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.

Jurrjens loses no-no in the 7th

Wednesday night was another tough one for the Phillies, but it was almost a whole lot worse for them as Jair Jurrjens(6-6) of the Braves went seven innings while only giving up a single hit, in his last inning of work.  He had the no hitter going into the seventh despite giving up an unearned run in the fourth inning on the way to one of his best pitched games in his short career.  The Braves supported him with plenty of offense starting in the fourth inning with Tuesday night’s hero Martin Prado getting two RBI and scoring a run in the third inning, and adding another two runs scored later in the game.  The Braves racked up seven runs on nine hits against Philly ace Cole Hamels(4-5) and got fourteen hits and eleven runs overall in winning the game 11-1.  Additional Braves information can be found at The Braves Baseball Blog.

There wasn’t much going for the Phillies on this night both on the offensive and defensive side of the game.  Cole Hamels couldn’t get through the fifth inning and the only reliever to pitch a perfect inning was Sergio Escalona in the seventh.  Greg Dobbs hit a sacrifice fly to get the only run in and struggling Shortstop Jimmy Rollins went 0-3 again and is now only batting .205 for the season.  To get more news and info on the Phillies, be sure to check out our new Phillies Phandom Blog here at NLEC.

The two teams meet again tonight at 7PM with the Phillies sending J.A. Happ to the hill against Javier Vazquez as the Phillies try to avoid a sweep and keep their divisional lead over the Marlins.

Marlins sweep the Nats

On a day when Marlins ace Josh Johnson didn’t have his best stuff, the Marlins offense was able to pick him up.  Josh Johnson was only able to last one out into the fourth inning, giving up five hits and four walks but surprisingly only one earned run.  The Marlins offense got him off the hook, but relief pitching almost gave the game right back to the Nationals when Renyel Pinto blew a save in the seventh inning.  Late in the game though, the Marlins offense was able to come through against the Nationals reliever Julian Tavarez(3-6) who gave up two runs without recording an out in the eighth inning taking the loss.  Dan Meyer(2-0) worked the final two outs of the eighth for the Marlins and Leo Nunez worked a perfect ninth to get his fourth save of the season.  Hanley Ramirez was able to record his 10th straight game with an RBI when he doubled in Chris Coghlan and Emilio Bonifacio home in the third inning of this game.

One of the bright spots for the Nationals in this game was that young pitcher Jordan Zimmermann pitched another quality game, going six innings giving up only six hits and two earned runs while striking out six in the no decision.  He also drove in a run in the first inning with a single.  You can get more Nationals info over at CenterfieldGate.

Both teams have the day off on Thursday and check back tomorrow for their series preview of the weekend as the Marlins welcome in the Pirates and the Nationals return home for the Braves to come in.

Pelf balked, but it didn't cost him!

Mike Pelfrey(6-3) was exactly what the Mets needed yesterday, going 7.2 Innings of shutout ball against the power hitting Milwaukee Brewers yesterday.  A day after the Mets had a closed door 25 minute meeting and all were required to get on the bus to the park, it was must win game for them.  The final score of the game was 1-0 on a Ryan Church single, scoring Luis Castillo from second base in the top of the sixth inning.  Francisco Rodriguez came in and got the save in the ninth for the Mets while only allowing one hit for his 21st save of the season.  Pelfrey even balked during the game, but thanks for a base running error by Prince Fielder, it did not cost him a run.  Get more Mets news and info at The Real Dirty Mets Blog.

Yovani Gallardo pitched another gem against the Mets, but gave up the single run in seven innings.  He had twelve strikeouts during those innings only allowing five hits and two walks, but is now 0-1 against the Mets this year in two sterlings starts.

The Mets head to Pittsburgh for one game this afternoon as Tim Redding will hope to get the Mets on a streak before a matchup with their rival Phillies this weekend in Philadelphia.

Prado drives in the winner

Martin Prado had a huge night in Atlanta on Thursday night, going 4-5 with four of Atlanta’s five runs batted in and a run scored of his own including a home run in the fifth.  Prado drove in Matt Diaz in the bottom of the tenth inning off Chan Ho Park(3-2) who took the loss in 0.2 innings pitched giving up three hits and a walk.  The win brought the Braves   within four games of first even though they are four games under .500.  Peter Moylan(2-2) got the win for the Braves with two thirds of an inning of perfect relief.  For more Braves news, go to The Braves Baseball Blog.

The Phillies got another mediocre pitching performance from one of their starters as Joe Blanton only lasted five innings while giving up three runs, including giving up the lead twice.  Philadelphia took the lead late in the game with back to back homers by John Mayberry and Pedro Feliz in the top of the eighth inning.  The lead was erased when Ryan Madson blew his fourth save of the year and this eventually led the game to extras.  For more Phillies news, please check out the new Phillies Phandom blog.

Game two of the series is tonight at 7:00PM with Cole Hamels going against Jair Jurrjens at Turner Field.

How many times is his picture gonna be here?

Is anyone else noticing a trend of Hanley Ramirez being pictured for the Marlins in the recaps? Ramirez has been on a tear and it did not end last night in Miami against the Washington Nationals.  Hanley Ramirez had two hits in four at bats with a run scored and four more RBI to get the Marlins to their second straight win and eighth straight against the Nationals, 7-5.   This was only a seven inning rain shortened game, but The Marlins took the lead in the sixth and added to their lead in the seventh off Joe Beimel(0-4) and four more Nationals errors.  Renyel Pinto(3-1) worked a perfect inning and picked up the win for the Marlins who are now only 1.5 games back of first place with the Philly loss.

Adam Dunn once again had a solid game for the Nationals while getting two hits, three RBI including a home run in the fifth inning off Marlins starter Sean West.  The two teams will face off in the finale of the series at 12:10PM in Miami this afternoon.  More Nats news at CenterfieldGate.

Its been that kind of year for the Mets

The little league New York Mets once again lost a very sloppy game, which was their fifth loss in a row.  Even ace Johan Santana(9-6) couldn’t help them on this night and was hurt by two errors (really three) en route to a 6-3 loss to the Brewers.  David Wright hit a two run home run in the first and that was all the offense the Mets received until the ninth inning of the game.  In the fourth inning, rookie Fernando Martinez managed to find and get stuck in a divet in center field while trying to track a routine fly ball.  Fast forward a few walks, errors and a double by Ryan Braun and the Brewers had all the runs they needed to win.  Mike Burns(1-1) in only his second major league start got the win while pitching into the seventh inning.  The two teams conclude this afternoon at 2:05PM with Pelfrey going against young Brewers ace Gallardo.  For more on the Mets, go to The Real Dirty Mets Blog.