The Bulletin returns…

We didn’t see the blockbuster trades (Cliff Lee, Justin Upton, Jacoby Ellsbury) at the deadline, but we did see a lot of movement over the previous two weeks, with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants making the biggest moves.

Los Angeles acquired SS/3B Hanley Ramirez, RP Brandon League, and OF Shane Victorino at the deadline, all without having to give up their top prospect (pitcher Zach Lee). The additions of Ramirez and Victorino, coupled with the return of a healthy Matt Kemp, may have forced the Giants hand.

San Francisco, with LA hot on their trail, made the biggest acquisition at the deadline, acquiring Phillies RF Hunter Pence. Pence will be a huge upgrade for the Giants in RF.

In the American League, the Texas Rangers acquired Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster just before the deadline, a move made even more essential, as Texas announced yesterday that pitcher Neftali Feliz will miss the remainder of the season (and part of next) due to Tommy John surgery.

-AJ Burnett continued his “I Hate New York” tour last night, winning his 13^th game for the Pirates while tossing a complete game, 1-hit shutout against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Meanwhile, Freddy Garcia is a starting pitcher for the Yankees.

-Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander saw his streak of consecutive 6+ inning starts to a rain-shortened end in Boston last night. Nats pitcher Jordan Zimmermann now holds the streak for most consecutive 6+ inning starts.

-The Arizona Diamondbacks are warming up and find themselves just 3 ½ games behind the Giants for the NL West lead.

-The LA Angels are on fire (over the last two games), outscoring the Texas Rangers (over the last two games) 21-10. Mike Trout hit a HR last night. This is not surprising. He had 10 in July.

-Josh Beckett hungry! Josh Becket back hurt! Josh Beckett no pitch!

Okay, maybe not daily. The Nats took 3 of 4 games from the Brewers over the weekend, only to return to Washington last night, with Stephen Strasburg on the mound, and get hammered by the Phillies, 8-0 (It’s worth noting (no it’s not) that in the last two Nats games I’ve been to, they’ve lost by a combined score of 12-0.). The Nats were led last night by Mark DeRosa who went 0-4 with 4 strikeouts. He is currently available in 105% of all fantasy leagues.

But, relax people. Even with the loss, the Nats still possess MLB’s second best record. And if you’re going to lose a game, you do it 8-0 while giving Ryan Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche the day off with back soreness. The Nats will have a chance to bounce back tonight when Edwin Jackson and Vance Worley face off at 7:05 at Nationals Park.

Tape delayed Olympic action!!!!!!!!!

New York Mets @ San Francisco Giants (10:15/MLB.TV). Jon Niese and Matt Cain square off as Hunter Pence makes his San Francisco debut.