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.

Braves vs. Mets

The Braves beat the Mets Saturday 4-0, and have a five-game lead over New York in the NL East standings. The only runs of the game came in the 5th innings for Atlanta. Singles by Troy Glaus and Omar Infante gave the Braves a 2-0 lead. Tim  Hudson helped himself out at the plate, capping off the 5th with an RBI double. Atlanta had a total of 15 hits off Mets pitching. The Mets offense struggled, only getting four hits off Hudson. Three of those hits belonged to Angel Pagan.

Tim Hudson got the win, throwing 7 innings of shut out baseball. He only gave up four hits. Mike Pelfrey struggled and took the loss, only lasting 4 innings while giving up four runs on 12 hits.

Phillies vs. Reds

The game took 11 innings, but Philadelphia beat the Reds 1-0. This game was all about pitching as Roy Halladay and Travis Wood were locked in a pitchers dual through 9 innings. Wood had a perfect game going into the bottom of the 9th inning, but Carlos Ruiz began the inning for the Phillies by hitting a double to center field. Jimmy Rollins hit the game winning single for the Phillies, scoring Carlos Ruiz.

Roy Halladay threw 9 innings and gave up five hits. Phillies reliever Jose Contreras pitched a scoreless 11th and got the win. Wood got a no decision and allowed only one hit in 9 innings. Reds reliever Bill Bray took the loss.

Nationals vs. Giants

San Francisco beat Washington by a score of 10-5. The Nationals scored two runs in the 1st on a double by Ryan Zimmerman and again on a wild pitch allowing Christian Guzman to score. San Francisco responded in the 2nd on a double by Nate Schierholtz and a two-RBI single by Jonathan Sanchez, giving the Giants a 3-2 lead. Mike Morse tied it up for Washington with a home run to right center field. The game was tied until the 4th when the Nationals scored on doubles by Ivan Rodriguez and Craig Stammen, making it 5-3 Washington. The Giants went on to have a four-run 7th and scored two more in the 9th, taking a 10-5 lead.

Craig Stammen went 5.1 innings and allowed four runs on six hits. Jonathan Sanchez lasted only 3.2 innings, and gave up five runs on five hits. Both pitchers got a no decision. Giants reliever Santiago Casilla got the win, while Washington’s Tyler Clippard took the loss.

Marlins vs. Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks jumped out to an early lead scoring in the 1st on a sacrifice fly by Chris Young. Arizona scored again in the 3rd on a Justin Upton single and again in the 4th on a home run to center field off the bat of Mark Reynolds. The Marlins got on the board in the 5th when Mike Stanton sent the ball over the center field wall for his 5th home run of the season. An RBI single by Jorge Cantu in the 6th cut the Diamondbacks lead to 3-2. Arizona extended their lead in the bottom of the 6th on a two-run shot off the bat of Chris Snyder.   Trailing 5-2 going into the 9th, the Marlins tagged on two more runs, cutting Arizona’s lead to 5-4.

Nate Robertson took the loss, going 6 innings and giving up five runs on six hits. Ian Kennedy got the win, throwing 5.1 innings and allowing two runs on five hits. Juan Gutierrez got the save.

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.

Hamels leads the Phils in the rain

Phillies ace Cole Hamels seemed to have found his stuff last night as he led the Phillies to a 4-2 victory in a rainy night.  Hamels(9-9) pitched 6.2 innings while allowing seven hits and one run including six strikeouts for him to get a rare win versus the Mets.  Rollins, Utley, Feliz and Ruiz added solo RBI each during the win and Ryan Madson worked a shaky ninth allowing two hits and a run for his seventh save of the season,  Phillies Phandom will have more on this game.

Nelson Figueroa did not pitch badly, but used a lot of pitches in this one.  Figueroa(2-5) gave up nine hits and five walks but only two runs in 5.1 innings of work but was charged with the loss.  Mets relief gave up two more runs later in the game to put it out of reach and the offense was stagnant.  Castillo’s sacrifice fly in the seventh and Cory Sullivan’s double play ground out scored the Mets only runs of the game.  The Real Dirty Mets Blog has all the Mets info for you.

JD Martin leads the Nats to the win

The Nationals have a chance to really hurt the playoff chances of the Florida Marlins this weekend in South Florida.  J.D. Martin(4-4) started the task off well last night as he went five strong innings only allowing two runs during a 5-3 Nationals victory.  Mike Morse doubled in the eventual winning run for the Nationals in the sixth and Zimmerman added a solo shot later to seal it as Mike MacDougal got his 15th save of the season.  Check out Centerfield Gate for more.

The Florida Marlins had just finally gained a game in the division, but lost it right back tonight with faulty pitching.  After Josh Johnson could only get through five innings of two run ball, Brian Sanches(4-2) gave up the two run double and took the loss in this one for the Marlins.  Hanley Ramirez’ two run homer and Dan Uggla’s solo shot later produced all the runs the Marlins would get, check out FishGuts for more.

Jurrjens with a gem

Jair Jurrjens pitched an absolute gem of a game on Friday night.  Jurrjens(11-10) went eight innings of six hit and no run ball with seven strike outs to get a nailbiting victory for the Braves.  Omar Infante got the only RBI on a fielders choice that turned into an error by Albert Pujols and Rafael Soriano was back on the mound closing, getting his 23rd of the year.  Check out The Braves Baseball Blog for more on the game.

The Cardinals also got a great game from Joel Piniero.  Piniero(14-10) went seven innings and only allowed that one run on five hits in the game.  The umpiring was a bit suspect for Cardinals fans as it appeared that Holliday did score earlier in the game but was called out by the home plate ump, they will hope to get revenge today.

According to MLB Trade Rumors and MASN sports,  The Washington Nationals have sent current AAA outfielder Ryan Langerhans to the Mariners for AAA INF Mike Morse.  Check out MLB Trade Rumors for more, but at first glance, it seems a fairly even trade, with possibly a slight edge to the Nats.

The Nats receive the 27 year old Morse who had been hitting over .300 with 10 home runs and Langerhans stats are here, who is 2 years older and is hitting under .300.  This also allows the Nats to get rid of their huge log jam at OF and get some more infielders.