Jo-Jo Reyes will not go down in history as the starting pitcher with the longest winless streak. As it stands, his 28 starts in between victories is tied for the longest stretch in MLB History. After last tasting victory on June 13, 2008, Reyes was a winner last night.

In addition to getting his first win since 2008, Reyes tossed a complete game for the first time in his big league career. The lefty scattered eight hits over nine innings against the Cleveland Indians, allowing a run on a solo-blast by Shelley Duncan. He struck out four batters while walking an equal amount, but induced 13 groundballs – including three double-play balls. While Reyes earned the victory against the Indians, it was not his best game of the season.

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It’s not as bad as it was a month ago. Then the White Sox were 10-19 and were scoring just 3.9 runs per game, which put them near the bottom of the league in most respects. Since then they’ve gone 15-12 and have scored 4.22 runs per game. That mark is second in the division only to Detroit, and has the Sox inching back into contention. As you can imagine, the Sox have seen many improvements on offense, going from a .295 wOBA in April to a .329 wOBA in May. That includes an improvement from Adam Dunn, who in creased his wOBA from .271 to .299 in the month of May. But he’s still well below expectations. Considering his spot in the Sox lineup, he really is holding them back.

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Continuing our Trade Targets series, here are five middle infielders who could be available at (or before) the deadline.

PLAYER: Jose Reyes
TEAM: Mets
POSSIBLE DESTINATION(S): Giants, Reds, Brewers
CONTRACT STATUS: $11 million, free agent after the season
PROJECTED WAR: 3.3

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The hottest team in baseball are the Arizona Diamondbacks, winners of seven straight and nine of their last 10. Their run has vaulted them into first place in the National League West, and as we head toward June, they head up the list of surprising contenders throughout baseball. How have they managed to go from abysmal failure last year to early season success story this year? Essentially, it comes down to one word — balance.

They aren’t being carried by an MVP candidate having a monster season; in fact, it might be hard to identify who their best player has been this year. Ryan Roberts leads the position players with +1.9 WAR, but the team has also gotten +1.2 WAR or better from the starters at every other position on the field besides first base, and even that “weak spot” is now being manned on a daily basis by Juan Miranda, owner of a .250/.370/.490 batting line.

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Someone’s excited to watch the Rays tonight.

This edition of One Night Only contains:

1. Expanded previews for three games: Texas at Tampa Bay, Cleveland at Toronto, and Milwaukee at Cincinnati.

2. Brief, but no less charming, previews for four more games: San Francisco at St. Louis, San Diego at Atlanta, Astro Jordan Lyles’ major-league debut and Florida at Arizona.

3. Names like Jose Bautista, Zack Greinke, and then Jose Bautista, again — just for fun.

4. Pitcher and Team NERD scores for every one of tonight’s games.

5. Five numbered points!

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Continuing our Trade Targets series, here are five corner outfielders who could be available at (or before) the deadline.

PLAYER: Andre Ethier
TEAM: Dodgers
POSSIBLE DESTINATION: Phillies
CONTRACT STATUS: $9.25M, arbitration-eligible after this season (free agent after 2012)
PROJECTED WAR: 1.6

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Sorry for the lack of screen cap. MLB.com now allows video embedding, but it’s apparently not working here.

Angels 10, Royals 8

Moving the Needle: Torii Hunter caps the late comeback with a go-ahead homer in the ninth, +.640 WPA. For the home team, the above graph ranks among the saddest. The Royals built up a 6-1 lead after two, and even after seven innings they led 8-5. A pair of solo homers in the eighth put the Angels to within one, and then Hunter’s two-run shot gave the Angels the lead. It was Hunter’s second of the game, and his fourth RBI. Joakim Soria continues to struggle. He has just six 1-2-3 innings in his 23 appearances this year.

Notables

Bobby Abreu: 4 for 5, 2 2B. He drove in two and scored following both doubles.

Eric Hosmer: 2 for 5, 1 2B, 1 HR. He drove in half the Royals’ runs. It appears as though selectivity is the only thing holding him back from monster numbers right now.

Also in this issue: White Sox 7, Red Sox 3 | Diamondbacks 15, Marlins 4 | Tigers 6, Twins 5 | Padres 3, Braves 2 | Astros 12, Cubs 7 | Yankees 5, A’s 0 | Reds 7, Brewers 3 | Mariners 4, Orioles 3 | Dodgers 7, Rockies 1 | Rangers 11, Rays 5 | Phillies 5, Nationals 4 | Blue Jays 11, Indians 1 | Mets 7, Pirates 3 | Giants 7, Cardinals 3

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The month of June marks the unofficial beginning of the trade season, and so we thought it would be helpful to run down a list of which players might be for sale at some point this summer. But, rather than just run down a list of potential trade targets, we thought that we would spend the week discussing the most interesting players at each position and have compiled a list of the best players available at each spot, along with their expected production going forward and notes about which teams might be possible fits as buyers. We hope you enjoy the series.

Kicking off our week of looking at trade targets are the players who will be acquired primarily for their work with the bat: first basemen and designated hitters. Note that there might be some overlap across the posts as some players can handle multiple positions.

Here are five realistic trade candidates at the position(s), based on projected WAR over the rest of the season, contract status, the state of their current employers and the needs of various potential contenders.

PLAYER: Billy Butler
TEAM: Royals
POSSIBLE DESTINATION(S): Angels, Rays
CONTRACT STATUS: Four-year, $30 million deal through 2014
PROJECTED WAR: 2.1

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The American flag still may not contain the word “Jordache,” but we are still proud of those who have served our country in the armed forces. Thank you to those who serve, who have served and especially to those who have died in service to our country.

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