Monday’s games:

Braves vs. Phillies

The Phillies look to gain some ground as they begin three-game set against the first place Braves. Roy Halladay (9-7, 2.42) takes the mound for Philadelphia. Derek Lowe (9-6, 4.53) starts for the Braves. Game time is 7:05 p.m. in Philadelphia.

Mets vs. Reds

The Mets send Mike Pelfrey (10-2, 2.93) to the mound as they begin their series with the Reds. Aaron Harang (6-7, 5.02) was originally scheduled to get the start but was scratched from the line up and is replaced by Travis Wood (0-0, 2.35) for Cincinnati. First pitch is 7:05 p.m. in N.Y.

Nationals vs. Padres

Livan Hernandez (6-4, 2.98) and the Nationals take on Clayton Richard (6-4, 2.74) and the Padres. Game time is 7:05 p.m. in D.C.

Marlins vs. Dodgers

The Marlins begin a west coast road trip tonight. Nate Robertson (5-6, 4.97) takes the mound for Florida. John Ely (4-5, 3.62) gets the start for Los Angeles. Game time is 9:10 p.m. in L.A.

Phillies vs. Reds

The Phillies fell to the Reds 4-3 in their series finale Wednesday afternoon. Philadelphia took a 3-0 lead in the 4th inning thanks to a three-run home run by Dane Sardinha.  The Phillies bats were quiet for the remainder of the game, only recording three hits after the the 4th. The Reds began to chip away scoring a run on a Joey Votto homer in the 6th and again on a RBI single by Orlando Cabrera in the 7th. The final blow came in the bottom of the 8th. Leading 3-2, Roy Halladay gave up a two-run shot to right field.

Halladay pitched a  complete game, but took the loss, his 7th of the season. He pitched 8 innings, giving up four runs on 13 hits. Reds starter, Aaron Harang, got a no decision, throwing 6.1 innings and allowing three runs on eight hits. Reliever Arthur Rhodes got the win for Cincinnati. Francisco Cordero recorded his 21st save of the season.

Check out Phillies Phandom for more.

Marlins vs. Mets

Following a rain delay, the Mets salvaged the final game of their series with the Marlins, winning 6-5. A double by David Wright and a single by Ike Davis gave the Mets a 3-0 lead in the 1st. The Marlins bounced back quickly scoring two runs in the bottom of the 1st on singles by Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla. New York extended their lead to 4-2 in the 2nd on an RBI single by Jesus Feliciano. Florida tied up the ballgame in the 5th with a double by Jorge Cantu and a single by Uggla.  The Mets scored a run in the 6th and 7th innings, giving them a 6-4 lead. The Marlins cut the lead to 6-5  in the 8th on an RBI double by Gaby Sanchez.

Chris Volstad pitched 5 innings, but got a no decision. He gave up four runs on six hits. Mike Pelfrey lasted 4.2 innings to get a no decision as well. He allowed four runs on 12 hits. Elmer Dessens got the win for the Mets, while Alejandro Sanabia took the loss. Francisco Rodriguez recorded his 18th save of the season for the Mets.

For more, check out Fish Guts and Real Dirty Mets Blog.

Braves vs. Nationals

The Braves won the series against the Nationals, winning the final game by a score of 4-1. The Braves jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a RBI double by Brian McCann in the 1st. Atlanta scored two more runs in the 4th on a single by Jair Jurrjens and a sacrifice fly by Martin Prado. Washington got on the board in the 6th when Ivan Rodriguez grounded into a double play allowing Ryan Zimmerman to score. Atlanta scored again in the 7th after Washington pitching walked in a run.

Jurrjens got the win, pitching 5 innings and giving up one run on six hits. J.D. Martin took the loss, going 5 innings and allowing three runs on six hits. Billy Wagner recorded his 16th save of the season for the Braves.

For more info, go to Braves  Baseball and Centerfield Gate.

Wednesday’s match ups:

Phillies vs. Reds

Roy Halladay (9-6, 2.29) and the Phillies close out their series with the Reds this afternoon. Aaron Harang (6-7, 5.07) gets the start for Cincinnati. Game time is 12:35 p.m. in Cincinnati.

Braves vs. Nationals

Jair Jurrjens (0-3, 6.38) and the Braves face J.D. Martin (0-3, 3.03) and the Nationals. First pitch is 7:10 p.m. in Atlanta.

Marlins vs. Mets

The Marlins send Chris Volstad (4-7, 4.40) to the mound in the series finale with the Mets. Mike Pelfrey (10-2, 2.71) starts for the Mets. Game time is 7:10 p.m. in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Marlins vs. Mets

Anibal Sanchez (5-2) and the Marlins  begin a three game set against R.A. Dickey (2-0) and the Mets. First pitch is 7:10 p.m. in New York.

Braves vs. Dodgers

Kenshin Kawakami (0-7) and the Braves continue their west coast road trip as they take on Clayton Kershaw (5-3) and the Dodgers. Game time 10:10 p.m. in Los Angeles.

Nationals vs. Reds

Livan Hernandez (4-3) and the Nationals begin a six game homestand, taking on Aaron Harang (4-5) and the Reds. The game’s set to start at 7:05 p.m. in D.C.

Phillies vs. Padres

Roy Halladay (7-3) goes for perfect game number two as he takes the mound for the Phillies against Mat Latos (5-3) and the Padres. First pitch is set for 7:05 in Philadelphia.

Feliz Powers Phils

The Phillies started this homestand on July 3rd with a terrible record at home, especially for a 1st place team in July of a season.  They changed that with a 9-1 homestand which was capped by a series sweep of the Pirates this weekend.  Pedro Feliz hit his 6th home run of the season and 6th grand slam of his career in the first inning, giving J.A. Happ and the Phillies pitching all the runs they would need in winning 5-2.  Happ(6-0) finished a very solid first half,  with his sixth win against zero losses while starting the year in relief and finishing the half as likely Philly’s most solid starter.  The Phillies will go into the break with a four game division lead, check out Phillies Phandom for more Philly info.

Virgil Vasquez(1-3) took the loss for the Pirates and after a solid debut for the Pirates, has lost three straight starts.

Johnson stays strong

Josh Johnson made sure to show that he is absolutely deserving of the All-Star nod he got a week ago, with another very solid start on Sunday.  Johnson(8-2) got his eighth win of the year while pitching into the seventh allowing eight hits and one run, while striking out seven batters.  He was helped by some early runs by the Marlins hitting with Cody Ross delivering a bases clearing double in the first, and the Marlins led 6-1 when he left the game and won 8-1 at the end of the day.  Florida had been only one game back of first nine days ago, but faltered slightly as the Phillies stayed hot going into the break.  Most of their team and especially relief pitching will get their much needed break this week before getting back to the grind.

Doug Davis(4-9) only lasted four innings on Sunday as he gave up five runs on three walks and seven hits and a home run for the loss.

Hawpe delivers before the ASG

The Braves took a 4-0 lead in the top of the second inning yesterday in Denver, in what would turn out to be a back and forth game between the teams.  The Rockies steadily fought back scoring single runs in the second,third, fourth and eighth while sprinkling in three runs in the seventh and the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.  First time All-Star Brad Hawpe hit a double with the game tied in the ninth which scored Seth Smith to give the Rockies the 8-7 win and sending the Braves to the break on a sour note.  Huston Street(3-1) got the win in relief as he pitched a perfect ninth of the inning before the Braves won the game.  The two teams used a total of thirteen pitchers, so those pitchers are very happy to see the break come so they can rest up.

Luis Valdez(0-1) took the loss while giving up the game winning hits and runs in the ninth inning for the Braves.  Check out the Braves Baseball Blog for more on this.

Schneider ends the drought

The New York Mets did what seemed the impossible this weekend, and won a series and at the same time, winning the rubber game.  Taking two out of three from the Reds will go down as only their second series victory since the beginning of June.  Mike Pelfrey(7-4) pitched seven strong innings giving up three earned runs and leaving with a 9-3 lead, but the Mets bullpen made it interesting before giving him the win.  Sean Green and Pedro Feliciano couldn’t get out of the eighth inning with a single out before Bobby Parnell had to come in and save them, but not before allowing three runs, all charged to Sean Green.  Francisco Rodriguez worked a shaky ninth inning giving up a run, a hit and a walk before retiring the side for his 23rd save of the first half and a 9-7 Mets victory.   Check out The Real Dirty Mets blog for more Mets info.

Aaron Harang(5-9) once again could not get the win in a start, getting his ninth loss while giving up five runs in just three innings pitched.

Valverde looks funny in glasses

The Washington Nationals continue have trouble winning games, and did just that on Sunday afternoon in Houston.  Brian Moehler(6-5) shut the Nats down for 6.1 innings while allowing seven hits and two runs en route to a 5-0 Astros win.  For a while it looked like Miguel Tejada’s RBI single in the first would hold up, but Kaz Matsui gave some insurance runs in the seventh with a three run homer.  Jose Valverde worked the ninth inning with a strike out and a hit to get his eighth save this season for the ‘Stros.

Jordan Zimmermann(3-4) also worked 6.1 innings for the Nats but was charged with four of the five runs the Astros got and now has a losing record for the Nationals.  Late last night, Manny Acta was fired by the Nationals after his team’s 26-61 start to the season., read more about that and the Nationals at CenterfieldGate.

This should be a great weekend of National League East Baseball, please be sure to check back to NLEC or the team affiliate blog frequently!

If interested in helping the NLEC, please contact mrose@nleastchatter.com

If interested in helping the NLEC, please contact mrose@nleastchatter.com

Ryan Madson walks in the tying run

In Philadelphia, Ryan Madson walked in the tying run in the top of the 9th for his 1st blown save since taking over for the injured Brad Lidge.  The Blue Jays went on to win the game with a 5 run 10th inning, with all runs and the loss being charged to reliever Clay Condrey(4-2).  Scott Downs pitched a perfect ninth for the Blue Jays to pick up the win(1-0).  The Phillies look to bounce back tonight with Jamie Moyer facing off against Scott Richmond.

Huff pulls a Castillo

At Camden Yards in Baltimore, the Mets got help from three Oriole errors on their way to a 6-4 victory.  The Castillo error fresh in their minds, Aubrey Huff botched a fly ball in the 7th inning off a David Wright blooper.  Two runs scored on the play and they proved to be the winning runs.  A dicey ninth inning started by Bobby Parnell and finished off by Francisco Rodriguez made the game closer than it should have been.  Mike Pelfrey(5-2) got his first win since early May, Rodriguez picked up his 17th save and Jeremy Guthrie(4-7) took the loss.  The two teams meet back up tonight at 7:10pm with Tim Redding facing off against the O’s Koji Uehara.  For additional Mets information and news go to The Real Dirty Mets Blog.

Ortiz heating up?

The Marlins started a three game set against the Red Sox at classic Fenway Park in Boston.    This game was all Red Sox from the beginning as they had all the runs they needed by the 4th inning.  David Ortiz hit his 5th home run of the year, and he may finally be breaking out of his season long slump.  Chris Volstad(4-7) took the loss for the Marlins with only 3.2 Innings pitched and 8 ER and Tim Wakefield(9-3) earned the win.  Tonight Andrew Miller takes on former Marlin Brad Penny at 7:10PM.

Herrera gets his 1st win

In Cincinnati, the teams waited through  an almost 2 hour rain delay to take the opening game of the set from the Braves.  Danny Herrera went three innings in rain delay relief of Aaron Harang, who only went 2 innings.  It was Herrera’s 1st major league victory and it was helped out by 3 RBI from Lance Nix of the Reds.  Herrera(1-2) got the win and Jair Jurrjens(5-5) took the loss in only 2 IP with 2 ER.  Tonight the Braves send Javier Vazquez to the hill against Micah Owings to try to get out of a small funk.  Check out The Braves Baseball Blog for more Braves information.

A-Hern can even hit a HR at Yankee stadium

Finally, over at Yankee Stadium, Manny Acta(for now) and the Washington Nationals took on the New York Yankees.  Anderson Hernandez even took advantage of the winstream or whatever it is at Yankee Stadium causing balls to fly out and put the Nats in a temporary lead with a 3 run homer in the 5th.  This lead held up until the 7th when Ron Villone(3-4) of the Nats(16-46) bullpen coughed it up, sending them to their 46th loss of the year.  The Yankees(37-27) got almost 8 innings from their ace, C.C. Sabathia(6-4) for the win and Mariono Rivera got his 15th save of the year.  The David vs Goliath matchup continues tonight in the Bronx with John Lannon taking on Chien-Ming Wang.  For more Nationals news and information, go to CenterfieldGate.com