---

The Edmonton Oilers has just confirmed that prospect Kristians Pelss, age 20, has died after he went missing Tuesday in Lativa.

My prayers and condolences go out to him, his family, and his friends.

~MTK

---

The Milwaukee Brewers have placed OF'er Ryan Braun on the 15-Day D.L. due to a right thumb contusion.

~MTK

---

The New York Yankees have placed 3B Kevin Youkilis on the 15-Day D.L. due to a back injury.

This is the second time this season that Youkilis has been placed on the D.L. with a back injury.

~MTK

---

The Colorado Rockies have placed SS Troy Tulowitzki on the D.L with a right rib fracture that is expected to keep him out between 4-6 weeks.

A crushing blow for the Rockies, but no surprise as Tulo has missed 25% of his games since making his debut.

~MTK

---

Evgeni malkin has signed a 8 year/$76m contract extension with Pittsburgh.  For those of you grabbing your calculators, that is $9.5m per season as a cap hit.

---

According to TSN's Darren Dreger, Nathan Horton's injury is not believed to be serious but is still considered doubtful for Game 2.

---

Looks like ace Stephen Strasburg is ready to return to the hill on Sunday against the

Strasburg had been sidelined with a strained lat muscle since the end of May.

---

Matt Harvey suffered his first loss of the season on Thursday afternoon as he gave up one run in seven innings against the Cardinals.

Even though Harvey took the loss he lowered his ERA from 2.10 to 2.04 with the outing.

---

Looks like the Corey Hart may be out until after the All-Star break as he continues to rehab his surgically repaired right knee.  Bad news for as their firstbasemen have a .183/.222/.280 line with 4 HRs this season!

---

The Nets have hired their new coach. And it is none other than their star PG from 2001-2008, Jason Kidd.