Mets starter Bobby Parnell started strong, but a tough Cubs line-up was too much for the young right hander, who gave up a grand slam home run to Jake Fox in the fifth inning as an otherwise light-hitting Cubs line-up took down the New Yorkers 11-4 at Wrigley on Saturday. To make matters worse, the loss was televised to a national audience as a part of the Major League Game of the Week. It’s been a tough month for the New Yorkers, hit by injuries, demoralized by the surge of the division-leading Phillies — and now by rumors that the owners of the ballclub may have to sell. And was a tough game for Parnell, just 24, and one of the Mets new young hurlers and bright hopes for the future.

The Cubs, who are themselves struggling, may have suddenly found new life in the NL Central, though the St. Louis Cardinals had as decisive win over the Nats as the Cubs had over the Mets. After the game, Parnell admitted that his confidence “is up and down.” Even so, there is great hope for Parnell, who Mets fans hope can fill a badly needed hole in the rotation for next year. If there was good news in the game, it is that newly acquired Jeff Francoeur continues to swing a fiery bat — going 2 for 4 against the Cubbies. The Mets take on the Cubs again tomorrow before heading to Colorado for a three game series against the Rockies. They will return to New York on September 4. For more news on the Mets, be sure to check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog — which covers everything you’d ever want to know about The New York Mets.

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What Jake Fox did to the New York Mets, Matt Holiday did to the Washington Nationals – but this time, Holliday had the courtesy not to make his home run a grand slam. Holliday hit a three run third inning home run against Washington starter Craig Stammen to power the Cardinals to a 9-4 Cardinals win at Busch Stadium on Saturday night. After taking two of three from the stammering Cubs, the Nationals have lost their first two to the Cardinals, helping to dampen the team’s hopes that they might overtake the Royals and Padres for worst team honors in major league baseball. In addition to Stammen’s problems, the Nats’ bats went silent: for although the Nationals threatened to catch the Cardinals in any one of three frames, the team left runners stranded when they needed them most: Elijah Dukes struck out with the bases loaded in the seventh – just one instance of a lack of clutch hitting in an otherwise powerful line-up.

Other clubs problems were on display in St. Louis: the Nats last place defense was emphasized (Cristian Guzman booted an easy ground at short, which opened the floodgates for Holliday’s heroism), the bullpen looked unusually shaky (Jorge Sosa gave up two runs in only one inning of work), and the team now officially misses an out-for-the-season Nyjer Morgan: the team left 15 on base and stole no bases. The Nats will face the Cards one more time (a blessing, when you think about it) before heading to San Diego to take on the Padres. To read all about the Nats and their problems in St. Louis, be sure to log onto Centerfield Gate. It will give all the news about the team and the glorious future of the Washington Nationals.

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The teams of the N.L. East have not been doing so well lately: the Mets have been struggling against the Cubs in Chicago, the Nationals have looked terrible in St. Louis. Certainly, the Florida Marlins – seeing the Phillies just ahead of them in the standings, and knowing the playoffs are looming, can do something to salvage a successful season. But not so. On Saturday night at home in Miami (and in front of a crowd anticipating a run-for-the pennant win), with success on the horizon, the Marlins failed to gain ground in the NL East, dropping its third straight game to the Friars. But this time the culprit was not pitching, it was hitting. The final score, 7-4, told the story: pitcher Ricky Nolasco (5.1 innings, 3 earned runs) was respectable and held the Marlins in the game. Then too, the four runs scored by the Marlins hitters should have been enough, but it just wasn’t. The Marlins could only muster six hits against a Padres staff that was mediocre at best: Wade LeBlanc, with a less than stellar 9.58 ERA on the season held Florida’s best lumbermen to total of four hits in six innings – the best outing of his entire career, while San Diego’s relievers (Russell, Gregerson and Bell) were lights-out.

The Marlins have now dropped three straight to the Padres, one of the worst teams in baseball. In the clubhouse after the game, the frustration with the evening – and with the series – was palpable.’ Every team we play is dangerous,” Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “I don’t look at the records, I don’t. We’ve got to win ballgames. If you get caught up looking at records and thinking you can look beyond teams, you will get disappointed. You’re going to get humbled real quickly.” Ricky Nolasco refused to be pessimistic: “Those are things that are going to happen. Now, tomorrow is a must-win. We’ve got to get it rolling to be able to give ourselves a chance. We can’t sit here and just hang our heads and be frustrated about it. We’ve got to do something about it, get the game tomorrow. The season is not over yet.” Don’t forget to check up on the Marlins, and their tussle today and tomorrow against the Padres at FishGuts.

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It seems that the only time an N.L. East team plays well enough to win, these days, is when it plays another N.L. East team. At least in this case, the much anticipated Atlanta Braves-Philadelphia Phillies rivalry didn’t disappoint. In what was billed as a major duel of top notch pitchers and tough sluggers, the two major competitors in the N.L. East came out swinging on Saturday, with Atlanta ending up on top in another rain-sodden contest in Philadelphia by a score of 9-1. By the time this one was done, Atlanta had taught the otherwise soon to be immortal Cliff Lee (5-0 since he joined the Phillies from the Cleveland something-or-others) that he was now in the National League: and that Matt Diaz (3-5, one home run), Garret Anderson (3-4, one home run), Yunel Escobar (2-4, one home run) and Chipper Jones (1-5, one home run) were not going to allow him (or those who relieved him) to go 6-0. Or allow the people of Philadelphia to believe that their path to the division crown would be without any bumps.

Lee was not about to issue excuses for his outing – which was hardly a disaster. Even so: “I went and watched basically every hit I gave up and they were all right down the middle,” Lee said. “It’s hard to get good results when you’re throwing pitches belt high and down the middle of the plate. That’s basically what happened. I feel good about throwing strikes, working ahead and not walking people, but I put myself in positions to put them away and I missed up and down the middle. If you consistently do that, that’s what’s going to happen.” The Braves’ win was not without its blemishes, a talisman perhaps of the troubles it must surmount if it is to catch the Phillies: Derek Lowe pitched well, but he gave up eight hits. And Atlanta must still somehow crawl over a seven game Phillie lead in the east, a not impossible task, but one that is becoming more and more difficult with each passing game. To read more about the Phillies, be sure to check out Phillies Phandom Blog – and for more on the challenges facing the Braves, be sure to click on to Braves Baseball Blog.

Happ watches Upton

Justin Upton wanted to make sure that the Diamondbacks won at least one game out of three against the Philadelphia Phillies.  In the first inning, he hit a two run home run off of Phillies starter J.A. Happ and int the eighth inning, he added an RBI single for insurance.  He also had three of the Diamondbacks total seven hits on a night the D’backs won 4-0.  Yusmeiro Petit(1-5) got his first win of the season as he went six innings but only gave up four hits and a walk while striking out eight.

The Philadelphia Phillies team, fresh off trading for last year’s AL Cy Young Award winner, Cliff Lee, came in this game with the ability to sweep.  J.A. Happ(7-2) took his second straight loss after seven straight winning decisions but pitched well.  He gave up only the two run home run to Upton ion the first and only three hits in total and two walks. in six innings.  Two Philly relievers gave up a run each and the Philly offense couldn’t get a run home, which is a rare occurrence.  Read more about this game and other Philly news at Phillies Phandom.

Johnson pitches, and hits!

Josh Johnson decided to take the game last night against the Braves into his own hands, in every possible way last night.  Johnson deposited a Kawakami pitch in the fourth inning into center field for a three run home run which at the time gave the Marlins a 4-0 lead on way to a 6-3 win.  Hanley Ramirez contributed a RBI triple in the third and a solo home run in the fifth and Dan Uggla even got into the home run derby in the fifth as well.  Johnson(10-2) got his tenth victory of the year as he went six innings and gave up eight hits on three runs, all from home runs.  The Marlins sent four relievers to the mound to finish it off, with Leo Nunez getting his eighth save of the year working a scoreless ninth.  Check out FishGuts for more about the win and the Fish.

Kenshin Kawakami(5-8) had a terrible start, and the home run ball hit him harder than any other pitcher in the game, and it always hurts to give one up to the opposing pitcher.  Kawakami went 4.2 innings giving up seven hits and six runs, including the three home runs and even walked four.  The Braves offense did its best against one of the best pitchers in the NL as Casey Kotchman hit a solo shot and Garret Anderson hit a home run for the second consecutive night, of the two run variety.  The Braves Baseball Blog has all the Braves info you need.

If you hadn’t heard, New York is now Seattle East, so as seems to be a normal occurance, the rain came and didn’t stop last night.  The Mets and Rox will play a day-night double header today at Citi Field.

McGehee gets a hold of one

The Brewers were looking to avoid being swept by the worst team in baseball (by record that is) last night in Milwaukee.  After the second inning though, it wasn’t looking good as they were already down 4-0.  The Brewers came back though starting in the third on a Ryan Braun triple that scored a run, and he later scored on a wild pitch.  After going down 5-3 in the sixth, they Brewers got three in the sixth and never looked back.  J.J. Hardy missed an RBI chance in the sixth as he grounded into a double play scoring a run, but got an RBI groundout in the eighth to pad the stats.  Casey McGehee had the biggest blast as he hit a pinch hit two run home run to give the Nats the lead in the sixth.  Manny Parra(5-8) went six innings but gave up five runs and five walks on nine hits to get a shaky win for the Brewers.  Trevor Hoffman came in and struck out two in the ninth for his 23rd save of the season.

The Nationals’ Garrett Mock left the game after the fifth in line for a victory if the bullpen could hold on.  Unfortunately for him, Tyler Clippard(1-1) who had been very solid of late, blew his first save of the year going 1.1 innings and gave up two runs on the home run to McGehee.  Christian Guzman and Nyjer Morgan continued their hot play though, each having two hits and a run scored and Guzman even added an RBI.  Ryan Zimmerman added two RBI as well as Nick Johnson getting an RBI for the night.  Check out CenterfieldGate for more Nats info.

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.

Raul Ibanez gives all the offense Philly needed

The Phillies started off the second half the same way they ended the first half: winning.  The Phillies rode Jamie Moyer(9-6) through seven innings on their way to a 1-hit shutout of the second place Marlins by a 4-0 score.  Moyer is now 13-2 overall against the Marlins in his career after this gem completed by Madson and Romero each pitching a hitless inning.  The Phillies got three home runs for their four runs, including a two run shot and a solo shot from Raul Ibanez in the second and fourth innings.  Ryan Howard capped the scoring with his 200th career home run in the sixth inning.  Read more about the Phillies and Howard’s historic home run over at Phillies Phandom.

Marlins starter Chris Volstad actually pitched pretty well in the game, but unfortunately leaving some pitches up.  Volstad(6-9) actually went six strong innings while only giving up seven hits, the problem was that four of them were for home runs.  Without any offense behind him, it was tough to get a win.  Read more about the game from a Marlins perspective at Fish Guts.

Chipper hurts the Mets again

What did every Met fan think was going to happen when Chipper Jones stepped to the plate with runners on first and third in the seventh inning on Thursday?  If you said, “Get a hit”, you were correct.  Chipper singled to drive in the eventual winning run for the Braves on Thursday in a 5-3 win, while keeping the Braves six games back of the first place Phillies.  The Braves added an insurance run in the eighth on a rare Greg Norton hit to score pinch runner and former Met Ryan Church.  Back to back home runs by Yunel Escobar and Garret Anderson in the second put the Braves up early before falling behind later in the game.  Manny Acosta(1-0) got the win in relief for the Braves and Rafael Soriano worked the ninth inning for his thirteenth save.  Braves Baseball blog is your place for more Braves info.

The Mets sent Oliver Perez to the hill in only his second start back from the DL and off a walk-tastic win in NY last week.  He wasn’t great, but was better than last week, going six innings and three runs on five hits while leaving with a no decision.  He was helped out in the fourth inning as the Mets got three runs off Braves starter Derek Lowe while they had been down 2-0.  Pedro Feliciano(2-3) took the loss in relief as the fourth Braves run was charged to him in the seventh inning.  Check out The Real Dirty Mets blog for more Mets information and news.

Derek Lee hits a long ball

The Nationals didn’t start the second half with a new manager and a few new players the way they intended to.  The Nationals and Jim Riggleman lost to the Cubs by a 6-2 score at home on Thursday night.  Derek Lee stayed hot with a home run in the sixth inning which gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead at the time and they never looked back, and they put up three runs in the ninth as insurance.  Rich Harden(6-6) went six innings only allowing three hits and a run while striking out seven in getting the victory for the Cubbies, and three relievers closed out the game for them.

John Lannan(6-7) pitched into the seventh inning for the Nats while only giving up two earned runs and three overall, but the Nationals couldn’t fight back and the relief pitching dug a bigger hole.   The only offense came on a Nick Johnson RBI groundout in the sixth inning at the time cutting the lead to 2-1 and a solo home run in the ninth for Ryan Zimmerman but the game was out of reach at the time.  Check out Centerfieldgate for more Nationals insight.

A Great play at home

The Atlanta Braves put offseason acquisition Javier Vazquez on the mound tonight following a stellar outting by young Jair Jurrjens last night going for a three game sweep of the first place Phillies.  Vazquez couldn’t nearly what Jurrjens did, but still kept the Phillies scoreless until the sixth inning, when they got two off of him to tie the game, he left durign that inning receiving a no decision.

In the eighth inning, the play pictured above occured and it was a very gutsy, but at the same time scary play by Atlanta relief pitcher Mike Gonzalez(3-0).  On a wild pitch, Jayson Werth attempted to score what would have been the go-ahead run from third base.  Brian McCann threw the ball back to Gonzalez covering home who with his pitching arm, placed a tag on Werth’s hand to end the inning.  In the bottom of the inning, Matt Diaz doubled home the winning run, and Garret Anderson added a two run home run for good measure off struggling Philly reliever Ryan Madson(2-4).  Rafael Soriano worked a perfect ninth on only six pitches for his seventh save of the year for a 5-2 win and a series sweep of the Phils.  For more information on the Braves, visit The Braves Baseball Blog.

The Phillies got another solid outting from J.A. Happ as he went seven innings giving up seven hits and the only damaging hit, a two run home run to Casey Kotchman.  Jimmy Rollins was able to get a couple hits to break his huge hitless streak, which was approaching thiry at bats before his hit. Be sure to stop by Phillies Phandom for more Philly related info.

The Phillies will hope to regroup with the Mets coming to town, and the Braves travel to the Nations Capital to take on the Nationals this weekend.  Check back to NLEC tomorrow for our NL East Series Preview.

Tim Redding had nothing today

On a day where the Mets were traveling to Pittsburgh for a makeup game from early June, the rain decided to play a factor again.  There were two rain delays early, one that delayed the start and the other after only two Mets batters, but this game was played, for a long time.  Mets starter Tim Redding couldn’t get out of the third inning while giving up five earned runs in only 2.1 innings.  Lucky for him, the Mets bats woke up today against Pirates starter Paul Maholm and chased him in 4.1 innings while he gave up six runs, giving the Mets  a lead.  The Mets took an 8-6 lead into the ninth inning and gave the ball to their usually sure thing closer, Francisco Rodriguez, but not this time.  He gave up a two run homer to Adam LaRoche to send the game to extra innings.  Fernando Tatis scored the winning run on another Ryan Church clutch hit, and Francisco Rodriguez(2-2) worked the tenth inning to secure the win for the Mets.  The Mets will head to Philadelphia now for a three game series beginning tomorrow night with Livan Hernandez facing Rodrigo Lopez for the Phils, check back tomorrow for a NLEC Series preview.  For more Mets news though, be sure to go to The Real Dirty Mets Blog.

The Pirates offense was up to the task today, even if the pitching wasnt providing twelve hits and eight runs in the losing effort.  Matt Capps(1-4) took the loss in the tenth inning for Pittsburgh.

Lidge returns to action

The Phillies won their first series since taking two out of three from the Mets in early June by beating the Blue Jays 5-4 in Toronto yesterday.  Jamie Moyer(6-6) went five innings while giving up four earned runs, but giving up three earned runs in earning the win for the Phils.  Brian Tallet(5-5) went slightly longer than Jamie Moyer, giving up the same number of earned runs but because of an unearned run, took the loss in this game.  Brad Lidge worked a shaky ninth inning to get his first save since returning from the disabled list, his 14th of the year.  The Phillies will take Monday off before heading to Atlanta to take on the Braves on Tuesday.

Rivera joins the elite 500 save club

During the nightcap for Sunday’s games, the Mets were hoping to manage one game in this edition of the Subway Series against the Yankees.  Unfortunately, mental issues stopped them from doing that early in the game once again.  Livan Hernandez(5-3) worked seven innings, while only giving up three runs in the first inning of a game in which Daniel Murphy, the young and unexperienced first basemen made another odd play.  In the first inning, on a ground ball, he decided to throw to third to hope to get a tag down on Jeter rather than taking a sure out at first base which likely made a huge difference in the game.  Chien-Ming Wang(1-6) got his first win of the year with just over five innings of two run ball, but was not the Wang of old yet.  Mariano Rivera worked 1.1 innings and got an RBI to earn his first RBI of his career on a bases loaded walk and earn his 500th save of his amazing career.  The Mets hope that returning to regular National League play this week will allow them to right their ship, check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog for more information.

Fredi is concerned

The Florida Marlins managed just four hits yesterday against the Tampa Bay Rays in the finale of their three game set and interleague play.  After a successful week against the Yankees and Orioles, the Marlins could not manage a win versus the defending American League champions.  David Price(2-2) worked 6.1 innings while only giving up two hits and one run, but five bases on balls to get the win, as Andrew Miller(2-4) gave up all five Rays runs in the same amount of time.  J.P. Howell who had earned wins in the first two games of this series, got the last two outs of this game on strike outs for his fifth save of the season.  The Marlins welcome the last place Nationals into Miami this week for a three game set.

Chipper and Garret go yard

Tommy Hanson continues to impress everyone and show that he is the phenom prospect he was supposed to be.  Hanson(4-0) went six innings of two hit ball to get his fourth win in five starts this season for the Braves.  The closer revolving door for the Braves let Mike Gonzalez get his ninth save of the year in a 2-1 Braves win with Rafael Soriano getting the hold today.  The Braves were propelled to victory but two solo home runs by Chipper Jones and Garret Anderson and that’s all the pitching needed.  Brad Penny(6-3) worked six strong innings only giving up the solo shots in taking the loss.  The Braves will welcome in the Phillies tomorrow night, check out The Braves Baseball Blog for more information.

The Nats celebrate a win

The Nats were another NL East team which was looking to avoid a sweep at the hands of an AL East team yesterday.  Like the Braves, the Nationals managed to get the win and avoid the series sweep by the Orioles.  Adam Dunn hit yet another monster home run and John Lannan(5-5) pitched another solid game into the eighth inning to get the win for the Nationals.  Mike MacDougal picked up his third save of the season while David Hernandez(1-2) went 5.2 innings pitched while giving up three runs in taking the loss for the O’s.  The Nationals will travel to Miami and take on the Marlins this week, more will be available at CenterfieldGate.

Make sure to check back later for the NL East Series Preview for this week.

John Mayberry misses a one-run double hit by Aubrey Huff in the sixth inning

And it didn’t get any better from there. The Phillies were taking on the Baltimore Orioles Friday night in Philadelphia. Philly pitching has not stepped up for the defending World Series champs. Over the last 7 games, Philly pitching went 1-6 with a 6.49 ERA and have allowed 15 HRS!!! In the absence of Raul Ibanez, The Phillies managed only 2 runs off winning pitcher Rich Hill(3-1). Antonio Bastardo(2-2) gave the bullpen some needed rest by throwing a solid 7 innings with only 4 runs allowed. Jack Taschner of the Phillies put the final nail in the coffin with this game by giving up 3 runs in 2 innings of work. The Phillies lose 7-2. The Phillies are now 13-20 at home.

Fernando Nieve first pitch against Tampa Bay Rays

The New York Mets took on the defending AL champs the Tampa Bay Rays at Citi Field on Friday night. Fernando Nieve(2-0) turned in another good outing for the Mets by going 6 innings with only one earned run allowed. In a rare show of power, Mets catcher Brian Schneider hit a 3 run home run off losing pitcher Andy Sonnanstine(5-7). David Wright also hit a 2 out double to bring in Alex Cora and make the game 4-0. The game would stay like this for a few frames until Bobby Parnell came on in the 7th and gave up 2 runs on a 2-0 96mph fastball to B.J. Upton who doubled in Gabe Gross and Jason Bartlett. Pedro Feliciano came in and got Carl Crawford to hit one back to him to end the inning. Fransisco Rodriguez(1-2) came in for the 9th with a blown save the night before. Krod retired the side for his 18th save and the Mets won 5-3. For more Mets info and discussion, you can visit The Real Dirty Mets Blog.

Sean West Preparing to face $201 million dollars worth of hurt

The last meaningful game between these two clubs was 6 years ago when the Marlins won their 2nd World Series title. Tonight however is a different story as they took out their aggression from being shut out by the worst team in baseball on the young Sean West(2-2). Sean West only lasted 4 innings and gave up 10 hits and 5 earned runs again the Yankees on Friday night en route to a 5-1 loss. This was all done without the help of Alex Rodriguez who has been benched with “fatigue”. Andy Pettite(7-3) has been by far the Yankees most consistent hurler and threw a gem on Friday. Andy went 7 innings with only 1 earned run and fanning 7. Cody Ross accounted for the only run of the game by hitting his 11th HR off Andy in the 3rd inning. The Marlins came into Friday’s game with a .289 batting average in their first 17 games in June. Also if you didn’t know by now, the Marlins no longer play in Dolphins stadium but rather it has been renamed Land Shark Stadium.

Kenshin Kawakami first pitch against the AL east leading Boston Red Sox

In a testament to a new era in Major League Baseball, Two pitchers from Japan squared off in Fenway Park on Friday night. Japan who has won the last two World Baseball Classics’s in a row have begun to make their mark on Major League Baseball as this sport continues to diversify and showcase high class talent. Kenshin Kawakami(4-6) would be the last man standing in this duel versus his fellow country man Daisuke Matsuzaka(1-5). The Boston Red Sox are desperately needing Matsuzaka to come back to form and be the phenom he has been since coming to the states to play ball, unfortunately they will have to wait another game. Matsuzaka only lasted 4 innings but gave up 8 hits and 6 earned runs. Kawakami on the other hand, stole the show by going 6 innings and only allowing a 2 run shot by Jason Bay. Garret Anderson joined the party with his four-RBI performance as the Braves went on to win this one 8-2.For more Braves info and notes, be sure to check out The Braves Baseball Blog.

Jordan Zimmermann takes on the high flying Toronto Blue Jays

With all the talk about Ken Rosenthal’s report that Manny Acta’s job is on “watch”, the Nationals decided to make that decision difficult by turning in another good performance against the AL at Nationals Park. The Nationals were taking on a hot Toronto Blue Jay team that had just swept the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. Jordan Zimmermann took the mound on this one and kept the Blue Jays at bay by going 5.2 innings with only 1 run allowed. Jordan also helped his own cause in the fourth by bringing in the Nationals first run of the contest on a ground out. The Jays would not go quietly and Rod Barajas made sure of it by bringing Scott Rolen in on a single up the middle. Then in a very uncharacteristic event, the Nationals bullpen combined for 5 and 1/3 innings of no run ball. In the top of the 11th, Adam Dunn hits what in baseball would be termed a “seeing eye single” that eludes 1st baseman Lyle Overbay for a walk off win in extras. That is the Nationals first extra inning win this season as they wrapped up their first 3 game winning streak since May by wining 2-1. Jesus Colome(1-0) picks up the win in this extra inning affair and Jason Frasor(0-1) picks up the loss. You can check out more Nationals baseball info and notes by visiting Centerfieldgate.