St. Louis Cardinals 11 Detroit Tigers 2- Albert Pujols homered for the fifth time in as many games, helping the Cardinals improve their record to 35-30. Adam Wainwright allowed one earned run on six hits in seven innings for St. Louis. Tigers starter Justin Verlander allowed five earned runs on eight hits in just four innings of work; Verlander was issued his third loss of the season. Chris Duncan also homered for the Cardinals. For Detroit, their only runs were scored off solo shots from Brandon Inge and Miguel Cabrera.
Minnesota Twins 8 Pittsburgh Pirates 2- Right off the disabled list, Glen Perkins won his first start, going six innings while allowing just two earned runs on seven hits; Perkins struck out four in the process. Joe Mauer’s second four-hit game of the season brought the Twins back up to the .500 mark. Nyjer Morgan’s two-run blast to right field accounted for the only Pirate runs of the game.
Kansas City Royals 5 Arizona Diamondbacks 0- Gil Meche allowed just four hits en route to his third career shutout; he struck out six in the process. Meche, who threw a career-high 132 pitches, improved to 14-4 in interleague play; he has not allowed a run in his last two starts. Royals third baseman Mark Teahen went 3-for-4 with 1 RBI; he also scored one run for Kansas City.
Toronto Blue Jays 8 Philadelphia Phillies 3- Heading into the top of the 9th inning, the Phillies led 3-2 thanks to a two-run blast from Jayson Werth in the 6th inning. However, Ryan Madson walked Lyle Overbay with the bases loaded, allowing the Blue Jays to tie the game at three. In the 10th inning, Toronto exploded for five runs as the Blue Jays went on to win their 35th game of the season.
Texas Rangers 6 Houston Astros 1- Ivan Rodriguez tied Carlton Fisk’s record of most career MLB games behind the plate; Fisk and Rodriguez both stand at 2,226 games. However, Ian Kinsler’s pair of long balls helped the Rangers improve to 36-27 on the season. In his previous eight games, Kinsler had gone 4-for-33 with zero RBIs. Rangers starter Kevin Millwood allowed just one earned run on four hits in seven innings; the lone Astros run came off the bat of Ivan Rodriguez, who hit his 6th home run of the year. Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez allowed six earned runs on six hits in just four innings; he was issued his 6th loss of the year.
Boston Red Sox 8 Florida Marlins 2- 42-year old Tim Wakefield earned his 9th win of the season as his Red Sox improved to 39-25 on the season. Wakefield allowed just two earned runs on six hits in six innings of work on the mound; he struck out four in the process. David Ortiz hit his 5th home run of the year in the 4th inning. Chris Coghlan drove in both runs for the Marlins.
New York Yankees 5 Washington Nationals 3- Robinson Cano’s double in the 7th inning broke the 3-3 tie and propelled the Yankees to their 37th victory of the season. Yankees’ starter C.C. Sabathia allowed three earned runs on six hits in 7.2 innings; the three runs he allowed came off the bat of Anderson Hernandez, whose first long ball of the year gave the Nationals a 3-2 lead in the 5th inning. Derek Jeter left the game in the 8th inning with left ankle soreness.
Milwaukee Brewers 7 Cleveland Indians 5- The Brewers continued their winnings ways with another two-run victory over the Cleveland Indians. Yovani Gallardo allowed six walks, but his eight strikeouts in five innings helped him earn his 7th victory of the season. Mark DeRosa hit a solo home run in the 1st inning and drove in another run in the 6th inning. Travis Hafner’s two-run blast in the 9th inning cut the Milwaukee lead to two, but it wasn’t enough as the Brew Crew improved their record to 36-29.
New York Mets 6 Baltimore Orioles 4- Similar to how Luis Castillo’s dropped popup cost the Mets a game, Aubrey Huff’s dropped popup may have cost the Orioles this game. Huff’s 7th inning blunder allowed the Mets to score two unearned runs, which turned out to be the difference between the two baseball clubs after nine innings. Nick Markakis hit his 8th home run of the year in the 6th inning.
Tampa Bay Rays 12 Colorado Rockies 4- The Colorado Rockies couldn’t continue their winning ways as they fell victim to the Tampa Bay Rays. With an eight-run victory over the Rockies, the Rays ended Colorado’s 11-game winning streak. Gabe Kapler, Carlos Pena, B.J. Upton, Ben Zobrist, and Evan Longoria all homered for Tampa as they improved to 35-31 on the season.
Cincinnati Reds 7 Atlanta Braves 2- In the only non-interleague game of the day, the Cincinnati Reds, thanks to a four-run eighth inning, improved to 32-31 with a five-run victory over the Atlanta Braves. The Braves managed twelve hits against the Reds, but they left five runners in scoring position. Brandon Phillips and Laynce Nix each had three hits for the Reds.
Seattle Mariners 5 San Diego Padres 0- Felix Hernandez pitched a two-hit complete game shutout to lead his Mariners to their 31st win of the season; it was Hernandez’s third career shutout and sixth career complete game. Franklin Gutierrez and Adrian Beltre both hit solo blasts for the Mariners, who were only able to muster three hits off San Diego; the other hit came in the 9th inning when Ken Griffey Jr.’s RBI single scored Felix Hernandez and Russell Branyan. The two San Diego hits came from Kevin Kouzmanoff and Tony Gwynn.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 8 San Francisco Giants 1- For the second game in a row, the San Francisco Giants gave up at least eight runs to the Angels. Angels starter Sean O’Sullivan made his MLB debut, allowing just one run on five hits in seven innings; the one run allowed by O’Sullivan came from a Nate Schierholtz sacrifice fly in the 7th inning. Mike Napoli and Maicer Izturis went deep for the Angels, who improved to 34-29 on the season.
Los Angeles Dodgers 5 Oakland Athletics 4- Not even a four-run inning could help the Athletics get their 28th win of the season. Despite giving up long balls to Jason Giambi and Bobby Crosby in the top of the 8th inning, the Dodgers came back to tie the game at four in the bottom half of that inning. Matt Kemp then won the game for Los Angeles on an RBI single in the 10th inning.
The game between the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs was rained out. No make-up date has been announced yet.
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long live Tim Wakefield and the knuckleball
be cool if he can win 20 games this year at the age of 42
Wandy soon to get his walking papers fantasy wise
I have had enough of him lol