Happ with the complete game gem

Rookie J.A. Happ who had to deal with trade rumors last week and rumors this week of going to the bullpen or possibly being demoted when Pedro comes aboard had a lot on his mind last night.  You sure couldn’t tell with how he pitched though.  Happ(8-2) threw a complete game shutout only allowing four hits and two walks and struck out ten in cooling down the formerly hot Rockies.  He got plenty of run support with a trio of homeruns from the Phillies.   Pedro Feliz hit a solo shot, Rollins hit a two run shot and finally Jayson Werth capped the scoring in the fifth with a three run home run.  The final game is this afternoon, but check out Phillies Phandom for more information on the Phils.

After extending the win streak to five, the Rockies only got four hits and not one batter had more than one hit in being shut out 7-0.  Jorge De La Rosa(9-8) only lasted five innings but got charged with all seven runs on ten hits and only three strike outs.  It was De La Rosa’s first loss since June 16th as he had been on quite a roll.

Are Fish fans sick of this?

The Washington Nationals are on a roll, now winners of foru straight games for the second time in just over a week after beating the Marlins 5-4 last night in Washington.  Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn hit solo home runs in the first and the Nationals would never look back with Lannan on the mound.  John Lannan(8-8) went six innings while allowing eight hits and two runs to get another win.  Mike MacDougal worked the second straight game for his 10th save of the season, but this one was not as stressful.  Ronnie Belliard added a solo home run of his own in the fourth and Christian Guzman tripled and doubled both times scoring Nyjer Morgan to account for two RBI.  CenterfieldGate covers all of the Nationals news here at NLEC.
The Florida Marlins must be wondering what is going on as they have lost two straight to the bottom of the division Nationals after taking two of three from the Cubs and Braves last week.  Rick VandenHurk(1-1) only lasted four innings allowing five runs on seven hits and allowing three home runs in taking his first loss this season.  Dan Uggla also had a big game, with a solo shot and a two RBI single later in the game.  Hanley Ramirez provided the only other run on a double play groundout, but obviously, no RBI.  FishGuts will have more info on how the Marlins fans are feeling about this loss.

Chipper being Chipper

The Braves rebounded the last two days from a bad loss on Monday night against the last place Padres.  Yesterday, rookie Tommy Hanson had another impressive start Wednesday afternoon.  Hanson(6-2) went six innings with five hits and two runs and three walks while striking out five.  He was given runs early, by four RBI singles by Garrett Anderson, two by Nate McClouth and a two RBI  single by Brian McCann.  Martin Prado added a sacrifice fly as well as the Braves won 6-2. Check out The Braves Baseball Blog for more information about this win.

Chad Gaudin(4-10) lost his tenth game of this season and could not get through the fourth inning in this one.  Gaudin gave up nine hits and six runs with two walks in 3.1 innings and the Padres never had a chance.  The only runs they were allowed was on a Will Venable home run scoring two.

Gettin Figgy with it?

New York Mets fans have been through a lot this year, and in the second inning when starter Jonathon Niese went down with an injury, it didn’t help.  Luckily, at least for this game, Nelson Figueroa filled in and did great with the bat and the arm.  Figueroa(1-2) came on and pitched 4.1 scoreless innings of relief while only allowing four hits and striking out five while adding a two rbi triple and a walk at the plate.  The Mets won the game 9-0 behind David Wright going 3-4 with a two run home run and a four RBI day from Angel Pagan who had a two run home run a triple and a sacrifice fly.  Bobby Parnell earned his first major league save by pitching three innings while allowing just one run and striking out three.  Check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog for more information on the Mets and this win.

Kyle Lohse started for the Cardinals and was hit hard and hit early.  Lohse(4-7) went only 2.2 innings and allowed five runs and seven hits for the Cardinals before four relievers combined to give up the nine total runs.  Albert Pujols had two hits and along with Joe Thurston the only two Cardinals batters with more than one hit.

Be sure to check back to NLEC or the team affiliate blog frequently!

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

The Atlanta Braves are the only team starting a new series on Thursday night, so we will have a scaled down version just for them today, with a full version tomorrow afternoon. Enjoy!

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.

A

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.

Be sure to check back to NLEC or the team affiliate blog frequently!

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

Werth sends Phils fans home happy

Last night, the Phillies offense wasn’t as high powered as it has been, instead most of the support was from pitching on this day.  Joe Blanton pitched seven innings only giving up one run against the Chicago Cubs, and the Phillies could only manage a solo home run from Jimmy Rollins against the Cubs starter.  Then the Phillies relief went six shutout, no hit innings including three by Chan Ho Park and one by Clay Condrey(6-2) who got the win.  Finally in the bottom of the thirteenth, the Phils got two man on with two out for Jayson Werth.  Jayson Werth hit his 21st home run of the year sending the Phillies to a walk off win and their 10th in a row by a score of 4-1.  The Series will conclude this afternoon in Philly, check out Phillies Phandom for more Phillies news and info.

The Cubs came into this series hot, but even on a night when the pitching was solid, their bats still were silent.  Fukudome got an RBI double in the fourth scoring Ryan Theriot for the only run they would get in this game.  After Rich Harden pitched seven innings of one run ball, in 5.2 innings pitched, only Jeff Samardzija(0-1) gave up a run, and the Phillies also only had two hits.

McCann leads the Bravos

Tuesday night in Atlanta brought more of the same for the Braves fans, as they won again by a convincing score.  The Braves were led on Tuesday night by another great night for catcher Brian McCann, going two for four with four RBI including a three run home run.  Martin Prado continued his hot hitting going three for five as well with three runs scored and an RBI as well.  Derek Lowe(9-7) seems to be back on track now, going six innings, allowing seven hits, one walk and only a single run for the win. Make sure to get to The Braves Baseball Blog for more Braves info.

The Giants only mustered one run and that was when the game was out of reach in the fifth.  Juan Uribe hit a single to score Matt Downs as the Giants are losing a hold of their wild card grip.  Ryan Sadowski(2-2) only lasted 3.2 innings and was tagged for eight hits and all eight runs for the Giants.

Volstad gets the W

Chris Volstad is hoping that he has found his groove again, after two of his last three outtings have been quality.  Volstad(7-9) went seven innings to get the win while only allowing one run and four hits before being lifted.  The Marlins scored a run in each of the 2nd, 3rd and 5th innings on RBI’s by John Baker, Jorge Cantu and Jeremy Hermida.  Leo Nunez worked the ninth, while giving up a solo home run, but got his sixth save of the year none the less.  FishGuts is the place to be for all the Marlins news you need.

Chad Gaudin didn’t have a bad game, but as it always seems in San Diego, didn’t get any support.  Gaudin(4-9) worked six innings giving up nine hits, but only three runs but took the loss.  Adrian Gonzalez put the Pads up top in the first, but that would be their only run until Kyle Banks hit a solo shot in the ninth, but the game would end in a 3-2 loss for the Padres.

Lannan goes the distance

John Lannan and the Nationals did something that their fans don’t see much these days, win!  With that win though, Lannan also pitched a complete game shutout, the first since August 15th, 2006 and first in the new ballpark.  Lannan(7-7) scattered seven hits and had a single strike out in only throwing 106 pitches to get the complete game, 4-0, and looks to be the Nats ace.  He got help from RBI’s from an Alberto Gonzalez and Josh Willingham sacrifice flies, and singles by Will Nieves and Adam Dunn.  They will try to take the series from the Mets tonight at 7pm.  CenterfieldGate has more information regarding the Nats.

The New York Mets looked terrible in their approach at the plate, and after hoping that a win Monday might get them rolling, they went right back to what has haunted them all season.  Oliver Perez(2-3) in his third start back from the DL looked solid for the first few innings but in the fourth fell apart, and managed six innings giving up four runs while walking another six batters.  All seven hits the Mets got were singles as well, check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog for more info on this game and the Mets.

Be sure to check back to NLEC or the team affiliate blog frequently!

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