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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 7 Toronto Blue Jays 3- A pair of three-run innings lifted the Angels to their 74th victory of the season. Ervin Santana gave up three earned runs on seven hits in six innings as he improved to 7-6 as a starter. Vladimir Guerrero and Juan Rivera went deep for Los Angeles, who avoided its first three-game losing streak since June 20-22. Adam Lind provided all the scoring for the Blue Jays, hitting a three-run blast in the 3rd inning. However, it was not enough as Toronto suffered Loss #65 of the year.

Los Angeles Dodgers 2 Chicago Cubs 0- Charlie Haeger squandered just three hits in seven innings as he won his first game of the season. Matt Kemp and Casey Blake provided all the runs of the game, hitting solo home runs to lift the Dodgers to their third straight victory. Los Angeles improved to 74-50 on the season while the Cubs reached the 60-loss milestone. Chicago has lost ten of its last thirteen games.

Boston Red Sox 14 New York Yankees 1- Rookie Junichi Tazawa improved to 2-2 as a starter after scattering eight hits in six scoreless innings. Kevin Youkilis homered twice while Alex Gonzalez and David Ortiz each hit one long ball for the Red Sox, who reached the 70-win milestone; Youkilis ended the game with 6 RBIs. Boston set a team record with eight consecutive multi-homer games. Nick Swisher scored the lone New York run of the game on a solo shot in the 7th inning; the Yankees ended up losing their 46th game of the season. New York now has a 6.5 game lead over Boston in the AL East.

Atlanta Braves 4 Florida Marlins 3- Tommy Hanson won his fourth straight start in August after giving up three earned runs on four hits in seven innings; Hanson, who gave up all three runs in the 5th inning, improved to 9-2 as a starter. Omar Infante and Yunel Escobar went deep for Atlanta, who scored all of its runs in the 1st inning. Both the Braves and Marlins now stand at 65-58 on the year. Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez went 0-for-3, snapping his 16-game hitting streak.

Houston Astros 4 Arizona Diamondbacks 2- A pair of two-run innings lifted the Houston Astros to their 61st victory of the season. Brian Moehler won his first game in over a month after scattering two earned runs on six hits in 5.2 innings; Moehler, who struck out three, picked up his 8th victory of the season. Geoff Blum drove in two runs for Houston, who extended its winning streak to four games. Arizona has now lost seven consecutive games, their longest losing streak since June 2006 when they also lost seven in a row.

Milwaukee Brewers 11 Washington Nationals 9- Despite blowing a seven-run lead, Milwaukee recovered to reach the 60-win milestone. Mike Cameron homered for the Brew Crew, who scored the first seven runs of the game in the first two innings. The Nationals came back to tie the game at eight, but Casey McGehee hit an RBI single in the 6th inning to break the tie. Ronnie Belliard hit a grand slam while Willie Harris hit a solo home run for Washington, but it was not enough as the Nationals arrived at the 80-loss milestone after 123 games. Trevor Hoffman pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning to earn his 27th save of the year.

Pittsburgh Pirates 12 Cincinnati Reds 2- Zach Duke squandered two earned runs on eight hits in seven innings as he joined the MLB’s 10-win club. Ryan Doumit hit a long ball for the Pirates, who improved to 51-70 on the season. Wladimir Balentien and Jonny Gomes singled in the runs for Cincinnati, who lost its 71st game of the season. The Reds fell to last place in the NL Central.

Philadelphia Phillies 4 New York Mets 1- Behind a three-run 6th inning, the Phillies reached the 70-win milestone after 120 games. J.A. Happ joined the MLB’s 10-win club after giving up one earned run on eight hits in seven innings; the only run Happ gave up came off the bat of Omir Santos, whose RBI single drove in Jeff Francoeur in the 2nd inning. Chase Utley hit his 26th long ball of the season in the 6th inning for Philadelphia; Utley has now gone deep six times against the Mets this season.

Colorado Rockies 14 San Francisco Giants 11- Behind seven runs in the 6th inning and four in the 7th, the Rockies won their 69th game of the season to take a two-game lead in the NL Wild Card race. Ian Stewart and Todd Helton both homered in the 6th inning for Colorado, who evened the four-game series with San Francisco at one game apiece. Ryan Garko hit two longs balls while Nate Schierholtz, Aaron Rowand, and Pablo Sandoval each went deep once for San Francisco, who lost its 56th game of the season. Jorge De La Rosa won his 12th game of the year, scattering six earned runs on eight hits in six innings.

Chicago White Sox 4 Baltimore Orioles 1- John Danks picked up his 11th victory of the season, scattering one earned run on three hits in 6.1 innings; his wild pitch in the 7th inning allowed Luke Scott to score the lone Baltimore run of the game. Carlos Quentin scored the first run of the game with a solo shot in the 2nd inning for Chicago, who improved to 63-60 on the season. Bobby Jenks shut down the Orioles in the 9th inning to earn Save #27 of the year.

Cleveland Indians 4 Seattle Mariners 3- Luis Valbuena’s walk-off home run in the 11th inning lifted the Cleveland Indians to their 53rd victory of the season. Travis Hafner also went deep for Cleveland, who trailed by three runs after the first inning. Russell Branyan hit a two-run blast for Seattle, but it was not enough as the Mariners arrived at the 60-loss milestone. Rafael Perez recorded one out for the Indians and earned his second victory of the year.

Tampa Bay Rays 5 Texas Rangers 4- Carlos Pena homered twice for the Rays, but that alone wasn’t enough to earn Tampa Bay its 67th win of the season. So what did he do next? He registered his first career walk-off hit (7th of his career) in the 10th inning, driving in Evan Longoria with a single to center field. Pena finished the game going 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs and three runs scored; he also drew a walk. Michael Young and Marlon Byrd hit the long balls for the Rangers, but it was not enough as Texas fell to 68-54 on the season. Byrd’s solo shot in the 9th sent the game into extra innings.

Minnesota Twins 8 Kansas City Royals 7- Brian Duensing earned his first major league win in his second career start, scattering two earned runs on six hits in five innings. Michael Cuddyer hit a solo home run in the 2nd inning for Minnesota, who reached the 60-win milestone. Miguel Olivo, David DeJesus, and Yuniesky Betancourt each drove in two runs for Kansas City, but the Royals ended up suffering their 75th loss of the season.

Oakland Athletics 3 Detroit Tigers 2- Kurt Suzuki’s RBI single in the bottom of the 9th inning lifted the Oakland Athletics to their 54th win of the season; it was Suzuki’s sixth career game-winning hit. Prior to the 9th inning, Oakland had scored both of their runs in the 2nd inning. Daric Barton and Cliff Pennington drove in the runs for the Athletics during that inning. Carlos Guillen and Miguel Cabrera drove in the runs for Detroit, who fell to 65-57 on the year.

St. Louis Cardinals 7 San Diego Padres 0- Chris Carpenter gave up three hits in seven scoreless innings on his way to Win #14 of the season; it was Carpenter’s ninth consecutive victory. Matt Holliday, Colby Rasmus, and Rick Ankiel all went deep for the Cardinals, who won their 71st game of the season. With this win, St. Louis moved eight games ahead of the Chicago Cubs for first place in the NL Central; eight games is the largest margin for any division leader in the MLB. The Padres mustered just four hits during the entire game and ended up losing their 73rd game of the year.

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