Phillips propels Reds

Brandon Phillips helped the Reds try to put a demoralizing loss on Monday behind them.  Phillips went 2-3 with three RBI, two runs scored and even had a key sacrifice in the ninth inning to lead the Reds to a 4-3 win in Philly.  Ageless David Weathers(1-1) got the win while pitching a scoreless bottom of the eighth only allowing a walk and Francisco Cordero worked the ninth for his 21st save of the year.

The Phillies had an early 3-0 lead in this game on two home runs by Howard and Werth and a double by Chase Utley, but squandered the lead by the sixth inning.  Brad Lidge(0-4) took the loss in the ninth while giving up two hits and a walk after having a great weekend versus the Mets.  The two teams play game three of a four game set tonight in Philly.  Check out Phillies Phandom to get more insight on the defending champs.

Josh Johnson with only his 2nd loss

Josh Johnson fell victim to a classic Barry Zito gem last night in San Francisco, which we haven’t seen much since he signed with the Giants.  Barry Zito(5-8) worked until one out in the ninth inning before being pulled while pitching a shutout and only allowing four hits and a walk to the Marlins in a 3-0 victory.  After Brian Wilson had a tough outing on Monday night, Sergio Romo worked the ninth to receive his first save of the year for the Giants.

Josh Johnson(7-2) worked seven strong innings but three runs, two on a home run by Juan Uribe in the fifth inning sent him to only his second loss of the season.  The Marlins offense sputtered off a San Francisco starter for the second straight game and this was the second straight game without all-star Hanley Ramirez.  The Marlins will look to salvage a game of the series tonight in San Francisco with Chris Volstad taking on Ryan Sadowski.

Vazquz pitches the Braves to a win

Javier Vazquez must have heard the rumors that some teams were looking into trading for him this week.  He responded by proving he wants to be a Brave, or auditioning for other teams, depending on how you want to look at it.  Vazquez(6-7) went seven innings only allowing five hits and a single earned run while the Braves beat the Cubs 2-1 on Tuesday night.  Rafael Soriano worked the ninth for his ninth save while Mike Gonzalez worked the eighth to get his eighth holf of the season.  Brian McCann provided all of the offense for the Braves with a run scoring single in the first and a run scoring double in the third inning.  For more info on the Braves, check out The Braves Baseball Blog.

Carlos Zambrano(4-4) pitched on short rest after a terrible outing and went six strong innings only giving up those two runs, but his offense couldn’t help him out on this night.  Koyie Hill got the only RBI for the Cubs while driving in Michael Hoffpauir in the second inning.

The series finale will be a matinee game in Chicago, starting at 2:20PM EST today.

Pelf can't do it again

In what appears to be a normal occurance these days for the Mets, they did not score any runs.  The Mets were shutout for the second straight game by the NL West leading Los Angeles Dodgers 8-0.  Mike Pelfrey allowed three in the second and two more in the fourth before being pulled for the game.  The Mets bats managed only four hits against Dodger pitching in the game as well.  Newly demoted to the bullpen Tim Redding even gave up a solo home run in his two innings of bullpen work on this day.  Check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog if you want more Mets information.

Young lefty Clayton Kershaw(6-5) went six strong innings and only allowed three hits and two walks while striking out seven batters in getting the win.  Manny Ramirez contributed three RBI in the first four innings, but was thrown out of the game in the fifth after striking out for the second time.

The two teams match back up tonight with Oliver Perez making his first start since May for the Mets.

Tavarez takes the loss...again

The Nationals ruined a golden chance to steal one from the Rockies in Colorado last night with sloppy defense.  The Natioanls made three errors including one in the eighth that led to the winning run scoring on a sacrifice fly for the Rockies, leading them to a 5-4 win.  Julian Tavarez(3-7) got the loss while only allowing two walks in one third of an inning, Joe Beimel relieved him and helped the Rockies with a throwing error.  Rookie Jordan Zimmermann only went four innings in this game while giving up two earned runs and four total, but throwing 94 pitches.  CenterfieldGate has all the Nats info you need.

Clint Barmes got the final two RBI for the Rockies to send them to the win over the Nats last night.  39 year old Alan Embree(2-2) worked one third of an innings for the win and Huston Street got his 21st save of the season and second in a row.  The series finale is at 3:10PM EST today with Detwiler facing De La Rosa.