The bat of veteran slugger Gary Sheffield has run dry of late.

Injuries, moves, rumors and newsmakers...

Kelvim Escobar is joining elite company; Gary Sheffield speaks more than he hits; more unexpected offence from the surging Cards; Mark DeRosa has his biggest day; NL West teams are after Boomer; and more...
 

  KELVIM CREEPS UP

Here's a name that's always been pretty good, but has never really amounted to a Cy-Young-worthy pitcher: Kelvim Escobar. But we're officially throwing his name in the hat for Cy consideration after another great outing in Toronto Thursday night.

The hard-throwing righty cruised through 7.0 innings, allowing one run on five hits, no walks and striking out nine against his former team. That gives him eight straight quality starts, brings his record up to 13-6 and lowers his ERA to 2.68, which is second-best in the AL.

Nobody is really running away as the favorite to win the AL Cy this year, but candidates include teammate John Lackey, plus Dan Haren, Erik Bedard, Johan Santana, Josh Beckett and C.C. Sabathia.

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  SHEFF SPEAKS

Throughout this season, Tigers slugger Gary Sheffield has let his mouth do the talking when it comes to his feelings about his old team, the Yankees, and their manager Joe Torre. And after going 0-for-3 in the opener of a four-game series in the Bronx Thursday night, he'll have to do more than talk with his mouth to scare his old mates. He needs to let his bat do the talking.

Most recently, Sheffield said that the difference between Torre and Jim Leyland, his new skipper, is that Leyland is "real." But it's about time the Detroit DH showed his bat was real, as he's hit just two home runs with only nine RBIs since July 14.

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ANGELS 
Righty Ervin Santana appears to have righted himself in the last two of his five minor-league starts since his July 18 demotion, and that has bought him a call-up to make a spot-start during Friday's doubleheader. The young righty was mauled in his 19 big-league starts this year and his 5.01 ERA at Triple-A Salt Lake is indicative of his spotty performance down there, with three quality starts and two stinkers.

ATHLETICS 
When rookie lefty Dan Meyer was called up on Monday, the A's weren't certain what kind of role he'd play for them. However, lacking a fifth starter, it seemed a given that he'd join the rotation after making 20 strong minor-league starts this year. And now he's set to take the mound Friday for his A's debut and the first start of his big-league career. He had a 3.52 ERA in the minors, but his lackluster command (51:93 walks-strikeouts ratio) could be problematic in the majors.

CARDINALS 
Amazingly, the Cardinals continued their run to contention Thursday afternoon, completing a sweep of the NL-Central-leading Brewers to get within 2.5 games of the lead. And a good chunk of the offense came from a surprising source: light-hitting catcher Yadier Molina. He tripled his season home-run total by launching two on a 3-for-3 day with three RBIs and three runs scored. It was the fourth-year player's first career multi-homer game.

CUBS 
Super-sub Mark DeRosa enjoyed a career-best game Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field. He helped the Cubs beat the Reds in a 12-4 rout by going 5-for-5 with four RBIs. In the Cubs' seven-run seventh, he stroked two singles that drove in one and two runs, respectively. And, true to his super-sub title, he played both second base and right field.

GIANTS 
Though lefty Pat Misch has made two starts with decent results for the Giants this month, the rookie will join the bullpen after being called up again on Thursday. He'll take the place of big setup man Randy Messenger, who fell to the DL with a fractured hand suffered during batting practice on Wednesday... Meanwhile, speedy rookie Rajai Davis is going to get more playing time the rest of the way at the expense of veteran Dave Roberts. Though Roberts is hitting well these days, the kid has been on fire since being acquired from the Pirates on deadline day. The vet, who's a little banged-up these days, isn't getting benched, per se, he'll just see a decrease in at-bats, particularly against left-handed pitchers.

NATIONALS 
You can officially count out Nick Johnson for 2007. It's been a hard-luck career for the talented first baseman, who's constantly dealt with injuries. He was just about through an impressive, injury-free breakthrough season last year when he broke his leg in September and he's still dealing with the after-effects. The left-handed slugger will turn 29 this September and hopes are that he'll be ready to start 2008 and finally enjoy a healthy season.

ROCKIES 
Keeping their eyes out for pitching help with three starters on the DL, the Rockies are said to be considering signing David Wells. Boomer, of course, is a free agent after being released earlier this month by the Padres. The bulky, 44-year-old southpaw made 22 starts for the Pads, accumulating a bloated 5.53 ERA. The Dodgers are also said to have interest in him.

TWINS 
Filling the roster spot left by Wednesday's trade of reliever Ramon Ortiz, the Twins called up rookie slugger Garrett Jones. The 26-year-old left-handed hitter was up on a couple of other occasions this year, going 4-for-25, and he could get a start here and there at DH.

WHITE SOX 
Contrary to what the White Sox were saying just before the July 31 trade deadline, young righty Gavin Floyd will pitch out of the bullpen, rather than the rotation, for the rest of the campaign. This month, he's made two starts with drastically different results, allowing no runs in the first and seven in his most recent outing following a strong run in the Triple-A Charlotte rotation.