It ain’t easy keeping up with the Joneses….

@Braves 6, Padres 0: It’s still hard to believe he’s retiring, but Jason Marquis won’t miss him. With 2 HRs tonight, Chipper is now 8 for 17 with 5 HRs against Marquis.

• Kris Medlen notched his first CG and shutout, with 78 strikes in 104 pitches (5 hits, no walks). For those (like me) who had forgotten, in 2010 Medlen went 5-0, 3.86 as a starter, joining the rotation in May, but he got hurt in August and didn’t get back until this year. The 5′ 10″ righty was a 10th-round pick as a reliever and blew through the low minors in that role, then began his transition to starting in 2008. His season ERA is now 2.03 in 80 IP, with just 2 HRs allowed; in 4 starts, he’s allowed 3 runs in 26.2 IP.
• The only pitchers more Chippered than Marquis are retirees Shane Reynolds (7 HRs in 42 ABs), Steve Trachsel (7 in 69) and Randy Johnson (6 in 43).
• 40th multi-HR game for Jones, but first since 2009-06-07. He’s the 38th player (since 1918) with a multi-HR game at age 40+; Hank Sauer tops that list with 8 such games. Chipper’s .910 OPS would be the 8th-highest at age 40+ (min. 300 PAs).
• What’s the record for HRs on your Bobblehead Night, anyway?

@Pirates 10, Dodgers 6: Coming in, just two Bucs had ever homered off NL HR leader Joe Blanton. Those two, Garrett Jones and Pedro Alvarez, combined to blister 3 Blanton tosses over the barricades, good for 7 runs. That was just enough for A.J. Burnett, who staggered and stumbled like his Yankee daze — hitting 2 of his last 3 men and yielding 6 runs in 6.2 IP — but added his name to other five in the 15-win club.

• G.Jones, who twice broke a tie with a 3-run HR, is hitting .297 with 17 HRs in 279 ABs against righties.
• Alvarez has 22 HRs … and 20 errors.
• Funniest thing in this clip is Hanley’s choirboy “What did I do?” gestures at the end. Gee, Han, I think the culture frowns on flashing celebratory hand signals while rounding the bases on a routine mid-game HR.

White Sox 7, @Blue Jays 2: In his first ChiSox win, Francisco Liriano (2 R in 6.1 IP) threw a boatload of strikes (60 of 86) and gave his only walk just before departing with a 3-2 lead. All 7 Chicago runs were scored on a quintet of HRs, though none from their two leaders.

• Chicago hit 10 HRs in the 4 games in Toronto, and 44 HRs in their last 23 games.

@Brewers 7, Phillies 4 (9th): How many creative ways are there to keep Cliff Lee from winning? Facing winless Marco Estrada (0-5 in 14 GS), Lee nursed a 4-3 lead into the 8th and got the first 2 out before an E5 put the tying run on base. In came recent pickup Josh Lindblom to face Ryan Braun, but after falling behind 3-1, he put him on. But then he missed with 4 more to Aramis Ramirez. Finally, Lindblom found the strike zone — and Corey Hart slammed it. Philly loaded the bags in the 9th, Jim Henderson (recently appointed closer on the perfectly valid grounds of “what the hell”) bounced back from yesterday’s disaster and retired Erik “Clutch” Kratz to end it.

So Lee and Estrada both got no decision; their combined record is 2-12 in 35 starts. The Brewer has recently tamed his gophers — no HRs in his last 3 starts, after 16 in his first 75 IP — but was still touched for 4 runs tonight, same as his last outing. Lee gave up 3 solo shots –two by Ryan Braun, who had been seeking #30 since August 1 — but he also tied his season high with 12 Ks, walking none.

• At this writing, Braun is 8 for 15 with 3 HRs off Lee. Coincidentally, the last time Chipper hit 2 in a game, Braun also hit 2 in the same game.
• Braun has 30+ HRs in 5 of his first 6 seasons, joining 7 others; only Pujols made it 6 for 6. With 192 total, Braun has tied Prince Fielder for #10 for the first 6 years. Five more gets him Williams, 6 bags DiMaggio & Dunn, 10 catches F. Robinson and 11 Teixeira. Mathews and Howard look safe at 222.
• Hart has 80 HRs since 2010, tied for 16th with Votto and CarGo.

Athletics 3, @Royals 0: Coco Crisp broke up the scoreless duel with a video-aided 2-out, 2-and-0 HR in the 6th, and Yoenis Cespedes added his 15th (soundly spanked) on an 0-and-2 count the next inning, lifting his BA/SLG to .301/.506. Dan Straily earned his first big-league win in his 3rd start, yielding 3 singles over 6.1 shutout stanzas.

• Straily came cheap in the 24th round three years ago, but he broke through at high-A last year with 8.6 SO/9 and 3.85 SO/BB in 161 IP. This year he took it to another level, and another and another: 11.4 SO/9 and 4.7 SO/BB in 22 starts between AA/AAA before making his MLB debut 2 weeks ago.
• Oakland has 4 relievers with 40+ innings, each with an ERA between 2.42 and 2.86; the 5th guy has 33 IP and a 2.16 ERA. Recent additions/returnees Evan Scribner and Pedro Figueroa have a combined 1.32 ERA in 34 IP. No wonder Brian Fuentes didn’t fit in.

Rays 7, @Angels 0 (7th): Who’s got David Price in the CYA pool? If he holds this lead, Price will be 8-0 in his last 11 starts and 16-4 on the year, with a 2.40 ERA (at this writing). This would be his 19th QS in 24 outings, topping the AL in both number and percentage.

@Cardinals 1, Diamondbacks 0 (9th): St. Louis has one other 1-0 win and Arizona one such loss this year; both happened on June 13, along with another one of this year’s 28(?) 1-0 games….

• Spoke too soon — Snakes up 2-1 after back/jacks by Paul Goldschmidt and Chris Young. Young had been 1 for 10 with 6 Ks against Motte.
• In a perfect world, Jake Elmore would have been scouted while playing for the Joliet Slammers and then signed by the Cubs. But he got his first big-league hits tonight playing SS for Arizona.

Mets 8, @Reds 4 and counting (9th): It was an 8-1 laugher before closer Frank Francisco (as in, “a loss is closer than you think“) came on to get some work in — it having been established recently that a mere 5-run bulge just wasn’t enough. Francisco retired but 2 of 7 men while jacking his season ERA up to 6.25, and again created a cheese-save chance for Jon Rauch (who cashed in).

Before the farce, Matt Harvey set down the first 12 men and worked through 7.2 IP on just 89 pitches (63 strikes), departing after his only walk; he now has 34 Ks and a 3.00 ERA in 30 IP over 5 starts. He also had a big hit in the 4th, spitting on Dusty Baker’s rote strategy: With 2 out and a man on 2nd, Kelly Shoppach (career .204/.656 vs. RHPs) was IBB’d, and Harvey drilled the next pitch into the left-center gap to score both runners. Anyone who’s scouted him at the plate knows he can hit; I don’t claim he’s the equal even of Shoppach’s bad side, but the difference isn’t worth the risk of the extra runner. Walking .200 hitters in the 4th inning is a losing proposition.

• Speaking of rote strategy … The next time Harvey came up, the Mets led 4-0 with Shoppach on 1st and 1 out. Terry Collins ordered the sacrifice, and Harvey executed. I know there’s a mystical belief in getting that 5th run (“so a grand slam can’t tie you”), but the advantage of moving a slow catcher up to 2nd base with 2 out and a singles hitter coming up is minimal. (Of course, that singles hitter doubled off the wall for one run, and scored on another hit, so what do I know. I still hate the 1-out sac bunt by a decent-hitting pitcher.)
• Francisco has 19 saves. The highest ERA ever in a season of 15+ saves was 7.21 by Brad Lidge in 2009. (Just a couple more games, Frankie; you know we believe in you.)
• OK, you’re judged on results in this game, and Francisco has stunk. But when I watch him in postgame interviews, I can’t help liking him in spite of it all. It’s a tough profession, and you get knocked down hard at times. Francisco might never be successful again, but I don’t think the game’s gonna beat him.