Hockey playoffs? Day two of the NFL draft? I don’t approve, but just in case…
Nationals 3, Giants 0: Jason Marquis (9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K) outdueled Tim Lincecum (7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 7 K, 1 HR). Marquis even drove in a run at the plate. Sometimes you’re running good.
Philliies 10, Mets 3: The Phillies used pitchers names Worley, Stutes, Baez, and Herndon. And that was perfectly OK, since Ryan Howrd homered twice (including a grand slam). Not a good start from Mike Pelfrey (4.1 IP, 8 H, 4 R), whose season ERA moves to 7.39.
Indians 8, Tigers 5: A walk-off grand slam is a pretty nice way to hold onto the majors best record (as well as best run differential). It was Carlos Santana with that bomb, though Matt LaPorta and Asdrubal Cabrera went deep for Cleveland earlier in the game. That line-up’s starting to look like they might score some runs all year. The Tigers actually out-hit the Indians (13 to 11) – and Miguel Cabrera had a homer of his own – but it wasn’t enough.
Blue Jays 5, Yankees 3: Robinson Cano hit his 7th and 8th home runs of the season for New York (and now has four homers in his last four games). Ricky Romero and the Jays’ pen didn’t give up much else, and homers by Jose Bautista (his 9th, to keep the league lead) and rookie J.P. Arencibia helped get Toronto back to .500.
Marlins 7, Reds 6: Javier Vazquez picked up his second win of the season despite walking as many as he struck out (3:3) and giving up two homers (to Jay Bruce and former Fish, Jeremy Hermida). Helps when the opposing starter (Travis Wood) allowed 7 runs in 3.1 IP. The Reds made a comeback in the bottom of the 9th, but Leo Nunez only gave up two runs (with a three-run lead) and held on for his 8th save.
Angels 8, Rays 5: David Price got knocked around (5 runs on 12 hits in 4.1 IP), and LA added on against the Rays’ relievers. Angels’ rookie Mark Trumbo hit his 4th home run of the season, but is now sporting a 23:2 K to BB ratio, which isn’t exactly fantastic for a first-baseman. Though he has stolen 2 bases, which is nice, I guess.
Mariners 5, Red Sox 4: Mike Cameron provided the power for Boston with two home runs, while the M’s mostly singled and walked their way around the bases (4 free passes versus Daisuke Matsuzaka in 4 IP, and an additional 4 walks after he left the game with tightness in his elbow). The win moves Seattle percentage points ahead of the Sox in the standings. The M’s, by the way, are closer to 1st place in the AL West they’re in 4th, but only 3.5 games back) than the 2nd place team is in the Central (the Royals are 4.5 back of Cleveland).
Cardinals 5, Braves 3 (11 innings): Chris Carpenter got take deep by Jason Heyward and Nate McLouth, but scattered the other 8 hits pretty well and ended up allowing only 3 runs in 7 IP. Tim Hudson was in line for the win anyway on the other side, but Craig Kimbrel blew the save in the ninth and the Card’s were able to push across two runs a couple innings later (on a Nick Punto triple) to take the game.
Brewers 5, Astros 0: Shaun Marcum (7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K) is liking the NL (now 3-1, 2.21 ERA). Brett Myers struck out 8 in 6 IP, but also gave up homers to Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun (his MLB leading 10th), and Yuniesky Betancourt (just to rub it in).
Royals 4, Twins 3: The come-from-behind victory brought KC back to .500, while denying the Twins their 10th win of the season – leaving them tied with Houston and San Diego with an MLB worst 9. Alex Gordon still only has 1 home run on the year, but a double and a triple moved his line to a still very good .337/.395/.519.
Orioles 10, White Sox 4: “Reggie Jackson Refers To Matt Wieters As “Mr. Whenever The Hell He Wants.”” In this game, Wieters “wanted” in the 6th inning when he crushed a two-run homer, and then again in the 7th with he plated two with a long base-loaded double. Did work on both sides of the ball, catching Juan Pierre (now 5 for 12) trying to swipe second-base. Also, “Matt Wieters Threw Himself Out Trying To Steal… My Heart.”
Pirates 3, Rockies 0: Kevin Correia’s looking like a solid pick-up for Pittsburgh, tossing 6.1 shutout innings to move to 4-2 on the season with a 2.90 ERA. Jhoulys Chacin allowed a couple homers (Andrew McCutchen, Garrett Jones), but otherwise pitched very well (7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 8 K).
Cubs 4, Diamondbacks 2: Justin Upton took care of Arizona’s scoring in the first with a two-run homer. The Cubs countered with longballs from Geovany Soto and Alfonso Soriano (twice). The three homers allowed by Armando Galarraga are not out of character this season – he hasn’t had a game without one yet, and has been take deep 11 times in just 28 IP. His HR/9 is almost a full point higher than the majors’ second worst mark.
A’s 3, Rangers 1: Eleven baserunners put on by Trevor Cahill, but none came around to score. Meanwhile, 3 Texas errors aided the Oakland offense in pushing across enough runs. The loss drops the Rangers into a tie for first (with LA) and the win moves the A’s to just 2 games back.
Dodgers 3, Padres 2: Ted Lilly (6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K) got a lead to his bullpen, which managed to actually hold it – perhaps despite Jonathan Broxton’s best efforts to give it away after getting two quick outs (1 IP, 3 H, 1 R in getting the save).
