You cannot blame Zack Greinke for the Brewers' 7-6 loss in Philadelphia last night. Greinke dominated the Phillies, allowing just one run over seven innings on three hits, striking out five while walking none. He was pulled after seven innings and 87 pitches, with Milwaukee holding a 6-1 lead. Then, the bullpen took over, and all hell broke loose. Jose Veras allowed a single and then got a groundout before being pulled for Manny Parra. Parra's outing was a disaster, as he allowed a two-run pinch hit homer to Erik Kratz to make the game 6-3. Parra got Jimmy Rollins to line out for the second out of the inning before walking Shane Victorino, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard. He was pulled, and Kameron Loe came in with the bases loaded. No pressure or anything. Of course, he was facing beloved Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz, who hit a bases clearing double to tie the game and disintegrate Milwaukee's lead. Hunter Pence followed that up by singling in Ruiz to give the Phillies a 7-6 lead, and Jonathan Papelbon set the Brewers down in order in the ninth to seal another comeback win for the Phillies and push the Brewers one step closer to dealing their ace.
Game of the Night: Reds 4, Astros 2. Houston scored the first two runs of the game in the fourth inning, when Justin Maxwell homered off of Mike Leake. The Reds battled back, making it a 2-1 game on an RBI infield single from Xavier Paul in the sixth. Come the ninth, Francisco Cordero came on for his first save opportunity with Houston, and it was coming against his former team. After a Zack Cozart single, Drew Stubbs came up and hit a GABP special (345 feet!) homer to put the Reds on top 3-2. Cordero then would walk Jay Bruce and Scott Rolen, and gave up another RBI single to Paul befoer getting pulled. Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth, and that was curtains for the Astros.
Pitching Lines of the Night: Paul Maholm of the Cubs, rarely mentioned in trade talks, allowed one run over eight innings in Pittsburgh on four hits, walking one and striking out seven in a 5-1 Cubs victory. Gio Gonzalez threw seven frames and allowed one unearned run in the Nationals' 5-2 win over the Mets, walking two, striking out four, and giving up two hits. Diamondbacks veteran Joe Saunders went seven and allowed two runs on three hits in the Diamondbacks' 6-2 over Colorado, striking out nine and walking just one.
Hitting Lines of the Night: Adam Dunn had a monster night in the White Sox 11-4 win over the Twins, going 3/5 with three runs, four RBI, a double, and his major league leading 30th homer of the year. His teammate Paul Konerko went 4/4 with a double and a homer. In the same game, Josh Willingham of the Twins went 2/4 with four RBI and a pair of homers to make offensively deprived teams covet him even more. Former Twin Michael Cuddyer went 2/4 with a pair of solo homers to account for the only Rockies offense in their loss to Arizona. Ryan Braun went 3/4 with three runs and a homer in Milwaukee's disappointing loss in Philly.
Other Games: The Rays beat the Orioles 3-1. The Indians edged the Tigers 3-2. The A's trumped the Blue Jays 7-2 to continue their hot streak. The Red Sox slid by the Rangers 2-1. The Braves snuck by the Marlins 4-3. The Royals handled the Angels 4-1. The Cardinals crushed the Dodgers 8-2. The Mariners slipped by the Yankees 4-2. The Giants walked off on the Padres 3-2.
Today's Games: Lots of day baseball today! Jake Peavy starts for the White Sox, hosting the Twins. Stephen Strasburg starts for the Nationals at Citi Field. Ryan Dempster, who still hasn't been traded, starts for the Cubs at PNC Park. Jered Weaver starts for the Angels, hosting the Royals. David Price starts for the Rays in Baltimore.
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
