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Nationals: Lannan continues to show he is the leader of the Washington rotation. He picked up his fifth straight quality start and helped the Nationals defeat the Orioles, 5-3, at Camden Yards on Sunday afternoon. Lannan pitched 7 1/3 innings and gave up three runs on six hits. Early on, Lannan had problems with his two-seam fastball, and it showed in the second inning. After Nolan Reimold walked, Luke Scott doubled to put runners on second and third. Oscar Salazar then singled to left to send Reimold home and give Baltimore a 1-0 lead. But in typical Lannan fashion, he battled back and was able to get out of the inning. Matt Wieters then hit into a double play, and Robert Andino grounded out. Lannan cruised until the eighth inning, when he gave up a pair of hits.

Cubs: Harden's changeup helped him dominate in his last start. Despite giving up nine hits, Harden struck out nine and gave up just one run for his first win since May 12. The right-hander has struggled at Wrigley Field this season, going 2-3 with a 6.31 ERA in seven starts. Harden got a no-decision in his only start against the Brewers in 2009, giving up one earned run in six innings in his first start of the season while striking out a season-high 10 batters. Harden is 1-0 against Milwaukee in his career with a 1.50 ERA in three starts.

Red Sox: The big right-hander has been a rock for the Red Sox of late, giving up three earned runs or fewer in seven of his past eight starts. Penny gave up two runs over six innings in his last start, a 2-1 loss to the Braves. Despite his 1-2 record, June was Penny's best month of the season, as evidenced by his 3.18 ERA. In seven starts at Fenway Park, Penny is 4-1 with a 4.66 ERA. Penny lost his only career start to the Mariners, giving up 10 hits and five runs over six innings.

Yankees: Wang got his first win of the season last time out, but it was a long time coming after losing six of his first seven starts. His 5 1/3-inning outing against the Mets was his longest of the season, and he held New York to two runs on four hits and three walks. Possibly due to the foot injury he sustained last season, Wang had continual problems getting his sinker to sink. He's continued to get the ball up in the zone too often, but it's been less frequent. The win should give Wang something to build on.

Royals: Hochevar notched his first spotless start of the season in his last outing, holding the Twins scoreless over seven innings. He worked around four walks and won for the third time in his last five starts. It appears that after battling inconsistency during his first two years in the Majors, Hochevar is starting to mature into a solid right-handed option in the Royals' rotation. Using an array of offspeed pitches that seemed to dip and dive all over the strike zone, Hochevar kept the Twins off balance and tossed up another quality start. Here's one stat that shows how good Hochevar has been during the last six weeks: If you exclude Hochevar's disaster 2009 debut -- eight earned runs in two innings at Oakland on May 2 -- he is 3-2 with a 3.55 ERA.

Reds: Owings pitched well in an 8-1 win over the Indians Sunday, just one start after giving up a career-high six runs against the Blue Jays. Owings pitched six innings, giving up five hits and one run while striking out four and walking four. It was the first quality start by a Reds pitcher since June 21. Owings will aim for another Saturday against the Cardinals. He is 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA in his only start against the Cardinals.

Giants: Lincecum outdid himself last Monday at St. Louis, firing a two-hit shutout. It was the third shutout of his career and second of the season. Lincecum remains overpowering -- he struck out 12 two starts ago at Oakland -- but he has relied more and more on "pitching to contact" and putting batters away earlier in the count, thus reducing wear and tear on his valuable arm. Nevertheless, Lincecum's 21-4 with a 2.06 ERA when he strikes out at least eight batters in a game. He's 1-0 with a 2.13 ERA in four career starts against Houston.

Phillies: Moyer struggled in his first two innings against the Blue Jays on Sunday, but settled in his next three to pick up the victory. In five innings, he allowed four runs on five hits. He walked two, struck out four and threw 82 pitches. "I made a number of bad pitches and the ones I made that were bad got hit hard," Moyer said. But with the 252nd victory of his career, Moyer passed Hall of Famer Bob Gibson for 43rd place on the all-time list.

Twins: Liriano delivered his best start of the season in St. Louis when he held the Cardinals to two runs on four hits over seven innings. The left-hander was finally able to get ground balls in the contest, with 12 of his outs coming on groundouts. Liriano has been struggling to deliver longer outings and his rotation spot was in jeopardy before the start. But now he'll see if he can continue the success when he faces the Tigers in the holiday contest. Liriano is 3-1 with a 4.50 ERA in eight career appearances (six starts) vs. Detroit.

Padres: In his last outing, Geer tossed his third consecutive quality start in a 3-1 loss to the Astros at PETCO Park. He allowed three runs on seven hits in seven innings of work. Geer threw 98 pitches, 66 for strikes, and walked none. "In the last three starts, I'm feeling good about myself being here in the regular rotation," he said. "I'm trying to keep the home runs down, but as long as I give us a chance to win, I feel good."

Marlins: Coming off a start in which he yielded just one run on one hit in seven innings, Miller surrendered a season-high five runs in a loss to the Rays on Sunday. The 23-year-old needed only 12 pitches to get through the first inning but he struggled while giving up two runs in the second and then allowed a solo homer to B.J. Upton in the third. After settling down a bit, he left the game with two on and one out in the seventh, and the Rays tacked on two more with Tim Wood on the mound. Miller gave up eight hits while walking one, striking out four and throwing 101 pitches (59 for strikes). Since coming off the disabled list in mid-May, he's 2-3 with a 3.91 ERA. The only time Miller has ever faced the Pirates -- on April 20 -- he ended up being put on the shelf with a strained right oblique muscle.

Indians: After giving up 23 runs in 13 1/3 innings over his previous three starts, Pavano appeared to right his mechanics against the White Sox on Monday. In seven innings, he allowed just two runs on five hits with no walks and six strikeouts. He induced 11 groundball outs, which is a sure sign he was throwing downhill the way he wants to. But a lack of offensive support prevented him from getting the win. Pavano has only faced the A's one other time in his career.

Rangers: Holland is 0-4 with a 6.27 ERA as a starter in his rookie season. The left-hander also held San Francisco to a run in seven innings in his previous start and he had eight strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings in a 7-3 loss to San Diego on Saturday. Holland went almost exclusively with his fastball in the early innings and got two strikeouts in the first inning and allowed five straight hits in the second inning. Manager Ron Washington said after the game that Holland was having trouble throwing his changeup and slider for strikes in the early innings, so he was pounding the strike zone with his fastball. Holland allowed 13 hits to go with the eight Ks, making him the only pitcher in the past 56 years to do that in fewer than six innings.

Rockies: Cook is making a case for his second successive All-Star Game appearance. He is 5-0 with a 1.75 ERA in his past five starts, and his five wins in June led the National League. In going eight-plus innings and holding the Athletics to one run during a 3-1 victory on Sunday, Cook used his four-seam fastball against the left-handers in the lineup and had more fly-ball outs (10) than ground-ball outs (nine).This is the first time Cook will face the D-backs since Opening Day, when he gave up six runs and seven hits in a 2 1/3-inning pratfall at Chase Field.

Angels: O'Sullivan, a 21-year-old right-hander with command and a heavy sinker, continues to pitch superbly filling a hole in the rotation. His third Major League start was in the opener of a big series in Texas, and he responded with six strong innings marred only by back-to-back homers. He yielded six hits and two walks (one intentional) in six innings, striking out five men. O'Sullivan twice worked out of jams, showing uncommon poise for such an inexperienced pitcher. Matt Palmer, initially ticketed for this start, was moved to the bullpen in Texas and worked two scoreless innings on Wednesday night. The Angels are keeping open their options for the No. 5 rotation spot.