And The Beat Goes On: July 5th

● Jeff Wilson's game story talks about the slumping duo of Endy Chavez and David Murphy coming through during the Rangers' 13-4 drubbing of Baltimore. Travis Brown discusses Ron Washington's error in lifting Michael Young from the game in favor of Mike Napoli late in the game, as Young was only a homer shy of the cycle. 

● Per FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi, trade discussions between the out-of-contention Padres and other teams are likely to begin in earnest at the All-Star break, and the Yankees, Phillies, Cardinals, Brewers, and Rangers have all been in contact with San Diego; however, trade discussions are unlikely to revolve around Mike Adams, who will only be moved if the Padres receive an "extraordinary" offer.

● Ron Washington is still hacked off at the treatment of both himself and first-base coach Gary Pettis at the hands of Angel Hernandez on Sunday, and doesn't care that he's going to incur a fine from the league offices:

"[Hernandez] told me that my job is to get [Pettis] off the field," Washington said. "You don't tell me what my job is. You can't talk to Angel. Angel's the smartest umpire in baseball."

[...]

"I didn't see anything. I was just letting Gary have his say," Washington said. "Then [Hernandez] picked on me, and I lost it. That was the end of it. You don't tell me what to do. You can suggest something, but you don't tell me what to do."

● Alexi Ogando will receive 12 days of rest between his forthcoming start on Wednesday and his next scheduled start against the Angels on July 19th. Washington is still perturbed by the error-proneness of his offense, but the players themselves are still confident. To the great amazement of absolutely no one in particular, the Rangers want to upgrade their starting rotation.