Three observations ... •Scott Diamond, Cole De Vries and Samuel Deduno have a combined 3.15 ERA, but the Twins should not believe that the starting rotation can be completely fixed from within.

•Cincinnati entered the weekend 14-3 since MVP candidate Joey Votto went down with a knee injury. The good teams improvise.

•Can't wait to see A's rookie righthander Dan Straily, who was called up last week. Straily leads professional baseball in strikeouts and is the first Marshall University player in the majors since former Twin Rick Reed.

... and two predictions •Adding Paul Maholm and Reed Johnson won't be enough for the Braves to catch the Nationals in the NL East.

•Detroit will add another bat to its lineup by the Aug. 31 trade deadline for players who have cleared waivers.