@Giants 7, Padres 1: Four in the 1st matched San Francisco’s season high, and Buster Posey broke it open with a 3-run shot towards the RF line. With a packed house, the Giants improved to 30-16 at home and maintained their game-and-a-half lead on the stabilized Dodgers.

• Melky does it all. (My favorite part is how he tosses the ball back to the infield.) Three more hits for the MLB leader. Only 3 SF Giants have ever reached 200 hits, led by Willie‘s 208; the MelkMan is on pace for 228. He also moved into the NL lead in Runs.
• Ryan Vogelsong (7 IP, 4 H) has 15 Quality Starts in a row (longest of the last 2 years) and has a QS in 17 of 18 starts this year; he allowed 4 in the other game (SF won). Vogelsong has yet to go 8 IP this year, but he’s gone 6+ every time and 7+ IP 14 times, the most in MLB. Tonight he passed 300 IP for his 2nd Giants stint, and lowered his ERA to 2.52 in that span and 2.26 for this season.
• But how does he do it? For 2011-12, Vogelsong’s SO/9, HR/9 and GDP rate are ordinary; his BB/9 a little better than average. His BAbip in that span is .273, which seems flukey, but we’re talking 300 IP. This helps: a .172 BA and .235 SLG with RISP. Is that a skill? Is he just better out of the stretch, and if so, why not do it all the time?

Cubs 2, @Pirates 0: Through 6, both starters had allowed 1 hit. Jeff Samardzija had a 1-hitter thru 8; with 99 pitches, would he try to finish? This is just his 2nd game of 8+ IP. Samardzija blew up in June (10.41 ERA in 5 starts), but has allowed at this writing 5 runs in 27 IP in his last 4 games.

• Goodness, no — they went with Marmol! But it worked.
• Erik Bedard took his 11th loss despite 11 Ks, 1 run on 2 hits in 7 IP.

@Indians 3, Orioles 1: Get a lead to Vinnie Pestano and it’s usually gold. He lost hold of one lead, back on April 14 — and has held onto 25 straight since then. He almost gave it up straight off tonight, allowing a double on which an inherited runner was cut down at the plate for the 2nd out. Then he whiffed Thome to end the 8th. Lucky or not, that’s 14 inherited runners and none scored for Pestano. Chris Perez closed out #27 of 29, and the Tribe are back to .500.

• Shin-Soo Choo drove in the first 2 with his 12th HR, scored the 3rd after a leadoff hit. He’s all the way back — .296/.378/.493, with OPS around 1.100 in his last 31 games.

@D-backs 6, Rockies 3: Who said that Jonathan Sanchez needed the luxury of having a pitcher batting 9th? J-San tried to exploit his return to NL environs with a 2-out, bases-filling IBB to the #8 hitter in the 4th inning, trailing 1-0. But Ian Kennedy lashed a 3-run triple, his first three-bagger and the first by a D-back pitcher since 2009, and scored on a subsequent hit. In his day job, Kennedy held the reeling Rockies to 2 runs in 8 IP, his second straight game of that duration.

• Both Kennedy and Arizona evened their season record.
• Sanchez wound up with the kind of line that looks great in a hitter’s box score but has been sadly common for him this year — 4-6-5-5-4-5 — and saw his season ERA reach 8.01 in 13 starts. He’s averaged just 4.4 IP per start.
• Rox rookie SS Josh Rutledge hit his first career HR and has 8 extra-base hits among his 12 safeties. A 2010 3rd-rounder, Rutledge has zipped through the minors in less than 2 full years on the strength of his line-drive bat; he’s just the 3rd member of that draft round to reach the bigs.

Nationals 8, @Mets 2 (10th): S.O.B. — same ol’ bull(pen). Ruben Tejada dropped an easy DP feed from the pitcher, getting spiked as a bonus, and suddenly it all turned brown. Pedro Beato faced 6 batters and got his only out on a sac bunt; after the go-ahead hit by Bryce Harper, a 3-run double, a 2-run HR, walk the pitcher, get lost.

• Long before the shite torrent, Mike Gonzalez was brought in with 1 out in the 7th and a 1-run lead to get 2 lefties. Ike Davis had other ideas: first-pitch fastball up and in, Ike got his hands through and hooked it off the RF screen. That snapped a 54-game homerless streak for Gonzalez; he also has a pair of 63-gamers. Yet his HR rate is nothing special, 0.72 HR/9. He must also give them up in bunches — indeed, last year he allowed 7 HRs in his first 23 IP before starting the latest streak.
• I still love Mets broadcaster Gary Cohen, and I understand that he has a certain obligation to put the best spin on things — up to a point. But there’s no reason to suggest that the 20 bullpen innings in 4 days is any part of this meltdown. Tonight’s patsy, Beato, had 2 days off since his last outing (22 pitches in 2 IP), and had 2 days off before that. Yesterday’s choke artist, Ramon Ramirez, had a day off between outings; he hasn’t been ridden hard. No, Gary, they’ve stunk all year, and they stink on ice right now. Don’t make excuses for a 5.16 bullpen ERA.
• When’s the last time a team lost consecutive games in extra innings by 5+ runs? Dunno, but it’s some time in 2010 or before, and I haven’t the heart to track it further. (Just heard: 1994 Angels.)
• Bernadina’s slide: Clean, dirty, or gray? I can’t shake the feeling that the spiking was intentional.

@Marlins 2, Braves 1: First scoreless start for Josh Johnson since April 2011, a year he began with an 0.88 ERA in 6 starts and 1.64 in 9 before the injury knocked him down for good. Emilio Bonifacio hit his first HR, 7th of his career in 1,780 PAs. Atlanta mounted a threat in the 9th and wound up with their only run, but hit into a disputed(?) DP after which their skipper was tossed.

@Phillies 7, Brewers 6: It was only a matter of time before K-Rod’s skate caught and he fell through the ice. He started the 9th with a 3-run lead and nobody on. After a strikeout, he fell behind J-Roll 3-0, and finally walked him. Got 0-and-2 on Pierre and gave up a single; fell behind Utley 3-0 and ultimately lost him, too. Sacks full. Got 0-2 on Howard, base hit. Ruiz tied it with a hit. Got 0-2 on Pence, walked him. Finally, Wigginton won it with a sac fly. His stuff is gone; if they don’t swing at the change-up or take a back-door curve, it’s over.

• With this game, Brewer relievers have issued 141 walks in 296 IP, 4.3 BB/9. That and their 1.55 WHIP are 2nd-worst among NL bullpens (worst in both is not the Mets, but the Cubs).
• Roy Halladay‘s comeback continues. The results aren’t pretty yet — 11 IP, 8 runs, 13 hits. And I haven’t seen him pitch. But the strike ratio is good at 67%, with just 1 walk. I wouldn’t worry yet.

Yankees 4, @Mariners 1: Welcome to the new world order. In his first MLB game out of a Mariners uni, Ichiro batted 8th — his first start ever below 3rd in the order. His first AB as a Yankee: hit #2,534, followed by SB #439.

• Hiroki Kuroda (7 IP, 9 Ks) has no intriguing split nor any kind of streak that my reptile brain can detect. This is who he is — 10-7, 3.34 — a solid, durable hurler whose age and maturity fits right in with his team, who should continue improving his W-L record with a little more run support and as long as he stays healthy.
• Like anyone, I’ve taken my share of potshots at A-Rod. But I tip my cap at the brief postgame interview he gave about the acquisition of Ichiro. Really upbeat, mature, intelligent answers with a keen view of the Yankee culture and how Ichiro will fit. If anyone still doubts he’s “a true Yankee,” you should hear that Q&A.
• While waiting for the video of Ichiro’s hit, I saw a commercial for a new phone that lets you “text” and watch a video at the same time. This idea is even better than Homer Simpson’s Nuts and Gum (“together at last!”), and gives the Bass-O-Matic a real run for the money. Best of all, I can’t wait to groin-kick the first zombie who staggers into me on a crowded Manhattan sidewalk while doubly distracted by this latest boob tube.

Dodgers 5, @Cardinals 3: Luis Cruz hit a 3-run HR in the 2nd and LA was never seriously threatened thereafter. Eight of his 14 hits have gone for extra bases; counting AAA, he has 37 doubles and 10 HRs this year.

• It’s not just 1-run games where the Cards have struggled (11-17); by my count, they’re also 4-10 in 2-run contests. They had enough chances tonight — 9 hits, a HR and 2 doubles — but they spread the hits over 7 innings and went 1 for 8 with RISP. A lot of their hitting this year has come when the game’s not close, as you can see from these margin splits.

@White Sox 7, Twins 4: The Southsiders got Gavin Floyd back along with a little of their mojo, smacking 3 HRs to become the first team with 5 players at 15+ HRs. Adam Dunn almost qualifies twice — here’s his MLB-high 29th. Sweetest of all was a big night for Paulie, including his first HR since June 29; he had 4 Runs and 4 RBI in 18 intervening games.

• Go figure: The ChiSox turned 5 DPs, but also made 3 errors leading to 3 unearned runs.

@Angels 6, Royals 3: Kendrys Morales broke the tie with a … well, just watch it. Three things: Jeff Francoeur played it really well, Peter Bourjos is really fast, and B-R’s Baserunning table needs a new column.

And now, the nightly Trout Report: The electrifying rookie singled and scored in the 3rd, extending his scoring streak to 15 games, and finished 2 for 5.

Here are the 3 players with a qualifying .350 batting average at age 20 or younger (Trout’s stats updated through 4 PAs Monday):

And the best OPS+ by a player in his 1st or 2nd year (Trout through Sunday):

xxx