The Phils are all smiles

Why wouldn’t every single player on the Phillies be all smiles right now?  The Phillies can’t seem to lose, and last night they won yet another game, by the score of 4-3.  The Phillies also seem to be able to spread out the nightly heroes, last night could be considerd Shane Victorino.  Victorino went 3-5 with two runs scored and two RBI including a solo home run.  After the help from Victorino, Hamels(7-5) went eight innings only allowing one run and four hits while striking out nine for the win.  Brad Lidge got a shaky 20th save as he worked the ninth but gave up a hit and two runs on a home run.  Check out Phillies Phandom for more as the Phils go for a series sweep today.

The Diamondbacks took an early lead in this game on a Ryan Roberts solo home run, but could get nothing more against ace Cole Hamels.  D’Backs ace Danny Haren(10-6) only got through five innings himself giving up three runs and two earned and walking three while having a very high pitch count.  Mark Reynolds tried to get them closer in the ninth as he provided the two run shot off Lidge, but that would be all.

Gload with his 1st career walk off

The Marlins went into the bottom of the ninth inning on Tuesday night, with the chance to drop out of second place in the National League East to the Atlanta Braves.  Cody Ross walked and then Ross Gload who has been solid all year as a pinch hitter hit a two run shot to win the game 4-3.  The win keeps the Marlins hit and they have now won four of six against the Braves so far this season.  Ricky Nolasco pitched a solid game, going seven innings and giving up two runs and got a no decision.  Leo Nunez(3-3) gave up a run in the ninth on a solo home run and was in line for a loss, but Gload’s heroics saved him and gave him the victory.  Check out FishGuts for more on the win.

The Atlanta Braves Rafael Soriano(1-2) blew his second save of the season as he worked one third of an inning and gave up the two run home run to Gload.  Jair Jurrjens pitched six strong giving up the two runs and Gonzalez and Moylan gave up a hit each in perfect innings, Moylan had been in line for a victory.  Prado continued his hot play with an RBI single in the third and Chipper Jones and Garrett Anderson capped the scoring with home runs for the Braves.  The Braves Baseball Blog has more information on the win and the Bravos.

Big Pelf shuts the Rox down

Tuesday night, the Mets were looking to win four games in a row, for what seems like the first time since the Clinton administration.  They sent Mike Pelfrey to the mound and although he worked in and out of trouble, the Mets managed a 4-0 shutout.  Pelfrey(8-6) worked 6.1 innings scattering seven hits and three walks but working out of two bases loaded jams on way to the win.  The Mets offense got solo runs in four different innings, the second, third , fourth and eighth.  Francouer, Castillo, and Murphy had RBI singles and Brian Schneider had a sacrifice fly for all the Mets offense.  Check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog for more Mets info.

Jason Marquis(12-7) came into this game with the most wins in the National League and took the loss, obviously not adding to his total.  Marquis went six innings, giving up seven hits and two earned runs and left after only 86 pitches as the Rockies tried to jump start the offense.  The Rockies will hope to get a win tonight against Mets ace Johan Santana.

Dunn hits a monster shot

Break up the Nationals! The Nats have now won four games in a row, and by commanding fashion, last night winning 8-3 over the Brewers.  Nyjer Morgan and Christian Guzman had three RBI’s each, with both having a home run and Adam Dunn added a solo shot of his own to go with three walks.  Colin Balester(1-1) got his first win this season and went six innings of two run ball and the win held up through the shaky Nats bullpen.  Check out CenterfieldGate for more info on the Nats and their win streak.

Braun homered for the second straight game, but that doesn’t help when the rest of the pitching and hitting doesn’t support you.  Carlos Villanueva(2-8) went four innings and gave up five runs and two home runs taking the loss.  Tim Dillard did not help the come back shots ashe worked four more innings but gave up three more runs, solidifying the Nats win.

Holliday has a great debut

Yesterday all the news was about the St. Louis Cardinals trading for Matt Holliday formerly of the Oakland A’s.  Luckily for them, Holliday was only a train ride away in NYC and was available to hit cleanup in Philly last night.  Holliday didn’t disappoint going 4-5 with one rbi and a run scored as the Cardinals routed the Phillies 8-1.  Joel Pineiro(9-9) evened his record for the year as he went six innings giving up just three hits and a walk.  Julio Lugo started at second for the Cards and even had two hits, an rbi and two runs scored.

J.A. Happ(7-1) took his first loss of the year for the Phillies as he lasted only five innings while allowing five runs on five hits.  The Phillies offense was silent on this night as they only scored one run on a wild pitch in the seventh inning.  See Phillies Phandom for more Phils info.

Prado continues to stay hot

The Braves rebounded from a late loss to the Giants on Thursday by beating up on the Brew Crew in Milwaukee last night.  Martin Prado once again had a great game going 2-5 with four RBI, a run scored and a walk as the Braves won 9-4.  Javier Vazquez(8-7) got the win going seven innings of four run ball and being supported by a lot of offense behind him.  Chipper Jones and Nate McClouth hit home runs for the Braves in the win as well.  Check out The Braves Baseball Blog for more info.

The Brewers had tied this game up 4-4 going into the sixth inning, but bad relief pitching doomed them on this night.  Carlos Villanueva(2-7) worked one inning and gave up a run, but being the Brewers offense went silent, he got the loss.  Ryan Braun hit a home run and a triple, getting two RBI on the game to lead the Brewers.

Hermida comes through

Last night the Marlins went into Los Angeles after sweeping through San Diego and were looking to stay hot against the best team in the National League.  Jeremy Hermida made sure that happened with a pinch hit RBI single in the seventh inning to give them the lead.  They would add two more runs on a Chris Coghlan home run and a Jorge Cantu RBI single on the way to a 6-3 win.  Josh Johnson(9-2) pitched seven more innings of three run ball to get another win.  Leo Nunez continues to fill in well for the injured Matt Lindstrom as he worked a perfect ninth for his seventh save of the season.  Check out FishGuts for more.

The Dodgers sent their young stud to the mound and he pitched well, but not well enough to win.  Clayton Kershaw went six innings giving up two earned runs and three overall, but did not factor in the decision.  James McDonald(2-2) got the loss working two-thirds of an inning and giving up the single to Hermida.  Andre Ethier did have two RBI for the Dodgers, they will try to get back on track Saturday.

that one hurt, eh?

The Houston Astros are one of the hottest teams in baseball and last night they beat one of the best pitchers in unconventional ways.  The Astros took a 3-1 lead in the game on a home run from starting pitcher Mike Hampton to start.  Then, later when the Mets had tied it up, former Phillies catcher filling in for an injured Berkman hit a two run double to put them up for good.  Mike Hampton(6-7) got the win while pitching into the sixth and being charged with four runs on eight hits.  Jose Valverde worked the ninth on only seven pitches to get his 11th save of the season securing a 5-4 win.

The Mets ace Johan Santana just didn’t have it on this night.  Santana(11-8) lasted 6.2 innings but gave up twelve hits and five runs against only three strike outs.  The Mets bounced back many times in this game, first in the fifth inning after they fell behind 3-1, and almost again in the sixth.  Jeff Francouer was thrown out at home on a great throw by right fielder Hunter Pence and there was a mini collision at the plate.  The Mets couldn’t get another run across and they lost their third in a row and are now 2-6 since the break.  Check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog for more Mets info.

Padres Get a win

The Padres entered Nationals Park last night on a losing streak and were facing the best team to get a win from.  They scored five runs on starter Garrett Mock for the Nationals on the way to their 6-2 victory.  The usually light hitting Luis Rodriguez went 2-4 with three RBI, including a solo home run.  Mat Latos(1-1) went 5.2 innings of two run ball to get his first victory.  The Padres will look turn this into a streak on Saturday.

Garret Mock(0-4) took another loss in this game as mentioned earlier, he gave up five runs in only 5.2 innings to the San Diego Padres.  The only offense the Nats could support him with though were solo shots from Christian Guzman and Ryan Zimmerman.   Check out Centerfieldgate for more info.

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.