Hamels is thinking about Playoffs

The Houston Astros continued to have the Phillies number last night in Philly, beating Hamels and the Phils 8-2.  Miguel Tejada went 4-5 with three runs and an RBI, CarlosLee added tow hits, two runs and an RBI and even former Met Jeff Keppinger got into things going 3-5 with two RBI on the day.  Yorman Bazardo(1-2) got his first win by lasting 5.2 innings and only allowed two hits and two runs to the heavy hitting Phillies.

Cole Hamels(10-10) dropped back to .500 on the season with a 6.2 inning stinker, allowing nine hits and six runs in this game.  The offense obviously didn’t help wither as Shane Victorino was the only Philly with two hits and only Chase Utley recorded the only RBI for them.  Phillies Phandom will have more on the Phillies and their struggles against the Astros.

Jurrjens with another gem

Jair Jurrjens is keeping the playoff hopes of the Braves alive, with a gem last night in a 4-0 win against the Fish.  Jurrjens(14-10) went seven innings and allowed just five hits and a walk with no runs, his season ERA is now 2.61, impressive.  The Braves only had three hits, but had ELEVEN walks to put up their four runs.  The RBI’s were credited to Nate McLouth, Chipper Jones, Brian McCann and Garrett Anderson.  The Braves Baseball Blog covers the Braves.

ELEVEN walks, that is absolutely insane and you can not expect to win with that.  Anibal Sanchez(3-8) went five innings and his line was two hits, three runs and EIGHT walks in the game.  No one in the offense had more than two hits, those went to John Baker and Chris Coghlan as the Marlins flounder down the stretch, check out FishGuts for more.

Is he doing the robot?

Ah, the matchup of the week, the last place Nats against the should be last place Mets, the Nats took the first game, 2-1.  Ross Detwiler(1-6) got his first major league win as he went six innings and allowed just seven hits and one run in the game, congrats.  Ryan Zimmerman got the Nats on the board in the first with a sacrifice fly and Mike Morse had a solo shot in the sixth that proved to be the game winning run.  Mike MacDougal got his 17th save of the season with a perfect ninth as well.  Centerfield Gate has more on the Nationals and many things baseball.

Nelson Figueroa pitched well enough to win yet again, but he does play on the 2009 Mets, so that didn’t happen.  Figueroa(2-8) got the loss in six innings allowing six hits and two runs, basically just on that home run in this one.  Fernando Tatis had the only RBI with a single to Center field in the sixth scoring Carlos Beltran, temporarily tying the game.  The Real Dirty Mets Blog covers this and many other issues the Mets face entering the offseason.

Lidge gets anothe shaky save

The Philadelphia Phillies took the final game of the three game set, 4-2 yesterday in Atlanta even during a rain delay.  Ben Francisco started the scoring with an RBI double and Raul Ibanez, Pedro Feliz and Chase Utley added solo RBI’s  for them.  Cliff Lee had started the game but onlt went four because of a long rain delay and Tyler Walker(2-0) got the win going two innings while allowing just one hit and a walk while striking out three.  Brad Lidge got his 31st save of the year but his ERA continues to rise as he gave up a walk, a run and one hit.  Phillies Phandom will have more on this game.

Tommy Hanson(10-4) took a rare loss for the Bravos in this one and the Braves had five innings against relief pitching to get him off the hook.  Hanson went five innings allowing seven hits and four runs and also walking four in this one.  Matt Diaz and Brian McCann got the only RBI’s for the Braves in this one as they fail to gain ground in the division or wildcard.  Check out The Braves Baseball Blog for more.

Corky Miller? 3 run homer

The Cincinnati Reds beat up on the Florida Marlins yesterday in Cincy on the back of a couple big home runs.  Catcher Corky Miller hit a three run shot in the fourth and Joey Votto hit a two run shot in the seventh on way to an 8-1 route.  Kip Wells(2-4) went seven innings and allowed just five hits and one run to get the victory in this game.

Sean West is having a rough rookie campaign.  West(7-6) went 4.1 innings and allowed five hits and five runs while walking three and his ERA now stands at 4.85 for the season.  The only run the Marlins mustered was in the eigth on a Brett Carroll single scoring John Baker, check out FishGuts for more Marlins news.

Maine gets the W

In this weekend’s battle of the basement, the Mets came out ahead after taking two of three games with Sunday’s 6-2 victory over the Nats.  John Maine(6-5) went five effective innings allowing just three baserunners on two hits and one walk and no runs.  Daniel Murphy added a two RBI double and Wilson Valdez of all people had a two RBI triple later in the game to put it away.  Franky Rodriguez got save number 33 by getting the final out of the game via strikeout.  The Real Dirty Mets Blog has all the Mets info you want.

Garrett Mock didn’t pitch terribly in this one, but the Nats offense could not support him.  Mock(3-9) went seven innings allowing nine hits and four runs throwing 115 pitches and taking the tough loss.  Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn both had an RBI in a small ninth inning rally before K-Rod ended the threat.  Check out Centerfield Gate for a more in depth recap and all other Nationals news.

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.

Francisco is the new hero for the night

So at this point, the Phillies have won four games since trading for Cliff Lee, and former Indians have contributed highly to three of them.  Last night, Ben Francisco hit a solo shot in the twelth inning off the Cubs’ Kevin Gregg which led to a 4-3 win for the Philadelphia Phillies to break a three game skid.  Prior to this, Brad Lidge blew his first save in a while and seventh overall allowing a run in the bottom of the ninth.  Jimmy Rollins hit a two run home run to get the Phillies even with the Cubs in the sixth and in the eight, Ryan Howard got an RBI on a bases loaded walk to temporarily give them the lead.  J.A. Happ pitched well again, going six innings allowing only two runs and got a no decision.  Scott Eyre(2-1) got the win in relief and Chad Durbin got his second save of the year working a perfect bottom of the twelth.  Phillies Phandom will have more on this win as well as all Phillies information.

The Cubs got off to an early lead in this one, as in the third inning Jake Fox got an RBI single followed by an Alfonso Soriano sacrifice fly later in the inning.  Rich Harden though gave up the two run shot to Rollins in the sixth, but did pitch seven strong innings only allowing two total hits and two walks.  Milton Bradley was the one who got them even in the ninth, driving in Fukudome to tie the game.  Kevin Gregg(4-4) worked two innings and allowed only the home run to Francisco in taking the loss.

Uggla comes through

The Marlins stayed hot last night, with heroics coming from Dan Uggla in the bottom of the 11th.  With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th of a tie game, Uggla singled to score Chris Coghlan and send the Marlins to another win, 9-8.  The Marlins came all the way back from a 7-2 deficit in this game, and that was only in the sixth inning.  The Marlins scored four in the sixth and another two in the seventh to actually take a late lead in this one.  John Baker contributed a RBI single and a two RBI double in those innings to help, and Hanley Ramirez had a two RBI double in the third.  Chris Volstad was bailed out of a bad start as he only went 4.2 innings and allowed eight hits and six runs while walking three.  Brian Sanches(3-1) got the win in relief working one inning allowing a single hit and Leo Nunez blew his fourth save of the year as he couldn’t hold on for the win in the ninth.  FishGuts has more on this game.

Roy Oswalt looked well on his way to a win in this one, until the sixth inning.  Through five innings, Oswalt had only allowed two runs and was cruising toward a win.  In the sixth though, as mentioned earlier, he gave up four more runs and left with a small lead, which the Astros bullpen lost in the seventh.  Wesley Wright (2-2) took the loss as he walked three while recording two outs in the eleventh inning.  Miguel Tejada had another strong game, going 3-5 with three RBI and two runs scored, including the tying run in the ninth and Carlos Lee contributed two RBI as well.

winning streak? nothing for Hanson!

The Braves entered last night’s game against the Nationals with a tough task ahead of them, to slow down the Nats bats and end their winning streak.  Tommy Hanson was able to do just that.  Hanson(4-2) pitched 6.2 innings allowing seven hits and one run while striking out nine to end the streak, the final score of the game was 8-1.  Hanson also had plenty of run support, as five Braves contributed an RBI each and two errors doomed the Nats.   Former Met Ryan Church even went 2-3 with two runs scored, an RBI and two walks while in the leadoff spot for the Braves.  Check out The Braves Baseball Blog to read more about this win and the Braves.

I guess this was bound to happen to the Nats, after such offensive explosions and so many great starts from John Lannan, something had to give, but unfortunately both were on the same night.  John Lannan(8-9) only got through 4.2 innings while allowing six runs, five earned and walked four for his worst start in a while.  The Nationals offense also only managed a 1st inning RBI single from Ryan Zimmerman in the first scoring Nyjer Morgan, and the bats went silent from there.  Christian Guzman did extend his hitting streak to 16 games though.

Aren't the Mets sick of this?

The Arizona Diamondbacks took another game from the New York Mets, this is now five out of six on the season, with the last coming later today.  rookie Trent Oeltjen went 4-4 with two runs scored including a double and a triple while leading the Diamondbacks.  Gerrardo Parra got two RBIs in the game and the Diamondbacks went on to win 6-2.  Max Scherzer(7-6) went 6.2 innings while allowing eight hits and two runs in earning a win in his second try against the Mets this year and he had plenty of offense behind him.

Another day, another loss for the Mets, who just can’t seem to do anything right or get the timely hits.  Livan Hernandez(7-7) only lasted four innings and allowed six hits and five runs and took another loss and stressed the Mets bullpen.  The bullpen did however go four innigns allowing only one more run and it was unearned.  Jeff Francouer is still a bright spot for the Mets going 2-4 with a home run and a triple and joining Alex Cora with the only two runs in the game.  The Real Dirty Mets Blog will have more information on this loss.

Cliff Lee made a good first impression

Cliff Lee (1-0) pitched a four-hitter, carrying a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and even adding two hits with the bat, and the Phillies felt an immediate impact two days after acquiring the left-hander from Cleveland, beating the San Francisco Giants 5-1 on Friday night. He dazzled from the start for the World Series champions, tossing his 11th career complete game, fourth this season and third in four starts. Lee’s line: one run, six strikeouts, two walks, 109 pitches and 78 strikes. He was done in 2 hours, 39 minutes. Lee doubled in the eighth for his first career extra-base hit and that gave him his first multihit game—and doubled his previous career hit total. Giants rookie Ryan Sadowski (2-4) lost his fourth straight start after beginning his career 2-0 with 16 scoreless innings. He was done after four innings and 82 pitches after feeling some tightness in his shoulder and arm. He hasn’t gone longer than five during his losing streak.

Chris keeps the cubbies at bay

Three Florida relievers shut out the Chicago Cubs over the final 2 1-3 innings Friday night, while the Marlins scored three runs in the eighth against Carlos Marmol for a 5-2 victory. Brendan Donnelly (1-0), who has yet to allow a run in 10 innings with Florida, retired two batters in the eighth for his first NL victory. Leo Nunez pitched a hitless ninth for his ninth save in 12 chances. The relievers combined with starter Chris Volstad on a seven-hitter against the Cubs, who had scored 12 runs in each of the past two games. Florida’s relievers will get a reinforcement Saturday with the return of closer Matt Lindstrom, sidelined since June 23 by an elbow injury. The Marlins have won eight of their last 10 games to surge into wild-card contention, and they were buoyed by the addition of Washington first baseman Nick Johnson minutes before Friday’s trade deadline. He’s expected to be in the lineup Saturday. The score was 2-all when Marmol (2-2) came into the game in the eighth with a scoreless streak of 8 1-3 innings, but he walked the first two batters. Dan Uggla scored from second on Baker’s hit, and Helms doubled to hike his average as a pinch-hitter to .387.

Brian is not a happy camper

Schmidt (2-1) walked five and struck out three in six innings, his longest start since going six innings for the Dodgers at San Diego on June 5, 2007. Six scoreless innings, his longest start in more than two years, lifted Schmidt’s spirits and Andre Ethier hit a homer and drove in four runs to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers past the Atlanta Braves 5-0 on Friday night. Ethier hit a three-run homer in the fifth off Tommy Hanson (5-2) and added a run-scoring double in the ninth.“It’s the first time I’ve ever faced him that he’s not thrown me a changeup,” Jones said. “There’s just not that much difference between his changeup and his fastball right now. … But his curveball is much improved.” Hanson gave up eight hits and four runs in six innings to lose his second straight start.

So close...yet so far

Sean Green and the New York Mets were on their way to escaping a mess in the eighth inning Friday night when the reliever’s control failed him again. Arizona loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth. Green (1-3) hit Upton with a pitch and walked Reynolds after Pedro Feliciano gave up a leadoff single to Gerardo Parra. The Mets looked as if they might escape after Daniel Murphy turned a nifty 3-2-3 double play but Green’s next pitch bounced away from catcher Omir Santos and Upton scampered home to give the Diamondbacks a 3-2 lead. Esmerling Vasquez (2-2) pitched a scoreless seventh, Jon Rauch worked the eighth and Chad Qualls finished for his 19th save. David Wright and Daniel Murphy homered for New York, which has lost its last two after winning five straight. Livan Hernandez gave up two runs and four hits in six innings. Reynolds hit a 415-foot drive to center in the second for his 29th homer and Montero connected in the fourth, reaching the upper deck in right for his 10th of the season. Reynolds had two hits and is batting .396 (21 for 53) since the All-Star break. “We never put a lot of guys on base,” Mets right fielder Jeff Francoeur said. “We never had the chance for a big inning. Doug Davis, he has us all off balance.”

The last of the pirates do battle

Ross Ohlendorf (9-8) allowed two runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings, Matt Capps earned his 21st save and Andrew McCutchen went 2 for 3 for the Pirates. Ryan Zimmerman homered and Cristian Guzman went 2 for 4 with an RBI for the Nationals, who have lost three straight. The last-place teams met on a trade deadline day that included the first game for their respective watered-down rosters. In front of his rebuilt former team, Lastings Milledge made a good first impression on the new-look Pittsburgh Pirates. Milledge’s hits came in the third and seventh off Nationals starter John Lannan (7-8), but the left fielder misplayed Guzman’s sinking liner into an RBI double with Hanrahan on the mound in the eighth. Lannan entered the game having allowed a total of two runs in his past two starts but was charged with more than three earned runs in a game for only the third time in his past 20 outings. He allowed five runs and nine hits in seven innings. “I had it bad out there today, but I took some positives out of it,” Lannan said. “You knew that something was going to happen today. Nick’s a great ballplayer and Joe helps any staff. On deadline day, you know a lot of things are going to go down, so it really didn’t affect my mentality.”

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.

Umm...this guy seems awfully familiar

The Braves (29-28) won the second game of a four game set versus Pittsburgh last night to climb over the .500 mark  for only the second time this season since April 16th.  Derek Lowe (7-3) notched his seventh win of the season, pitching seven strong innings while only allowing 3 earned runs. Yunel Escobar looks to be returning to form going 3 for 4 including the 2 run go ahead single in last night’s victory.

New Closer? He prefers the one hand point to the sky celebration

In what appears to be a possible reversal of roles, Mike Gonzalez pitched a scoreless eighth inning while Rafael Soriano got his 5th save of the season. Soriano has quietly been having a very impressive season thus far sporting these numbers (27IP 15H 3R 9BB 37SO 0.87 WHIP 0.98 ERA). The Braves continue their series with the Pirates later tonight (7Pm) and will send their young stud Jair Jurrjens (5-3 2.84era) to the mound in a faceoff versus the recetly acquired former brave Charlie Morton. For more info on the braves go to http://www.nleastchatter.com/BravesBaseballBlog/

All in favor say Aye

The Marlins (29-31) opened up a three game set with the Cardinals last night with a victory in dramatic fashion thanks to a walk off solo homerun off the bat of Jeremy Hermida in the bottom of the 9th. Josh Johnson (5-1) battled Chris Carpenter and received a no decision pitching seven strong innings while only allowing three runs. Marlins starting catcher John Baker was forced to leave the game early in the top of the 6th inning after a vicious swing by Albert Pujols knocked off his mask, leaving a cut over his left eye. The Marlins will continue their series vs the Cardinals tonight (7:10pm) in another good pitching match-up Chris Volstad (4-5 3.65era) vs. Adam Wainwright (5-4 3.35era).

Spelling Bee Champions?

The Nationals (15-41) opened their three game set with the Reds with a loss last night. In a day where Nationals fans had something to be hopeful for with the #1 pick Stephen Strasburg , scheduled starter Jordan Zimmermann was scratched from the game due to elbow soreness. One of their former #1 picks from the 2007 draft Ross Detwiler (0-3 5.06 era) stepped in and picked up his third loss of the season despite giving his team a “quality start” pitching six innings allowing three earned runs. Ryan Zimmerman continued his hot hitting going 2 for 4. The Nationals continue their series at home tonight (7:05 pm), rookie Shairon Martis( 5-1 5.31era) will take the mound vs. Aaron Harang (5-6 4.11era).