(AP)Unless there's a sick child involved, it isn't often that you hear about a player predicting he'll hit a home run in a specific game.

Yet that's exactly what Adrian Gonzalez is doing for Thursday night's game against the Tampa Bay Rays. After going 0 for 4 in Wednesday's 2-1 loss, the Boston Red Sox first baseman said that he'd be hitting a home run in the series finale.

"I'll start hitting home runs," Gonzalez told reporters. "I'll hit a home run tomorrow."

Time will reveal the accuracy of Gonzalez's predictive power. But he might want to up his slugging percentage soon, because he's been in a slump. Gonzalez has hit only two home runs all season — same as Albert Pujols! — and is currently experiencing a very Pujolsian drought at the plate. He hasn't hit a home run since April 17, a span that includes 103 at-bats and 26 games.

It's clear that Gonzalez doesn't look very comfortable, a fact that was confirmed when he went on a rant against bad umpiring from behind home plate.

Short version: He's with all of you who condoned Brett Lawrie's helmet toss.

Long version: Bad calls have altered his approach at the plate.

(US Presswire)It took eight years, 2,944 days and 3,710 minor-league plate appearances, but Rich Thompson finally found his way back to the big leagues with the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.

And in keeping with the general theme of his career, the actions that led to the 33-year-old outfielder appearing in his first major-league game since 2004 were far from easy.  Thompson woke up as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies minor-league organization, was traded to the Rays just before lunchtime and arrived in Florida for a game against the Red Sox just before dinner. Known for his speed, he entered the contest in the eighth inning as a pinch-runner for designated hitter Luke Scott and then drew a balk from Red Sox reliever Franklin Morales. He was on third when Will Rhymes was hit with a pitch before fainting.

So was Thompson nervous before playing his role in the Rays' 2-1 victory?

"Surprisingly not," he told reporters after the game. "Everything kind of slows back when you get back on the field, but it's all the anticipation that makes you nervous. I might have been a little jumpy, kind of tipped my hand a little bit when I was trying to get my jump ... I did draw a lot of attention to myself, so I guess it ended up working out OK."

It'll work out even better if Thompson gets a few plate appearances while he serves as outfield depth on Tampa Bay's roster. He only has one career plate appearance to his name and that was when he grounded into a double play against the Indians on April 20, 2004, back when he was a member of the Royals. He made Kansas City's opening day roster that year and appeared in six games as a pinch runner and defensive replacement. But he was sent down on April 24, starting an eight-year run of perseverance and dedication that serves as a great example to just about anybody who strives toward anything.

(AP)

Here's a picture of Gary Sinise from Rangers Ballpark on Wednesday night. From the looks of it, the "CSI: NY" star just finished a 12-week run as Hamlet, kicked a field goal across the street to Cowboys Stadium or delivered the greatest first pitch in the history of baseball.

In reality, Sinise is thrusting his arms skyward in the type of self-deprecating mock celebration that's only possible when you throw out one of the worst first pitches in baseball history. You know, the kind that immediately hits the ground and dribbles off to a dugout, making it look like you've never seen a baseball game, let alone stepped on the mound.

[Rewind: Bear Grylls lights baseball on fire to throw out first pitch]

Check Sinise's pitch out in the video below:

(AP)

Imagine: An entire stadium of over-sized, photocopied Yu Darvish heads on cardboard, with each individual image propped up on picture-frame stands and placed on every seat inside Rangers Ballpark. Just before the first pitch, the artist Cristo lines the stadium with a pink skirt and photographs all of it while rappelling from the Goodyear blimp. That's the natural progression, or where we ought to be headed at least, after this lone fan appeared with a giant Darvish head for Darvish's start for the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night.

Possibly inspired by seeing his own BigHead (TM) in the crowd, Darvish allowed four hits and struck out seven in a 4-1 victory against the Oakland Athletics. He lowered his ERA to 2.60. Earning his keep, he is. In the following quote, Darvish pretended he was not in awe of the BigHead:

The Juice is back for its fifth season of fun! Stop by each weekday for an ample serving of news from the action, plus great photos, stats and video highlights.

Was that Bigfoot or Sasquatch?: Oh, neither. Just the second home run of the season for Albert Pujols, who went deep for the Los Angeles Angels in a 7-2 victory against the White Sox on Wednesday night. Some were beginning to wonder how many homers he had left in his bat after a drought of 33 games and 139 at-bats to start the season. Now he's got two deeps, giving him 447 for his career so far, on his way to 500-plus. You know, Albert.

"It's been awhile,'' Pujols said. ''There are some times I feel good at the plate and hit the ball hard but don't catch any breaks. But you can't lose your focus. Every at-bat, no matter how I feel, I try to take it as the last at-bat of my career. Hey, listen - this game is not easy. I've been saying that all year long. There are things that are out of your control.''

Jim Eppard fixes everything: The Angels have knocked out 24 hits in their past two games with the memory of fired coach Mickey Hatcher still on their minds. New hitting coach Jim Eppard tutored many of the Angels in the minor leagues, so at least he's coming in with an idea of how to help.

''What's great about it is that a lot of the guys here I've had come through Salt Lake, so I have a mental tape of those guys."

O's so good: The Baltimore Orioles are 24-14 after Adam Jones hit a tie-breaking home run in the 15th inning to carry them to a 4-3 victory at Kansas City. Jones' 12th homer of the season came after he started the game 0 for 6.

''Some people were behind me, yelling at me, 'Hey, come on Jones.' I showed them. After I hit that, they shut up the heck up.''

Said.

Now that we know Will Rhymes of the Tampa Bay Rays is OK, the following video isn't quite so scary.

It's still off-putting, though:

Whoa! Answer Man down, Answer Man down! There's no fainting in baseball! It's funny, now, that when trainers asked Rhymes to tell them his name, he said, "I'm Batman." Here's a guy with a sharp mind on his shoulders.

But in the moments after Rhymes' legs fell limp and he collapsed into the embrace of coach George Hendrick, speculation on Twitter abounded. He was hit on the arm, not on the head or thorax — so what happened? Did the major bruise cause a circulatory problem? Had he broken a bone and gone into shock? What gives, (other than his legs)?

[Related: PNC Park security guard loses finger in struggle with fan during Pirates game]

Well, Dr. skipper Joe Maddon had a diagnosis after Tampa Bay's 2-1 win over Boston: Adrenaline rush. When the juices get flowing, it can work against you too, apparently.

''He got kind of rubber-legged right there,'' Maddon said. ''That stuff hurts. I know it's in the arm, but that can definitely take your breath away. It was described to me as kind of an adrenalin rush that caused that reaction.''

X-rays were negative and the team said Rhymes is day to day with a bruised right forearm.

Phew. Rhymes had put a scare into everyone, especially Boston pitcher Franklin Morales, who threw the pitch. Here's Morales, via the Twitter of Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal:

Because he is 49 years old, nearly everything that Jamie Moyer does for the Colorado Rockies on a Major League Baseball field seems newsworthy. But any pitcher who manages to drive in two runs with an infield single more than deserves the special attention coming his way.

Moyer legged out a perfectly placed (even if by happenstance) 80-foot hit Wednesday night, evading a diving Paul Goldschmidt of Arizona on his way to first base and benefiting from the head's-up and legs-moving baserunning of Dexter Fowler for his first two RBIs of the season. Moyer also pitched great at Coors Field, allowing a run and six hits over 6 1/3 innings to lead the Rockies to a 6-1 victory.

Take a bow, old dude. And a breath. Take two, even.

It's hard to tell from the video clip because the Rockies TV broadcast paid too much attention to the blond lady in the stands (who I assume is Moyer's wife), but Moyer appeared to get the benefit of the doubt by the umpires on Goldschmidt's tag attempt. And he was lucky his hit dribbled into no-man's land between Goldschmidt and pitcher Patrick Corbin, who hesitated just a bit in committing to covering the bag at the moment of truth. And that Fowler was running hard with two outs (which he should do, but you never know) and was fast enough to make it home. It was actually quite an accidental conspiracy that the play turned out as it did.

Bud Selig, Michael Bloomberg and Fred Wilpon at Wednesday's announcement. (AP)

I remember attending the 2008 All-Star game at old Yankee Stadium and hearing everyone talk with absolute certainty that we'd be returning in New York in five years for the Midsummer Classic at Citi Field. Well, it only took about four years, but that take-it-to-the-bank assumption was finally made official on Wednesday with Major League Baseball sending out its save the dates with an afternoon press conference.

It's kind of hard to believe, but this will mark only the second time that the Mets have served as hosts for the event. The first time came in 1964 during the inaugural season of Shea Stadium and it featured a memorable ending as Philadelphia's Johnny Callison hit a three-run walk-off homer off Boston's Dick Radatz to cap a four-run bottom of the ninth for the National League in a 7-4 win.

I've embedded a cool highlight reel from that game below and you'll notice that it was played during the day. Hoping for a day All-Star game is a pipe dream in today's television culture — the last afternoon start occurred in 1969 — but it would still be kind of cool to see the novelty of the stars playing under the sun.  Wouldn't it?