MLB

NEW YORK—For the first time since May 16 when he injured his hamstring in Florida, Jon Niese will take the mound for the Mets, as they go for the series win against the Marlins.

In that game, Niese hurt himself in the third inning, without retiring a batter, as the Mets lost 10-8.

Series victories have been hard to come by for the Mets on the road, but at home the Mets are now 20-9 and would be in good shape with a win today.

When an umpire blows a call to stifle Detroit’s Armando Galarraga and the 21st perfect game in major league history, hijacking and wrecking much of an impeccable mark in sports, then we assume that a fraudulent sport may be rigid or even the worst call in Major League Baseball history.

A steady dose of Aaron Cook was all the Diamondbacks needed to break a 10-game losing streak. Arizona defeated the Rockies 7-6 on a walk-off single from Brian Roberts.

The game of baseball is rich in history and luster, but recently, in the last two decades or so, the game has fallen out of favor in many baseball cities. Players went on strike, teams have folded, and lastly, a large portion players went on steroids, rewriting the record books and making 50-year-old records vanish. Today, in many baseball minds, those records come with an asterisk next to them.

How good has Ubaldo Jimenez been through 11 starts in 2010?  Almost unbelievably good.

Everyone knows, or should know, that Coors Field in mile-high Denver, is far and away the best place to hit in the major leagues.  Jimenez has a 1.29 home ERA this year, and only an 0.52 ERA on the road.  Based on that performance, I’d guestimate Jiminez’s current ERA (0.78 in fact) at 0.60 if he played his home games in a completely hitting/pitching neutral park.

It's difficult to make a list like this, because from the two spot on down to maybe six or seven, it's nearly impossible to put one guy over another.

Some pitchers had long careers and good primes, others had shorter careers but amazing primes. Pitchers are ranked on career totals, peak level performance, and length of prime.

Please note that this is a list of the top-10 pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball, and will not include Negro League players. Had I included Negro Leaguers, Satchel Paige would certainly have made my list.

The Giants called up Pat Burrell after five games at Fresno in which he went 5 for 14 with a homerun.  To make room, they designated Brandon Medders for assignment.

In fact, Medders has already been reported to have cleared waivers and been assigned to AAA Fresno, which is not particularly surprising given Medders’s 7.20 ERA so far this year and his recent minor arm problems.

Mike Stanton is on his way to the Florida Marlins.

No, not that Mike Stanton. 

It's the 20-year-old Los Angeles native, an outfielder currently in the Florida Marlins farm system. 

NEW YORK--Coming home, the Mets needed to put together a good home stand, in order to stay afloat with their road woes.

It didn't get off to a good start, as the Mets trailed the Marlins 3-0 early in this game, but R.A. Dickey settled down nicely to keep the Mets in it.

After retiring the first five batters of the game to face him, Dickey allowed a run in the second on a triple and RBI single by Cameron Maybin.

The 40 year old Ken Griffey Jr. retired earlier this week after playing professional baseball since he was 19. He will always be remembered for his time in Seattle, not in Cincinnati. In the late 90's he was the best player in the game and was in the discussion for possibly being the best all around player ever.

The announcement ends a 22-year run in the major leagues that included 13 all-star selections, 630 home runs, 10 Gold Gloves and a .284 career batting average.