the 3-2 pitch

Three observations …

• Uh-oh. Giancarlo Stanton is batting .338 with seven homers over his past 18 games, and blasted a 470-foot homer Wednesday. Someone poked the bear with a stick.

• Bert Blyleven alert! The Royals' Chris Young has given up a league-high 26 home runs with half a season to go. Will he remain in the rotation and make a run at Blyleven's record of 50 given up in 1986?

• The Twins shouldn't move Ervin Santana just to get his salary off the books. They should be willing to eat some of the contract in order to get a quality return.

... and two predictions

• Look for Cleveland to add an outfielder and a reliever before the trade deadline.

• The Rockies' DJ LeMahieu will win the National League batting title.