Pelf comes up big

In a series in which the Mets best hope is to begin playing spoiler, they sent the up and down Mike Pelfrey to the mound against the struggling Cole Hamels.  Pelfrey(9-8) got the best of the Phillies for the third time this season in this one, going six innings and allowing just two runs and six hits and striking out five on route to a 4-2 victory.  He was helped by the Mets getting two runs each in the second and third inning, including Pagan having an RBI single and Jeff Francouer with a solo home run, continuing his hot play with the Mets.  The Mets bullpen did not allow another run, though they did give up four more hits, including Franky Rodriguez allowing two hits before striking out Ryan Howard to end the game, it was his 27th save.  The Real Dirty Mets Blog is the place to go for more Mets information

Cole Hamels had another tough game as his disappointing season continues after an outstanding 2008.  After a rain delay of over an hour, Hamels could not find his best stuff in this one.  Hamels(7-8) only lasted five innings but allowed all four Mets runs and ten hits in the loss.  The only run support he got as well was a Ryan Howard RBI single in the first and a Pedro Feliz RBI single in the sixth, but they squandered other opportunities.  The four game set should continue Saturday night, weather permitting, check out Phillies Phandom for more Phillies insight.

the Marlins welcome Sanchez back

The Florida Marlnis had just allowed the Braves to come back and tie them for second in the NL East and for third in the Wild Card this week.  They rebounded last night by sending newly back Anibal Sanchez to the mound while visiting the Braves in Atlanta.  Sanchez(2-4) pitched into the seventh inning allowing only two hits and one run while striking out seven Braves as the Marlins won 5-3.  Lucky for him, Hanley Ramirez recorded an RBI single in the top of the sixth to allow him to be the winning pitcher and then they added in the seventh.  In the seventh Jeremy Hermida hit a solo shot, Ramirez added a two run blow and sandwiched between was a Ross Gload RBI single.  Sanchez and Dan Meyer combined to give up three runs in the seventh inning, but that was all the Braves would get.  Leo Nunez worked the ninth giving up just one hit to get his 14th save of the year as Cody Ross threw out Adam LaRoche trying to stretch a single to a double to end the game.  FishGuts has more on this game.

Javier Vazquez(10-9) lost again to a division rival, this time going 6.2 innings.  He was charged with ten hits and all five runs, including two home runs and eight strikeouts this time.  Adam LaRoche produced all the Braves runs as he continued his hot play since returning to the Braves with a three run home run in the seventh scoring Ryan Church and Chipper Jones. The Braves Baseball Blog is your one stop shop for Braves info.

Fielder with another blast

The Milwaukee Brewers are trying to get their team straight and were able to get on their way last night with a 7-3 win in Washignton.  Prince Fielder hit a two run shot and Casey McGehee had solo shots on the way to the victory for the Brew Crew.  Former Met Braden Looper(11-6) got the win as he pitched six innings allowing only two runs on four hits, with one blemish being a shot to Adam Dunn.

J.D. Martin was pitching a pretty solid game until the seventh inning came around.  In the seventh, Martin gave up an RBI single which made the game 4-2 and with the lack of Nats offense at that point, he was headed for a loss.  Martin(2-3) had a final line of 6.2 innings pitched with four runs on eight hits in the game.  Ryan Zimmerman had an RBI groundout and a solo shot in the ninth and Adam Dunn also had a solo home run the game.  It was the Nats fourth loss in a row, check out CenterfieldGate for more on them.

Blanton with another strong game

The Philadelphia Phillies were looking to have another successful series and take two out of three games from the formerly Central division leading St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.  They ended up routing them for the second straight day, led by home runs from Utley, Howard, Rollins and Ibanez, all of the two run variety on way to a 9-2 victory.  Starter Joe Blanton(7-4) went eight innings, having yet another strong start giving up seven hits, two runs and six strike outs as Brad Lidge worked the ninth in a non save situation.  Check out Phillies Phandom for more info on the Phils.

The Cardinals once again had production from their latest trade pickups, but they will need the rest of the team to produce to be successful.  Lugo went 2-4 with a run scored, Holliday was 1-2 with a walk and a sacrifice fly and Mark DeRosa was 2-4 with a solo home run for this game.  The rest of the team only had three hits and produced no runs as Todd Wellemeyer took the loss.  Wellemeyer(7-9) went 5.2 innings giving up seven runs, five earned on this day.

HanRam takes one for the team

The Florida Marlins yesterday were able to derail the best team in the National League, by taking two out of three games from the NL West leading Los Angeles Dodgers.  Hanley Ramirez finished with three RBI while going 2-4 with a run scored to lead the Marlins and even was retaliated against by Jeff Weaver for having such a game.  Chris Volstad(8-9) worked 5.1 innings giving up eight hits and four runs but that held up for the win by a final of 8-6.  In the bottom of the seventh inning, Burke Badenhop was ejected along with manager Fredi Gonzalez for retaliation for Hanley Ramirez being hit, or so the umps thought so.  Check out  FishGuts for more Marlins insight.

The Marlins were down 8-0 yesterday before fighting back with six runs between the sixth and ninth innings.  James Loney had a two RBI double and an RBI single, Russell Martin had a two home home run an RBI single by Ethier capped the scoring.  Jason Schmidt(1-1) only lasted three innings while getting tagged for five runs and five hits, but only four earned runs.

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Kotchman with a bomb

The Braves were only up 1-0 yesterday on the Brewers when entering the sixth inning yesterday but Casey Kotchman and the rest of the team wanted to put this one out of reach.  Kotchman hit a three run home run to make it 5-0 in the sixth after Matt Diaz had produced a run with a single before him.  They added five more runs in the final four innings on a McCann and Kelly Johnson home runs, a Prado Sac fly, and a bases loaded walk for Yunel Escobar.  Derek Lowe(10-7) worked six strong innings only giving up a two run home run as the Braves won 10-2 to take the series in Milwaukee.  The Braves Baseball Blog will have more info on the Braves for you.

The Brewers offense was held in check yesterday by Brave pitching except for one inning in the game.  In the sixth inning after falling behind 5-0, Corey Hart hit his 10th home run of the season to cut the lead to 5-2.  Braves relief pitching though couldn’t hold on to allow them to come back.  Braden Looper(9-5) went six innings giving up seven hits and five runs on four walks to take the loss in this one.

Livan rebounds for a good outting

After the first inning yesterday in Houston, it looked like the same old rubber game for the Mets this season.  Livan Hernandez(7-5) gave up three runs on three consecutive doubles to start the game before the Astros made some baserunning mistakes to get him out of an even bigger inning.  After that, Hernandez settled in for six more innings allowing no more runs than the initial three as the Mets came back to win 8-3.  The Mets had three triples in this game, one each from Luis Castillo, Angel Pagan and Jeremy Reed.  Sean Green worked the final out of the eighth and the ninth inning to get his first save fo the season.  The Mets now return home to face the wild card leading Colorado Rockies for four at Citi Field and hope to bring some momentum with them.  Check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog for more.

Doubles in the first by Miguel Tejada, Carlos Lee and Geoff Blum after a single by Kaz Matsui provided all three runs for the Astros.  Hunter Pence followed with a single by Blum was thrown out at home for the second out by a mile, followed by Pence being caught stealing while Pudge was at bat.  Brian Moehler(7-6) worked 4.2 innings but gave up five runs on eight hits and walked two in taking the loss for the Astros.

Kearns sends fans home happy

The Washington Nationals completed their second straight series victory with a walk off victory against the San Diego Padres.  Austin Kearns with his first at bat of the game, replacing Adam Dunn hit a walk off single which scored Nyjer Morgan to give the Nats a 3-2 victory.  Josh Willingham homered in the seventh to even them with the Padres at 1 and then Adam Dunn singled home Willie Harris in the eighth inning for the lead.  John Lannan worked eight innings but got a no decision as Mike MacDougal blew his first save of the year for the Nationals.  Joe Beimel(1-5) worked two thirds of an inning and qualified for the win.  Centerfieldgate has more info for you on the Nats.

The Padres started Chad Gaudin pitched well but also got a no decision and Luke Gregerson was thankful for Kyle Banks hitting another home run, this time off Mike MacDougal to save him from a loss.  Greg Burke(2-3) took the loss as he was an out away from getting out of the rally when Kearns won the game for the Nats.

Ham Ram gets NL Player of the week

Fresh off the announcement that he was the National League Co-Player of the week , Hanley Ramirez went 3 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI bringing his average to .339 on the season while the Marlins defeated the Nationals 4-2.  This game was tied until the bottom of the eighth inning as there was a great pitched game by former Marlins Scott Olsen and Ricky Nolasco who appears to be turning his season around.  Nolasco(5-6) went eight innings of four hit ball while giving up only two runs and striking out eight.  Since being sent down to the minor league squad in late May with a 9.07 ERA in nine starts, Nolasco has a 1.80 ERA in five starts and is 4-1 in those games.  After Olsen pitched seven strong innings for the Nationals in his first start back from the disabled list, Ron Villone(3-5) went two thirds of an inning giving up what would eventually be the winning run to the Marlins.  Leo Nunez got the final out to record his third save of the season for the Marlins.  The Marlins moved into second place in the National League East with the victory and the series continues tonight.  For more Nationals news visit Centerfieldgate.

What could he be thinking?

The New York Mets continued their downward spiral on Monday night as they lost their fourth straight game, falling three full games behind the Phillies and even falling behind the Florida Marlins in the National League East.  Formerly undefeated Fernando Nieve(3-1) only lasted into the fourth inning this time, giving up eleven total hits and three earned runs and one home run.  The game was kept close until the Brewers broke it open in the final three innings getting seven runs off the final three Mets relievers, and those turned out to be important.  In the sixth inning, Brewers third basemen Casey McGehee made up for a Luis Castillo like error by hitting a grand slam, putting the Brew Crew up seven to three at that time.  Braden Looper(6-4) worked 6.1 innings against his former club only giving up one earned run and three in total and even contributed an RBI single.  Trevor Hoffman was summoned unexpectedly in the ninth inning to pick up his 18th save after Carlos Villanueva could only record one out while giving up five hits and three runs and making the game much closer than it actually was.  The two teams continue the series tonight at 8pm in Milwaukee and the Mets hope that ace Johan Santana can break their losing streak.  For additional Mets news, go to The Real Dirty Mets Blog.

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