Baseball in the Daytime: July Ten-ski, Oh-Niner

This is the last installment of "Baseball in the Daytime" until after the All-Star break. I know. You're crushed. In case you haven't been paying attention to Major League Baseball, and you find yourself watching some of the festivities on Monday and Tuesday, here's your update: In the American League, the Detroit Tigers lead the Central by a couple; Boston and New York are deadlocked in the East; and the Texas Rangers have a half-game lead over Los Anaheim out west. In the National League, the defending-champion Phillies are out in front by a few crums over the Florida Marlins; the Dodgers have managed to keep their distance from the Giants in the West, and for the Central, well, you'll have to hop the leap for that news. Oh, and tonight's starting pitcher for the home team at Fenway Park has a middle name: It's Child-Mole. There'll be no complete-game shutout for you this evening, you filthy criminal.

St. Louis @ Chicago, 1:20 Central: Our lone day stars today are both righties, and they were both named Rich Harden on the day of their births, but the guy that'll be wearing a St. Louis uniform today changed his to Chris Carpenter once he turned 18. I'd offer more background, but it's a tough spin seeing as how I just made that up. Anyway, Harden likes fives: 5-5, 5.35. Carpenter boasts a 6-3, 2.32. St. Louis currently has a nice two-game cushion over Meel-wah-kay in the N.L. Central, and the Cubs are but one and-a-half games behind the Brewers. So, I'd say this game's important, but these guys play each other more often than the Red Sox and Yankees meet up, so no biggie if you lose. DirecTV values this game as they're giving you the option of 307, 721, or 722. XM values it less, offering but a measly 183.

That's your loner today. Tune in to some baseball this evening as well. There's a ton of good pitching matchups, and Vegas bookies are taking odds on which team Joel Hanrahan might win a game for tonight.