There is a lot of hitting going on in MLB tonight. The Blue Jays are all over the Yankees 7-0. The Cubbies have four RBI from Sosa and lead a high scoring game against the Braves. The Red Sox are pounding the Tigers 14-4. The Mets are out-hitting the Phillies 8-4 and the Reds are pounding the Brewers 11-0.

Sosa is simply mashing the ball as he is now up to 20 homers with 57 RBI. If the Cubs can get some pitching, Sosa could help carry this club back into contention.

The Marlins got a great performance out of Josh Beckett and beat the Expos 4-1. Beckett pitched seven innings of shutout ball. That has to encourage the Marlins as much as getting Mike Lowell back today. Lowell went two for three and drove in two runs. He got a scare this week as it was thought that his cancer might have returned but it turned out to be a groin problem. To continue the good news in that game, the Expos' Vladamir Guerrero returned to action after a long injury shelving and had two hits in the game.

The Angels are losing in the eighth inning to the Devil Rays and if that outcome remains the same, the Angels are looking at their fifth loss in a row. They don't have enough season left to afford that kind of losing streak.

Going the other direction is the Minnesota Twins who are beating the suddenly struggling Seattle Mariners, 4-0. If the Twins hold on to win that game, it will be their fifth victory in a row. The trade with Toronto (Kielty to Toronto for Shannon Stewart) is paying off big for both teams as Kielty is playing superbly for the Blue Jays and Stewart is six for his last seven for the Twins. It's great when a trade is a win/win.

The White Sox are starting to come around again as the new players are starting to fit into the Chicago lineup. That always seems to take a while. Alomar is playing better than his Mets days and is batting .298 thus far with Chicago. Frank Thomas is having a great year. Paul Konerko is starting to hit and has raised his average 18 points in the last two weeks and Maglio Ordonez is starting to play well too.

The Royals are six games in front of the White Sox and Twins, but this race is not over. We all root for the underdog Royals but no matter what happens the rest of the season, they have had a successful year. Tony Pena should definitely win manager of the year.