A look at what’s happening all around the majors today:
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ALL-STAR SHOWDOWN
Cleveland’s Corey Kluber and Detroit’s Michael Fulmer will face off in a matchup of All-Star pitchers, although neither will appear in Tuesday’s game.
Both were chosen to the American League team, but were replaced on the active roster - by Major League Baseball rule - because they’ll be starting the final game before the break.
Kluber (7-3) has struck out 10 or more in a team-record five consecutive starts, while Fulmer (8-6) has won his last two starts, allowing five earned runs in 16 2/3 innings.
Both pitchers will be in Miami for the All-Star Game.
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CRUISIN’ KERSHAW
The Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw (13-2) has made 12 consecutive starts without a loss and is 9-0 with a 2.19 ERA since a 4-3 loss to San Francisco on May 1. The left-hander hasn’t allowed a run in his last three starts.
The All-Star will next face Danny Duffy (5-4) and the Kansas City Royals at home.
Kershaw carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning in his last start and struck out 11 to become the first 13-game winner in the majors this season in a win over Arizona. He lost his bid for a second career no-hitter on an infield single by Chris Owings with one out in the seventh.
Kershaw, who has made seven All-Star teams, has never started in the game. He’s not eligible to pitch this year because he’s starting Sunday.
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TOMAHAWK CHOPPED
Atlanta has won two out of three against Washington after a 13-0 rout of Stephen Strasburg on Saturday to pull 8 1/2 games behind the Nationals in the NL East.
The Braves will start lefty Sean Newcomb (1-3) on Sunday against the Nationals, who had not yet announced a starter - although manager Dusty Baker hinted toward using Joe Ross (5-3). Newcomb looks to bounce back after the shortest outing of his season when he lasted just 3 1/3 innings in a 16-4 loss to Houston on July 4.
The Nationals were shut out for the first time in 87 games this season, becoming the last National League team to get blanked.
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FRIARS ON FIRE
Trevor Cahill (3-2) makes his ninth start for the Padres, who will look for a sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies in the finale of the three-game series.
San Diego has won five of six overall and clinched a victory in the series with a 2-1 win Saturday, snapping a streak of dropping six straight series in Philadelphia. The Phillies upped their club record before the All-Star break to 23 one-run losses. They’re 11-23 in one-run games.
Cahill will face Jerad Eickhoff (0-7), who will make his first start since going on the DL on June 18 with an upper back strain. He will be looking for his first victory in his 15th start.
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MEET THE MATZ
Steven Matz (2-1) will make his first career start against St. Louis, and the Mets left-hander brings a 17-inning scoreless streak into the game. He is just two innings from his career-best 19 scoreless innings in 2016.
The Cardinals will start Lance Lynn (6-6), who needs one strikeout for 858 to pass Harry Brecheen for 11th place on the team’s career list.
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FRANCONA BACK HOME
Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona was resting at home following a heart procedure and four-day hospital stay.
Francona was released from the Cleveland Clinic on Friday night, one day after undergoing a cardiac ablation for an irregular heartbeat. Francona returned to his downtown residence during the Indians’ 11-2 win over the Detroit Tigers.
The 58-year-old Francona had been experiencing dizziness and an accelerated heart rate over the last month. Following an array of tests, he was admitted to the hospital Tuesday after doctors detected abnormal readings from a heart monitor he had been wearing for several weeks. Doctors hope Francona’s noninvasive surgery will correct the arrhythmia, which left untreated could lead to blood clots, heart failure or stroke. They want him to his ease his normal routine, so Francona will skip Tuesday night’s All-Star Game in Miami.
Bench coach Brad Mills, who has been filling in for Francona, will manage the AL team with an assist from the Indians’ other coaches and Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash, who worked on Francona’s staff in Cleveland and is a close friend.
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