Tampa Bay Rays 11 Detroit Tigers 7- Carlos Pena’s AL-leading 38th long ball of the season lifted the Tampa Bay Rays to Win #71 of the season; Pena finished the game 3-for-5 with two runs scored and 4 RBIs. Jason Bartlett also went deep for Tampa Bay. Carlos Guillen hit not one, but two home runs for Detroit, but it was not enough as the Tigers fell to 69-61 on the year. James Shields won his 9th game of the season after giving up five runs (four earned) on ten hits in seven innings; Shields is still undefeated against Detroit.
Cincinnati Reds 4 Pittsburgh Pirates 3 (Game 1)- Jesse Chavez’s wild pitch in the bottom of the 9th inning allowed Darnell McDonald to score the winning run for the Reds, who improved to 57-73 on the season. Drew Stubbs hit a leadoff home run in front of a crowd of no more than 2,000 in Cincinnati. Daniel McCutchen made his major league debut for Pittsburgh, allowing three earned runs on five hits in six innings; he registered an RBI single in his first major-league at bat in the 2nd inning, but did not factor in the decision. Pittsburgh fell to 53-76 on the year.
Cincinnati Reds 6 Pittsburgh Pirates 3 (Game 2)- Not many Reds fans got to see their team pull off its first doubleheader sweep in a whole decade; after two games with noise levels as high as those of a tennis match, Cincinnati earned Win #58 of the season. Brandon Phillips and Drew Stubbs hit long balls for the Reds. Johnny Cueto squandered one earned run on three hits in five innings to earn his 9th victory of the year. Pittsburgh scored all three of its runs in the 6th inning, during which Andrew McCutchen blasted his 11th home run of the season; it was not enough, however, as the Pirates suffered their 77th loss of the season.
Atlanta Braves 5 Florida Marlins 2- Kenshin Kawakami allowed one earned run on six hits in six innings as he improved to 7-10 as a starter. Atlanta trailed 1-0 after six innings, but scored five unanswered to earn its 69th win of the season. Florida starter Josh Johnson actually no-hit the Braves until the 6th inning when Matt Diaz singled to center field. However, in the end, Johnson was issued his 4th loss of the season, giving up three earned runs on five hits in 6.2 innings. Dan Uggla drove in both runs for the Marlins, who fell to 68-63 on the year.
Houston Astros 5 Chicago Cubs 3- Roy Oswalt scattered two earned runs on six hits in seven innings as he picked up his 8th victory of the season. Carlos Lee hit a two-run blast in the 5th inning for Houston, who improved to 63-68 on the year; Lee ended the game with 4 RBIs. Derrek Lee hit a solo home run for the Cubs in the 8th inning, but Chicago ended up losing its 64th game of the season. Jose Valverde joined the MLB’s 20-save club after shutting down the Cubs in the 9th inning.
San Diego Padres 3 Washington Nationals 1- Livan Hernandez suffered his second loss to San Diego in less than a month with his second team; despite pitching a complete game, Hernandez was issued the loss after squandering three earned runs on seven hits. Hernandez did, however, score the only Washington run of the game on a Pete Orr RBI single in the 3rd inning, but the Nationals ended up losing their 86th game of the season. Chase Headley homered in the 8th inning for San Diego, who improved to 57-76 on the year. Heath Bell earned his 32nd save of the season after working the 9th inning for the Padres.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 10 Seattle Mariners 0- Vladimir Guerrero homered twice while Juan Rivera went deep once for Los Angeles, lifting the Angels to their 78th victory of the season; Guerrero and Rivera combined to drive in seven of the runs for Los Angeles. Joe Saunders won his 11th game of the season after allowing three hits in seven scoreless innings; Saunders walked three and struck out four. Seattle fell to 68-64 on the year.
New York Yankees 5 Baltimore Orioles 1- Andy Pettite had retired the first 20 batters, but lost his perfect game AND no-hitter bids in the 7th inning: Jerry Hairston Jr. committed a fielding error on an Adam Jones ground ball, and Nick Markakis singled to left field. Despite the mishaps, Pettitte earned his 12th win of the season, scattering one earned run on two hits in eight innings. Melvin Mora got the other hit for Baltimore, hitting a solo home run in the 8th inning to break Pettitte’s bid for a shutout. Nevertheless, the Orioles fell to 54-78 on the year. Nick Swisher hit a long ball in the 3rd inning for New York, who earned Win #83 of the season; Swisher ended the game with 2 RBIs. Mariano Rivera recorded the last two outs for the Yankees to earn his 37th save of the year.
Toronto Blue Jays 18 Texas Rangers 10- The Blue Jays jumped out to an 11-0 lead before allowing the Rangers to score ten unanswered runs to cut the Toronto lead to one. However, a seven-run 9th inning put the game away and lifted the Blue Jays to Win #59 of the season. Adam Lind hit his first career grand slam and also hit a solo shot for the Blue Jays; Rod Barajas also went deep twice, blasting a three-run bomb in the 1st inning and a solo home run in the 5th. Lind and Barajas combined for 13 RBIs. Nelson Cruz homered during a seven-run 5th inning for Texas, but it was not enough as the Rangers fell to 72-58 on the year.
Minnesota Twins 4 Chicago White Sox 1- 3rd inning home runs from Joe Mauer and Jason Kubel lifted the Twins to their 66th victory of the season. Minnesota starter Nick Blackburn improved to 9-9 as a starter, squandering one earned run on six hits in seven innings; Blackburn struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter. Chicago scored its only run of the game in the 6th inning on an A.J. Pierzynski sacrifice fly, but the White Sox ended up suffering their 68th loss of the year. Joe Nathan earned his 35th save of the season for Minnesota after shutting down the White Sox in the 9th inning.
Arizona Diamondbacks 5 Los Angeles Dodgers 3- Rusty Ryal’s led off the 10th inning with a home run to lift the Arizona Diamondbacks to the 60-win milestone; Justin Upton also went deep for the Diamondbacks in the 8th inning to help Arizona extend its winning streak to five games. Ronnie Belliard, Manny Ramirez, and Matt Kemp all homered for the Dodgers, but it was not enough as Los Angeles suffered its 54th loss of the year. Juan Gutierrez earned his 2nd save of the season after working the 10th inning for Arizona.
Oakland Athletics 8 Kansas City Royals 5- With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 6th inning, Adam Kennedy hit a ground ball to Royals reliever John Bale. Instead of starting an inning-ending double play, Bale wildly threw the ball to center field, allowing Ryan Sweeney and Daric Barton to break a 5-5 tie and score the go-ahead runs for Oakland, who went on to win its 58th game of the season. Despite the throwing error, Bale was not issued the loss; instead, Kansas City starter Luke Hochevar was dealt his 8th loss of the year, squandering seven runs (six earned) on six hits in 5.1 innings. David DeJesus blasted his 12th home run of the season in the 2nd inning for the Royals, but Kansas City ended up suffering Loss #81 of the year.
Photo Source: Photobucket
