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NL East Recap 9-1
Filed Under (Daily Recap, NL East Chatter) by klake13 on 01-09-2010
Tagged Under : Billy Wagner, Braves, Brett Hayes, Cameron Maybin, Chase Utley, Chris Volstad, Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers, Edwin Rodriguez, Ike davis, James Loney, Jamey Carroll, Jason Heyward, Jimmy Rollins, Jose Veras, Luis Hernandez, Marlins, martin prado, Mets, Michael Morse, Mike Pelfrey, Nationals, Nyjer Morgan, Omar Infante, Phillies, Rick Ankiel, Roy Oswalt, Scott Olsen, Shane Victorino, Tommy Hanson, Wil Nieves, Willie Harris
Phillies vs. Dodgers
The Phillies beat the Dodgers Wednesday afternoon 5-1, and won their series against Los Angeles. Home runs by Jimmy Rollins in the 1st inning and Shane Victorino in the 2nd gave Philadelphia an early 2-0 lead. The Phillies tagged on another run in the 7th on a double by Chase Utley. An RBI single by Rollins followed by a ground-rule double off the bat of Utley added two runs for Philadelphia in the 9th. Utley had a career-high three doubles in the game. The Dodgers did not get their first hit until the 6th inning off Roy Oswalt. Their only run of the game came in the bottom of the 8th when James Loney singled for L.A. to drive home Jamey Carroll.
Oswalt got the win for Philadelphia, going 6.1 innings and giving up no runs on one hit while striking out six. Clayton Kershaw took the loss for L.A., going 6 innings and allowing two runs on five hits while striking out eleven.
Braves vs. Mets
The Braves dealt the Mets their third straight loss, winning 4-1. Atlanta scored in the 1st inning on a two-run double by Martin Prado. Rick Ankiel scored in the 2nd inning on a single by Omar Infante. Infante would later score Atlanta’s 4th run when Jason Heyward doubled to left field. The Mets lone run of the game came in the 8th. Ike Davis scored on a single by Luis Hernandez.
Tommy Hanson got the win, his first since July 3. Hanson threw 7 innings of one-hit ball. He gave up no runs while striking out three. Mike Pelfrey took the loss, going 5 innings and giving up four runs on nine hits while striking out two. Billy Wagner recorded his 31st save of the season for Atlanta.
Marlins vs. Nationals
It was a wild one down in Florida as the Marlins beat the Nationals 16-10. The Nationals got on the board first with a 1st inning run on a single by Michael Morse. Florida responded with 5 runs in the bottom of the 1st, followed by 5 more in the 2nd and 4 in the 3rd. In the top of the 6th, Marlins starter Chris Volstad threw a pitch behind Morgan, who in response, charged the mound and began a bench-clearing brawl. The incident stems from a play Tuesday night in which Morgan barreled into Marlins catcher Brett Hayes at home plate. Hayes suffered a separated left shoulder. Morgan and Volstad, along with Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez and reliever Jose Veras were ejected. When all was said and done, Washington went on to score three runs in the inning. A solo shot by Wil Nieves in the 7th followed by an RBI single by Willie Harris made it 15-10. Suddenly Washington found themselves back in the ballgame, but Florida tagged on their final run in the bottom of the 7th on a home run off the bat of Cameron Maybin, and was able to hang on.
Before being tossed from the game, Volstad went 5 innings, giving up six runs on nine hits while striking out four to get the win. Scott Olsen took the loss, lasting only 1.2 innings and giving up nine runs on eight hits while striking out only one batter.
The Phillies took game two against the Padres Saturday afternoon, winning 3-1. Shane Victorino drove in Philadelphia’s first run in the 5th on a single to center field to score Jayson Werth. San Diego starter Jon Garland helped himself out at the plate in the bottom of the 5th with a single to left field to tie the game. The game remained tied until the top of the 7th when Victorino hit an RBI triple. He would later score on a ground out by Mike Sweeney, making it 3-1 Philadelphia.
Washington beat up on the Cardinals 14-5. St. Louis got an early 3-0 lead in the 1st inning on a ground-rule double by Albert Pujols and a two-run shot off the bat of Jon Jay. Back-to-back doubles by Kyle Lohse and Felipe Lopez would drive in the Cardinals other two runs in the 5th inning. After scoring a run in the 2nd on an RBI single by Ivan Rodriguez, the Nationals followed with four runs in the 3rd. In the bottom of the 5th, Adam Dunn hit his 32nd home run of the season to make it 8-5 Washington. Roger Bernadina hit his 10th home run of the season to cap off the Nationals six run 8th inning.
Atlanta snapped a four-game losing streak as they beat the Marlins 12-3. The Braves scored six runs in the 2nd. Matt Diaz led off the inning with a solo shot to center. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, Martin Prado walked to force home a run. Brian McCann followed with a three-run double to right field. An RBI single by Prado in the 2nd made it 8-0 Atlanta. Gaby Sanchez scored the Marlins first run in the 3rd on a sacrifice fly by Emilio Bonifacio. Atlanta responded in the bottom of the inning with two more runs thanks to a home run by Eric Hinske and a fielding error by Florida’s Logan Morrison allowing Diaz to score. In the 7th, Prado hit a two-run homer to make it 12-1 Braves. Prado had five RBIs for Atlanta. Florida tagged on a run in the 8th and 9th on a double by Donnie Murphy and single by Brad Davis.
The Mets dropped the second game of their three-game series with Houston by a score of 4-1. Singles by Carlos Lee and Tommy Manzella gave the Astros a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning. Lee hit a two-run home run in the 5th to make it 4-0. The Mets offensive woes continued as they went 1-10 with runners in scoring position. The only run for New York came in the bottom of the 8th on an RBI single by David Wright to drive in Luis Castillo.
The Astros got on the board first in the fourth inning when Carlos Lee hit a two-run homer off of Phillies’ starter Cole Hamels. The Phils got a run back off of Houston starter Bud Norris in the sixth on a Raul Ibanez RBI double, but the Astros held on to a 2-1 lead entering the ninth inning.   With two outs in the ninth, Jimmy Rollins blasted a solo home run off of Houston reliever Wilton Lopez to tie the game and send it to extra innings. Then things got really interesting.
The Mets broke a 2-2 tie with two runs in the fifth off of Johnson, thanks to an RBI single by Carlos Beltran and Jeff Francoeur‘s second sacrifice fly of the game. Mets’ starter R.A. Dickey kept the Mets in the lead until the seventh. With two outs and two on in the seventh, Dickey allowed a three-run homer to Gaby Sanchez to give Florida a 5-4 lead. However, the Mets came back against the Marlins’ bullpen.
Nationals’ starter John Lannan (5-6) allowed a three-run homer to Alfonso Soriano and a two-run shot to Tyler Colvin as the Cubs built a 5-1 lead. Meanwhile, Zambrano (5-6) allowed just one run and five hits over 7 1/3 innings, striking out eight.  Marmol entered the game in the bottom of the eighth with the bases loaded, but struck out Ian Desmond to keep the score at 5-1.
The Rockies opened the scoring when Carlos Gonzalez hit a two-run homer off of Lowe (11-12) in the bottom of the first. The Braves got a run back in the second off of De La Rosa (5-4) on an Alex Gonzalez solo shot, but Rockies got that run back with a Seth Smith home run in the sixth. Alex Gonzalez cut the Rockies lead to 3-2 with a seventh inning RBI single, but that was as close as the Braves would get.
Cubs’ starter Ryan Dempster allowed just two runs and four hits over eight innings. Chicago handed the ball to closer Carlos Marmol in the ninth to try to protect a 3-2 lead.  Marmol (2-3) walked the bases loaded, and then allowed a bases-clearing triple to Braves outfielder Rick Ankiel to give the Braves a 5-3 lead. Billy Wagner allowed a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth, but retired the next three batters to earn save number 30. Atlanta reliever Peter Moylan (5-2) pitched a perfect eighth inning to earn the victory.
The game’s lone run came in the third inning when Raul Ibanez doubled home Chase Utley off of Nats’ starter Jason Marquis (0-6).  Halladay (16-8) allowed eight hits and three walks over seven innings, but didn’t allow a run to score. The Nationals finished the game with 10 hits, but stranded 12 baserunners in the shutout. Phils’ closer Brad Lidge came on in the ninth and earned his 17th save.
The Mets scored three runs in the top of the first off of Pirates’ starter Jeff Karstens (2-10), and added two more runs in the third and fourth innings.  Jose Reyes and David Wright paced the offense with three hits apiece, and Chris Carter added a home run and two RBI for the Mets. Pelfrey (12-7) allowed just two runs (one earned) and five hits in his eight innings, striking out five.
Houston starter J.A. Happ (3-2) allowed a run in the first inning, and then held the Marlins scoreless until the sixth inning when Dan Uggla hit a two-run single. Sanchez helped his own cause with a run-scoring single in the seventh, and the Marlins added three more runs in the inning to build a 7-0 lead. Cody Ross and Hector Luna hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning for Florida to cap the scoring.  Sanchez (10-8) allowed just three hits over seven shutout innings, and the Florida bullpen pitched two perfect innings to close out the victory.
The Nationals took the final game of their series with the Braves by a score of 6-2. Michael Morse got things started for Washington in the 2nd inning, hitting his 9th home run of the season to left field. The next inning, Nyjer Morgan scored on an RBI single off the bat of Ian Desmond to make it 2-0 Nats. Washington tagged on two more runs in the 6th on a double by Roger Bernadina, followed by a single from Ryan Zimmerman. Willie Harris also contributed to the Nationals offense with a two-run home run in the 9th off Atlanta’s Kyle Farnsworth. The only two runs for Atlanta came in the bottom of the 6th thanks to a two-run RBI double off the bat of Matt Diaz.
The Marlins won the series finale against the Pirates by a score of 4-2. The game was scoreless until the 6th inning when the Marlins put up four runs in the inning. Gaby Sanchez hit a three-run home run to center field. A few batters later, Wes Helms hit an RBI single to drive home Cody Ross. A ground-rule double in the bottom of the 8th by Argenis Diaz to score Chris Snyder put Pittsburgh on the board. The Pirates added another run in the bottom of the 9th with a solo shot off the bat of Andrew McCutchen.
The Phillies lost to the Giants 5-2, and are now only one game up on San Francisco in the wild card. An RBI double by Buster Posey followed by back-to-back RBI singles by Jose Guillen and Juan Uribe gave the Giants a three-run lead in the 1st inning. Another double by Posey in the 3rd and a home run by Pablo Sandoval in the 4th gave San Francisco a 5-0 lead. The Phillies were only able to get two hits off Giants’ starter Jonathan Sanchez. Philadelphia’s two runs came in the bottom of the 9th on a double by Mike Sweeney off reliever Sergio Romo.
The Mets fell to the Astros 3-2. New York scored two runs in the 4th inning. The first run coming on a ground out by Jeff Francoeur to score Angel Pagan. The second on an RBI single by Chris Carter. Houston was held to just one hit through 6 innings by Pat Misch, who retired 16 straight, but broke through in the 7th. After singles by Angel Sanchez and Hunter Pence, Carlos Lee hit a three-run home run to give the Astros a 3-2 lead.
The Marlins beat the Pirates 6-o Tuesday. Florida got to Pittsburgh’s Zach Duke in the 5th, scoring four runs in the inning. Ricky Nolasco helped himself out at the plate by driving in the Marlins first run on an RBI single. A few batters later, Gaby Sanchez singled to drive in two more runs. Dan Uggla followed Sanchez with a sacrifice fly to score Logan Morrison. Florida tagged on another run in the 6th on an RBI double by Nolasco. Nolasco had two RBI’s in the game. A double by Morrison in the 9th drove in the Marlins final run.
The Phillies beat the Giants 9-3, to take the NL Wild Card lead. San Francisco scored two runs in the 1st — one on a double play by Aubrey Huff which drove in Andres Torres, and the second on a homer by former Phillie Pat Burrell. Philadelphia tied it up in the 5th inning on a two-RBI single by Jimmy Rollins. Shane Victorino would give Philadelphia the lead in the 6th on a two-run double to center field. Jose Guillen homered for the Giants in the top of the 7th to cut the Phillies lead to 4-3. Philadelphia responded with a five-run 8th inning.
The Braves beat the Nationals 10-2 in the series opener. There was no score until the 6th inning when Wil Nieves and Michael Morse had back-to-back doubles to give Washington a 2-0 lead. Atlanta responded in the bottom of the 6th with four runs. Diory Hernandez hit his first home run, a solo shot, for Atlanta. Later in the inning, back-to-back doubles by Martin Prado and Matt Diaz would give the Braves the lead. Atlanta tagged on four more runs in the 7th. A throwing error by Adam Dunn allowed Rick Ankiel to score. A single by Prado and a double by Melky Cabrera drove in three runs to make it 8-2 Atlanta. The Braves added two more runs in the 8th to make it 10-2.
The Mets dropped the second game in their series with the Astros, losing 4-3. Jose Reyes got the Mets on the board in the 1st inning, scoring on a single by Fernando Martinez. Their lead didn’t last long, however, as the Astros took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the 1st on a three-run shot off the bat of Hunter Pence. Reyes would ground out in the 2nd for the Mets to drive home Josh Thole. Trailing 3-2 in the 8th, David Wright tied it up with a solo shot to left field. Pence got to Mets starter Johan Santana again in the bottom of the 8th, hitting his second home run of the game and giving Houston the go-ahead run.
Trailing by two runs in the bottom of the 9th, the Braves came back to beat the Dodgers 4-2. Andre Ethier got things started in the 1st with a double, driving in Ryan Theriot to give Los Angeles a 1-0 lead. After allowing the 1st inning run, Tommy Hanson found himself in a pitchers duel with Chad Billingsley. The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the 6th when Atlanta tied it up on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jason Heyward to score Omar Infante. The Dodgers would take the lead once again as a throwing error by Brooks Conrad in the 8th allowed two runs to score. Down 3-1 in the 9th, L.A. pitching walked in a run cutting their lead to 3-2. With the bases loaded, Melky Cabrera then hit a single to drive home the winning runs.
The Marlins fell to the Pirates in their series opener 7-1. A sacrifice fly by Garrett Jones and a single by Pedro Alvarez gave Pittsburgh an early 2-0 lead in the 1st. Florida got their only run of the game in the 4th on a ground out by Dan Uggla to score Logan Morrison. The Pirates would go on to score four runs in the 6th on a double by Jones, followed by an Alvarez single. Andrew McCutchen homered in the 7th for Pittsburgh to make it 7-1.
The Mets started their road trip off with a win as they beat the Astros 3-1. Carlos Beltran homered for the Mets in the 4th to give them a 1-0 lead. Houston tied it up in the 6th on a double by Chris Johnson. The game remained tied until the 9th, when David Wright scored on a wild pitch and then Jeff Francoeur tripled to score Beltran.
Dickey’s knuckleball baffled the Phillies hitters all night long, and as he cruised through five hitless innings, Mets fans wondered if this might be the first no-hitter in franchise history.  But it was the opposing pitcher that spoiled that bid as Hamels hit a clean single to right field with one out in the sixth inning.  Meanwhile, Hamels kept the Mets off balance and off of the scoreboard. It looked like the Mets had taken a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning when Mike Hessman hit a drive to left field that the umpires called a home run. However, after a lengthy replay review, the umps ruled fan interference on the play and placed Hessman on third base.  Despite being on third with no outs, the Mets stranded Hessman and let a golden opportunity slip by.
The Braves’ Tim Hudson and the Dodgers’  Hiroki Kuroda matched zeroes for six innings. The game’s lone run came in the seventh, when Brooks Conrad, playing third base in place of the injured Chipper Jones, homered to center field off of Kuroda. Â
The Nationals scored three runs in the first off of Arizona starter Joe Saunders (1-2), highlighted by a Ryan Zimmerman two-run single.  Wil Nieves extended Washington’s lead to 4-0 with a solo home run in the second. The D-Backs cut the Nats lead in half with two fifth inning runs off of starter John Lannan, but managed just one hit after that. Lannan (4-5) allowed just four hits over seven innings, striking out five.  Sean Burnett pitched two perfect innings, striking out four, to pick up his second save on the season.
The Reds jumped on Johnson in the first inning, scoring three runs courtesy of RBI singles by Joey Votto, Scott Rolen, and Jay Bruce. Bruce later homered as the Reds built a 7-0 lead.  The Marlins’ only offense came off of the bat of rookie Mike Stanton, who hit solo home runs in both the sixth and eighth innings.Â
Mets vs. Rockies
Phillies vs. Dodgers
Marlins vs. Nationals
The Mets beat the Rockies 1-0 Tuesday night. This game featured a great pitchers duel between starters Mike Pelfrey and Ubaldo Jimenez. The only run of the game came in the bottom of the 7th. After walking Chris Carter to start the inning, Jimenez then gave up a double to Josh Thole to put men on second and third. A few batters later, Jose Reyes hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Jeff Francoeur, who pinch-ran for Carter.
The Marlins took the series opener 8-2 Tuesday. Florida jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the 1st on an Dan Uggla home run. Uggla drove in two more runs in the 3rd on a double to left field to score Hanley Ramirez and Gaby Sanchez. Washington got on the board in the bottom of the 3rd after a field error by Wes Helms allowed Ivan Rodriguez to score. Florida added three more runs in the 5th with doubles by Sanchez and Helms. Logan Morrison singled in the 6th to score Ramirez, making it 8-1 Florida. Washington had the bases loaded in the bottom of the 7th, but could only get one run home to make it 8-2.
The Phillies fell to the Dodgers 15-9. Andre Ethier drove in Los Angeles’ first two runs of the game with a single in the 1st and a double in the 3rd. Ethier would score later in the 3rd on a single by Jay Gibbons. The Dodgers scored four more runs in the 4th to make it 7-0 Dodgers. Placido Polanco scored the Phillies first run in the bottom of the 4th. In the bottom of the 5th, Wilson Valdez scored on a ground out by Polanco. Ross Gload followed with a two-run shot t0 right field to cut the lead to 7-4. As soon as the Phillies made it a close game, they gave it all right back, giving up four more runs to L.A. in the top of the 6th. Domonic Brown homered in the 6th for the Phillies to make it 11-5. Los Angeles responded in the 7th with two more runs on a single by Matt Kemp. Philadelphia put up two runs in the 7th on a homer by Gload to make it 13-7. In the top of the 9th, Casey Blake made it 15-7 Dodgers with a two run home run to left field. The Phillies fought back in the bottom of the inning, but were only able to add two runs on a double by Brown.
The Braves beat the Astros by a score of 4-2. After entering the game for an injured Chipper Jones, Brooks Conrad scored the games first run in the 7th on a single by Troy Glaus. The Braves defense was sloppy in the bottom of the 8th, however, with errors by Alex Gonzalez and Omar Infante allowing Houston to take a 2-0 lead. Solo shots by Conrad and Glaus in the to of the 9th gave Atlanta the lead.







