The Baltimore Orioles are in first place, and it's September. The O's beat the hell out of the Blue Jays 12-0, and combined with the Yankees 5-2 loss to the Rays, Baltimore moved into a tie with New York. And hell, the Rays are right there too at just a game and a half behind the duo in the division. We could be living in a world where the Rays, Orioles, and A's make the playoffs….and the Yankees, Tigers, and Angels don't.
Game of the Night: Diamondbacks 8, Giants 6 (11 innings). Yeah, these guys again. Arizona led 6-2 after four, going ape on Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong. With Ian Kennedy on the hill, things looked good for the Diamondbacks…until Kennedy allowed three runs in the sixth to end his night and make it a one run game. Pablo Sandoval tied the game in the seventh with an RBI single, and the game eventually went to extras. In the 11th, Jason Kubel tripled in Aaron Hill to make it 7-6, and Miguel Montero followed up with a single to drive in Kubel and make it 8-6. Josh Collmenter allowed two hits to start the Giants half of the 11th, but got three straight outs to end the game and seal up a Diamondbacks win.
Pitching Lines of the Night: In the Orioles blowout win over the Blue Jays, Zach Britton threw seven shutout innings while giving up four hits, two walks, and striking out eight hitters. Wandy Rodriguez stopped the bleeding for the Pirates in a 6-2 win over the Astros, throwing seven shutout frames and allowing four hits, one walk, and striking seven out. Clayton Kershaw pitched well for the Dodgers in a 6-3 loss to the Padres in 11, allowing one run on five hits over seven innings, walking three and striking out nine. Mat Latos got a win for the Reds in their 2-1 victory over the Phillies, giving up one run on four hits, walking two and striking out six.
Hitting Lines of the Night: Aaron Hill continued his fantastic year by going 5/5 with three runs, two RBI, a walk, a double, and a homer. The Nationals rocked the Cubs 11-5, with Adam LaRoche going 4/4 with a walk and a pair of solo homers. Mark Reynolds stayed red hot for the Orioles, going 3/4 with two runs, four RBI, and his 17th homer of the year. In an 18-9 Twins blowout win over the White Sox, Ryan Doumit went 3/6 with three runs, three RBI, and his 15th homer of the year.
Other Games: The Indians won their second straight over the Tigers by a 3-2 score. The Rockies shut out the Braves 6-0. The Brewers beat the Marlins 8-4. The Royals beat the Rangers 6-3 behind the arm of Jeremy Guthrie. The Angels beat the A's 6-1 as Zach Greinke was great yet again. Jaime Garcia led the Cardinals to a 5-1 win over the Mets. The Red Sox edged the Mariners 4-3.
Today's Games: Jake Peavy starts for the White Sox, hosting the Twins. Roy Halladay starts for the Phillies in Cincinnati. Dan Haren starts in Oakland against Brandon McCarthy. RA Dickey takes on Adam Wainwright in St Louis. Ubaldo Jimenez takes on Doug Fister in Detroit. Gio Gonzalez starts for the Nationals against the Cubs. The shockingly good Miguel Gonzalez starts in Toronto against Brandon Morrow. Hiroki Kuroda takes on Matt Moore in Tampa Bay. Trevor Cahill and Madison Bumgarner will duel in San Francisco.
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
