MLB

Houston Astros pitcher Erik Bedard had a no-hitter going in Saturday evening's game against the Seattle Mariners, but with one out in the seventh inning, manager Bo Porter decided to relieve him of his duties.

UPDATE: Saturday, July 20, at 10:17 p.m. ET by Ian Hanford

Cincinnati ESPN 1530 radio host Lance McAlister perfectly described the first half of the Cincinnati Reds’ season as “good but not good enough.”

#Reds 1st half: Good, but not good enough.

After a four-day layoff interrupted by an exhibition contest—the 84th edition of the All-Star Game—MLB is back on Friday with a full slate of games to kick off the second half.

There will also be less than two weeks to go before the non-waiver trade deadline, so many teams not only have an urgency to get in the best position as possible for the postseason, but they'll be thinking about upgrades as well.

If I had myself a private audience with the Pope of the Tigers, Jim Leyland, I’d pretty much just have one question for him.

The St. Louis Cardinals placed Matt Holliday on the 15-day disabled list Saturday afternoon after the outfielder was unable to work through his hamstring injury over the All-Star break.

According to a statement from the team's official Twitter feed, the move is retroactive to July 12. St Louis has also called up Triple-A standout Brock Peterson to give the team depth during Holliday's absence:

1983 was a magical year for the Baltimore Orioles. 2013 has the makings of a magical year as well.

The Orioles haven’t captured a championship since 1983, but that could change this season. Chris Davis, Adam Jones, Nick Markakis and the other big bats are leading the charge, and so far, the team is doing fairly well.

In the New York Yankees' endless search for viable bats, the next name on the list could very well be Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Aramis Ramirez, tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.

Part two of the 2013 MLB season premiered last night, and while the season is already 60 percent complete, there is still two-thirds of the league vying for 10 playoff spots. 

In the American League, the East is stacked with talent, pitting four teams within seven games of each other. The Central and West Divisions are largely two team races at the moment, but a key deadline move or winning streak could bring teams like the Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Angels back to life.

The MLB trade deadline is fast approaching (July 31), and while all of the attention goes to the frontline players and the rumored blockbuster deals involving them, it is often the smaller-scale moves that make all the difference.

Look no further back than last season, when the Angels landed the prize of the deadline in Zack Greinke in a deal with the Brewers. However, the Angels wound up missing the postseason, and perhaps the best pickup across the league wound up being the Giants' acquisition of Marco Scutaro.

Hello, boys and girls. It's fairy tale time.

Today, we're going to be learning about the story of how a great hitter came to be.

Once upon a time...

There was a promising young slugger.

This slugger hit with a big stick from the left side, and he was once a top prospect in the minors who showed flashes of his ability and power at the major league level. Alas, he never could seem to stick in the big leagues.