Lidge returns to action

The Phillies won their first series since taking two out of three from the Mets in early June by beating the Blue Jays 5-4 in Toronto yesterday.  Jamie Moyer(6-6) went five innings while giving up four earned runs, but giving up three earned runs in earning the win for the Phils.  Brian Tallet(5-5) went slightly longer than Jamie Moyer, giving up the same number of earned runs but because of an unearned run, took the loss in this game.  Brad Lidge worked a shaky ninth inning to get his first save since returning from the disabled list, his 14th of the year.  The Phillies will take Monday off before heading to Atlanta to take on the Braves on Tuesday.

Rivera joins the elite 500 save club

During the nightcap for Sunday’s games, the Mets were hoping to manage one game in this edition of the Subway Series against the Yankees.  Unfortunately, mental issues stopped them from doing that early in the game once again.  Livan Hernandez(5-3) worked seven innings, while only giving up three runs in the first inning of a game in which Daniel Murphy, the young and unexperienced first basemen made another odd play.  In the first inning, on a ground ball, he decided to throw to third to hope to get a tag down on Jeter rather than taking a sure out at first base which likely made a huge difference in the game.  Chien-Ming Wang(1-6) got his first win of the year with just over five innings of two run ball, but was not the Wang of old yet.  Mariano Rivera worked 1.1 innings and got an RBI to earn his first RBI of his career on a bases loaded walk and earn his 500th save of his amazing career.  The Mets hope that returning to regular National League play this week will allow them to right their ship, check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog for more information.

Fredi is concerned

The Florida Marlins managed just four hits yesterday against the Tampa Bay Rays in the finale of their three game set and interleague play.  After a successful week against the Yankees and Orioles, the Marlins could not manage a win versus the defending American League champions.  David Price(2-2) worked 6.1 innings while only giving up two hits and one run, but five bases on balls to get the win, as Andrew Miller(2-4) gave up all five Rays runs in the same amount of time.  J.P. Howell who had earned wins in the first two games of this series, got the last two outs of this game on strike outs for his fifth save of the season.  The Marlins welcome the last place Nationals into Miami this week for a three game set.

Chipper and Garret go yard

Tommy Hanson continues to impress everyone and show that he is the phenom prospect he was supposed to be.  Hanson(4-0) went six innings of two hit ball to get his fourth win in five starts this season for the Braves.  The closer revolving door for the Braves let Mike Gonzalez get his ninth save of the year in a 2-1 Braves win with Rafael Soriano getting the hold today.  The Braves were propelled to victory but two solo home runs by Chipper Jones and Garret Anderson and that’s all the pitching needed.  Brad Penny(6-3) worked six strong innings only giving up the solo shots in taking the loss.  The Braves will welcome in the Phillies tomorrow night, check out The Braves Baseball Blog for more information.

The Nats celebrate a win

The Nats were another NL East team which was looking to avoid a sweep at the hands of an AL East team yesterday.  Like the Braves, the Nationals managed to get the win and avoid the series sweep by the Orioles.  Adam Dunn hit yet another monster home run and John Lannan(5-5) pitched another solid game into the eighth inning to get the win for the Nationals.  Mike MacDougal picked up his third save of the season while David Hernandez(1-2) went 5.2 innings pitched while giving up three runs in taking the loss for the O’s.  The Nationals will travel to Miami and take on the Marlins this week, more will be available at CenterfieldGate.

Make sure to check back later for the NL East Series Preview for this week.

Werth with a big game

Jayson Werth went four for four at the plate with a walk, three runs scored and three RBI for Philadelphia yesterday on the to a 10-0 victory.  Fueled by two four run innings from the offense, J.A. Happ(5-0) stayed undefeated and went the distance for the win.  Brad Mills(0-1) lasted only four innings while giving up eight earned runs while taking the loss for the Blue Jays.  This was the first time in the five times the teams met so far this year that Toronto did not win.  The interleague schedule ends for these teams today as Jamie Moyer goes up against Brian Tallet for the Jays.

Redding can't do much without offense

The New York Mets “B” team seems to be really getting the effect of playing versus other Major League teams now.  The New York Mets have now gone down in order in eighteen out of twenty-three of their last offensive innings, and scored 1 run in that time on a home run by Gary Sheffield.  Last night A.J. Burnett(6-4) worked seven innings of one hit ball, before being relieved for the final two innings of perfect relief in a 5-0 Yankees win.  Tim Redding(1-3) worked into the sixth inning but it all fell apart in that inning as he gave up five earned runs in the loss.  The Mets hope to salvage a game of this series tonight at 8PM on ESPN when Chien-Ming Wang goes up against Livan Hernandez.

Tampa Bay celebrates a walk off win

J.P. Howell(4-2) is getting used to these wins in relief lately, as he was the benefactor in a 3-2 Rays walk off win in Tampa last night.  Willy Aybar came up big again as he hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning scoring Carlos Pena for the Rays sixth win in their last eight games.  Burke Badenhop(5-3) took the loss in the ninth for the Marlins in the game.  The fish will look to salvage the final game of the series today as Andrew Miller takes on David Price at 1:38PM EST.

Braves lose a tough one

The Atlana Braves had a tough offensive game yesterday, as they couldn’t muster up a run while losing 1-0 to the Boston Red Sox.  Three Boston pitchers combined in a four hit shutout, including Tim Wakefield(10-3) pitching six strong for the win and Jonathan Papalbon pitching the ninth inning to get his eighteenth save of the season.  Javier Vazquez(5-7) pitched into the eighth inning while only giving up 6 hits and one earned run and took a tough loss.  The series concludes today at 1:30PM EST with Brad Penny for the Sox taking on Tommy Hanson of the Braves.

Rookie Reimold has a big game

Rookie Nolan Reimold hit his ninth home run of the year and contributed three RBI to help the Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Nationals 6-3.  Greg Zaun and Aubrey Huff also contributed home runs during the win in Baltimore last night as Jeremy Guthrie(6-7) pitched the minimum five innings for the win.  Sharon Martis(5-3) took his third loss in a row after going five straight decisions in his career without a loss for the Nats last night.  The Nationals will hope to avoid the sweep as John Lannon takes on David Hernandez at 1:35PM EST today.

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Special thanks to Mr North Jersey for design help. Again, if interested in helping the NLEC, please contact mrose@nleastchatter.com