgh Pirates were the league's busiest team on Thursday. Before they took the field for their make-up game with the Yankees on Thursday, the team was involved in four moves although none will have a major impact on the team.
The Houston Astros were one-for-two in their attempt to send down two veterans on Thursday. Pitcher Oscar Villarreal rejected his Minor League assignment to Triple-A Round Rock thus making him a free agent while outfielder Reggie Abercrombie accepted his and will report to Round Rock on Friday.
As expected, Saint Louis Cardinals pitcher Mark Mulder landed on the 15-day disabled list on Thursday after his first start since September 16, 2007 ended after just 16 pitches on Wednesday. Another injury to his left shoulder ended Mulder's latest comeback attempt with the Cardinals and from comments following Wednesday's game might have been his last shot with the team.
Call Hank Steinbrenner, the National League did it again! Apparently, they use pinch runners in that darn NL and Nationals infielder Aaron Boone became the victim of their wacky rules. Boone injured himself while jogging to first base to pinch run for first baseman Dmitri Young last Sunday and after nearly a week the status of his left calf strain failed to improve and Boone was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Thursday. Infielder Pete Orr was recalled from Triple-A Columbus to fill in for Boone while he recovers.