Phillies vs. Padres

The Phillies took game two against the Padres Saturday afternoon, winning 3-1. Shane Victorino drove in Philadelphia’s first run in the 5th on a single to center field to score Jayson Werth. San Diego starter Jon Garland helped himself out at the plate in the bottom of the 5th with a single to left field to tie the game. The game remained tied until the top of the 7th when Victorino hit an RBI triple. He would later score on a ground out by Mike Sweeney, making it 3-1 Philadelphia.

Joe Blanton got the win, going 6 innings and giving up one run on six hits while striking out three. Jon Garland took the loss, going 6.1 innings and allowing three runs on three hits while striking out two. Brad Lidge recorded his 18th save for Philadelphia.

Nationals vs. Cardinals

Washington beat up on the Cardinals 14-5. St. Louis got an early 3-0 lead in the 1st inning on a ground-rule double by Albert Pujols and a two-run shot off the bat of Jon Jay. Back-to-back doubles by Kyle Lohse and Felipe Lopez would drive in the Cardinals other two runs in the 5th inning. After scoring a run in the 2nd on an RBI single by Ivan Rodriguez, the Nationals followed with four runs in the 3rd. In the bottom of the 5th, Adam Dunn hit his 32nd home run of the season to make it 8-5 Washington. Roger Bernadina hit his 10th home run of the season to cap off the Nationals six run 8th inning.

Livan Hernandez got the win, going 6.1 innings and giving up five runs on eight hits while striking out two. Kyle Lohse took the loss, going 5 innings and allowing eight runs on 11 hits while striking out two.

Braves vs. Marlins

Atlanta snapped a four-game losing streak as they beat the Marlins 12-3. The Braves scored six runs in the 2nd. Matt Diaz led off the inning with a solo shot to center. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, Martin Prado walked to force home a run. Brian McCann followed with a three-run double to right field. An RBI single by Prado in the 2nd made it 8-0 Atlanta. Gaby Sanchez scored the Marlins first run in the 3rd on a sacrifice fly by Emilio Bonifacio. Atlanta responded in the bottom of the inning with two more runs thanks to a home run by Eric Hinske and a fielding error by Florida’s Logan Morrison allowing Diaz to score. In the 7th, Prado hit a two-run homer to make it 12-1 Braves. Prado had five RBIs for Atlanta. Florida tagged on a run in the 8th and 9th on a double by Donnie Murphy and single by Brad Davis.

Tim Hudson pitched 7 strong innings to get the win, giving up one run on six hits while striking out a career-high 13. Ricky Nolasco only lasted 2 innings, giving up six runs on seven hits.

Mets vs. Astros

The Mets dropped the second game of their three-game series with Houston by a score of 4-1. Singles by Carlos Lee and Tommy Manzella gave the Astros a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning. Lee hit a two-run home run in the 5th to make it 4-0. The Mets offensive woes continued as they went 1-10 with runners in scoring position. The only run for New York came in the bottom of the 8th on an RBI single by David Wright to drive in Luis Castillo.

Brett Myers got the win and extended his streak of pitching 6 complete innings to 27 games. Myers went 7 innings and gave up no runs on six hits while striking out six. Meanwhile, Johan Santana’s streak of three straight complete games came to and end with  the loss. Santana went 7 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits while striking out four.   Brandon Lyon recorded his 9th save of the season for Houston.

Braves vs. Nationals

The Nationals took the final game of their series with the Braves by a score of 6-2. Michael Morse got things started for Washington in the 2nd inning, hitting his 9th home run of the season to left field. The next inning, Nyjer Morgan scored on an RBI single off the bat of Ian Desmond to make it 2-0 Nats. Washington tagged on two more runs in the 6th on a double by Roger Bernadina, followed by a single from Ryan Zimmerman. Willie Harris also contributed to the Nationals offense with a two-run home run in the 9th off Atlanta’s Kyle Farnsworth. The only two runs for Atlanta came in the bottom of the 6th thanks to a two-run RBI double off the bat of Matt Diaz.

Washington’s John Lannan got the win, going 5.1 innings and giving up two runs on seven hits while striking out five. Derek Lowe took the loss for Atlanta, going 7 innings and allowing four runs on six hits while striking out six.

Marlins vs. Pirates

The Marlins won the series finale against the Pirates by a score of 4-2. The game was scoreless until the 6th inning when the Marlins put up four runs in the inning. Gaby Sanchez hit a three-run home run to center field. A few batters later, Wes Helms hit an RBI single to drive home Cody Ross. A ground-rule double in the bottom of the 8th by Argenis Diaz to score Chris Snyder put Pittsburgh on the board. The Pirates added another run in the bottom of the 9th with a solo shot off the bat of Andrew McCutchen.

Alex Sanabia got the win for Florida, going 7.2 innings and giving up one run on four hits while striking out five. Paul Maholm took the loss for Pittsburgh, going 5.2 innings and allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out two. Leo Nunez recorded his 28th save for Florida.

Phillies vs. Giants

The Phillies lost to the Giants 5-2, and are now only one game up on San Francisco in the wild card. An RBI double by Buster Posey followed by back-to-back RBI singles by Jose Guillen and Juan Uribe gave the Giants a three-run lead in the 1st inning. Another double by Posey in the 3rd and a home run by Pablo Sandoval in the 4th gave San Francisco a 5-0 lead. The Phillies were only able to get two hits off Giants’ starter Jonathan Sanchez. Philadelphia’s two runs came in the bottom of the 9th on a double by Mike Sweeney off reliever Sergio Romo.

Sanchez got the win for San Francisco, going 8 innings and giving up one run on two hits while striking out seven. Cole Hamels, who once again got little run support, took the loss, going 5 innings and allowing five runs on seven hits while striking out five.

Mets vs. Astros

The Mets fell to the Astros 3-2. New York scored two runs in the 4th inning. The first run coming on a ground out by Jeff Francoeur to score Angel Pagan. The second on an RBI single by Chris Carter. Houston was held to just one hit through 6 innings by Pat Misch, who retired 16 straight, but broke through in the 7th. After singles by Angel Sanchez and Hunter Pence, Carlos Lee hit a three-run home run to give the Astros a 3-2 lead.

Bud Norris got the win for Houston, going 7 innings and allowing two runs on two hits while striking out four. Pat Misch took the loss, going 6 innings and giving up three runs on four hits while striking out one. Brandon Lyon got the save for Houston.

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. Cardinals

The Mets beat the Cardinals 4-0 Thursday afternoon. Ike Davis hit his 15th home run of the season in the bottom of the 3rd, a three-run shot to center field. Angel Pagan scored in the bottom of the 5th on a single by Carlos Beltran. The Cardinals were held to just four hits all day.

R.A. Dickey got the win, going 8.1 innings and gave up no runs on four hits. Blake Hawksworth took the loss, throwing 6 innings and allowing four runs on seven hits.Francisco Rodriguez recorded his 22nd save of the season.

Braves vs. Nationals

The Nationals beat the Braves 5-3 Thursday in Washington. Mike Morse grounded out, scoring Adam Dunn in the 2nd, and Ian Desmond hit his 7th homer of the season, to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead. Atlanta tied it up in the 4th on a two-run shot off the bat of Matt Diaz. Washington responded in the bottom of the inning with a two RBI single by Wil Nieves. In the 6th, Atlanta cut the Nationals lead to 4-3 on an RBI single by Omar Infante. In the 8th, Dunn hit a solo shot to center field, making it 5-3 Washington.

Scott Olsen got the win, going 6 innings and giving up three runs on five hits. Derek Lowe took the loss, lasting 5 innings and allowing four runs on five hits. Matt Capps recorded his 26th save of the season for Washington.

Marlins vs. Giants

Florida won their game over the Giants 5-0. Double by Mike Stanton in the 2nd and 4th innings gave Florida a 2-0 lead. Cody Ross scored on a sacrifice fly by Ronny Paulino in the 4th. Ross doubled in the 8th to drive in the Marlins 4th run. Paulino drove in his second run of the game in the 8th on another sac fly. The Giants were kept to just one hit in the game. Pablo Sandoval singled in the 5th to give San Francisco their only hit.

Anibal Sanchez got the win, pitching a complete game and holding the Giants to just three baserunners. Madison Bumgarner took the loss, going 6 innings and allowing three runs on six hits.

Phillies vs. Diamondbacks

The Phillies won their 8th straight, beating the Diamondbacks in walk-off fashion 3-2. A double by Carlos Ruiz in the 5th and a solo shot by Raul Ibanez in the 6th gave Philadelphia a 2-0 lead. Miguel Montero cut the lead to 2-1 in the 7th with his third home run of the year for Arizona. Montero drove in the tying run in the top of the 9th on a ground out to score Justin Upton. The game remained tied until the bottom of the 11th when Wilson Valdez singled home the game-winning run.

Kyle Kendrick went 6.1 innings and allowed one run on four hits in his no decision. Joe Saunders also had a no decision, throwing 7 innings and giving up two runs on nine hits. Jose Contreras got the win for Philadelphia. Esmerling Vasquez took the loss for Arizona.

Phillies vs. Cubs

The Phillies rallied in the 9th inning to beat the Cubs 4-1. The game was scoreless until the 7th, when the Cubs put a run on the board. Starlin Castro scored on a bunt single by Ryan Theriot. Going into the 9th trailing 1-0, the Phillies scored four runs off Chicago closer Carlos Marmol. Placido Polanco tied up the game with a single. A wild pitch followed by a bases-loaded walk allowed for two more runs to score. Raul Ibanez drove in the Phillies fourth run on an infield single.

Cole Hamels went 7 innings, earning a no decision. He allowed one run on eight hits. Randy Wells went 7 innings, giving up no runs on seven hits, to earn a no decision. Marmol took the loss for Chicago. Brad Lidge recorded his 7th save of the season for Philadelphia.

Braves vs. Brewers

The Braves dropped their second game in a row to the Brewers, losing 6-3. The game was scoreless until the 4th inning when Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder grounded into a double play allowing Rickie Weeks to score.  Atlanta responded in the bottom of the inning with a two-run shot to left field off the bat of Matt Diaz, giving the Braves a 2-1 lead. The Brewers broke the game open in the 7th scoring five runs in the inning. Eric Hinske homered for Atlanta in the bottom of the 7th to cut the lead to 6-3.

Chris Narveson got the win for Milwaukee, going 6 innings while allowing two runs on six hits. Tim Hudson took the loss, going 6.2 innings and giving up six runs on six hits. John Axford got the save for Milwaukee, his 11th save of the season.

Marlins vs. Nationals

The Marlins beat the Nationals 2-0. The only runs of the game came in the 2nd inning. Florida’s Ronny Paulino singled to drive in Dan Uggla and Jorge Cantu. Despite having 11 hits on the night, Washington couldn’t get anybody home, leaving nine men in scoring position.

Josh Johnson got the win for Florida, going six innings and giving up no runs on seven hits. His ERA is now down to 1.62. Livan Hernandez took the loss, going 6 innings and allowing two runs on four hits. Leo Nunez recorded his 21st save of the season for Florida.

Mets vs. Giants

The Mets lost their third straight to the Giants, losing 8-4. The Giants scored five runs in the 2nd inning on singles by Juan Uribe and Pablo Sandoval, and a three-run shot to left field off the bat of Andres Torres. Buster Posey hit his 8th home run in the 3rd, giving the Giants a 6-0 lead. The Mets finally scored some runs in the 7th inning thanks to a two-run home run by Ike Davis.  The Giants responded in the bottom of the 7th with two more runs, taking a 8-2 lead. A sacrifice fly by David Wright in the 8th cut the lead to 8-3. Davis hit his 2nd homer of the night in the 9th to make it 8-4.

Hisanori Takahashi took the loss, lasting only 2.2 innings, giving up six runs on seven hits. Matt Cain got the win, going seven innings and allowing two runs on four hits. Brian Wilson recorded his 25th save of the season for the Giants.

There’s really not much drama left in the NL East these days now that the Phils have clinched and the Braves have sort of exploded after teasing us for a couple of weeks there with an improbable late run toward the Rockies and the NL Wild Card. Ironically, there is still some juice flowing from the most unlikely of sources—the Nats.

After sweeping the Mets earlier in the week (not that you need much juice for that), the Nats opened a 4 game set against the recently resurgent Bravos at Turner Field last night and promptly dumped them by the score of 2-1. The story in this one, to me, was Garrett Mock–he of the 5.62ERA and 1.73WHIP–who matched his counterpart, Atlanta’s wunderkind Tommy Hanson, all night long. This is especially sickening to me because, being the astute fantasy baseball man that I am, I had Escobar, Prado and Diaz in my lineup last night to take advantage of the aforementioned Mr. Mock’s anticipated ineffectiveness. No dice. Nice game, Garrett, I’ll have to make hay against Livan tonight instead.

The only other NL East game last night saw the Astros cut down Cliff Lee and the Phillies 5-3 at Citizens Bank Park. I know it’s garbage time for the Phils, but you’d think they’d have found a way to get Mr. Lee a victory at home to cap off a pretty amazing run he’s had in Philadelphia since his trade from the Indians at the deadline. Heading into the postseason, Phillie fans have to feel pretty confident seeing Lee and Hamels out there at the top of the Phillie staff. Bullpen? Not so much. Lee didn’t have it last night, however, as Felipe Paulino pulled a Garrett Mock laid a hurting on the home team. And just who is Felipe Paulino? Good question. Let me know if you find out.

Finally, in one last bit of Mets-related news (because I know everyone’s just dying for a last bit of Mets-related news), last night I sprung for tickets to tonight’s game at CitiField against the Astros (thank God we missed Felipe Paulino!). The Mrs. and I will be there tonight while my parents watch the boy. The masochist in me loves these types of meaningless, end-of-season games, when the stadium is empty the bathroom lines are short. As a Met fan, I’ve had many opportunites to acquire a taste for this type of experience, and the truth is, I’m sort of looking forward to it. I’m especially excited now because I scored some prime Caesar’s Club tickets ($120 face value apiece) off StubHub.com for the measley price of $35 a pop. I’ve never sat down there, so it should be special. Has anyone scanned the offerings on StubHub recently? If your team is out of it like mine is, you’ll find a cornucopia of fantastic seats at fractions of face value. No reason EVER to get your tix through the MLB websites. Their best seats are already sold (to the people reselling now on StubHub!) and they’re charging face value to see (what by now is) a severely overvalued event. Anyway, there’s a nickel’s worth of free advice for y’all.

Enjoy tonight’s games.

Hi, everyone. Before I get started, I thought it might be good to introduce myself since I’m new to NLEast Chatter and you’re probably all wondering what the hell an ‘ubermet’ is. Good question. Fact is, I don’t even know. It’s a nickname someone gave me in high school or college or something and I guess it just stuck. I think it’s German or something. I’m not German though, so it’s all a bit unusual. I am a monster Met fan, however, so maybe it’s got something to do with that. Who knows. Nobody really calls me that, but I figured it’s a good nom de plume for this site.

At any rate, my real name is Al and I’m from Queens but no, I don’t call in to sports talk radio shows, even though that’s one hell of a stereotypical moniker, right? “We’ve got Al from Queens on the car phone.” Priceless.

Hope everyone enjoys my posts. And where you don’t, I hope you tell me so.

So how about this NL East, huh? Talk about the land of misfit toys. Outside of Philadelphia, does anyone really get excited when the Phillies clinch the division? Well, it happened again last night as the Phils blasted the Astros 10-3 at Citizens Bank Park. As a Met fan, this creases me, because once again it seems that if only the Phillies had some decent competition in this division, they wouldn’t be perceived as the mini-dynasty they’re otherwise shaping up to be. The Phils won it in 2007 with 89 wins. Then again last year with 92. Now they’ll probably end up with 93 or 94, which is a bit more respectable but hardly indicative of a powerhouse…especially when you factor in that they play the Nationals and Mets alone over 30 times a season.

As for my Mets, they lost in mind-blowingly horrific fashion once again last night, falling to the Nats 7-4 with K-Rod giving up a bottom-of-the-ninth, pinch hit walk off grand slam to light-hitting September callup Justin Maxwell. At this point, I realize K-Rod is about as sick and tired of this season as the rest of us are in Metland, but is it too much to ask to at least permit Met fans to sniff what October might have been like by slamming the door on the lowly Nats? I mean, that was the whole point of K-Rod in the first place, right? With him out there instead of say, Luis Ayala, we’d have taken last year’s pennant. I think maybe even Ayala gets Maxwell last night, I really do. And that’s what it’s like to be Met fan these days, I guess. Never good enough no matter what we do or who’s in charge.

But speaking of mind-blowing, I was literally biting my nails over the 9th inning of Braves/Marlins last night willing Leo Nunez through my laptop to find the goddamned plate so that I could scrape out a save and salvage my fantasy season, when in a matter of seconds (refresh, browser! refresh!) the Marlins pulled him with the bases loaded, replaced him with Brendan Donnelly (does he still wear those funky glasses?), and then picked Matt Diaz off third to preserve the Marlins’ 5-4 win. Who gets the save? Did Donnelly even throw a pitch? Turns out he did…a wild one…almost chucking the game himself before Ronny Paulino threw a dart to Helms at third to nab Diaz and end the game. No save for Nunez. Interesting question though. If Donnelly threw over to 3rd instead of throwing a pitch, and Diaz was tagged out, does he get a save without throwing a pitch?

A question for another day. Perhaps tomorrow.

Feliz with a granny

Pedro Feliz helped the Phillies finally cut down on their magic number to win the National League East, during a 7-4 win against the Astros.  Pedro Feliz  hit a fourth inning grand slam in the fourth inning putting the Phillies up for good in this one.  J.A. Happ(12-4) pitched 5.2 innings giving up only nine hits and four runs (three earned) and threw 199 pitches for the win in this one.  Ryan Madson got his tenth save of the year as he appears to be the closer of the week, but did give up two hits before recording the final out and needed 27 pitches to do it, check out Phillies Phandom for more.

Wilton Lopez(0-1) couldn’t do what the no name pitcher on Monday could do to the Phillies and was tagged for five runs and six hits in only 3.2 innings.  The Astros got home runs from Lance Berkman early and a two run shot from Kaz Matsui in the sixth inning but they ended their four game winning streak for the year against the Phils.

Once again the photographers took the night off for the game… thanks!

Anyway, the Braves finally lost a game, and it was a damaging loss as both the Rockies and the Phillies both won.

Chris Coghlan had three hits and two runs scored and Cameron Maybin had two RBI as the Marlins went on to beat the Braves by a score of 5-4.  Josh Johnson pitched well through five, giving up three hits and a run but left with a no decision in this one as the Braves eventually tied it.  Renyel Pinto(4-1) worked 1.1 scoreless innings to get the victory in this one and Leo Nunez got his 25th save of the season, check FishGuts for more.

Tim Hudson had a rough start for the Braves as he went five innings and allowed seven hits and four runs and three walks, but was bailed out by the bats to not get the loss.  Kenshin Kawakami(7-12) went 1.2 innings of relief and gave up three hits and a run in taking the loss in this one.  Matt Diaz had the big blow in this one, a three run shot in the sixth to tie the game off Brian Sanches, but it wasn’t enough.  Check out The Braves Baseball Blog for more.

MacDougal gets another S

The Nationals took advantage of bad defense for the Mets last night on way to their second straight win, 4-3.  Sean Green(1-4) gave up an unearned run with a walkwhile there were errors by the middle infielders for the Mets allowing the Nats to take the lead.  Tyler Clippard(3-2) worked two innings of scoreless relief to get the win as well and then passed to MacDougal for his 18th save of the season even though he gave up a hit, but struck out two.  Centerfield Gate has more on the Nats win.

Going to the eighth inning, the Mets were up 3-0, then it fell apart.  In the eighth, Pelfrey gave up a two run home run to rookie Ian Desmond and later, a RBI single to Ryan Zimmerman to allow the game to be tied.  The Mets got an RBI walk to Beltran in the first and two RBI singles, one by Pagan and one by Wright in the second inning.  They had a chance to tie it on a deep fly by Wright in the top of the ninth, but a great running catch by Elijah Dukes killed that momentum.  Check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog for more.

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.

Madson closes this one out

The Phillies put their big trade aquisition on the mound last night in Washington, hoping that he could get back in form.  Cliff Lee looked great through four innings, while only allowing a run and then things got scary.  Lee(6-2) ended up allowing ten hits and five runs(four earned) in seven innings plus of work.  He allowed three in the fifth, temporarily allowing the Nats to tie the game before the Phillies came back to secure the win.  The win was secured by back to back jacks by Jayson Werth and Pedro Feliz, even though Lee gave one more back in the eighth.  Brad Lidge stayed on the bench and gave way to Ryan Madson in the ninth who gave up one hit as he recorded his sixth save of the year by a 6-5 score.  Phillies Phandom has more on this.

Garrett Mock put the Nats in the hole early as he allowed three runs in the second and an additional run in the fifth inning, giving up six hits, and walking three in five innings of work, but the Nats got him off the hook.  Tyler Clippard(2-2) ended up taking the loss as he went one inning and allowed two solo home runs in the eighth inning.  Adam Dunn had two RBI for the Nationals as well as Christian Guzman joining him with two as well during the loss, Centerfield Gate has more.

Cody Ross with the big blow

Last night the Marlins put the Mets down really early, with a four run first inning, with three runs coming on Cody Ross’ 21st home run, a three run shot.  Ricky Nolasco(11-8) held down the Mets for 6.1 innings and allowed only three runs and four hits and Leo Nunez once again worked a perfect ninth to get his 20th save of the season in the 6-3 victory.  Dan Uggla also added a solo home run and an RBI groundout in the first for the Fish, check out FishGuts for more on this game and the Marlins.

Pat Misch(1-2) who had a nice start his last couple times out, one earning his major league win just did not have it last night, especially early.  Misch went six innings allowing five runs on six hits including two home runs and hit one batter.  All the Mets offense came in the seventh with a Daniel Murphy RBI double, a sac fly by Francouer and a Tatis RBI groundout.  The Mets will look to salvage one game today, check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog for more.

Tejada gets the walk-off hit!

The Houston Astros ruined another beautiful game from rookie Tommy Hanson last night with a ninth inning rally.  Miguel Tejada singled home Kaz Matsui and Lance Berkman with a one out single in the ninth, giving the Astros a 2-1 victory over the floundering Braves.  Wandy Rodriguez got off the hook of taking a tough loss as he went seven innings allowing only three hits and a single run as well.  Jose Valverde(4-2) worked a perfect top of the ninth with two k’s to get the credit for the win.

Tommy Hanson went eight innings allowing only five hits and struck out seven and allowed zero runs, is he a true candidate for rookie of the year?  Matt Diaz was the only person who could give any run support with a second inning RBI single scoring Yunel Escobar.  Rafael Soriano(1-5) blew his fourth save of the year getting only one out and giving up three hits and two runs and a walk, check out The Braves Baseball Blog for more.