Chicago White Sox 5 Chicago Cubs 0- Carlos Torres scattered five hits in seven innings as he picked up his first career major league victory. DeWayne Wise gunned down Jake Fox at the plate in the 7th inning to preserve a 1-0 White Sox lead; the White Sox went on to score four more to earn Win #66 of the season. Alexei Ramirez, Paul Konerko, A.J. Pierzynski, and Carlos Quentin each drove in a run for the White Sox, who outscored the Cubs 32 to 19 in head-to-head matchups this season. The Cubs fell to 67-65 on the year.
Milwaukee Brewers 4 St. Louis Cardinals 3- Manny Parra joined the MLB’s 10-win club after squandering two earned runs on five hits in 6.1 innings. Casey McGehee’s two-run blast in the 6th inning broke a 2-2 tie and lifted Milwaukee to Win #65 of the season; McGehee finished the game with 3 RBIs and ended the series with 9. Julio Lugo and Matt Holliday hit the long balls for the Cardinals, who fell to 79-56 on the year. Trevor Hoffman struck out the side in the 9th inning to join the MLB’s 30-save club.
New York Mets 8 Colorado Rockies 3- Pat Misch earned his first major league victory after pitching seven innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits. Daniel Murphy hit a two-run blast while David Wright added three RBIs for New York, who improved to 60-74 on the season, the antithesis of the Rockies’ record. Chris Iannetta, Ian Stewart, and Clint Barmes all went deep for Colorado, but it was not enough as Rockies starter Jason Marquis suffered his 10th loss of the year.
Detroit Tigers 4 Cleveland Indians 3- Down 3-0 after seven innings, Cleveland tied the game with three runs in the top of the 8th inning; Asdrubal Cabrera drove in the first run with an RBI single, and Shin-Soo Choo drove in the next two runs on a double to deep right field. The game went to a 10th inning, where Placido Polanco’s sacrifice fly scored Ryan Raburn and lifted the Tigers to their 72nd victory of the season. Curtis Granderson blasted his 26th home run of the year in the 1st inning for Detroit, who improved to 29-19 in day games. Cleveland fell to 58-75 on the season.
Philadelphia Phillies 2 San Francisco Giants 1- Pedro Martinez outdueled Tim Lincecum, giving up one earned run on five hits in seven innings; it was Martinez’s third victory of the season. Jayson Werth hit a solo shot in the 2nd inning, and Ryan Howard doubled in Chase Utley in the 6th to lift Philadelphia to Win #77 of the year. Eugenio Velez scored the lone San Francisco run of the game on a solo home run in the 1st inning; the Giants fell to 73-61 on the season. Brad Lidge shut down the Giants in the 9th inning to earn his 28th save of the season. Lincecum squandered two earned runs on four hits in seven innings, but fell to 13-5 as a starter.
Florida Marlins 8 Atlanta Braves 3- Behind a six-run 6th inning, the Florida Marlins reached the 70-win milestone and pulled even with the Braves in terms of overall records. Ricky Nolasco joined the MLB’s 10-win club after scattering three earned runs on seven hits in six innings. Cody Ross drove in two runs while Cameron Maybin, Brett Carroll, Hanley Ramirez, Nick Johnson, Jorge Cantu, and Chris Coghlan each drove in one run for Florida. Brian McCann hit a solo home run in the 2nd inning for Atlanta, who suffered Loss #64 of the season.
Boston Red Sox 6 Tampa Bay Rays 3- Clay Buchholz held the Rays to three earned runs on six hits in six innings, improving to 4-3 as a starter. Rocco Baldelli blasted his 7th long ball of the season for Boston, who earned Win #78 of the season. Ben Zobrist, Evan Longoria, and Gregg Zaun each drove in a run for Tampa Bay, but the Rays ended up suffering their 61st loss of the year. Boston earned its first series win at Tropicana Field since September 2007 and extended its AL Wild Card lead over Tampa Bay to six games. Jonathan Papelbon closed the door on the Rays in the 9th inning to earn his 34th save of the season.
New York Yankees 10 Toronto Blue Jays 5- Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada went deep to lift the New York Yankees to their 86th victory of the season; Posada and Rodriguez combined for 6 RBIs. Alfredo Aceves joined the MLB’s 10-win club after giving up two runs (one earned) on two hits in 2.1 innings of relief. Raul Chavez drove in two runs for Toronto, but the Blue Jays ended up suffering Loss #74 of the year. New York has won seven straight games and is now 35-11 since the All-Star break.
Los Angeles Dodgers 4 Arizona Diamondbacks 2- Three days after being traded from Arizona, Jon Garland faced his former team and improved to 9-11 as a starter, giving up two earned runs on five hits in seven innings. Manny Ramirez hit a solo home run while Ronnie Belliard added 3 RBIs for Los Angeles, who reached the 80-win milestone. Stephen Drew blasted his 12th home run of the season in the 3rd inning for the Diamondbacks, who fell to 61-74 on the year. Jonathan Broxton earned Save #31 of the season after working the 9th inning for the Dodgers.
Seattle Mariners 7 Oakland Athletics 4- Ian Snell picked up his 4th win of the season, squandering three runs (two earned) on seven hits in five innings. Franklin Gutierrez, Bill Hall, and Kenji Johjima each hit a two-run blast for Seattle, who improved to 71-64 on the year; Gutierrez led all batters with 3 RBIs. Kurt Suzuki drove in two runs while Daric Barton added a solo home run for Oakland, but it was not enough as the Athletics suffered their 75th loss of the season. David Aardsma earned his 34th save of the year after working the 9th inning for the Mariners.
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