SportsFullCircle

Chicago White Sox 4 Kansas City Royals 2- Jose Contreras gave up one earned run on three hits in seven innings as he improved to 5-11 as a starter. Gordon Beckham, Carlos Quentin, and Alex Rios all hit solo shots for the White Sox, who won their 62nd game of the season. It was the first time Royals starter Zack Greinke gave up three long balls since allowing four at U.S. Cellular Field on June 3, 2008. David DeJesus and Mark Teahen hit the long balls for Kansas City, who fell to 47-73 on the season. Bobby Jenks struck out the last two batters of the game and earned his 26th save of the season.

Colorado Rockies 5 Washington Nationals 4- Jason Marquis won his 14th game of the season after squandering three earned runs on nine hits in six innings. Clint Barmes and Carlos Gonzalez hit the long balls for the Rockies, who improved to 67-53 on the season. Huston Street gave up a solo shot to Josh Bard, but eventually shut the door on the Nationals to earn Save #31 of the year. Ryan Zimmerman drove in two runs for Washington, who suffered its 77th loss of the season.

Philadelphia Phillies 8 Arizona Diamondbacks 1- Cliff Lee pitched a complete game two-hitter, allowing just one unearned run. Jayson Werth homered twice while Ryan Howard and Chase Utley each went deep once for the Phillies, who improved to 68-49 on the season. Stephen Drew drove in the lone Arizona run on a sacrifice fly in the 4th inning.

Pittsburgh Pirates 3 Milwaukee Brewers 1- Paul Maholm gave up one earned run on eight hits in 7.2 innings as he improved to 7-7 as a starter. Ronny Cedeno hit a long ball for the Pirates, who won their 49th game of the season. Matt Capps pitched a 1-2-3 9th and earned his 22nd save of the season. Ryan Braun drove in the lone run for Milwaukee with a single in the 6th inning, but the Brewers ended up getting swept by Pittsburgh.

San Francisco Giants 1 Cincinnati Reds 0- Barry Zito, Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt, and Brian Wilson combined for San Francisco’s MLB-leading 16th shutout of the season. The Reds mustered just two hits, both coming off Zito, as they fell to 50-69 on the year. Nate Schierholtz doubled in the only run of the game in the 8th inning to lift San Francisco to Win #66 of the season. Sergio Romo was credited with his fourth victory of the season, and Brian Wilson joined the MLB’s 30-save club.

Atlanta Braves 15 New York Mets 2- Behind an eight-run 2nd inning, during which Brian McCann hit a three-run blast, the Braves defeated their NL East rival and earned their 63rd victory of the season. Adam LaRoche and Matt Diaz also went deep for the Braves, who registered their highest-scoring game of the year. Jair Jurrjens gave up two earned runs on eight hits in six innings as he joined the MLB’s 10-win club. Luis Castillo and Angel Pagan drove in the runs for the Mets, who fell to 56-64 on the season.

Houston Astros 6 Florida Marlins 3- Sammy Gervacio was credited with his first victory of the season after striking out one batter in the 5th inning. Humberto Quintero hit his second home run of the season in the 4th inning for Houston, who improved to 58-62 on the year. The Marlins registered at least ten hits for the fifteenth consecutive game, matching the longest streak since the 1937 St. Louis Browns. However, three errors and sixteen men left on base contributed to Florida’s 56th loss of the season. Jose Valverde pitched a scoreless 9th and earned his 17th save of the season.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 3 Cleveland Indians 0- Jered Weaver pitched a complete game seven-hitter on his way to Win #13 of the season. His Angels offense mustered just four hits off Cleveland’s Jeremy Sowers, but Los Angeles scored three in the 5th to improve to 73-45 on the year. For Weaver, it was his second career shutout. Howie Kendrick was involved in all three runs of the game; Kendrick singled in two runs and scored on Bobby Abreu’s groundout.

Seattle Mariners 3 Detroit Tigers 1- Ian Snell outdueled Justin Verlander as the Seattle starter gave up one earned run on four hits in 5.1 innings; Snell improved to 1-1 on the year while Verlander fell to 13-7. Ichiro Suzuki’s two-run blast lifted the Mariners to Win #62 of the season. Carlos Guillen provided the only run for Detroit with a solo blast in the 6th inning. Josh Wilson singled in the other run for Seattle, who scored all three of its runs in the 5th inning.

Boston Red Sox 6 Toronto Blue Jays 1- David Ortiz, Jason Bay, and Victor Martinez all went deep for the Red Sox, who improved to 68-51 on the season. Clay Buchholz earned his second victory of the season after giving up one earned run on six hits in six innings. Vernon Wells drove in the only Toronto run of the game with a single in the 4th inning. Toronto starter Roy Halladay was issued his 6th loss of the season; Halladay gave up five runs (four earned) on eight hits in five innings.

Tampa Bay Rays 3 Baltimore Orioles 1- Home runs from Pat Burrell, Ben Zobrist, and B.J. Upton lifted the Tampa Bay Rays to their 65th victory of the season. Jeff Niemann earned his 11th win of the year, giving up one earned run on seven hits in 7.1 innings. Niemann gave up a solo shot to Brian Roberts in the 8th inning. The Orioles fell to 48-72 on the year.

Minnesota Twins 5 Texas Rangers 4- Down four after four, the Minnesota Twins stormed back with one in the 5th and four in the 6th to earn their 58th victory of the season. Scott Baker picked up his 11th win of the year after giving up four earned runs on nine hits in 5.1 innings. Denard Span tied the game in the 6th inning with an RBI double, and he scored the game-winning run on an Orlando Cabrera RBI single. Joe Nathan pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning and earned his 31st save of the year.

New York Yankees 3 Oakland Athletics 2- Alfredo Aceves earned his 8th win as a reliever, giving up two earned runs on four hits in 2.1 innings. Mark Teixeria drove in all three runs for the Yankees; one on an RBI groundout in the 1st inning, and two on a home run in the 4th inning. With this win, New York improved to 76-45 on the season. Jack Cust hit a long ball in the 6th inning for Oakland, who fell to 53-67 on the year. Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect 9th and earned Save #36 of the year.

Chicago Cubs 7 San Diego Padres 1- Rich Harden gave up just one hit in seven innings as he picked up his 8th victory of the season. Milton Bradley and Aramis Ramirez hit solo shots in the 6th inning for Chicago, who improved to 61-57 on the year. Chase Headley singled in the lone San Diego run in the 9th inning, but the Padres ended up losing their 71st game of the season.

St. Louis Cardinals 3 Los Angeles Dodgers 2- Matt Holliday’s sacrifice fly in the 9th inning broke a 2-2 tie and lifted the Cardinals to their 69th victory of the season. Yadier Molina and Brendan Ryan drove in the runs for St. Louis. Andre Ethier and Casey Blake both went deep for Los Angeles, but it was not enough as the Dodgers reached the 50-loss milestone. Los Angeles’ lead in the NL West is now down to 3.5 games.

Photo Source: www.photobucket.com