With a two-run shot in the fourth inning of the Orioles’ 8-2, 11-inning win against the Nationals on Monday, O’s All-Star outfielder Nelson Cruz took the Major League lead with 28 home runs.

Jay Bruce’s fielding error let a run score in the fifth inning, but his two-run home run in the seventh helped seal a 9-3 Reds win over the Cubs at Great American Ball Park on Monday night.

James Shields racked up 10 strikeouts for his first win at Tropicana Field since 2012, as the Royals earned a 6-0 victory over the Rays on Monday night.

Users competing in the daily Official Mini Fantasy Game of MLB.com must create a team with a collective salary that doesn’t exceed a $50,000 cap. The goal is to find players whose actual worth exceed their cost as represented by their salary.

The Orioles hit three home runs during a six-run 11th inning to beat the Nats, 8-2, on Monday night at Nationals Park.

Jered Weaver said he felt “80 times better” than he did when he exited Monday night’s game against the Blue Jays with a stiff lower back after two innings, and he expects to make his next start.

The Blue Jays placed Edwin Encarnacion on the 15-day disabled list with a right quadriceps strain on Monday. The first baseman will also miss the All-Star Game. Outfielder Nolan Reimold was activated and joined the roster, while outfielder Kenny Wilson was claimed off waivers by the A’s.

Kyler Seager was listed on many of the “All-Snubbed” teams as a deserving candidate who didn’t get one of the 33 spots on the initial American League ASG roster. But the Mariners had an idea that Seager was on the short list if anything opened up, and on Monday he was selected to replace the injured Edwin Encarnacion.

With Monday night’s 5-2 win over Toronto, the Angels evened their franchise record at 4,272-4,272-3 and reached the .500 plateau for the first time since they were 1-1 as an expansion team in 1961.

On the heels of a disappointing pregame bullpen session, the Pirates on Monday placed right-hander Gerrit Cole on the disabled list.

As league captains Jose Bautista and Troy Tulowitzki finalize their five-man teams for the Gillette Home Run Derby next Monday at Target Field in Minnesota, you can get a simulated feel for what it will be like now that the popular MLB.com Home Run Derby Presented by Ford mobile game has been updated in time for All-Star Week.

Now that you have begun submitting unlimited ballot entries via the All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote Sponsored by Experian, let’s see how much you know about this rite of summer that returns for its 13th year. Here are 20 questions to test your own Final Vote knowledge, and feel free to try these out on those friends and colleagues who know it all.

Balloting is underway for the All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote Sponsored by Experian, a 93-hour blitz in which unique campaign alliances will form, digital balloting records likely will be smashed and you will decide on a position player for the National League and a pitcher for the American League.

You already know so much about the 2014 Major League Baseball All-Stars, but you probably don’t know everything. In honor of the just-completed rosters, here’s one fact you might have missed about each All-Star.

Don’t forget for a second that The Week Ahead is packed with seven days of very important games leading up to the All-Star break and that contending teams are doing whatever they can to add finishing flourishes to strong first halves.

While Miguel Cabrera returns to the Midsummer Classic for his fifth straight selection, having been voted by fans for his second consecutive start, Victor Martinez was selected by players to be part of the American League bench. They’ll be joined by Max Scherzer, who follows up last year’s All-Star start with his second consecutive selection by players to the roster.

David Price is still with the Rays, and his team continued to climb Sunday night with a 7-3 win over the Tigers at Comerica Park. The Rays finished their three-stop, 11-games-in-10-days road trip with three series wins and a 9-2 mark. By doing so, the Rays (41-50) moved out of the American League East basement a half-game in front of the Red Sox, ending a 39-day run in last place.