Aybar fills in nicely

Willy Aybar got the start in place of Evan Longoria who sat with an injury and was a pleasant surprise for the Rays.    Aybar hit a solo home run and drove in two others in the 6th on route to a 10-4 Tampa Bay win.  The Phillies lost their fourth straight series, and now are 2-10 in their last 12 games and only lead the NL East by a half a game over the New York Mets.  Andy Sonnanstine(6-7) worked 5.1 IP while giving up four runs for the win and Antonio Bastardo(2-3) couldn’t get through the fourth on route to the loss giving up six earned runs.  The Phillies will travel to Toronto this weekend and once again, hope to rebound.

He may not be hitting, but he can play D

The Mets and their “B” team managed to win three out of four from the first place St. Louis Cardinals this week.  In a week when yet another All-Star player went on the disabled list for the Mets, they won the finale of the series.  Johan Santana(9-5) pitched seven Innings while giving up only two runs, one earned and outdueling Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter.  Carpenter(5-2) lost despite also pitching 7 Innings but had one bad inning and that was all the runs the Mets needed.  Francisco Rodriguez worked the ninth while walking two to get his 20th save of the year.  The Mets will now play the first ever Subway Series at Yankee stadium this weekend.  For more Mets info, check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog.

Hanley hits another Granny

Hanley Ramirez and the Orioles barely had any trouble this week against the formerly hot Baltimore Orioles.  Ramirez hit his second grand slam of the series amongst three total hits and five RBI as the Marlins won 11-3.  Sean West(3-2) breezed through six shutout innings and Rich Hill(3-2) didn’t get out of the fifth inning in taking the loss.  Hill gave up 6 runs on 8 hits and two home runs.  The Marlins will travel up to Tampa this weekend to play the Tampa Bay Rays.

Lowe with a terrible outting

The Yankees took two out of three this week from the Braves, but not in easy fashion.  The Yankees scored in every inning except the fifth and sixth on our route to an 11-7 victory over the Braves in the rubber game.  Johnny Damon and Alex Rodriguez had four RBI a piece in the game that featured eleven total pitchers and neither starter going four innings.  Alfredo Aceves(5-1) pitched 2.1 innings while giving up one hit and a walk in relief of Andy Pettitte for the win as Derek Lowe(7-6) worked into the fourth inning but gave up eight total runs, six earned on eleven hits and three walks for the loss.   The Braves will welcome in the Red Sox this weekend to Atlanta to complete interleague play.  For additional Braves news, be sure to stop by The Braves Baseball Blog.

Smoltz has a subpar debut

Former long time Brave had a disappointing debut in a Boston uniform last night in Washington.  Smoltz(0-1) took the loss while going five innings and giving up seven hits, one walk and five earned runs.  The Nationals scored four in the first inning off Smoltz who was starting for the first time in 2009 while winning the game 9-3.  Rookie Jordan Zimmermann(3-3) went seven innings of one run ball preserving the last game of the series for the Nats.  The Nationals will travel to Baltimore this weekend to finish their Interleague schedule.  Check out CenterfieldGate for more Nats info.

Check back later today for our NL East Series preview for the weekend.