Orioles Opening Day starter Chris Tillman continued his dominant second half, pitching 8 2/3 scoreless innings as Baltimore completed the sweep with a 2-0 win over Atlanta Wednesday night.

The Royals may have the best record in the American League, but they’ll have to go through Toronto and the Majors’ highest-scoring offense this weekend. In Thursday’s 7:07 p.m. ET opener, Kansas City will start Danny Duffy, who has logged a 2.15 ERA in six starts since returning from the disabled list. The Blue Jays will counter with Marco Estrada, who has gone 7-6 with a 3.55 ERA in 21 appearances between the bullpen and rotation.

At times such as this, ignorance truly can be bliss for a ballplayer with a job to do. As trade winds swirled all day around the Dodgers, Yasiel Puig was focused on mom, bobbleheads and, finally, pitches landing in his happy zone.

Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper offered his Babe Ruth impression on Wednesday night, hitting two Ruthian clouts in a 7-2 victory over the Marlins. Harper went 3-for-4 with the two homers, which were his National League-leading 28th and 29th of the season.

Troy Tulowitzki apparently has a thing for making positive first impressions, because he didn’t waste any time showing his teammates and the city of Toronto just how good he can be.

The Dodgers’ pending acquisition of starting pitcher Mat Latos and outfielder Michael Morse from Miami has expanded into multiple trades involving three teams, 12 players and a Draft pick.

The Astros moved into sole possession of first place in the American League West for the first time since before the All-Star break, beating the Angels, 6-3, on Wednesday night at Minute Maid Park, behind a terrific outing from rookie Lance McCullers.

Ehire Adrianza’s two-run single was the biggest hit in a five-run, seventh-inning outburst Wednesday for the San Francisco Giants, who bested the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-0, at AT&T Park.

Welcome to DraftKings fantasy baseball, the Official Daily Fantasy Game of Major League Baseball. The players listed below could provide difference-making stats for DraftKings participants on Thursday.

Jon Lester doesn’t forget July 31. It’s his son Hudson’s birthday. It’s also the day Lester was traded from the Red Sox, which had been the only team he’d played for, to the Athletics a year ago. “Last year made for an interesting birthday,” Lester said after a dominant performance in the Cubs’ 3-2 victory over the Rockies on Wednesday.

A day after agreeing to a trade to the Nationals, new Washington closer Jonathan Papelbon said he felt free and is starting a new life with his new team. As he put it, he gave up $2 million to win and be at a place where he is happy.

The weeks-long debate on the fate of the Tigers’ postseason chase is over. Team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski confirmed that they’ll look at trading their pending free agents heading into Friday’s 4 p.m. ET non-waiver Trade Deadline.

Matt Cain intends to be an asset to the Giants during the stretch drive toward the postseason. Meanwhile, Giants management will spend the next few days striving to acquire another pitcher who can accomplish this same task.

The Yankees, down five runs after the first, scored 11 runs in the top of the second inning and went on to a 21-5 victory over the Rangers on Tuesday night. The Yankees’ 19 hits included Chris Young’s second grand slam of the year.

Diego Moreno knew that his assignment was to provide length in the event that the Yankees’ patchwork pitching plan hit a snag, but the 28-year-old right-hander did not expect to hear the bullpen phone ringing for him in the bottom of the first inning.

With the non-waiver Trade Deadline quickly approaching at 4 p.m. ET on Friday, Major League Baseball was flush with activity Tuesday.

Corey Seager, the newly minted No. 2 overall player on the revamped Top 100 Prospects list, swatted his first homer since July 5 for Triple-A Oklahoma City.