Notes from a day in baseball:
• Goodbye Barry? As a commenter mentioned yesterday, chances are that Prince Fielder, shown above, is not thinking about the home run he just hit, but rather of a stack of delicious pancakes that await him at home plate. It must be what motivated him toward an inside-the-park home run on Sunday, and it could be speeding up his home run trot here. Hey, better syrup than horse steroids, we always say (it's true; we always say that). On a day that The day after Barry Bonds hit career homer No. 748, Fielder and rookie pitcher Yovani Gallardo stole the show as Milwaukee beat the Giants 5-4. Fielder hit his NL-leading 26th home run and Gallardo was strong through 6 1/3 innings as San Francisco dropped its fifth in a row. Oh, and Gallardo also had a double in his first major league at-bat. The Giants have lost 17 of 23 overall. Now the San Jose Mercury News is saying that Bonds may be traded before the July 31 trading deadline, which would look very strange. The only thing less attractive to many fans about him breaking Aaron's record as a Giant would be him breaking it as a Yankee.
• We're Pretty Sure That Gandalf Helped Somehow. Your Chone Figgins update just got a lot bigger and bolder. Figgins got six hits, count 'em, including a game-winning triple in the ninth, as the Angels beat the host Astros 10-9. He drove in three runs, matching Garret Anderson's 1996 franchise record for hits in a game.
• John Maine, The Slider And You. Back home in the friendly confines, where John Maine feels comfortable and Mr. Met knows where all the restrooms are located. The Twins could only muster four hits in 7 2/3 innings off of Maine, as New York beat visiting Minnesota 8-1. Home runs by Carlos Delgado and Ricky Ledee highlighted a 15-hit attack.
• McCann Do Attitude. Brian McCann homered and drove in four runs off of Curt Schilling to lead the Braves past the Red Sox 9-4. Schilling didn't strike out anyone, the first time that's happened since 1993. McCann was coming off a 3-for-22 road trip.
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