Braves vs. Marlins

Atlanta beat the Marlins 5-1 Wednesday afternoon, completing the sweep of Florida. A four-run 3rd inning put the Braves in the lead and they never looked back. After David Ross doubled home the Braves’ first run, Brooks Conrad followed with a three-run home run to center field. The Braves fifth run of the game came in the 8th when Florida’s reliever Will Ohman walked Eric Hinske to force home Freddie Freeman. The only run for Florida came in the 6th on an RBI single by Mike Stanton.

Derek Lowe got the win for Atlanta, going 5.2 innings and allowing one run on seven hits while striking out nine. Andrew Miller took the loss, lasting only 3 innings and giving up four runs on four hits while striking out two.

Mets vs. Brewers

Game One

The Mets dropped the first game of a doubleheader this afternoon by a score of 8-7. Milwaukee had a big six-run 3rd inning, but the Mets forged an impressive comeback. Chris Carter drove in two runs in the bottom of the 3rd with a single to left field. The following inning, Jose Reyes tripled to drive in two more runs. Lucas Duda hit a solo shot to cut the lead to 6-5. David Wright capped off the inning with a two-run home run to give the Mets the lead. The Mets’ bullpen wasn’t able to hold the lead, however, giving up two runs in the 8th inning to Milwaukee.

Neither starting pitcher was able to make it to the 5th inning for a win. Jon Niese only lasted 2.2 innings and gave up six runs on ten hits while striking out three. Yovani Gallardo went 3.1 innings and allowed seven runs on ten hits while striking out four. Carlos Villenueva got the win for Milwaukee. Manny Acosta took the loss for New York.

Game Two

Milwaukee took game two by a score of 3-1 to sweep the doubleheader. Milwaukee starter Dave Bush singled home the Brewers’ first run in the 3rd inning. It would remain 1-0 until the top of the 8th when the Brewers added on two more runs thanks to a two-RBI double off the bat of Ryan Braun. The Mets lone run of the game came in the bottom of the 8th on a sacrifice fly by Ike Davis.

R.A. Dickey took the loss for the Mets, going 7 innings and giving up one run on six hits while striking out four. Dave Bush got the win for Milwaukee, going 6 innings and allowing no runs on three hits while striking out one.

Nationals vs. Phillies

The home run happy Phils beat Washington 7-1. All of the Phillies seven runs came on home runs. Mike Sweeney and Ben Francisco each hit solo shots in the 2nd inning to give Philadelphia a 2-0 lead. John Mayberry then hit a three-run shot to make it 5-0. Francisco would later hit his second home run of the game in the 5th, a two-run shot to left field. Washington’s only run of the game came in the 4th inning when Nyjer Morgan scored on a ground out by Ian Desmond.

Joe Blanton got the win for Philadelphia, going 7 innings and giving up one run on three hits while striking out six. Ross Detwiler took the loss, going 4.2 innings and allowing seven runs on seven hits while striking out two.

Marlins vs. Phillies

The Phillies beat the Marlins in a score of 6-1. In the 2nd inning Ben Francisco and Carlos Ruiz both went deep for the Phillies with a pair of solo shots.  In the bottom of the inning Dan Uggla also went deep with a solo shot.  In the 4th Roy Halladay singled scoring Ben Francisco and Carlos Ruiz.  In the 5th the Phillies added another run when Carlos Ruiz singled home Raul Ibanez.  In the 7th the Phillies added another  a final run when Wilson Valdez singled home Placido Polanco.

Roy Halladay got the win and pitched 7 innings giving up 5 hits, 1 run, and 9 strikeouts.  The loss went to Sean West who pitched 5 innings giving up 9 hits, 5 runs, and 4 strikeouts.

Mets vs. Braves

The Mets beat the Braves in a score of 3-2. The Braves struck first in the 2nd when Melkey Cabrera grounded out into a fielders choice scoring Alex Gonzalez.  In the bottom of the inning Jose Reyes doubled scoring Luis Castillo.  The Braves took the lead in the 5th when Melkey Cabrera single home Rick Ankiel.  The Mets tied it up in the 7th when Chris Carter singled home Jeff Francoeur.  The Mets took the lead in the 9th when Jeff Francoer hit a solo home run.

Derek Lowe pitched 6 innings giving up 6 hits, 1 run, and 3 strikeouts.  RA Dickey pitched 6 innings giving up 5 hits, 2 runs, and 2 strikeouts.  Manny Acosta got the win after pitching 1.2 innings giving up no hits with 1 strikeout.  Billy Wagner got the loss after pitching 1 inning giving up 1 hit, 1 run, and 1 strikeout.  Francisco Rodríguez got the save after pitching a perfect 9th.

Nationals vs. Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks beat the Nationals in a score of 6-1. The Nationals took an early lead when Ryan Zimmerman hit a solo shot in the 1st.  In the 3rd the Diamondbacks tied it up when Stephen Drew hit a solo shot.  In the 4th the Diamondbacks took the lead when Mark Reynolds homered to score Adam LaRoche and Miguel Montero.  In the 6th the Diamondbacks added another run when Miguel Montero hit a sac fly to score Justin Upton.  In the 7th Kelly Johnson singled scoring Rusty Ryal to add another run.

Joe Saunders got the win after pitching a complete game with 5 hits, 1 run, and 5 strikeouts.  Scott Olsen got the loss and pitched 5.2 innings giving up 7 hits, 5 runs and 3 strikeouts.

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.