Chicago Cubs 8 Milwaukee Brewers 2- Ted Lilly allowed two earned runs on nine hits in 6.1 innings as he improved to 8-6 as a starter. Derrek Lee and Jake Fox both homered for the Cubs, who won their 40th game of the season. Prince Fielder went deep for Milwaukee in the 4th inning.
Philadelphia Phillies 2 New York Mets 0- Joe Blanton pitched 7.1 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out five en route to his fifth victory of the season. Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley both went deep for the Phillies, who improved to 42-37 on the season. Brad Lidge worked the 9th inning for Philadelphia and earned his 16th save of the season.
Minnesota Twins 6 Detroit Tigers 2- Behind a six-run 4th inning, during which Justin Morneau hit a two-run blast, the Minnesota Twins defeated the Detroit Tigers to improve to 43-40 on the year. Nick Blackburn pitched the whole game, allowing two runs (only one was earned) on seven hits. The only Detroit runs came off the bat of Brandon Inge, whose two-run home run in the 9th inning ended Blackburn’s bid for a shutout.
Washington Nationals 5 Atlanta Braves 3- Scott Olsen allowed three earned runs on eight hits in 8.2 innings as he improved to 2-4 as a starter. Newly acquired National Nyjer Morgan went 3-for-5 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored. Braves outfielder Nate McLouth hit a two-run blast in the 9th inning.
Kansas City Royals 6 Chicago White Sox 3- Brian Bannister improved to 6-6 as a starter, allowing two earned runs on five hits in six innings of work on the mound. Miguel Olivo hit a two-run long ball for the Royals, who improved to 35-46 on the season. Chicago’s Jermaine Dye hit a solo shot in the 8th inning; it was Dye’s 20th homer of the season.
Florida Marlins 5 Pittsburgh Pirates 0- Ricky Nolasco struck out twelve and allowed just three hits in eight scoreless innings as he won his sixth game as a starter. Florida’s Leo Nunez pitched a scoreless 9th inning to give the Marlins their second shutout victory of the year. Pittsburgh’s Ross Ohlendorf allowed five earned runs on nine hits in five innings; he was issued his seventh loss of the season.
Boston Red Sox 8 Seattle Mariners 4- Behind long balls from Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, and Jacoby Ellsbury, the Boston Red Sox avoided their first sweep at home, defeating the Seattle Mariners by a score of 8 to 4. Boston scored five runs in the bottom of the 7th inning to improve to 49-32 on the season.
St. Louis Cardinals 10 Cincinnati Reds 1- Chris Carpenter allowed one earned run on five hits in seven innings as he went on to win his sixth game of the season. Colby Rasmus hit a two-run blast for the Cardinals in the 1st inning; it was his tenth long ball of the season.
New York Yankees 10 Toronto Blue Jays 8- Not even eight unanswered Toronto runs could help the Blue Jays take down the Yankees. Behind home runs from Hideki Matsui and Derek Jeter, the Yankees defeated the Blue Jays by two runs to improve to 48-33 on the season, staying one game behind the Boston Red Sox for first in the AL East. Adam Lind and Aaron Hill went deep for the Blue Jays, who suffered their 41st loss of the season.
Oakland Athletics 5 Cleveland Indians 2- Gio Gonzalez allowed two earned runs on six hits in six innings as he won his first game of the season. Oakland’s Orlando Cabrera hit a solo shot in the 9th inning; it was his third long ball of the season. Jhonny Peralta homered for the Indians, who fell to 33-50 on the year.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 9 Baltimore Orioles 6- Vladimir Guerrero hit a two-run home run to lift the Angels to their 45th victory of the season; Guerrero, who played outfield for the first time this season, hit long balls in back-to-back games for the first time since July 19-20, 2008 against the Boston Red Sox.
Arizona Diamondbacks 4 Colorado Rockies 3- Dan Haren allowed three runs (only one was earned) on seven hits in six innings as he improved to 8-5 as a starter. With his team up 2-0 in the 4th inning, Troy Tulowitzki hit a solo shot to give Colorado a 3-0 lead. However, Mark Reynolds tied the game with a three-run blast to left field in the 6th inning. Felipe Lopez drove in the winning run for Arizona with an RBI single in the 7th inning.
Houston Astros 7 San Francisco Giants 1- Roy Oswalt allowed one earned run on three hits in eight innings as he was credited with his fifth victory of the season. Giants starter Randy Johnson left the game in the top of the 4th inning with a left shoulder strain after committing a throwing error; Johnson allowed four runs (only three were earned) on five hits in 3.2 innings as he fell to 8-6 as a starter. Miguel Tejada, Hunter Pence, and Jason Michaels all homered for the Astros, who won their 39th game of the season.
Los Angeles Dodgers 7 San Diego Padres 6- Andre Ethier, Casey Blake, and Chad Billingsley all homered for the Dodgers, who took a 6-0 lead in the middle of the 5th inning. In the bottom half of that inning, Kevin Kouzmanoff hit his 11th long ball of the season to give San Diego its first run of the game. The score stood at 6-1 heading into the bottom of the 9th inning, where the Padres scored five runs to force extra innings; Chase Headley started off the San Diego scoring in the 9th with his 8th home run of the season. The game went to a 13th inning, where James Loney’s solo shot to right field gave Los Angeles a 7-6 lead; Jeff Weaver, who had been pitching since the 11th inning, closed out the game to earn his fifth win of the season.
Texas Rangers 5 Tampa Bay Rays 2- Scott Feldman allowed two runs (only one was earned) on three hits in six innings as he won his seventh game of the season. With a 5-2 victory over Tampa Bay, the Texas Rangers completed a three-game sweep of the Rays and extended their winning streak to five games. Rangers outfielder David Murphy went 3-for-3 with 1 RBI.
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