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1. BLACKHAWKS SCORING LATE: The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Phoenix Coyotes, 4-3, in overtime. FROM ELIAS: This is the first time in NHL playoff history that a team has scored the game-tying goal with 15 or fewer seconds left in regulation in consecutive games. The Blackhawks forced OT in Game 1 when Brent Seabrook scored a goal with 15 seconds left (Coyotes won game in OT).

2. SPURS, CELTICS CLINCH: Two NBA clinchings took place on Saturday. The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Phoenix Suns, 105-91, and clinched their 18th division title over the last 35 years. The Boston Celtics defeated the New Jersey Nets, 94-82, to secure their fifth straight playoff appearance. Prior to the start of the Pierce/Garnett/Allen era (2007-08), the Celtics had just four playoff appearances in the previous 12 seasons.

3. TURNING ON THE POWER: FROM ELIAS: Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, Mike Aviles, and Cody Ross all homered at Fenway Park in the Boston Red Sox' 13-5 romp over the Tampa Bay Rays. It was only the third time that a team managed by Bobby Valentine hit five home runs in a home game. It happened previously at Arlington Stadium (Sept. 20, 1985 against the Mariners) and Shea Stadium (June 26, 2000 versus the Marlins).

4. LIGHTNING QUICK: Greg Biffle won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. The race was run at a blistering pace. It set track records for fewest cautions (two), fewest caution laps (10), and average speed (160.575 MPH). The previous track record for average speed was 152.7 MPH (about 8 MPH slower).

5. WILSON OUT: Giants closer Brian Wilson will likely miss the remainder of the season. Wilson has “structural issues” in his right elbow. Wilson’s 164 saves since 2008 are the most in Major League Baseball. Mariano Rivera is second with 162.

With two days before the July 31 trade deadline, it's worth taking a look back at what happened in the week leading up to last year's deadline.

• There were 25 trades made last year from July 25-31, and more than half (13) took place on the day of the deadline.

• The two most notable players who were dealt were starting pitchers Dan Haren and Roy Oswalt, and both improved considerably with their new teams.
After being traded from Arizona to the Angels, Haren’s ERA went from 4.60 to 2.87, and his WHIP dropped from 1.35 to 1.16. Oswalt was 6-12 with a 3.42 ERA with the Houston Astros before being shipped to the Phillies. In Philadelphia, Oswalt went 7-1 with a 1.74 ERA and a WHIP under one (0.90).

• 13 of the 25 trades made in the final week of July involved at least one playoff team.

• Eight of those 25 trades involved a major-league reliever. In six of those deals, the team acquiring a reliever ultimately made the playoffs.

• Many of the 25 trades were minor. The eventual American League champion Texas Rangers dealt catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia to the Red Sox and traded for Jorge Cantu and Cristian Guzman. Cantu was 0-for-8 in the postseason and Guzman did not even make the Rangers' playoff roster.

We are only a few days away from the All-Star break and in the middle of summer, so it shouldn't be surprising that things got a little heated Friday.

In Boston, the Red Sox scored double-digits against the Orioles for the second straight game in a 10-3 win but the big story was the bench-clearing brawl featuring David Ortiz.
The Sox designated hitter charged Orioles reliever Kevin Gregg and both were ejected after throwing (and missing with) punches. Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Orioles reliever Jim Johnson were also tossed.

Earlier, Royals infielder Chris Getz was thrown out of his game with the Tigers. That increased the July ejection total to 21 in the month's first eight days.

In Philadelphia, two of the sport's hottest teams hooked up as the Phillies took on the Braves. In the 10th inning, Raul Ibanez's sixth career walk-off home run ended the Braves' four-game winning streak and gave the Phils their seventh win in the last 10 games.
The victory increased Philadelphia's NL East lead to 3 ½ games over Atlanta.

In the top of the 10th, Phillies reliever Juan Perez struck out the side on nine pitches. He is only the second pitcher in MLB history to accomplish that feat in an extra inning (Hollis Thurston, 1923) and he's the first Phillies pitcher to do it since Andy Ashby in 1991.

In Texas, the Rangers defeated the Athletics, 8-5, with a game-time temperature of 106 degrees. According to the Rangers, it was the highest temp ever recorded at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. C.J. Wilson stayed hot, too, improving his record to 5-0 in his last nine starts.

(What you need to know for tonight’s Angels-Red Sox game at 7 ET on ESPN.)

This series between the Los Angeles Angels and Boston Red Sox is the last time they will play this season, and Los Angeles probably can’t wait to get out of Boston. Since 1987 -- the year after the Red Sox erased a 3-1 deficit in the 1986 ALCS -- the Angels are 49-82 at Fenway Park.

After taking nine of 10 from the Angels last season, Boston this season is 6-0 against them. In those 16 games, the Red Sox have outscored the Angels 104-49.

The Angels do have the second-best road record in the American League behind the Tampa Bay Rays, but have allowed 16 runs to the Red Sox in the first two games of this four-game series.

On Tuesday, Angels hitters struck out 12 times. They lead the American League with 234. That’s very unusual for a Mike Scioscia managed-team. Since Scioscia took over as Angels manager in 2000, they’ve struck out the fewest times of any team in baseball, and have ranked in the top half of the American League at avoiding strikeouts in each of the last 10 seasons. The only season they ranked in the top five for most strikeouts was in 2000, Scioscia’s first season.

Vernon Wells, who’s struck out 24 times this season, is still hitting under .200 (.176) with just two home runs.

Why has Wells struggled thus far? He’s not chasing or swinging at more pitches this season, but he’s missing more pitches. Last season, Wells’ miss percentage was 20.7 percent. This year it’s 24.6 percent. He’s also hitting just .163 against right-handed pitching this season after hitting .291 against righties last season.

Perhaps Josh Beckett, who’s on the mound tonight for the Red Sox, is just what Wells needs to break out of his season-long slump. In 41 at-bats against Beckett, Wells has hit five home runs -- but only one in his last 30 at-bats.

Beckett will be pitching for the first time in a week. Boston has lost Beckett’s last four regular-season starts against the Angels in Fenway Park. In those starts, he’s 0-2 with a 5.74 ERA

Boston started 2-10, but has rebounded to go 12-5, and starting pitching has been key. In the first 12 games, Boston's starters had a 6.71 ERA and allowed 14 home runs, both of which were worst in the American League through April 15. In their last 17 games, the starters have a AL-best 1.86 ERA and have allowed just six home runs.

With Beckett on the mound, will Jason Varitek be behind the plate? If so, don’t expect him to have much success at the plate against Angels starter Ervin Santana (1-for-15 lifetime). The only active pitcher Varitek has faced at least 15 times and fared worse against is Santana’s teammate, Joel Pineiro (0-for-16).

In fact, the Red Sox have received very little offensive production from their catchers. Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Varitek have combined to hit .167 with no home runs and seven RBI.

While Varitek has struggled against Santana, Carl Crawford has not. He’s 10-for-31 against Santana, and Crawford is showing signs of putting his bad start behind him.

Although Crawford is starting to hit (6-for-11 in May), Boston still is not hitting when it counts. The Red Sox rank 12th in the American League in batting with runners in scoring position (.225), and seventh in the league with the bases loaded (.267).

Starting today we are going to start unveiling our top 25 players in the majors under the age of 25.

The criteria to make the list:

- Must be under 25 years old on Opening Day 2010.
- Must have MLB experience.
- MLB results matter more than projected future stats or “talent” level. (If we were doing a list based on potential, Jason Heyward, Carlos Santana, Buster Posey and Austin Jackson etc. would be on this list).
- Our 25-man "team" must carry ordinary MLB requirements (two catchers, all positions and DH covered plus a bench and 12 pitchers).

We'll unveil the bottom 5 today and work our way up the next 4 days.

25. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, TEX, 24
2009: .233 BA, .290 OBP, 9 HR in 84 games.
-In danger of earning the dreaded lifetime prospect distinction, “Salty” should start behind the plate for the Rangers this season. His tools can’t be ignored, and legitimate power-hitting catchers are not easy to find. But legitimate power-hitting catchers do not have a .180 WHAvg, .371 SLG% nor an OPS of .661, and his 33% chase percentage and 31% K% do not help his case either. But every team needs two catchers, and this one is no different. A strong season from Saltalamacchia could do well to justify his spot on this list; otherwise, he’s a mere placeholder for the likes of Carlos Santana or Buster Posey in 2011.

24. Elvis Andrus, TEX, 21
2009: .267 BA, .329 OBP, .702 OPS, 33 SB
-Of the top 14 stolen base leaders in the American League last year, only Ian Kinsler (.327) and B.J. Upton (.313) had worse OBP numbers then Andrus. In a Texas system that should produce some top notch offensive talent in the next couple years (ESPN’s Keith Law ranked the Rangers’ organization as the number one farm system in baseball), Andrus can improve his runs scored and stolen base totals significantly if he can make better contact in the zone (.662 OPS on pitches in strike zone last year) and work some walks with a little more frequency (7.4% BB% in 2009). With Julio Borbon at the top of the order, there won’t be too much pressure on Andrus to produce offensively, particularly given his ability with the leather.

23. Asdrubal Cabrera, CLE,
2009: .308 BA, 68 RBI, 81 runs, 17 SB, .799 OPS
- Cleveland’s switch-hitting shortstop took some solid steps forward in 2009, but was still vulnerable against breaking pitches from both sides of the plate. Cabrera hit .125 on 198 curves and sliders on the inside part of the plate last season. Pitchers needed to work the inner third effectively, because Cabrera hit .333 on the outer third. However, even with the 49-point average jump from 2008, Cabrera’s OBP only saw a 15-point spike, and his walks percentage (7.6%) is still well behind the league average of 8.9%. However, he can get away with it at times because he’s so hard to finish off. Cabrera only strikes out in 31% of 2 strike at-bats, missing 17% of swings with 2 strikes, and won’t help pitchers early, chasing only 15% of pitches in non-2 strike counts. Those numbers will almost certainly help him improve on his walks percentage in 2010, showing why he’s a very viable option to lead off the Cleveland order.

22. Daniel Bard, BOS, 24
2009: 3.65 ERA, 63 strikeouts in 49.1 IP
- While Bard’s ERA might not impress you for a reliever, the 3:1 K/BB ratio certainly will. Daniel’s 100MPH fastball coupled with a crafty slider allowed him to effectively work out of jams, keeping 76% of inherited runners from scoring. 52 percent of Bard’s innings were completed in 1-2-3 fashion, and 22 percent of his outs recorded came via a 4-pitch or fewer strikeout.

21. Neftali Feliz, TEX, 21
2009: 1.74 ERA, 39 strikeouts and 8 walks in 31.0 IP
- Feliz had a tremendous, but brief stint in the majors this past season. In 20 appearances, Feliz held opposing batters to a .124 batting average. Feliz turned 2-strike at-bats into outs 89 percent of the time (league avg. = 72 percent). With a WHIP of .677 and a K/BB ratio of nearly 5:1, Feliz represents the Rangers as their closer of the future, and perhaps present.

Check back tomorrow for players 16-20.