Marlins vs. Pirates

The Marlins beat the Pirates 6-o Tuesday. Florida got to Pittsburgh’s Zach Duke in the 5th, scoring four runs in the inning. Ricky Nolasco helped himself out at the plate by driving in the Marlins first run on an RBI single. A few batters later, Gaby Sanchez singled to drive in two more runs. Dan Uggla followed Sanchez with a sacrifice fly to score Logan Morrison. Florida tagged on another run in the 6th on an RBI double by Nolasco. Nolasco had two RBI’s in the game. A double by Morrison in the 9th drove in the Marlins final run.

Nolasco got the win for Florida, going 6 innings and giving up no runs on five hits while striking out nine. Pirates starter Zach Duke took the loss, going 5.2 innings and allowing five runs on nine hits while striking out four.

Phillies vs. Giants

The Phillies beat the Giants 9-3, to take the NL Wild Card lead. San Francisco scored two runs in the 1st — one on a double play by Aubrey Huff which drove in Andres Torres, and the second on a homer by former Phillie Pat Burrell. Philadelphia tied it up in the 5th inning on a two-RBI single by Jimmy Rollins. Shane Victorino would give Philadelphia the lead in the 6th on a two-run double to center field. Jose Guillen homered for the Giants in the top of the 7th to cut the Phillies lead to 4-3. Philadelphia responded with a five-run 8th inning.

Roy Oswalt went 7 strong innings to get the win for Philadelphia. He gave up three runs on six hits while striking out seven. Barry Zito took the loss, going just 5 innings and allowing four runs on eight hits.

Braves vs. Nationals

The Braves beat the Nationals 10-2 in the series opener. There was no score until the 6th inning when Wil Nieves and Michael Morse had back-to-back doubles to give Washington a 2-0 lead. Atlanta responded in the bottom of the 6th with four runs. Diory Hernandez hit his first home run, a solo shot, for Atlanta. Later in the inning, back-to-back doubles by Martin Prado and Matt Diaz would give the Braves the lead. Atlanta tagged on four more runs in the 7th. A throwing error by Adam Dunn allowed Rick Ankiel to score. A single by Prado and a double by Melky Cabrera drove in three runs to make it 8-2 Atlanta. The Braves added two more runs in the 8th to make it 10-2.

Rookie, Mike Minor, pitched 6 solid innings to get his first win. He gave up two runs on five hits while striking out five. Scott Olsen took the loss for Washington. He went 5 innings, giving up three runs on three hits while striking out four.

Mets vs. Astros

The Mets dropped the second game in their series with the Astros, losing 4-3. Jose Reyes got the Mets on the board in the 1st inning, scoring on a single by Fernando Martinez. Their lead didn’t last long, however, as the Astros took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the 1st on a three-run shot off the bat of Hunter Pence. Reyes would ground out  in the 2nd for the Mets to drive home Josh Thole. Trailing 3-2 in the 8th, David Wright tied it up with a solo shot to left field. Pence got to Mets starter Johan Santana again in the bottom of the 8th, hitting his second home run of the game and giving Houston the go-ahead run.

Santana took the loss for the Mets, going 8 innings and giving up four runs on nine hits while striking out seven. Houston starter, Nelson Figueroa, went 5 innings and allowed two runs on four hits while striking out four to take a no decision. Mark Melancon got the win for Houston after pitching an inning of relief in the 8th. Wilton Lopez recorded his first save for the Astros.

Mets vs. Rockies

The Mets beat the Rockies in a score of 4-0.  In the 1st Angel Pagan singled home Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran hit a sac fly to score Angel Pagan.  In the 7th the Mets added 2 more runs when Jose Reyes singled home Ruben Tejada and Fernando Martinez hit a sac fly to score Johan Santana.

Johan Santana got the win after pitching a complete game shut out giving up just 4 hits with 10 strikeouts.  Jason Hammel got the loss after pitching 7 innings giving up 8 hits, 4 runs, and 4 strikeouts.

Phillies vs. Dodgers

The Phillies beat the Dodgers in a score of 10-9. The Dodgers scored 3 runs in the 1st when Ronnie Belliard singled home Scott Podsednik, Matt Kemp singled home James Loney, and Jamey Carroll singled home Ronnie Belliard.  In the 2nd The Phillies scored a run when Joe Blanton grounded out scoring Carlos Ruiz.  The Phillies added another run in the 4th when Carlos Ruiz singled home Jason Werth.  The Dodgers added a run in the 5th when Ronnie Belliard hit a sac fly to score Ryan Theriot.  They added 2 more in the 7th when Matt Kemp homered scoring James Loney.  In the 8th the Dodgers added 3 runs when Casey Blake singled home Scott Podsednik, Matt Kemp singled home Andre Either, and Jamey Carroll singled home Casey Blake.  The Phillies added 4 runs in the 8th when Jason Werth singled home Placido Polanco,  Ben Francisco doubled scoring Jason Werth, and Wilson Valdez singled home Ben Francisco.  In the 9th Placido Polanco and Mike Sweeney scored due to a fielding error and Carlos Ruiz doubled home Jason Werth and Ben Francisco to score the winning runs.

Clayton Kershaw pitched 6.2 innings giving up 6 hits, 2 runs, and 4 strikeouts.  Joe Blanton pitched 5.2 innings giving up 8 hits, 4 runs, and 3 strikeouts.  Danny Baez got the win after pitching 1 inning giving up just 1 hit.  The loss went to Jonathan Broxton who didn’t record an out giving up 1 hit and 4 runs.

Marlins vs. Nationals

The Marlins beat the Nationals in a score of 5-0. The Marlins scored 2 runs in the 2nd when Mike Stanton homered scoring Dan Uggla.  In the the 3rd they added another run when Cody Ross singled home Logan Morrison.   In the 8th the Marlins scored a run when Dan Uggla scored due to a wild pitch.  In the 9th Dan Uggla singled home Hanley Ramirez.

Ricky Nolasco got the win and pitched 6 innings giving up 6 hits, no runs, and 8 strikeouts.  The loss went to Livan Hernandez who pitched 6.1 innings giving up 7 hits, 3 runs, and 3 strikeouts.

The Braves had an off day.

Prado drives in the winner

Martin Prado had a huge night in Atlanta on Thursday night, going 4-5 with four of Atlanta’s five runs batted in and a run scored of his own including a home run in the fifth.  Prado drove in Matt Diaz in the bottom of the tenth inning off Chan Ho Park(3-2) who took the loss in 0.2 innings pitched giving up three hits and a walk.  The win brought the Braves   within four games of first even though they are four games under .500.  Peter Moylan(2-2) got the win for the Braves with two thirds of an inning of perfect relief.  For more Braves news, go to The Braves Baseball Blog.

The Phillies got another mediocre pitching performance from one of their starters as Joe Blanton only lasted five innings while giving up three runs, including giving up the lead twice.  Philadelphia took the lead late in the game with back to back homers by John Mayberry and Pedro Feliz in the top of the eighth inning.  The lead was erased when Ryan Madson blew his fourth save of the year and this eventually led the game to extras.  For more Phillies news, please check out the new Phillies Phandom blog.

Game two of the series is tonight at 7:00PM with Cole Hamels going against Jair Jurrjens at Turner Field.

How many times is his picture gonna be here?

Is anyone else noticing a trend of Hanley Ramirez being pictured for the Marlins in the recaps? Ramirez has been on a tear and it did not end last night in Miami against the Washington Nationals.  Hanley Ramirez had two hits in four at bats with a run scored and four more RBI to get the Marlins to their second straight win and eighth straight against the Nationals, 7-5.   This was only a seven inning rain shortened game, but The Marlins took the lead in the sixth and added to their lead in the seventh off Joe Beimel(0-4) and four more Nationals errors.  Renyel Pinto(3-1) worked a perfect inning and picked up the win for the Marlins who are now only 1.5 games back of first place with the Philly loss.

Adam Dunn once again had a solid game for the Nationals while getting two hits, three RBI including a home run in the fifth inning off Marlins starter Sean West.  The two teams will face off in the finale of the series at 12:10PM in Miami this afternoon.  More Nats news at CenterfieldGate.

Its been that kind of year for the Mets

The little league New York Mets once again lost a very sloppy game, which was their fifth loss in a row.  Even ace Johan Santana(9-6) couldn’t help them on this night and was hurt by two errors (really three) en route to a 6-3 loss to the Brewers.  David Wright hit a two run home run in the first and that was all the offense the Mets received until the ninth inning of the game.  In the fourth inning, rookie Fernando Martinez managed to find and get stuck in a divet in center field while trying to track a routine fly ball.  Fast forward a few walks, errors and a double by Ryan Braun and the Brewers had all the runs they needed to win.  Mike Burns(1-1) in only his second major league start got the win while pitching into the seventh inning.  The two teams conclude this afternoon at 2:05PM with Pelfrey going against young Brewers ace Gallardo.  For more on the Mets, go to The Real Dirty Mets Blog.

Aybar fills in nicely

Willy Aybar got the start in place of Evan Longoria who sat with an injury and was a pleasant surprise for the Rays.    Aybar hit a solo home run and drove in two others in the 6th on route to a 10-4 Tampa Bay win.  The Phillies lost their fourth straight series, and now are 2-10 in their last 12 games and only lead the NL East by a half a game over the New York Mets.  Andy Sonnanstine(6-7) worked 5.1 IP while giving up four runs for the win and Antonio Bastardo(2-3) couldn’t get through the fourth on route to the loss giving up six earned runs.  The Phillies will travel to Toronto this weekend and once again, hope to rebound.

He may not be hitting, but he can play D

The Mets and their “B” team managed to win three out of four from the first place St. Louis Cardinals this week.  In a week when yet another All-Star player went on the disabled list for the Mets, they won the finale of the series.  Johan Santana(9-5) pitched seven Innings while giving up only two runs, one earned and outdueling Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter.  Carpenter(5-2) lost despite also pitching 7 Innings but had one bad inning and that was all the runs the Mets needed.  Francisco Rodriguez worked the ninth while walking two to get his 20th save of the year.  The Mets will now play the first ever Subway Series at Yankee stadium this weekend.  For more Mets info, check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog.

Hanley hits another Granny

Hanley Ramirez and the Orioles barely had any trouble this week against the formerly hot Baltimore Orioles.  Ramirez hit his second grand slam of the series amongst three total hits and five RBI as the Marlins won 11-3.  Sean West(3-2) breezed through six shutout innings and Rich Hill(3-2) didn’t get out of the fifth inning in taking the loss.  Hill gave up 6 runs on 8 hits and two home runs.  The Marlins will travel up to Tampa this weekend to play the Tampa Bay Rays.

Lowe with a terrible outting

The Yankees took two out of three this week from the Braves, but not in easy fashion.  The Yankees scored in every inning except the fifth and sixth on our route to an 11-7 victory over the Braves in the rubber game.  Johnny Damon and Alex Rodriguez had four RBI a piece in the game that featured eleven total pitchers and neither starter going four innings.  Alfredo Aceves(5-1) pitched 2.1 innings while giving up one hit and a walk in relief of Andy Pettitte for the win as Derek Lowe(7-6) worked into the fourth inning but gave up eight total runs, six earned on eleven hits and three walks for the loss.   The Braves will welcome in the Red Sox this weekend to Atlanta to complete interleague play.  For additional Braves news, be sure to stop by The Braves Baseball Blog.

Smoltz has a subpar debut

Former long time Brave had a disappointing debut in a Boston uniform last night in Washington.  Smoltz(0-1) took the loss while going five innings and giving up seven hits, one walk and five earned runs.  The Nationals scored four in the first inning off Smoltz who was starting for the first time in 2009 while winning the game 9-3.  Rookie Jordan Zimmermann(3-3) went seven innings of one run ball preserving the last game of the series for the Nats.  The Nationals will travel to Baltimore this weekend to finish their Interleague schedule.  Check out CenterfieldGate for more Nats info.

Check back later today for our NL East Series preview for the weekend.