Ryan Madson watches Barajas

In a series finale matinee in Philadelphia, fans were treated to plenty of offense.  The Blue Jays completed the sweep of the NL East leading Philadelphia Phillies behind 8 runs and 3 home runs.  The Phillies were led by 4 home runs of their own including Jayson Werth’s 12th and newly recalled rookie John Mayberry’s second.  Ryan Madson(2-2) gave up the winning home run to pinch hitter Rod Barajas in the top of the 9th to take the loss, following his blown save on Tuesday night.  Jason Frasor(5-0) picks up the win in relief even though he was charged with a blown save for allowing the tying run to score in the eighth, while Jeremy Accardo picked up his first save.  The Phillies will welcome in the Orioles for a three game set at Citizens Bank Park tomorrow night.

Franky blows a save

The Mets missed a golden opportunity to pick up more ground on the Phillies tonight in Baltimore.  Going to the 9th inning with a 4-3 lead, Francisco Rodriguez(1-2) didn’t have nearly his best stuff and gave up 2 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks while recording only one out to take the loss and have his 2nd (but really 1st) blown save.  Aubrey Huff hurt the Mets again when he singled to right field in the bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded and the game tied to give the O’s the win.  Matt Albers(1-2) pitched a scoreless 9th and was rewarded with an unexpected win for the Orioles.  The Mets will travel back to Flushing and start a 10 game homestand beginning with 3 against the defending AL champion Tampa Bay Rays tomorrow night.  For more Mets news and info, head on over to The Real Dirty Mets Blog.

Paulino hits one out

In a rain shortened game in Boston, the Marlins avoided a 3 game sweep of the Red Sox.  Ronnie Paulino and Dan Uggla each hit solo shots off of started Jon Lester(5-6) who took the loss while pitching 5 full innings and one batter in the 6th.  Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco(3-6) got the win in a “complete game” pitching 5 innings of 1 run ball for the win.  The Marlins will welcome the New York Yankees into LandShark Stadium in Miami this weekend for a three game set.

Hanson goes 6 shutout

Braves super-hyped rookie pitcher Tommy Hanson(2-0) showed signs of the future for the Braves today going 6 shutout innings for the win.  He was helped by the recently aquired Nate McLouth who hit his 11th home run of the year and added a 2 rbi single on route to a 7-0 Braves win.  Hanson even added an rbi single himself to give some added run support.  Cincinnati Reds rookie Matt Maloney(0-2) took the loss in 5.2IP giving up 6 earned runs on 6 hits, including 2 homeruns.  The Braves will travel to Boston to face the Red Sox this weekend and continue their interleague schedule after a small hiatus.  For more Braves information, go to The Braves Baseball Blog.

Stammen gets his 1st win

Over at The New Yankee Stadium, David slayed Goliath for the second straight night.  Nationals rookie Craig Stammen(1-2) pitched 6.1 shutout innings in the bronx for his 1st MLB win against the big bats of the Yankees.  He was helped by 3 hits and an rbi from Ryan Zimmerman and 2 hits and an rbi from Adam Dunn and some good defense behind him.  Joba Chamberlain(3-2) only gave up 3 runs over 6 innings for the loss, but once again the walks hurt him, as he had 3 walks in the 4th inning and 4 overall.  Reclaimation project Mike MacDougal picked up his 2nd save of the year and in as many days pitching to the minimum in the 9th inning.  One injury note for the Yankees is that rookie Brett Gardner left the game in the 8th after a violent collision with the wall in left centerfield, we here at NLEC hope he is ok.  The Nationals will welcome in the Blue Jays to Nationals Park for a weekend series beginning tomorrow night.  Be sure to log onto CenterfieldGate for more Nationals news and information.

Be sure to check back later for the weekend series previews and if you are interested in writing for NLEC, please contact mrose@nleastchatter.com.