Turner Cockrell, a 6’5″, 210 tight end from Allatoona High School in Georgia has become Derek and the staff’s ninth commitment for the 2016 class. Allatoona High is in Acworth, Georgia, which is in Cobb County, part of the Atlanta metro area. If I’m correct, Cobb County is where the Braves are building their new stadium which will open in 2017.

Turner is an 82 three-star and plays like a really solid three-star; guys you can win with. He’s a heckuva blocker and pass catcher. His film shows him catching everything thrown his way from 10 yards to 20 yard passes. He blocks people to the ground; just finishes them off. He’s got really good toughness. He smashed a guy on a run by his running back.; just buried the guy with force. Turner looks like a really good player. Allatoona went 14-1 last season, his junior year, and made it to the Georgia Class 5A semifinals. Georgia has six classifications and the Allatoona Class (5A) has schools with up to 1,800 students. There are a ton of good players in Georgia and Turner is certainly one of them.

I think his ranking looks a little low from his film. He looks like he could be a really fine tight end for us in the future. He needs to gain some weight, but Strength Coach James Dobson, who could very well be the best in the business coming from Nebraska to VU, can certainly handle that detail. Turner has the toughness and looks like he has major heart and desire,. He’s very talented as well. He caught passes on average for 23 yards last year and as a blocker helped lead the Buccaneers offense to 3,700 yards rushing. Read some of his comments. He loves the academics, he loves Coach Mason and the staff, and he’s pumped about being in Nashville.

Turner joins 88 three-star quarterback Deuce Wallace (6’2″, 200, Sevierville, Tn.), 85 three-star offensive tackle Devin Cochran (6’7″, 305 Norcross, Georgia), 86, three-star running back Sam Brodner (5’10”, 210, Glen Elyn, Illinois), 82 three-star wide receiver Donaven Tennyson (5’10”, 170, Richmond, Va.), 86 three-star safety Austin Quillen (6’1″, 195, Jenks, OK.), 85, three-star defensive tackle Drew Birchmeier (6’4″, 275 Midlothian, Va.), 84 three-star defensive tackle Cameron Tidd (6’3″, 265, Greenwood, Indiana), and 78 two-star cornerback Frank Coppet (5’10”, 177, London, Ontario via St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale).

I like all these players and Coach Dobson will get ’em quicker, faster and stronger and Coach Mason and the coaches can coach ’em up and put us right in the mix for SEC East titles in the future. Jesse Johnson of Vandy 247 is also reporting that we have a couple more coming in the next week. So will keep you abreast of those developments.

Good stuff going on for Coach Mason and the staff. About to watch Derek on Media Days. Will have a report tomorrow. Quarterback competition will be interesting. I really liked Wade Freebeck in the spring game. Wade looks like he has all the tools. Johnny McCrary is highly talented and showed signs of his talent last year, particularly in the Missouri game on the road when he came very close to leading us to victory over the SEC East champs. Johnny is right there in the mix to be the starter along with Wade. Shawn Stankavage (Stank) has a knee issue, but there is word that he may be available for August camp. Stank’s a good player too, and will be in the competition. And I love incoming freshman Kyle Shurmur. Kyle is a four-star and I’ve watched film on him. He’s 6’4″, 215 (Glenside, Pa), and has all the tools to be an excellent passing quarterback in the SEC. He can run well also. Kyle’s dad, Pat, is the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles, so he’s well schooled in the game. His football IQ has to be out the roof and the talent looks unlimited. So we’ve got a good situation at quarterback. The guys will battle it out in August and we’ll have four quality guys. Whoever starts will be a very good player.

Will have more tomorrow from Derek’s comments at media days.

Dave Price will get at least an inning of work tonight for the American League in the All-Star game in the Queen City (Cincy). The All-Star game is huge now because the winning league gets home field advantage in the World Series. It’s my favorite All-Star game by a long shot. It’s been an awesome season so far, and the second half promises to be riveting. Hopefully Dave, Sonny and Pedro will be playing highly relevant games in September.

 Sonny

1. Sonny delivered in the Bronx

Sonny battled and battled against the resurgent Bronx Bombers in Yankee Stadium. He didn’t get the decision, but played a major role in the A’s getting a road victory at Yankee Stadium, where my daughters and I witnessed a masterful pitching performance from an absolute stud pitcher and a gritty performance by the A’s in a 4-3 victory for the A’s in 10 innings. New York is the city that never sleeps and I was busy with my daughters. This was definitely one of the highlights.

Sonny also pitched a complete game shutout over the Indians yesterday in Cleveland winning 2-0, and David Price battled and battled to help his Tigers prevail over the Twins at Target Field in Minneapolis on Thursday, 4-2. And the Pittsburgh Pirates are flat out en fuego right now after taking three of four from the Cardinals at PNC Park in Pittsburgh over the weekend winning Saturday and Sunday in dramatic fashion. Pedro Alvarez formerly of Vanderbilt, like Gray and Price, played a key role on Saturday night with a huge game tying RBI single on a 95 MPH fastball from lefty Kevin Siegrest. Siegrest  came into the game with a 1.59 ERA, and was bringing massive heat. Pedro connected on a 95 MPH fastball in the bottom of the eighth in a game the Pirates won in the bottom of the 14th on a two run 416 foot shot to deep central by the awesome Andrew McCutchen. The Cardinals had taken a 5-4 lead in the top of the 14th on a Jhonny Peralta RBI single. It was amazing what McCutchen and the Pirates did in that 6-5 victory.  Then they topped that performance on Sunday Night Baseball last night on ESPN, as they entered the bottom of the 10th down 5-3, and scored three runs with a Gregory Polanco walk off single to drive in the winning run in a 6-5 Bucs’ victory. It was awesome.

The Bucs are now 53-35 and 2.5 back of the Cardinals in the National League Central. Honestly, the Bucs look like the best team in baseball right now, though the Royals and Nationals may have an argument there. But I love this baseball team. They have the starting pitching, the solid bullpen with a lock down closer in Mark Melancon , who’s posted  29 saves in 30 opportunities and carries an ERA of 1.47 and an 0.95 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched, an outstanding number, anything under 1.0 is exceptional). Melancon leads the majors in saves at the All-Star break. And the Pirates definitely have the defense and the bats. McCutchen is the best player in baseball not named Miguel Cabrera. He is all world. The outfield is outstanding, the fastest and most athletic in baseball. McCutchen is hitting .295 with 12 long ones and 56 RBIs and has a WAR (wins above replacement player) of 3.2, 10th in the National Leauge. But his value is so much greater than that. If he keeps this up his WAR will be one of the best in the majors by the end of the season. Bryce Harper of the Nationals leads the NL at 6.2, and leads the majors in that category. Mike Trout of the Angels is second at 5.9. Both of those guys are in that conversation for best player in the big leagues. It’s debatable between Cabrera, Trout, Harper and McCutchen. They’re all outstanding. We’ll see how the rest of the season shakes out before making that determination.

But with McCutchen in center, Starling Marte in left, and Gregory Polanco in right, the Pirates have the best outfield in the game. Alvarez struggles some with his fielding at first, but I’ve seen him make some nice plays there too. He’s getting it. He was such a good fielder at VU that I think it’ll come for him at first. He’s still very clutch with the bat. Pedro is hitting .236 with 12 homers and 41 Ribeyes. He’s playing good ball. While his average isn’t prolific, he has a knack for getting clutch hits when the team really needs him to. Manager Clint Hurdle always substitutes him late in games at first and plays Sean Rodriguez, who’s a quality utility guy, but hits .220. Hurdle is starting to really tick me off. He doesn’t let Pedro play much against left handed pitching. He’s gotta show Alvarez that he believes in him. I thought after Pedro had that clutch hit on Saturday night on the 95 MPH fastball from the lefty Siegrest, Hurdle might start him Sunday night against lefty Tim Cooney, but Hurdle devalued his hit by not starting him Sunday.

I don’t think Hurdle makes great decisions. Not totally sold on him. He’s solid, but he’s no genius. General manager Neal Huntingdon has put together a lot of talent on this team, so I hope Hurdle doesn’t mess it up. This team could go the distance if Hurdle does not implode with his decisions. He needs to believe in Pedro. Pedro is an outstanding baseball player, a great character guy in the locker room, and a total team player. I’m going to start going off on Hurdle in the second half if this continues.

OK, back to Sonny Gray  in Yankee Stadium last Tuesday. My daughters and I had a blast. We had seats on the third base side and the Yankees fans were very hospitable and welcoming. One guy, who was sitting behind me and was a huge Yanks fan, was still highly complimentary of Sonny. He loved him. Yankees fans are very knowledgeable about the game. And How could you not love Gray. Sonny went seven, gave up six hits, three earned, with three walks and five K’s. He threw 110 pitches with 64 for strikes and 46 balls. His strike:ball ratio wast great but he  really competed. There’s a story that when Sonny’s dad passed away when he was in ninth grade in a tragic car accident that a distraught Sonny played quarterback in his high school team’s game at Smyrna in Tennessee and threw three touchdown passes. Kind of Brett Favre like.

The Yanks have a good hitting lineup and he hung tough against them as did the A’s. Sonny was bringing it 94-95 and his curve was un-hittable. It was amazing to see home runs go out. Billy Butler of the A’s hit one in the top of the sixth that tied the game up at 3. I was taking a sip of my drink, then all of the sudden I heard the crack of the bat and within three seconds the ball was in the left field stands. It was pretty amazing. Then in the top of the 10th, the A’s hyper-intense, total gritty player third baseman Brett Lawrie hit a leadoff homer just inside the left field foul pole off All-Star pitcher Dellin Bentances, who came into the game with a 1.65 ERA, 13 holds and seven saves in nine opportunities. He’s almost un-hittable. Tyler Clippard finished off the job in the bottom of the 10th for the A’s in their 4-3 victory. It was Clippard’s 16th save of the season. Sonny didn’t get the decision, but was key reason his team won.

Then Sonny pitched a complete game shutout  yesterday in Cleveland beating the Tribe, 2-0. He gave up two hits, 0 runs, with one walk and six K’s. He’s now 10-3 with a 2.04 ERA and a WHIP of 0.96. Stephen Vogt, who at 30 years old and making $500,000 a year, gave Sonny the only two runs he needed. Vogt looked like he hit it out in the first inning off tough right hander Corey Kluber, who is only 4-10, but has a 3.38 ERA and is the reigning Cy Young Award winner in the American League, but David Murphy reached over the eight foot wall in right field and robbed Vogt of long one. But in the fourth, Vogt, who was voted to his first All-Star team along with Sonny, hit a no-doubter to right, his 14th of the season and Ribeyes 55 and 56. He’s hitting .287 and has been superb at catcher for the A’s. He’s a heckuva guy as well. Great sense of humor and so humble. He’s kind of a rock star in Oakland now. He and Sonny are the A’s reps in the All-Star game. Sonny will not pitch in the All-Star game because he threw yesterday, but it’s a thrill to be selected and he very much deserved it. Sonny goes again Friday at home vs. Ervin Santana and a very good Minnesota Twins team in O.co Coliseum. David Price will pitch in the All-Star game and is slated to pitch Saturday night vs the Orioles at Comerica Park in the Motor City.

Oakland is now 41-50 and 8.5 back of the division leading LA Angels. They haven’t played great, but I see signs of them waking up. They’ve got good starting pitching, the bullpen is shaping up, their defense, which has always been a strength but has struggled some this year, is shoring up. They committed no errors this weekend at Cleveland, and their bats which have been erratic, can also be pretty darn good. They have some good hitters in their lineup.

I picked the A’s over the Cardinals in my World Series prediction  the day before the season started and I have to stick with that, but will make playoff predictions accordingly when they commence in October. Liking the Pirates and Royals a lot now.

David Price really, really gutted out a victory over the Twins on Thursday, 4-2. David struggled a little in the first three innings, but settled down and was David Price in the last five frames. Dave went eight, gave up only five hits to a very good Minnesota Twins team that took the next three games from the Tigers, with  two unearned runs, walked three and K’d 8. He threw 117 pitches with 78 for strikes and 39 four balls. His fastball was clocking at 95-96, but his change up was kind of his go to pitch against the Twins. He was throwing it 85-86 and really throwing the Twins hitters off. It was a masterpiece overall. David moved to 9-2 on the season. He has a 2.38 ERA with a 1.12 WHIP, 25 walks and 115 strikeouts. It may have been one of his top performances as a pitcher in his career. How he battled was outrageously good.

He got a homer in the first from Ian Kinsler, the Tigers’ stud second baseman, and Kinsler drove in the go ahead run in the top of the eighth with a double that just caught the top of the left field wall and almost went out for a two run shot. Yoenis Cespedes, who is having a killer year for the Tigers, drove in Kinsler with a double to right. It’s a shame the Tigers left fielder didn’t make the All-Star team. Yoenis is a superb hitter batting .297 with 13 homers and 51 RBIs and he’s an exceptional defensive left fielder. He rarely commits an error; he has five on the season on 181 total chances, and he has eight assists. He can gun ’em down on the base paths or at the plate. He has a cannon for an arm. It’s a travesty he didn’t make the All Star team. Joakim Soria picked up his 20th save in 23 attempts.

In the 17 games Price has started for the Tigers this season, they have won 15 times. That’s impressive. The Tigers have struggled recently and are at 44-44, nine back of the KC Royals, which are at 52-34. The Twins are playing very good baseball at 49-40 and are 4.5 back of KC. The Tigers need to get it together quickly in the second half. Missing first baseman Miggie Cabrera is tough. He’ll be out till the end of July at least with a calf strain. He’s superb hitting .351 and playing stellar first and they need him. They still have good bats. The starting pitching outside of Price has been the issue for them. They really need Justin Verlander to step up and back up Price and get some more starters like Anabel Sanchez to step up as well. The bullpen is pretty decent though Joba Chamberlin was a disaster in middle relief and he got sent down to the minors. He’s got talent, but just hasn’t realized it this year. There are some other good arms out of the Tigers’ pen and Soria is an excellent closer. It’s the starting pitching that HAS to improve for the Tigers to be playing relevant ball in September. And, of course, they need Miggie back.

Spieth

Finally, Jordan Spieth is just phenomal. I like him in the British as well as anybody. I think he can get the third leg of the Grand Slam. He’s got a very good shot Down by two shots at the John Deere Classic yesterday in Illinois, he chips in on 16 for birdie, birdies from four feet on 17, and pars 18 to force a playoff and wins on the second playoff hole over 46 year old Tom Gillis. Jordan is setting himself up well for the Open Championship. The thing I love about it is Jordan made a commitment to the John Deere that he would play there,  and instead of blowing it off and going across the Atlantic and playing in the Scottish Open, which Rickie Fowler won with a birdie on 18, he kept his commitment to the Deere and amazingly won it. Nothing he does surprises me. He’s spectacular. Will have full coverage of the 144th Open Championship with predictions on Wednesday.

SEC Football

SEC Media Days in full throttle. Will have plenty on that this week as well.

David Price pitched a really nice game yesterday in leading his Tigers to an 8-3  victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Dave went seven, gave up eight hits, one earned, with one walk and seven K’s. He gave up a home run to Jays center fielder Kevin Pillar, but pitched a beauty overall. Al Albuquerque and Jeff Ferrell finished it off for the Tigers. though Ferrell ran into some trouble in the ninth giving up two runs. But the Tigers bats were on despite losing Miggy Cabrera the night before with a grade 3 calf strain that will sideline the Tigers’ slugger, and the best hitter in baseball, for six weeks. Ian Kinsler and Yoenis Cespedes each had three hits, and J.D. Martinez hit his 22nd home run and knocked his 54th, 55th Ribeyes. The Tigers belted out 13 hits. The Tigers still have the bats. It’s the pitching that has to come through for them to be a serious contender when Miggy gets back to the lineup maybe around early to the second week in August.

David threw 114 pitches, 79 for strikes with 35 balls, over a 2:1 strike to walk ratio, always the key number and a good number. As I always say, Dave is just a strike thrower. His fastball hit 96 on his 112th pitch to Jose Reyes. He was using the hard stuff a lot, bringing it 94-95 and 96 at times, and mixing in his cutter which comes in around 90 and breaks into right handers and away from left handers, his change up which was good and he threw some pretty good curve balls. He’s just a complete pitcher.

David moved to 8-2 on the season with a 2.54 ERA. He has walked only 22 and struck out 107. His WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched) is 1.13, good for fourth in the American League. He’s been a rock  for the Tigers pitching staff. The Tigers have won two in a row over the high octane offense of the Jays and go for the sweep today. They moved to 41-39 on the season and trail the AL Central leading KC Royals by five games. The Royals are at 45-33. The Royals lost to the Minnesota Twins yesterday, 5-3, at home. The Twins are in second in the AL Central at 43-48, 3.5 back of the Royals.

Justin Verlander (0-1, 5.09) goes today for the Tigers against Marco Estrada of the Jays. Estrada is 5-4 with a 3.58 ERA. Verlander really needs to get it together for the Tigers to make a run. He’s back healthy and he needs to have David’s back in the rotation. If he can get it going, that would be a a huge boost to the Tigers starters. If you have Price and Verlander dealing, the rest of the rotation will follow. Tigers need this today. Still think the bats will be fine. Alex Avila took Miggy’s spot at first and did a really nice job. He made a superb catch on a pop fly in the first base seats and he has a pretty good bat. Manager Brad Ausmus said we wouldn’t see Alex all the time at first in place of Miggy, but I don’t know why not. He’s a great defensive player and can hit. I’m not sure what Ausmus is talking about. He looked pretty darn good to me. After today, the Tigers hit the road to Seattle for three beginning tomorrow night, then go to the Twins for a huge four game set leading up to the All Star break. Need to win today and have a solid road trip to stay right in the mix.

David pitches Thursday at Minnesota against Mike Pelphrey (5-5, 3.94, 32 walks, 45 K’s, 5 homers, 1.49 WHIP). David has given up nine homers in 117 innings. That’s fine. He just throws strikes and sometimes the batter is expecting it and catches one right down the pipe and on the barrel. Dave’s having a tremendous season.

Pedro went o for 3 yesterday, but the Pirates won 1-0 over the Cleveland Indians. Pedro grounded out to short and the pitcher respectively, and K’d once. He was part of two double plays at first base. Not his best day at the plate, but the Bucs evened the series with the Indians. The Bucs moved to 46-34, and are six games back of the Cards, which beat the Padres, 2-1, yesterday. The Cards are 52-28 in the NL Central. The Bucs throw stud Gerrit Cole today. He’s 11-3 with a 2.20 ERA with 25 walks, 108 K’s and a 1.14 WHIP. He’ll face Danny Salazar of the Indians, who is 7-3, 3.80 ERA 24 walks,. 108 K’s and a 1.16 WHIP. Bucs need to win this one and win the series. Salazar is a right handed pitcher so Pedro should start. Pedro is hitting .240 with 11 homers and 35 prime ribs.

Sonny suffered food poisoning from Salmonella last week. I’ve never had that, but have heard it’s pretty bad. But he is expected to start for the A’s Tuesday night. I feel very fortunate as I am visiting my older daughter in NYC this week beginning tomorrow and we have tickets to the A’s- Yankees game that Tuesday night. My younger daughter will be there as well visiting with me, so it’s going to be a blast. Will give a full report when I return. I’m not going to wear my A’s hat because I don’t want to get in a tussle with a Yankees fan while I’m with my daughters, but I am going to wear my Vandy hat and may try to get Sonny’s attention if I can. Our tickets are on the third base side, right behind the A’s dugout, so I may give Sonny a shout out if possible without embarrassing my daughters. I’m really pumped. Full report when I return. Pumped for NYC and pumped to see Sonny. The A’s have won two of three from the Mariners and defeated the nearly unbeatable King Felix Hernandez yesterday, 2-0. It was beautiful. The team got great work from starter Kendall Graveman, who gave up five hits and o runs in seven innings, and Drew Pomeranz and Tyler Clippard finished it off. Clippard earned his 15th save of the season. The starting pitching for the A’s has been good, it’s just been the bullpen that’s been an issue. But the pen is starting to show signs of improvement and that would be a huge boost to this team. The A’s are now 38-46 and 10.5 back of the Astros in the AL West.

They go for the series sweep today. Chris Bassitt (0-0, 2.87 ERA) goes for the A’s vs. Mike Montgomery 3-2, 1.62 ERA) for the M’s. The A’s have their work cut out today.

Sonny now 9-3 with a 2.09 ERA with 26 walks and 97 K’s and an awesome 0.99 WHIP. He’s given up five home runs in 107.2 innings. He’ll face Nathan Eovaldi of the Yankees. Eovaldi is 8-2 with a 4.52 ERA with 25 walks and 63 K’s and a 1.54 WHIP, so while the record is good, he looks hittable. He’s a righty.

The A’s are in New York for three beginning Tuesday and then head to Cleveland Friday for a weekend series before the All-Star break.

The Orioles lost to the White Sox yesterday, 3-2. Ryan Flaherty was 1 for 2 with a run scored. Ryan had a single. He’s hitting .248 and is the regular second baseman and playing outstanding defense. The O’s are 42-39 and two games back of the Yankees, which have beaten the Rays the last two days on walk off home runs. It’s been pretty dramatic.

Another note. The Tigers called up Drew Verhagen from the 2012 squad this week. Drew could see some action very soon, so that’s exciting.

Will have more when I get back from the City that never sleeps. The way my daughters have me scheduled out, I may be a part of that crowd. But I can’t wait. I’ll catch up when I get home.

“El Toro,”  Pedro Alvarez and his Pittsburgh Pirates’ teammates are sizzling right now. It’s really a treat to watch this group compete.

Last night at Comerica Park in Detroit, the Bucs belted three long balls in the top of the eighth with Neil Walker, Starling Marte and Pedro all going yard. It was Neil’s second of the game as the Bucs beat the Tigers for the second night in a row, 9-3. Pedro also hit a ground rule double to right in the third inning. The second victory over the Tigers came on the heels of their 5-4, 14 inning victory on Monday night. The Bucs and Tigers play again today at 1:08 PM ET/12:08 PM CT at Comerica as the Steel City guys go for the sweep in Motown. Francisco Liriano gets the call today for the Bucs on the hill versus Kyle Ryan of the Tigers. Liriano is 4-6 with a 3.21 ERA. Ryan is 1-1 with a 4.56 ERA.

Pedro hit his 11th homer in the eighth last night and it was a monster shot; looked like a 410-420 rocket to right central. This was after Walker and Marte both homered to left. No RBI’s last night for Pedro, but by going 2-for-5 with two runs scored, he elevated his average to .248. He also doubled Monday night. His double to right in the second was his 14th of the season. He has 35 RBI’s and is hitting .400 in his last seven games. The rock solid A.J. Burnett pitched seven, gave up seven hits, two runs earned, with no walks and four K’s. The Pirates bullpen closed it out. A.J. who seems to get better with age, is 7-3 with a 2.05 ERA. He’s 38 years young. Burnett has walked 27 and struck out 90 and his WHIP is solid at 1.22. His fastball is hitting 92-93 and his other “stuff” is excellent.

The Bucs moved to 44-33 on the season and trail the Cardinals (51-26, lost last night to ChiSox, 7-1) in the NL Central by seven games, but have a 2 1/2 game lead over the Cubs for the NL wild card. A lot of season left. The way this team is playing if the Cards slip somewhat, the Bucs can catch them.

Meanwhile, the Tigers aren’t pitching too swiftly except for David Price. Dave is 7-2 with a 2.62 ERA, but the rest of the staff has put the Tigers team ERA to over 4. Justin Verlander is just getting back, so he should help, though he pitched OK Monday night. Didn’t get the loss, but struggled somewhat But their starting pitching is pretty bad right now except for David, and the bullpen is not always reliable. Joba Chamberlin was the culprit of the three long balls in the top of the eighth by the Bucs. He’s never been reliable. Joakim Soria is a pretty good closer, as he has 17 saves in 19 opportunities and had a 2.56 ERA bringing it 94-95, Al Alburquerque is pretty good in middle relief as is Alex Wilson, but Chamberlin is not and the rest of the arms are to be determined. They have enough in the pen, but their starters are just questionable right now. David pitches Saturday versus R. A. Dickey of the Toronto Blue Jays. Dickey is struggling this year with a 3-8 record and a 4.85 ERA, so David could have the advantage though the Blue Jays can hit well and will be a major challenge for Dave and the Tigers.

The Tigers are now 39-38 and six back of the KC Royals, which were surprisingly swept by the real deal Houston Astros in Houston in a three game set that concluded last night. The Royals are 44-31. The Tigers can really hit, but their pitching really needs to make a marked improvement for them to be a factor in September-October.

Sonny pitches Sunday for the A’s vs Mike Montgomery and the Seattle Mariners. After missing a start, Sonny will try to get on track again on Sunday. He’s 9-3 with a 2.09 ERA. Montgomery is good with a 3-2 overall record and a 1.62 ERA. The A’s took two out of three from the Rockies and start their series with the Mariners tonight. King Felix, Felix Hernandez pitches Saturday for the M’s. Felix is 10-4 with a 3.05 ERA. He has issued 31 walks and recorded 100 K’s. His WHIP is 1.03, excellent. One of the best in the business along with Price, Sonny, Chris Sale, Zach Greinke, Max Scherzer, who pitches tonight against the Braves and is on an unreal tear, and Clayton Kershaw. Guess you have to throw Madison Bumgarner in there, too.

Orioles beat the Rangers last night, 4-2. Ryan Flaherty was two for three, with a double and a run scored. That was Ryan’s sixth double of the season. Ryan is now hitting .255. Needs to cut down on the strikeouts, but it seems like most major league players need to right now. The pitching is really good right now, but the hitting, despite too many strikeouts, is still pretty good, too. The O’s moved to 42-36 and lead the Yankees (42-37) by a half game. The O’s finish their series with the Rangers today, then go to the White Sox for the weekend.

Golf

Jon Curran just started his round at the Greenbriar Classic and birdied the first hole. He’s playing the backside first at the Old White Course and birdied No.10. The leaders are Brian Davis, Ryo Ishikawa and Scott Langley who are all at -6. Davis and Ryo are done, Langley is through 12. Would love to see JC have a big weekend over the 4th in West Virginia.

Luke List bogeyed his first hole at the Web.com’s Nova Scotia Open in Halfiax, Canada, but maybe Luke can get the ship righted and make a run this weekend. The leader is Josh Broadaway at -6. He’s finished his round.

***Update: Jon bogeyed No.11, his second hole, so he’s at even par. Luke birdied No.11, his second hole, to move to even. Luke started on the back as well.