Hamels comes up short again

Cole Hamels and the Phillies weer looking to take the second game of the series against the Marlins and hoping last season’s post season hero would get back in form.  Through five innings it looked good for Hamels, who had a 3-2 lead and was pitching well, but then he gave up a two run bomb to Cody Ross to be down 4-3.  Jeremy Hermida and Chris Coghlan added RBI singles later in addition to Coghlan’s home run in the first and the Marlins went on to win 6-4.  Brian Sanches(2-1) worked the fifth inning and was credited for the win as the Marlins took the lead in the sixth and ran with it, and Leo Nunez worked the ninth allowing two hits and a run for his 11th save.  FishGuts has more information on this win and the Fish getting closer to the Phils in the division.

The Phillies bats were fairly silent on Saturday, as groundouts by Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley produced two of their four runs.  The other two were on an RBI single by Shane Victorino and by a dropped popup by first baseman Nick Johnson temporarily giving the Phils the lead.  Hamels(7-7) went 5.1 innings and allowed four runs on five hits while allowing four walks and two bombs.  Phillies Phandom will cover more of the Phillies troubles this weekend against the Marlins.

Kelly Johnson with the big blast

In Los Angeles, another nail biter and extra inning game took place, and had a similar result.  The Braves and Dodgers were scoreless for nine innings but in the tenth inning, Kelly Johnson changed that.  Johnson hit a two run pinch hit home run also scoring Adam LaRoche to give the Braves a 2-0 lead and eventually give them a 2-1 win.  The Braves had three hits in the entire game, but luckily got excellent pitching throughout including seven shutout innings from starter Kenshin Kawakami.  Kris Medlen(3-3) pitched two shutout innings being rewarded with a win and Rafael Soriano nailed it down, but did give up a run in earning save number 17.  The Braves Baseball Blog is your place for all Braves information.

Clayton Kershaw pitched seven innings of no run ball himself, only allowing two hits a walk and striking out ten while leaving with 103 pitches.  Guillermo Mota(3-3) took the loss working the tenth and walking Adam LaRoche before giving up the blast to Kelly Johnson.  Andre Ethier produced the only run for the Dodgers as he doubled in Juan Pierre in the tenth inning but that was all they got.

Talking about winter vacations?

The San Diego Padres were looking to take their third straight agains the once again Reeling New York Mets.  They sent rookie Mat Latos to the hill, and Latos looked great, except for a first inning run.  Will Venable and David Eckstein had RBI singles and Cabrera walked to score a run as the Padres won 3-1.  Latos(4-1) went six innings and allowed four hits and only a first inning home run for the win.  Former Met Heath Bell worked the ninth inning and got his 28th save of the season, the Padres go for a four game sweep on Sunday afternoon.

What can you say about the Mets that hasn’t been said?  They started Bobby Parnell as Mike Pelfrey had to attend to the birth of his son.  Parnell(2-4) lasted only 2.1 innings allowing two runs on four hits, but had an extremely high pitch count of 68 before leaving.  Five Met relievers got them through the game only allowing one extra run and Alex Cora gave all the offense with a 1st inning home run. The Real Dirty Mets Blog will have more information on the Mets as they just hope to get a quick ending to the season.

The Nats are happy

The Washington Nationals have won yet again, making it seven in a row Saturday by a score of 5-2.  Garret Mock(1-4) got his first win of the year while going six innings and allowing two runs on five hits with seven K’s.  The offense was carried by Homeruns by Willingham and Josh Bard as well as an RBI single from Adam Dunn.  The team looks good lately, and you have to wonder if it is care free play, the youth, or the new manager.  Jorge Sosa got the save in the ninth as Mike MacDougal had been in need of a day off.  Make sure to check out CenterfieldGate for more information on the new Nats.

Danny Haren(11-7) had his second straight rough outting against a NL East opponent but this time got the loss.  Haren gave up five runs and seven hits in six innings after giving up five runs against the Mets earlier this week on his way to this loss.  Mark Reynolds hit a two run home which proved to be all the offense the Diamondbacks would muster as they look to avoid a sweep on Sunday.

Latos is impressive

Rookie Mat Latos was impressive on Monday night against the Braves at his home park in San Diego.  Latos(3-1) went seven innings only allowing six hits and two runs, but nothing after the second inning.  Lucky for him, the Padres offense got single runs in hte 1st , 2nd, 3rd and 7th innings on route to a 4-2 victory while playing the entire game without Adrian Gonzalez’ bat.  Kevin Kouzmanoff added a double and Kyle Banks hit his sixth home run of the season in the game for the Pads.  Heath Bell also got his 27th save of the season while working a perfect ninth inning and striking out two.

Kenshin Kawakami pitched well in this game, but unfortunately for him, the vast outfield at Petco Park effected the Braves offense.  Kawakami(5-9) went six innings allowing three runs on eight hits, including the home run.  His only run support was a sacrifice fly from McCann in the first inning and a solo home run by reunited Brave Adam LaRoche.  Check out The Braves Baseball Blog for more Braves information.

Figgy disappoints

The Arizona Diamondbacks had scored six runs in the first two innings last night in New York and with their ace, seemed to think they would cruise to victory.  They did win the game by a final of 6-5, but obviously this game was not as cut and dry as everyone thought.  Danny Haren(11-6) got through seven innings but allowed eight hits and five runs including a solo home run to get a victory.  Mark Reynolds hit home runs in each of the first two innings, his 31st and 32nd of the season and had driven in three of the six total runs the D’Backs had.  Miguel Montero also added a solo home run in the first inning immediately after Mark Reynolds’ first of the game.  Chad Qualls picked up his 20th save of the season with a perfect ninth.

The New York Mets went into this series on a pretty good role as they had won five of their past six games.   They end it losing three of four to the D’Backs and now have lost four of their past five to put them right back  in the hole.  Spot starter Nelson Figueroa(0-2) only went 1.2 innings and gave up ten hits and six runs, including three home runs before being pulled for relief.  Four Mets relievers went 7.1 innings giving up only three hits, two walks and allowing no extra runs.  The Mets tried to come back from their deficit with RBI’s from Angel Pagan, Luis Castillo(2 RBI) and David Wright.  Daniel Murphy even added a solo shot in the sixth to pull them within one, but thats the closest they got.  Check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog for more Mets information.

Zimm hits another one

The Washington Nationals were looking for their second straight victory at Pittsburgh and also a series split on Monday night.  The normal heavy hitters from the Nats lineup came through for them again.  Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman each hit two run home runs and Christian Guzman added two hits, giving two more RBI to the Nationals as they won 8-4.  Tyler Clippard(2-1) worked three innings of scoreless and hitless relief to get the victory for the Nationals.  CenterfieldGate will have all the Nats info you need.

The Pittsburgh Pirates took an early 3-0 lead in the game, but their pitching just could not hold it.  Andrew McCutchen hit another home run, and the Pirates added an RBI single by Pearce and a grounders choice by Delwyn Young.   Charlie Morton(2-4) gave up four runs over six innings with six hits and two walks in taking the loss.  Jeff Karstens came in after Morton though and put the game out of reach allowing five hits and four runs while only recording two outs.

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.”

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.

Moyer old, but solid, as usual

Early in the game, it looked like Moyer was going to be on the losing side of this game as seven different D’Backs had been on base by the third inning.  He continued to get out of trouble and in the fourth inning, Ryan Howard got the Phils off to a start by hitting a two run home run.  Moyer(10-7) went 6.2 innings while scattering six hits and four walks, but allowing no runs.  Rollins, Ibanez, Feliz and Bako added RBI’s for the Phillies as they went on to win 6-2 on Monday night, now with a seven game division lead.  Phillies Phandom has all your Phillies news.

The Diamondbacks obviously wasted many opportunities, as evidenced by the fact Moyer lasted as long as he did.  The D’Backs finally did get on the board in the eighth inning after a Mark Reynolds solo home run and an RBI single by Chad Tracy later in that inning.  John Garland(5-10) went five innings giving up six runs on five hits but only three of those runs were earned because of errors behind him.

Tatis' Granny is the winner!

Fernando Tatis and the Mets have been horrendous all season with the bases loaded, and Tatis it seems, hits into a double play in every opportunity he sees.   Last night, Fernando Tatis stepped to the plate pinch hitting for left fielder Cory Sullivan with the b ases loaded only one out and every Met fan was thinking “here comes another double play”.  Tatis surprised everyone and put a ball into the left centerfield seats to help send the Mets to a 7-3 win against the wild card leading Rockies on Monday night.  Down 2-0 and then 3-1, the Mets climbed back with a Jeff Francouer home run, a Daniel Murphy RBI single and a Cory Sullivan Sacrifice fly to be in a tie game in the eighth inning for Tatis’ hit.  Pedro Feliciano(3-3) worked one inning giving up a hit and striking out two for the win and Francisco Rodriguez worked a perfect ninth in a non save situation to secure the victory.  Check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog for more Mets info.

The Rockies scored runs the same way they have been all season, getting three runs on two home runs.  In the second inning, Troy Tulowitzki hit a home run home run to deep center field for a 2-0 lead.  After the Mets cut the lead in half, Clint Barmes hit a long home run down the left field line to extend the lead temporarily to 3-1.  Starter Ubaldo Jimenez worked seven innings giving up three runs and left the game to the bullpen, already with a no decision.  Juan Rincon walked three in the eighth inning(one intentionally) and only got one out on a sacrifice bunt by Daniel Murphy.  Rincon(2-2) took the loss as Franklin Morales came in with the bases loaded and gave up the grand slam to mentioned above.

This sight will haunt the Brewers

The “Hammer”, Josh Willingham had a career game last night in Milwaukee, and one that you need to do a double take at the box score.  Willingham went 3-5 with 2 runs scored and 8 RBI on two grand slams, in consecutive innings none the less.  This was on way to a 14-6 Nationals route of the Brew Crew on Monday night.  Zimmerman added a solo home run of his own and Christian Guzman and Adam Dunn had a pair of RBI each.  Starter Craig Stammen couldn’t get out of the fourth inning as he was charged with five runs and couldn’t qualify for the victory, even though once the Nats took the lead in the fifth, they never looked back.  Jason Bergmann(1-1) worked 1.1 innings of relief giving up one run and was credited with the relief win.  Make sure to check CenterfieldGate for more Nats info.

Brewers starter Jeff Suppan had allowed no runs through the first four innings and he was even given a 2-0 lead by his team.  This was before the fifth inning came about and he only lasted one out into the sixth.  Suppan’s(5-8) final line is ugly, 5.1 innings pitched, 10 runs on 10 hits and four walks, all of those runs coming in the fifth and sixth inning.  Corey Hart and Ryan Braun homered in the losing effort for the Brew-Crew.