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Happy Birthday, America! In your honor, there will be loads of MLB action throughout the afternoon and evening. As usual, we'll run it all down right here. 

Final scores

Nationals 11, Mets 4 (box score)
Blue Jays 4, Yankees 1 (box score)
Tigers 5, Giants 3 (box score)
Twins 5, Angels 4 (box score)
Marlins 5, Cardinals 2 (box score)
Rays 6, Cubs 5 (box score)
Athletics 7, White Sox 6 (box score)
Pirates 3, Phillies 0 (box score)
Brewers 6, Orioles 2 (box score)
Royals 7, Mariners 3 (box score)
Padres 1, Indians 0 (box score)
Astros 16, Braves 4 (box score)
Red Sox 11, Rangers 4 (box score)
Reds 8, Rockies 1 (box score)
Dodgers 4, Diamondbacks 3 (box score)

It was a good night for David Price, Andrew Benintendi and the Red Sox

The Red Sox on Tuesday won their sixth game in a row. But wait: That's not all! First and foremost, they got a gem from David Price. Price, of course, didn't make his 2017 debut until the end of May thanks to an elbow injury, and he entered Tuesday's start with an uncharacteristic 4.61 ERA and his work K/BB ratio since 2010. On top of all that, he's been sparring with the Boston media. Also adding to the pressure is that Price, at least in terms of run prevention, was somewhat disappointing in 2016 -- the first year of the $217 million contract he inked with Boston. 

Given that backdrop, consider his Fourth of July performance against the Rangers to be a very welcome respite ... 

player headshot
David Price
LAD • SP • #33
vs. TEX, 7/4
IP6
H6
R0
SO9
BB2
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It wasn't all roses, as Price left the game with a trainer because of an apparent finger problem. (He's dealt with blister issues and a cracked nail at various points this season.) Assuming it's nothing serious, though, this is an encouraging outing. It's the first time Price has struck out nine or more batters in a start since Sept. 12 of last year. It's also the first time he's had a scoreless outing since Aug. 22 of last year. Yes, Price is still capable of dominating, and there's no doubt that pitching this well eases some of the pressure on him. 

Price wasn't the only Sock having a night. Please regard the evening outputs by a certain rookie outfielder ... 

player headshot
Andrew Benintendi
CHW • LF • #23
vs. TEX, 7/4
AB5
H5
R4
RBI6
HR2
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In addition to cracking those two home runs and raising his season line to .288/.361/.465, Benintendi also did this in the field ... 

Yes, it was a good night for the Red Sox.

Freddie Freeman plays third for the first time in the bigs

Braves slugger Freddie Freeman has some of the best rate-based numbers in all of baseball this season. However, a broken wrist sidelined him from May 17 until Tuesday night. While Freeman was working his way back, the Braves hatched a plan to move him to third base. Freeman was a third baseman in high school, but as pro he's played just five games at the hot corner -- in rookie ball back in 2007. 

It's bold, yes, but the Braves began their experiment on Tuesday night against the Astros. First, Freeman got a warm welcome back from the hometown fans prior to his first plate appearance ... 

He promptly dumped one into center for a single. In the next inning, he got his first MLB fielding chance at third base ... 

Hey, he made the play. Freeman looked a little stilted at his new position, but that's to be expected this early in the experiment. He did turn in an error-less performance on Tuesday night, and more generally that bat will more than make up for any defensive shortcomings. 

Oh, the Braves got destroyed in this game.

The Brewers are still on top

As you see above, the Brewers beat the Orioles on Tuesday. Central to that triumph was Eric Thames, who homered twice. Here's a look at No. 2 ... 

That's a welcome turn of events, as Thames's numbers have declined significantly since his stellar April. However, he's been crushing the ball thus far in July. 

Anyhow, the Brewers' Tuesday win in tandem with the Cubs' Tuesday defeat brings us to the current standings in the NL Central ... 

TeamWLPct.GBRSRADiffHomeRoadEastCentWestL10Strk
Milwaukee4640.535-4193922725-2321-179-719-1712-136-4W 2
Chi. Cubs4142.4943½3793661322-1719-2510-821-149-144-6L 1
St. Louis4043.4824½377370723-2217-2115-515-217-97-3L 1
Pittsburgh3746.4467½345387-4221-2216-2416-1112-175-114-6L 4
Cincinnati3547.4279395447-5223-2012-276-619-175-155-5L 2


As you can see, Milwaukee now boasts a 3 1/2-game lead over the second-place Cubs. That happens to be the Brewers' largest lead of the season. A win on Wednesday means they'll be seven games over .500, matching their season-high. Also, they've now spent 48 days in first place. No, this isn't a team that's going to rip off 95 wins, but they keep hanging around (thanks in part to the fact that every other team in the division is below .500), and they've got a run differential that backs up that .535 winning percentage. Maybe it's time to start taking them seriously?

Yes, the Cubs project as the better team moving forward, and the Cubs are more likely to make needle-moving roster improvements prior to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. As well, the Brewers will probably be without Chase Anderson (oblique) until the final month of the regular season. The Brewers probably aren't going to pull this off. Each day they remain in front of the pack, though, the Miracle in Milwaukee becomes a little less of a miracle and more of a realistic possibility. 

The Royals are in the race

The Royals prevailed over the Mariners on Tuesday, and in doing so they moved to a season-best three games over .500. As well, the Royals, after a 7-16 record in April, have now clawed their way back into contention. They're very much within range of the Indians in the AL Central, and they're tied for the second wild card spot in the AL. How hot have they been? Consider ... 

So that's good. This is also good ... 

player headshot
Danny Duffy
TEX • SP • #24
vs. SEA, 7/4
IP5 2/3
H5
R2
ER2
SO4
BB2
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Duffy on Tuesday was making his first start since May 28, when he went down with an oblique strain. To be sure, that's not a gem you see above, but it's certainly encouraging outing given how long Duffy's been sidelined. He's got the most upside in the rotation, so it's obviously a boon to the Royals' hopes to get him back on the active roster. 

Remember when we were all wondering whether the Royals would deal all those expiring veteran contracts before the deadline? It's hard to imagine that happening now. Instead, the Royals now have legitimate designs on the postseason.

Rookie Barreto walks it off

The A's not long ago called up top prospect shortstop Franklin Barreto. Barreto, 21, hadn't hit through the first nine games of his big-league career. On Tuesday against the White Sox, though, he notched the first walk-off homer of his young career ... 

Coincidentally, Barreto hit the first home run of his career on June 24 against those same White Sox. And the people say: Always play the White Sox.

Murphy unloads against former team

Daniel Murphy busted through as an offensive force for the Mets late in 2015, specifically in the playoffs, helping to get them to the World Series. The ensuing offseason saw Murphy sign with the division rival Nationals and he has been on fire ever since. He finished second in NL MVP voting last season and entered Tuesday hitting .333/.389/.568 in 2017. 

He has particularly terrorized his former team. Before Tuesday's bout, Murphy carried a career .388/.438/.698 slash against the Mets, with 29 RBI in 30 games. 

He bettered this stat line on the Fourth of July. 

In an 11-4 victory, Murphy was 4 for 5 with a double and five RBI. 

The first-place Nationals are now 11 1/2 games better than the third-place Mets. 

Rough return for CC

The struggling Yankees got big CC Sabathia back from the disabled list, having recovered from his hamstring injury. He wouldn't provide a shot in the arm. In fact, he was bad and didn't even last through the third inning. 

Sabathia actually retired the first eight hitters he faced, but he wouldn't get another out. 

The chronology -- again, all of this with two outs: Walk, single, single, walk, walk, single. Death by a million papercuts, eh? Sabathia was pulled from the game. 

The final line for Sabathia: 2 2/3 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, L. 

Not a good return, to say the least. 

The Yankees have lost 15 of their last 21 games, too. 

Judge goes deep again

The lone bright spot for the Yankees on Tuesday was, once again, Aaron Judge. He delivered his MLB-best 28th home run of the season. 

Judge is just one home run shy of the Yankees rookie record for home runs, which is held by Joe DiMaggio. Judge is on pace to hit 55 homers this season. He could sure use some help from teammates right now, though. 

Patriotic flourishes of the day

Yes, we've seen all the Fourth of July uniforms on display, but no big-league club went to the fashionable lengths that Yankees' Triple-A affiliate did ... 

Also, please regard this plate ump's patriotic facemask ... 

Looking good, (red, white, and) Blue.

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