MLB

The Los Angeles Dodgers announced outfielder Yasiel Puig will sit out Saturday night's game against the Chicago Cubs with soreness in his left hamstring:

There is nothing more satisfying than nailing a home run over the Green Monster, especially against the New York Yankees. 

In the bottom of the second inning, Mike Napoli did just that against Shane Greene to give the Boston Red Sox a 2-0 lead. There is nothing that could've possibly gotten the crowd more excited at this point in the game.

Oakland Athletics center fielder Sam Fuld had one of the most impressive plays of his career on Saturday.

During the fourth inning in a game against the Kansas City Royals, the 32-year-old Fuld caught a line drive in center field, then proceeded to throw a laser to home plate, doing a barrel roll in the process. The throw ended up getting to catcher Derek Norris just before Alex Gordon, who was tagged out at home plate.

While the Arizona Diamondbacks have struggled this season, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt has certainly been one of the team's brightest spots. Unfortunately, according to a tweet from the team's official Twitter account, he'll be out of commission for a while due to a fractured left hand:  

Even though the traditional trade deadline has come and gone, with a flurry of activity that changed the landscape of this year's postseason race, Major League Baseball teams are still working diligently to make trades through August 31.

The difference between the two trading periods is that players must clear waivers now to be traded anywhere or teams can work out a deal with another club that puts in a waiver claim, but in that latter scenario, there is a 48-hour window for trades to be worked out. 

Boston Red Sox catcher David Ross left as quickly as he returned and has been placed on the 15-day disabled list after aggravating an injury Friday.  

The team confirmed the news on Twitter and detailed further roster shuffling to make up for the lost production:

The NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers received some bad news on Saturday, as the team's official Twitter account reported pitcher Paul Maholm's MRI revealed an ACL tear:  

Bleacher Report's Scott Miller has an update on Maholm and the Dodgers' corresponding roster move:

Poised to win the American League Central for the fourth consecutive year, the Detroit Tigers' fortunes this October will rest squarely on the right arm of one Justin Brooks Verlander. 

Before the Los Angeles Dodgers took on the Chicago Cubs on Friday night, they invited quite a special guest to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Jeff Bridges, the actor who played Jeffrey Lebowski, or "The Dude" in the 1998 film The Big Lebowski, tossed the first pitch. Before throwing a legitimate pitch, Bridges decided to bowl the ball to home plate as a tribute to the film.

With the trade deadline now passed and the calendar switching over to August, we have officially reached the stretch run of the 2014 MLB season.

The entire MLB landscape has been wide open this season, and after one of the busiest trade deadlines in recent memory, the final two months of the year should be awfully exciting.

No division lead is bigger than four games entering play Saturday, and a grand total of 21 teams are within six games of a playoff spot, as parity has certainly reigned in both leagues here in 2014.