Nick Johnson with a blast

The Florida Marlins needed to get a win and get back on track, and luckily they were able to do that tonight.  They got all the runs they needed in the first two innings in Philly, but held on to win 3-2.  Nick Johnson homered in the first and was followed by a Dan Uggla RBI double later.  Cody Ross capped the Marlins scoring with a home run of his own in the second inning.  Starter Ricky Nolasco(8-7) continues to get back to last seasons form as he worked seven innings only making one mistake in giving up a two run home run and four hits total.  Leo Nunez worked the ninth and recorded his tenth save of the season.  FishGuts has more on the series and the Marlins for you.

Joe Blanton worked yet another solid start the Phils and they had a chance to win if they could have gotten to Nolasco.  Blanton(7-6) went 6.2 innings and allowed three runs on eight hits but as we mentioned, all in the first two innings.  The only offense the Phillies could muster against the Marlins was a seventh inning two run blast by new Philly Ben Franciso scoring Raul Ibanez.  Phillies Phandom is the place to go for more Phillies insight and info.

Yes, Zimm again

Break up the Nats!  The Nationals have now won six games in a row after snapping the Diamondbacks streak and extending their own on Friday night.  Elijah Dukes had a second straight big day as he finished with three RBI while going 1-3 with a sac fly and a double.  Josh Willingham added a two run single and Ryan Zimmerman had another home run, of the solo variety.  Colin Balester gave up five runs in the first two innings but got into the fifth only allowing those five on eight hits before being removed getting the first two outs.  Jason Bergmann(2-1) got the win while recording one out in relief in the top of the seventh.  Closer Mike MacDougal is on fire and recorded his 11th save while working 1.2 innings allowing two hits and a walk.  Centerfieldgate has more on the game.

The Diamondbacks had solo home runs from Mark Reynolds and Josh Whitesell to start the second inning and a three run shot by Stephen Drew to cap the inning.  That would be all of their runs until a sacrifice fly by Stephen Drew in the eighth to pull within one.  Jon Garland got a no decision working six innings and allowing four earned runs and five overall.  Juan Gutierrez(3-3) worked one inning allowing three hits and two runs and took the loss in this game for the D’Backs.

Church with his biggest hit as a Brave

Ryan Church had his biggest hit since joining the Braves, a three run home run in the twelth inning.  It came a few batters after Yunel Escobar singled in the go ahead run in the extra frame and was a three run shot to put the game away, 9-5.  Escobar and Church each had three hits and two runs scored, but Church had four RBI to Escobar’s one.  Jair Jurrjens only went 4.1 innings on a rare bad night for him, but as you can see the offense picked him up.  Peter Moylan(4-2) got the win in relief for the Braves, as they look to keep winning tomorrow, check out The Braves Baseball Blog for more.

Chad Billingsley went six innings allowing only two runs in this one, but the Dodgers relief just could not hold it.  Broxton received his fourth blown save of the season in this one with a run in his inning of work.  Ramon Tronsoco(0-1) only recorded one out but was charged with two runs in the loss on this one.  Casey Blake had the biggest blow for the Dodgers in this one, a three run shot.

Cabrera sends Pads home happy, Mets fans home sad as usual

The Padres went into the ninth inning last night down 2-1 and facing one of the best closers in baseball, when hes on his game.  Will Venable hit a double in the inning to score Kyle Banks tying the game at two, but they weren’t done there.  With the bases loaded and no outs, Everth Cabrera hit only his second home run of his career but made it a big one, a grand slam to send the Padres to a 6-2 win.  Heath Bell(4-1) working the ninth after Kevin Correia allowed zero earned runs but two unearned runs in six innings of work.  Chase Headley provided the first RBI for the Padres in the seventh, doubling home David Eckstein.

Oliver Perez turned in a great performance last night, as he went 6.1 innings and only allowed two hits, two walks and one run, a rarity for him.   Unfortunately the Mets offense didn’t come to play as they scored two in the first and that was it.  In the first, Angel Pagan scored on a David Wright single and Wright later scored himself when Correia threw a wild pitch, and that capped the scoring.  Francisco Rodriguez(2-3) didn’t record an out but gave up five runs in the ninth to blow his fifth save and his second in a row.  Check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog for more.

Lee outstanding in home debut

The person that appears to be the new Phillies ace helped them take two of three from the formerly hot Rockies Wednesday afternoon in Philly.  Cliff Lee(2-0) went seven innings and only allowed six hits, one walk and one run while striking out nine.  He was not given a lot of run support, but he didn’t need it in the 3-1 victory.  Jimmy Rollins went 3-4 with two runs scored as he had a triple and a double and Paul Bako hit a solo home run as well.  Brad Lidge worked the ninth while striking out two and giving up a hit to get his 21st save of the season.  Phillies Phandom has more information on the Phils and this series for you.

Aaron Cook didn’t pitch terrible for the Rockies and left after five innings while only throwing 73 pitches.  Cook(10-4) gave up seven hits and three runs but being the Rockies offense could not do anything against Lee, he had no hope.  Todd Helton hit a sacrifice fly in the first inning to put the Rockies ahead early, but that would be all they would muster.

Zimmerman is on fire

The Washington Nationals are on fire right now.  Yesterday, they came backfrom a 6-0 early deficit and were able to beat the Marlins 12-8.  After starter Craig Stammen was knocked out of the game in 1.2 innings while allowing five earned runs on six hits, the Nationals offense came to life.  Elijah Dukes had a big game going 3-4 with four RBI including a home run, two singles and a sacrifice fly and he book ended the Nationals scoring.  Ryan Zimmerman also added four hits and three RBI on his own as he homered yet again, his 23rd of the season.  Jorge Sosa(1-0) worked 1.2 innings of relief allowing just one hit and got the win.   CenterfieldGate has more coverage of this game and the Nationals sweep.

The Marlins got three hist from Hanley Ramirez yesterday and two RBI from John Baker.  Unfortunately, they couldn’t hold the lead and all of these runs didn’t count for anything.  Even getting to the Nationals continuously revamped bullpen early didn’t help them in the long run as the Nationals bullpen went almost seven innings while only allowing two runs.  Marlins starter Chris Volstad only lasted 4.1 innings while he allowed four earned runs and got a no decision in the game.  Luis Ayala(0-2) gave up the go ahead runs on two hits and four runs in an inning of work and his era now stands at 8.59.  Fishguts will have more.

Ethier with the big blast

Andre Ethier hit a huge home run last night in the bottom of the ninth, down two runs to send the Dodgers to a classic come from behind win, 5-4.  Andre Ethier came to the plate with Rafael Furcal and Juan Pierre already on base with no one out against the Braves closer and sent everyone home happy.  Ethier also scored a run on a Ramirez single in the third and Juan Pierre added a sacrifice fly in the fourth.  Randy Wolf went seven innings allowing nine hits and four runs and was saved from a tough loss by the heroics.  Scott Elbert(2-0) got the win by recording the final out in the top of the ninth for the Dodgers.

The Braves got a couple runs early on Matt Diaz and Adam LaRoche RBI singles in the second and a Nate McClouth based loaded walk in the fourth.  Chipper Jones added an insurance run in the seventh inning with a solo home run, but the bullpen couldn’t hold it after Derek Lowe had also pitched 6.1 strong innings of work.  Rafael Soriano(1-3) blew his third save of the season by giving up the shot to Ethier in the bottom of the ninth and could not record an out after giving up hits to each batter he faced.  The Braves Baseball Blog has more information for you on the Braves.

Kouz with an RBI

The Padres got to the Mets early last night and the Mets could never recover.  The Padres got two in the first on a AGon sac fly and a Kouzmanoff single, and then Adrian Gonzalez added a two run shot in the third before the Pads added two more that inning.  In all, the Padres got eight runs, but seven in the first five innings as they won 8-3.  Clayton Richard(1-0) got his first win in the National League in this one and his first RBI.  Richard went 5.2 innings while allowing three runs and five hits and four walks, but allowed all the runs in his final inning of work.

Livan Hernandez absolutely just did not have it last night from the start.  Hernandez(7-6) got through five innings and gave up seven runs on eight hits and could not find his location as well, with four walks.  He admitted after the game to not having his best stuff and not being able to find the location.  The Mets tried a comeback in the sixth on an error scoring a run after a Francouer single, and a Fernando Tatos single as well.  Daniel Murphy hit into a double play that scored their third run, but also gave them two outs and cleared the bases and that was all they would get.  The Real Dirty Mets Blog will have all the info you need on the Mets.

Please feel free to email any recommend questions or comments about the segment to mrose@nleastchatter.com or go to this forum topic and post a reply.

Dukes sent to AAA Syracuse

AP and ESPN report the Washington Nationals sent OF Elijah Dukes to Syracuse on Wednesday after the trade with Pittsburgh yesterday.  They did this in order to make room on the roster for Nyjer Morgan because Lastings Milledge was currently on the minor league roster when the trade was made.

Both players received on Tuesday are in Florida and at least Nyjer Morgan is available to play.