Phillies vs. Astros

The Phillies and Astros played a wild game Tuesday night in Philadelphia.  The game featured a pitcher’s duel, ninth inning home run, and a key ejection that forced the Phillies to use a pitcher in the field.  In the end, the Astos defeated the Phillies by a score of 4-2 in a 16 inning marathon.

The Astros got on the board first in the fourth inning when Carlos Lee hit a two-run homer off of Phillies’ starter Cole Hamels.  The Phils got a run back off of Houston starter Bud Norris in the sixth on a Raul Ibanez RBI double, but the Astros held on to a 2-1 lead entering the ninth inning.    With two outs in the ninth, Jimmy Rollins blasted a solo home run off of Houston reliever Wilton Lopez to tie the game and send it to extra innings.  Then things got really interesting.

 Neither team could find a way to score in extra frames.  In the bottom of the 14th, Ryan Howard came up with two runners on and two outs.  Howard had two check swings ruled strikes by third base umpire Scott Barry, the last being strike three.  When Howard tossed his bat and helmet after the strike out, Barry ejected Howard, causing the Phillies first baseman to charge towards the umpire before being restrained.  The ejection left the Phillies short a position player, and forced manager Charlie Manuel to insert pitcher Roy Oswalt in left field. 

The Astros finally broke the tie in the top of the 16th off of reliever David Herndon (1-3), scratching out two runs on an infield single and fielder’s choice.  In the bottom of the inning, Howard’s ejection loomed large again.   Astros’ reliever Jeff Fulchino (1-0) retired the first two batters, but after walking Placido Polanco, Houston intentionally walked Chase Utley to bring up “clean up hitter” Roy Oswalt.   Fulchino got Oswalt to ground out to end the game and give Houston the victory.

 

Marlins vs. Mets

 The Mets’ slumbering offense knocked out Marlins’ ace Josh Johnson after five innings and used single runs in the final two innings to defeat Florida by a score of 6-5 at Citi Field.

The Mets broke a 2-2 tie with two runs in the fifth off of Johnson, thanks to an RBI single by Carlos Beltran and Jeff Francoeur‘s second sacrifice fly of the game.  Mets’ starter R.A. Dickey kept the Mets in the lead until the seventh.  With two outs and two on in the seventh, Dickey allowed a three-run homer to Gaby Sanchez to give Florida a 5-4 lead.  However, the Mets came back against the Marlins’ bullpen.

With two outs in the eighth, Angel Pagan doubled and Beltran drove in his second run of the game with a run-scoring single off of Clay Hensley to tie the game at 5.   After Hisanori Takahashi (8-6) retired the Marlins in the top of the ninth, Luis Castillo hit a two-out single off of Will Ohman (0-2) to score Ike Davis and give the Mets the walk-off victory.

 

Nationals vs. Cubs

The Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano pitched effectively into the eighth inning, and closer Carlos Marmol survived a shaky ninth as Chicago held on to defeat the Nationals 5-4 in Washington.

Nationals’ starter John Lannan (5-6) allowed a three-run homer to Alfonso Soriano and a two-run shot to Tyler Colvin as the Cubs built a 5-1 lead.  Meanwhile, Zambrano (5-6) allowed just one run and five hits over 7 1/3 innings, striking out eight.   Marmol entered the game in the bottom of the eighth with the bases loaded, but struck out Ian Desmond to keep the score at 5-1.

In the ninth, Marmol created his own bases loaded mess, and with two outs, Adam Kennedy cleared the bases with a three-run double to cut Chicago’s lead to 5-4.  Luckily for the Cubbies, Marmol rebounded to retire Ryan Zimmerman on a fly ball to preserve the victory.  Despite allowing three runs, Marmol was credited with his 23rd save of the season since he entered the game with the tying run at the plate.

 

Braves vs. Rockies

The first place Atlanta Braves received a solid starting pitching performance from Derek Lowe, but the Rockies’ Jorge De La Rosa was better on Tuesday night, and the Braves fell by a score of 5-2 in Colorado.

The Rockies opened the scoring when Carlos Gonzalez hit a two-run homer off of Lowe (11-12) in the bottom of the first.  The Braves got a run back in the second off of De La Rosa (5-4) on an Alex Gonzalez solo shot, but Rockies got that run back with a Seth Smith home run in the sixth.  Alex Gonzalez cut the Rockies lead to 3-2 with a seventh inning RBI single, but that was as close as the Braves would get.

The Rockies added some insurance in the eighth inning courtesy of a Dexter Fowler two-run single.  Huston Street pitched a perfect ninth inning to notch his 12th save of the season.

Phillies vs. Diamondbacks

Justin Upton scored in a bases loaded walk in the first inning for the Diamondbacks.  The Phillies scored 2 runs in the third when Ryan Howard singled home Placido Polanco and Carlos Ruiz walked with the bases loaded scoring Raul Ibanez.  Mark Reynolds hit a solo shot in the fourth to time the game and added another in the fifth when Stephen Drew singled home Adam LaRoche.  In the bottom of the inning Jason Werth homered scoring Ryan Howard to take the lead.  The diamondbacks took the lead in the 6th when they scored 2 runs Adam LaRoche hit a sac fly to score Chris Young and a Miguel Montero ground out scored Kelly Johnson.  The Phillies then took the lead in the bottom of the inning when they scored 3 runs when Raul Ibanez singled home Shane Victorino and Ryan Howard homered scoring Raul Ibanez.  In the seventh Cody Ransom homered scoring Carlos Ruiz adding 2 more runs for the Phils.

Cole Hamels pitched 5 innings giving up 6 hits, 3 runs, and 8 strikeouts.  Rodrigo Lopez pitched 5 innings giving up 7 hits, 4 runs, and 4 strikeouts.  David Herndon got the win pitching 1 inning giving up  1 hit, 2 runs and no strikeouts.  The loss went to Jordan Norberto who did not record an out and pitched 2 hits and 2 runs.

Braves vs. Nationals

The Nationals beat the Braves in a score of 3-0. Nyjer Morgan scored in the first for the Nationals on a throwing error by Brian McCann.  In the third the Nationals added 2 more runs when Ian Desmond singled home Ivan Rodriguez and Roger Bernadina.

Miguel Batista won and pitched 5 innings giving up 3 hits, no runs with 6 strikeouts.  Tommy Hanson got the lose and pitched 6 innings, giving up 6 hits, 3 runs, and 8 strikeouts.  Matt Capps got his 25th save of the season giving up no hits with 1 strikeout.

Mets vs. Cardinals

The Mets beat the Cardinals in a score of 8-2. Ryan Ludwick singled home Matt Holliday in the first.  The Mets struck back in the second when Ike Davis grounded out scoring David Wright.  In the third Jeff Francoeur homered scoring Carlos Beltran and Ike Davis.  In the fifth they added on 2 more runs when David Wright hit a sac fly to score Luis Castillo and Carlos Beltran singled home Angel Pagan.  In the sixth Jose Reyes homered scoring Jon Niese for 2 more runs in the inning.  In the eight the Cardinals added a run when Randy Winn grounded into a double play scoring Ryan Ludwick.

Jon Niese got the win and pitched 6 innings giving up 7 hits, 1 run, and 1 strikeout.  The loss went to Adam Wainwright who pitched 5 innings giving up 6 hits, 6 runs, and 6 strikeouts.

Marlins vs. Giants

The Giants beat the Marlins in a score of 6-4. The Giants scored 2 runs in the third when Aubrey Huff doubled home Andrés Torres and Buster Posey singled home Aubrey Huff.  In the fifth the Marlins tied it up when Cody Ross homered scoring Wes Helms.  In the bottom of the inning the Giants reclaimed the lead when Freddy Sanchez singled home Andres Torres.  The Marlins again tied it up when Dan Uggla hit a solo shot in the seventh inning.  In the eighth Juan Uribe and Édgar Rentería both went deep adding 3 more runs for the Giants.  The Marlins added 1 more run in the ninth when Dan Uggla hit another solo shot.

Matt Cain pitched 7 innings giving up 4 hits, 3 runs, and 6 strikeouts.  Josh Johnson pitched 7 innings giving up 8 hits, 3 runs, and 5 strikeouts.  The win went to Sergio Romo who pitched 1 inning giving up no hits and the loss went to Brian Sanches who pitched 0.1 of an inning giving up 3 hits and 3 runs. Brian Wilson got the save but gave up a run and a hit with 2 strikeouts.