It's a jam-packed schedule for the first Wednesday of July, 16 games in all thanks to a Tigers-White Sox doubleheader at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Some of the storylines worth watching include Stephen Strasburg shoving against the Marlins; the Reds topping the Brewers; Dylan Cease making his debut; and Bryce Harper making history.

Select games can be streamed regionally via fuboTV (Try for free). For more on what channel each game is on, click here.

Who wins every MLB game? And what underdogs can give you a huge victory? Visit SportsLine now to see the exact score of every MLB game, plus get full player stat projections, all from the model that simulates every game 10,000 times.

July 3 scores

Strasburg fans 14 as Nats keep winning

Did you know: the Nationals entered the day with the best record in baseball over their last 30 games? It's true. At 21-9, the Nationals have done well to re-position themselves within the playoff race after seemingly appearing close to finished.

The Nationals kept on rolling on Wednesday, topping the Marlins behind some dominant pitching by Stephen Strasburg.

Strasburg fanned 14 batters in 7 ⅓ innings, permitting two hits and two walks apiece. He threw 110 pitches and generated 23 swinging strikes -- including nine on his breaking ball and eight on his changeup. The Marlins had no chance, basically.

As a result, the Nationals have now won three games in a row.

Reds win again behind Gray, Puig

The Reds walked-off against the Brewers in thrilling fashion on Tuesday, with Yasiel Puig dashing around the bases to score the winning run. On Wednesday, they beat the Brewers again -- this time with less drama.

Puig still contributed, hitting his 19th homer of the season as part of a two-hit effort:

But the bigger story of the evening was right-hander Sonny Gray. Gray lasted eight innings, striking out 12 and permitting no runs on four hits and a walk. He coerced 14 whiffs on his breaking balls, including 10 on his signature curve, per Statcast.

Gray's season ERA is now down to 3.59.

Pirates top Cubs thanks to defensive miscues 

The Cubs took a one-run lead into the bottom of the ninth against the Pirates on Wednesday. It did not last. Instead, the Cubs ended up losing -- due in large part to their defense.

Before we get to that, let's revisit a play in the eighth inning, when typical catcher Willson Contreras -- who was playing right field -- made a perfect throw home to keep the score where it was:

Contreras's inability to haul in a ball in the ninth contributed to the loss, but not as much as horrid mistake by Addison Russell. With runners on second and third and one out, Russell tried throwing out the would-be tying run at the plate on a groundball that forced him to his left. 

Russell, who doesn't have a strong arm, naturally failed in that pursuit, setting up a first-and-third situation with one out. The next batter, Corey Dickerson, then hit a walk-off sacrifice fly.

Give Russell credit for this much: he seemed uninterested in admitting fault after the game:

Cease wins in debut

If Dylan Cease's name sounds familiar, it's probably because the White Sox prospect was a key part of the deal that sent Jose Quintana to the Cubs a few years back. 

Cease has since worked his way up the organizational ladder, and on Wednesday he made his big-league debut in what proved to be a winning effort against the Tigers. His line on the afternoon saw him yield three runs on four hits and four walks across five innings. He also gave up a home run, and struck out six batters on a total of 101 pitches.

More than half Cease's pitches were his high-grade fastball, which clocked in on average around 97 mph, per Statcast. He generated only three swing-and-misses on the heat, likely because his command was suboptimal. Cease also coerced four whiffs on his breaking pitches, each of which is considered an above-average offering.

Because of Cease's wildness, he could end up in the bullpen down the road. For now, he deserves ample opportunity to turn into a mid-rotation starter at the game's highest level.

Highlight of the night: O's trick Rays

The Orioles are one of the worst teams in baseball; the Rays, conversely, are competing for a playoff spot. For a brief stretch of time on Wednesday, those roles were irrelevant and the Orioles seemed to be the more competent team. Take a look:

What you're seeing there is catcher Chance Sisco faking a throw to second -- there were two outs with runners on the corners --and baiting Guillermo Heredia to run home. Sisco's ploy, which never seems to work, worked. Heredia was caught in a pickle then tagged out, ending the threat.

Obviously the Rays are far, far, far superior to the Orioles. But that's the beauty of baseball: sometimes the talent gap just doesn't matter.

Stat of the night: Harper reaches two milestones at once

We wrote about this elsewhere, but Bryce Harper achieved two milestones with one swing of the bat on Wednesday. He notched his 200th home run which doubled as his 1,000th hit. He was the first player to ever accomplish those two feats at once. There is another player who could do it this season. Click on through to find out who.

Quick hits