Los Angeles Dodgers 3 Cincinnati Reds 2- Matt Kemp’s sacrifice fly in the 12th inning broke a 2-2 tie and lifted the Dodgers to their 78th victory of the season. Kemp also blasted his 21st long ball of the year in the 5th inning. Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw gave up two earned runs on four hits in seven innings, but did not factor in the decision; he would have earned the loss, however, had he not driven in Casey Blake in the 5th inning with an RBI single. Jonathan Broxton worked the 12th inning for Los Angeles and earned his 29th save of the season. Darnell McDonald drove in both runs for the Reds with his first career major league home run in the 2nd inning; it was not enough, however, as Cincinnati fell to 56-73 on the year.
Florida Marlins 6 San Diego Padres 4- Sean West scattered three runs (only one was earned) on seven hits in six innings as he picked up his 6th victory of the season; it was West’s 4th win in his last five starts at home. John Baker and Cody Ross each drove in two runs for the Marlins, who won their 68th game of the year. Kevin Kouzmanoff and Tony Gwynn each drove in a run for San Diego, who fell to 56-76 on the season. Leo Nunez shut down the Padres in the 9th inning to earn his 17th save of the year.
Milwaukee Brewers 4 Pittsburgh Pirates 1- In addition to driving in two runs for the Brew Crew, Craig Counsell helped turn a season-high four double plays to lift Milwaukee to Win #64 of the season. Jeff Suppan gave up one earned run on eight hits in six innings to earn his 6th victory of the year; he also drew a bases-loaded walk, which broke a 1-1 tie in the 5th inning. Casey McGehee hit a long ball for Milwaukee in the 2nd inning while Garrett Jones went deep for Pittsburgh in the 3rd. The Pirates ended up losing their 75th game of the season after Trevor Hoffman recorded his 29th save of the year.
St. Louis Cardinals 2 Washington Nationals 1- What’s better than earning your league-leading 16th win of the season? How about earning your league-leading 16th win of the season on your 28th birthday? That’s what happened to Adam Wainwright, who allowed one earned run on three hits in six innings; Wainwright walked three and struck out seven. Rick Ankiel and Albert Pujols drove in the runs for St. Louis, who improved to 77-55 on the year. Elijah Dukes singled in Adam Dunn in the 6th inning, but it was not enough as the Nationals suffered their 85th loss of the season. Ryan Franklin earned Save #35 of the year for the Cardinals.
New York Mets 4 Chicago Cubs 1- Nelson Figueroa struck out a career-high ten in seven innings to earn his second victory of the season; Figueroa also drove in a run with an RBI single in the 4th inning. Daniel Murphy, Jeff Francoeur, and Anderson Hernandez each drove in a run for New York, who improved to 59-72 on the year. Aramis Ramirez singled in the only Chicago run of the game in the 1st inning; the Cubs ended up suffering their 63rd loss of the season. Francisco Rodriguez worked the 9th inning and earned his 28th save of the year.
Arizona Diamondbacks 4 Houston Astros 3- Dan Haren picked up his 13th victory of the season after giving up three earned runs on six hits in seven innings. Justin Upton hit a solo home run in the 6th inning for Arizona, who improved to 59-72 on the season; Upton finished the game with 2 RBIs. Houston scored all three of its runs off RBI groundouts: two from Lance Berkman, and one from Jeff Keppinger. It was not enough, however, as the Astros suffered their 68th loss of the year. Chad Qualls recorded the final four outs for Arizona and earned his 24th save of the season.
Detroit Tigers 4 Tampa Bay Rays 3- A three-run blast from Placido Polanco in the 8th inning lifted the Detroit Tigers to their 69th victory of the season and enabled Justin Verlander to join the MLB’s 15-win club; Verlander gave up three earned runs on six hits in eight innings. Curtis Granderson singled in the other Detroit run of the game in the 3rd inning. Tampa Bay scored all three of its runs in the 4th inning off long balls from Evan Longoria and Akinori Iwamura; however, the Rays ended up losing their 59th game of the year. Fernando Rodney shut down the Rays in the 9th inning to earn his 29th save of the season.
New York Yankees 8 Chicago White Sox 3- Alfredo Aceves pitched three scoreless innings of relief, giving up two hits and striking out one to earn his 9th win of the season. The Yankees scored five in the 7th inning, three coming off the bat of Mark Teixeira, who blasted his 32nd long ball of the season. Johnny Damon also went deep for New York, who clinched a winning season with Win #82 of the year. Teixeira ended the game with 4 RBIs. Jermaine Dye hit a solo home run in the 9th inning for Chicago, but the White Sox ended up losing their 67th game of the season.
Baltimore Orioles 5 Cleveland Indians 2- Brian Matusz improved to 3-2 as a starter after squandering one earned run on four hits in seven innings. Felix Pie hit a two-run blast in the 3rd inning while Brian Roberts drove in two runs for Baltimore, who improved to 54-77 on the season. Jamey Carroll and Shin-Soo Choo singled in the runs for Cleveland, who suffered Loss #72 of the year. Jim Johnson earned his seventh save of the season after pitching a 1-2-3 9th inning.
Boston Red Sox 7 Toronto Blue Jays 0- Paul Byrd made his first major league start since last September, holding the Toronto Blue Jays to three hits in six innings to earn the win. Rocco Baldelli hit a solo home run in the 2nd inning while Kevin Youkilis drove in three runs to lift the Red Sox to their 76th win of the year. Toronto reached the 70-loss milestone after the game. Boston now has a 3.5-game lead over Texas in the AL Wild Card.
Minnesota Twins 5 Texas Rangers 3- A three-run 8th inning lifted the Minnesota Twins to their 65th victory of the season. C.J. Wilson gave up three earned runs on as many hits in the 8th inning and was issued his 6th loss of the year. Jason Kubel hit a two-run blast in the 4th inning for Minnesota, who climbed back up to .500. Nelson Cruz hit a two-run bomb of his own in the 7th inning to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead. However, Texas ended up losing its 57th game of the season. Joe Nathan earned Save #34 of the year after shutting down the Rangers in the 9th inning.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 9 Oakland Athletics 1- John Lackey squandered one unearned run on five hits in eight innings as he picked up his 100th career victory; Lackey improved to 9-7 on the season. Torii Hunter and Kendry Morales each hit a three-run blast for Los Angeles, who improved to 77-52 on the year. Daric Barton scored the lone Oakland run of the game in the 3rd inning on a missed catch error by Angels shortstop Erick Aybar; Oakland suffered its 73rd loss of the season.
Kansas City Royals 3 Seattle Mariners 0- Zack Greinke pitched a complete-game one-hitter to lift the Royals to the 50-win milestone; Kenji Johjima was the only Mariner to register a hit against Greinke, who improved to 13-8 on the season. Kansas City scored all three of its runs in the 5th inning; Miguel Olivo and David DeJesus each singled in a run for the Royals, and Mitch Maier scored on a Ryan Rowland-Smith wild pitch. Seattle fell to 68-63 on the year.
San Francisco Giants 9 Colorado Rockies 5- Down 5-2 in the bottom of the 7th inning, Edgar Renteria hit a grand slam to lift the San Francisco Giants to their 72nd win of the season, pulling even with Colorado in the NL Wild Card after sweeping the Rockies. Both teams are now six games behind Los Angeles in the NL West. Todd Helton and Troy Tulowitzki homered for the Rockies, but Colorado ended up suffering Loss #59 of the year.
Philadelphia Phillies 3 Atlanta Braves 2- Joe Blanton outdueled Jair Jurrjens as the Phillies starter earned Win #9 of the season, allowing one earned run on three hits in seven innings. Chase Utley hit a solo home run in the 4th inning, and Carlos Ruiz hit a two-run double in the 7th to lift Philadelphia to Win #75 of the year. Brad Lidge pitched a perfect 9th inning and earned his 27th save of the season. Martin Prado hit his 9th long ball of the season in the 1st inning, but it was not enough as the Braves fell to 68-62 on the year.
Photo Source: Photobucket
You misspelled “Chicago” in the tags for “Chicago White Sox”
It’s on the 4th row of the tags.
Thanks for pointing that out. Speed typing with dual monitor capability can easily lead to typos like that.