It was a little tough getting this up today, given my back ache and general need to clear my head. But I wouldn’t want to let the Outside Corner team down.
Marlins 1, Nationals 0: Anibal Sanchez (8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K) beats former Marlin Livan Hernandez (7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K) in this pitchers’ duel, with an assist from a Mike Stanton home run.
Braves 5, Phillies 3: Jair Jurrjens (7.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 6 K) took a perfect game into the 6th inning, and moved to 5-0 on the season with a 1.66 ERA. Dude hasn’t gotten the recognition of some of the league’s other top starters this year. Martin Prado hit his 3rd home run in the last six games, and Nate McLouth added another himself.
Padres 9, Rockies 7: Colorado was up 7-1 going into the 7th inning – they lit up Aaron Harang, with Carlos Gonzalez and Todd Helton taking him deep – but San Diego exploded for 8 runs in the final three innings, capped off by a game-winning two-run homer by former Rocky Brad Hawpe (only his second of the year, and he was batting clean-up).
Astros 7, Mets 3: Four first-inning runs for Houston off of RA Dickey, and New York couldn’t catch up. Carlos Lee picked up his 2,000th career hit then, then later added his 2,001st with a home run (Bill Hall and Matt Downs also homered, but they’re still not even half way to 2,000 hits, combined).
A’s 6, White Sox 2: Tyson Ross with the strong start for Oakland (7.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K), keeping Chicago off the board other than Paul Konerko’s two-run homer. The A’s didn’t utilize the longball, instead picking up 7 walks and 8 singles (plus a double and a triple).
Tigers 3, Royals 0: Detroit got Brad Penny 3 first-inning runs, and that’s all he would need (8 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K). Not that Jeff Francis pitcher poorly (8 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K), but 5 off his hits allowed (all singles, including a bunt) came all strung together.
Angels 3, Rangers 2: Dan Haren’s ERA rose all the way to 1.93 with this start (7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K) and he didn’t get the W, as the second run (which resulted in the no-decision) was an inherited runner that Fernando Rodney allowed to score for the blown save (giving up a hit to the only batter he faced in the game). LA scored against the Rangers’ pen though, so it’s all good… you know, if you care about the team and whatnot.
Blue Jays 9, Twins 3 (11 innings): The teams combined for 6 runs in the first 10 innings, when Toronto broke out for 6 themselves in the top of the 11th – started off by Jose Bautista’s major league leading 13th home run of the season (to the opposite-field, no less). Nick Blackburn’s nice start (7.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 8 K) kinda feel by the wayside, which may not have happened if Minnesota had been able to take better advantage of pounding out 10 hits (including a homer) against Jo-Jo Reyes in just 5.2 IP, instead of only putting 3 runs across.
Reds 7, Cardinals 3: Cincinnati takes over first place in the NL Central, as Johnny Cueto (7.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K) gave up just an 8th inning three run homer to Jon Jay (which came after back-to-back errors). Brandon Phillips and Ramon Hernandez had already gone deep (the latter twice) to get the Reds out ahead, so it didn’t much matter.
Orioles 6, Rays 0: Brad Bergesen (9 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K) finally picked up his first win* of the season, as the O’s offense woke up a bit. Mark Reynolds, recently dropped to 9th in the line-up, not only played but hit a home run in helping his team win 6-0.
* Maybe now the guy on ESPN will learn how to pronounce his name correctly. It’s a hard g dude.
Brewers 8, Pirates 2: This was a close game, until the Brewers put a five-spot on the board against the Pittsburgh pen in the 7th inning. Prince Fielder and Brandon Boggs homered early, while Ryan Braun went deep later (his 11th, moving into a tie for the NL lead) when the game was much less in doubt (as did Lyle Overbay).
Diamondbacks 1, Dodgers 0: Josh Collmenter (6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K) out-dueled Chad Billinsley (8 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K). Billingsley’s unearned run was scored on a sac fly after his own throwing error allowed a runner to get to third. Credit to the young Arizona right-hander and their pen for making it stand up.
Red Sox 6, Yankees 0: Josh Becket shut New York down (6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K) and Adrian Gonzalez hit his 9th home run of the season. I imagine those will be the two prominent story lines emanating from this game.
Giants 3, Cubs 0 (7 innings): This one was cut short due to rain, which gives Ryan Vogelsong the rare 6 inning complete-game shutout (6 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K). Former MVP Mguel Tejada has recently been dropped to 8th in the order due to, you know, him being older and not so good anymore. He went 0-3 and made an error at short while playing in the game.
