Texas Rangers 11 Cleveland Indians 9 (Game 1)- Julio Borbon homered twice while Marlon Byrd and David Murphy each went deep once to lift Texas to its 77th win of the season. Byrd finished the game 4-for-4 with 3 RBIs and two runs scored. Neftali Feliz was credited with his first win of the year after pitching 1.2 innings of relief; Feliz gave up an earned run on three hits. Travis Hafner and Matt LaPorta each hit a long ball for Cleveland, but it was not enough as the Indians fell to 60-77 on the season.
Texas Rangers 10 Cleveland Indians 5 (Game 2)- Brandon McCarthy squandered five earned runs on as many hits in 6.1 innings as he picked up his seventh victory of the season. Chris Davis hit a three-run blast in the 9th inning for Texas, who improved to 78-60, the antithesis of the Indians’ record. Darren O’Day earned Save #2 of the season after recording the final four outs for the Rangers. Kelly Shoppach and Asdrubal Cabrera each hit a long ball for Cleveland. Marlon Byrd registered a total of seven hits in the doubleheader.
Philadelphia Phillies 5 Washington Nationals 3- Five solo home runs propelled the Philadelphia Phillies to their 78th victory of the season. Raul Ibanez hit two long balls while Jayson Werth, Carlos Ruiz, and Chase Utley each went deep once for the Phillies, who became the 12th team in MLB history to have four of its players reach the 30-homer milestone. Willie Harris blasted his 7th home run of the season in the 7th inning for Washington, who fell to 47-91 on the year. Pedro Martinez picked up his 4th win of the season after squandering three earned runs on seven hits in 6.2 innings. Ryan Madson recorded his 5th save of the year after recording the final two outs for Philadelphia.
Chicago Cubs 9 Pittsburgh Pirates 4- Behind a 7-run 1st inning, the Chicago Cubs reached the 70-win milestone with another win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Ryan Dempster improved to 9-8 as a starter, allowing four earned runs on eight hits in 6.1 innings; Dempster also singled in a run for the Cubs in the 7th inning. Micah Hoffpauir hit his 9th home run of the season in the 4th inning for Chicago, who tied an MLB record with eight consecutive hits to start the game. Garrett Jones went deep in the 3rd inning for Pittsburgh, who fell to 54-83 on the year. The Pirates have now lost eleven of their last twelve games.
Florida Marlins 4 New York Mets 2- Brian Sanches pitched two scoreless innings of relief and picked up his 4th victory of the season. Marlins starter Rick VandenHurk left the game after the 4th inning with back stiffness; VandenHurk gave up one earned run on four hits in four innings. Hanley Ramirez and Cameron Maybin each hit a two-run home run for Florida, who improved to 73-65 on the year. Josh Thole and Luis Castillo each drove in a run for New York, but it was not enough as the Mets suffered their 76th loss of the season. Leo Nunez shut down the Mets in the 9th inning to earn his 19th save of the year.
St. Louis Cardinals 4 Milwaukee Brewers 3- Down 3-2 in the top of the 9th inning, Matt Holliday blasted a two-run shot off Trevor Hoffman to lift the St. Louis Cardinals to their 83rd victory of the season. Holliday’s 12th home run of the season enabled Blake Hawksworth to earn his 3rd win of the season and Kyle McClellan to pick up his 3rd save of the year. Albert Pujols also went deep for St. Louis in the 7th inning; it was Pujols’ 45th long ball of the season. Prince Fielder homered in the 1st inning for Milwaukee, but it was not enough as the Brewers fell to 66-72 on the year.
Atlanta Braves 2 Houston Astros 1- Javier Vazquez improved to 12-9 as a starter after scattering three hits in seven scoreless innings; Vazquez walked four and struck out nine. Adam LaRoche and Nate McLouth each went deep for the Braves, who improved to 71-67, the antithesis of the Astros’ record. Hunter Pence singled in the only run of the game for Houston in the bottom of the 9th inning. Despite giving up that run in the 9th inning, Rafael Soriano managed to earn his 22nd save of the year.
Colorado Rockies 3 Cincinnati Reds 1- Jason Marquis joined the MLB’s 15-win club after allowing one earned run on four hits in 7.1 innings; Marquis walked three and struck out seven. Eric Young Jr. blasted his first major league home run in the 6th inning for Colorado, who improved to 79-60 on the season. Todd Helton and Carlos Gonzalez each hit a sacrifice fly for the Rockies, who extended their winning streak to five games. Joey Votto drove in the lone Cincinnati run of the game in the 8th inning on an RBI groundout; the Reds ended up suffering their 75th loss of the year. Franklin Morales picked up his 5th save of the season after shutting down the Reds in the 9th inning.
New York Yankees 3 Tampa Bay Rays 2- Nick Swisher blasted two long balls, including a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 9th inning to lift the Yankees to the 90-win milestone. Swisher’s second home run of the game enabled Mariano Rivera to win his second game of the season. Alex Rodriguez singled in the other run for New York in the 6th inning. Evan Longoria and Jason Bartlett each hit a solo home run for Tampa Bay, but the Rays ended up losing their 67th game of the year.
Toronto Blue Jays 6 Minnesota Twins 3- Behind a six-run sixth inning, during which John McDonald blasted his first career three-run home run, the Blue Jays earned their 62nd victory of the season. McDonald’s home run enabled Ricky Romero to win his 12th game of the season; Romero gave up three earned runs on seven hits in 6.2 innings. Jason Kubel doubled in two runs in the 3rd inning for Minnesota, but it was not enough as the Twins fell victim to their opponent for the 69th time this season. Jason Frasor picked up Save #7 of the year after shutting down Minnesota in the 9th inning. The Twins are still 6.5 games behind Detroit in the AL Central.
Boston Red Sox 10 Baltimore Orioles 0- Behind six home runs, the Boston Red Sox reached the 80-win milestone after 138 baseball games. Dustin Pedroia had his first two-homer game while Kevin Youkilis, Alex Gonzalez, J.D. Drew, and David Ortiz each went deep once for Boston; Ortiz’s 269th career long ball tied the MLB record for most home runs by a designated hitter. Clay Buchholz earned his 5th victory of the year after giving up three hits in seven scoreless innings; Buchholz walked one and struck out five.
Kansas City Royals 7 Detroit Tigers 5- Down 5-2 in the middle of the 5th inning, Kansas City stormed back with five unanswered runs to earn Win #53 of the season. Billy Butler drove in two runs for Kansas City, who won two consecutive games for the first time since July 27-28. Ryan Raburn blasted his 11th long ball of the season in the 3rd inning for Detroit, who fell to 75-62 on the year. The Tigers snapped their six-game winning streak with this loss.
Oakland Athletics 11 Chicago White Sox 3- Five runs in the 1st inning and two runs in the 2nd propelled the Athletics to their 62nd victory of the season. Jack Cust and Mark Ellis hit back-to-back home runs in the 1st inning while Scott Hairston, Ryan Sweeney, and Kurt Suzuki each drove in two runs for Oakland. Chicago scored all of its runs off long balls from Mark Kotsay and Paul Konerko; the White Sox ended up losing their 71st game of the year. Brett Tomko picked up his 4th win of the season after holding Chicago to three earned runs on six hits in 5.1 innings.
Los Angeles Dodgers 5 Arizona Diamondbacks 4- Down 4-1 after seven innings, Los Angeles stormed back with four unanswered runs in the 8th inning to earn Win #83 of the season. Ronnie Belliard’s RBI infield single broke a 4-4 tie to lift the Dodgers to their third consecutive win. Diamondbacks starter Billy Buckner drove in more runs than he allowed on the mound; Buckner gave up one earned run on five hits in seven innings while driving in two runs for the Diamondbacks. However, it was not enough as Arizona fell to 61-79 on the year.
San Diego Padres 4 San Francisco Giants 3- Chase Headley’s RBI single in the 8th inning broke a 3-3 tie and lifted the San Diego Padres to their 62nd victory of the season. Headley, Kevin Kouzmanoff, and Will Venable each hit a solo home run for San Diego. Aaron Rowand blasted his 14th long ball of the season in the 2nd inning for San Francisco, but it was not enough as the Giants fell to 76-63 on the year. Heath Bell earned his 36th save of the year after shutting down San Francisco in the 9th inning.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 3 Seattle Mariners 2- Erick Aybar’s RBI single in the 10th inning clinched a winning season for the Angels, who improved to 82-55 on the year. The game would not have reached extra innings had Mike Sweeney blasted a home run off Brian Fuentes in the top of the 9th inning; Sweeney’s home run took a win away from Angels starter Scott Kazmir, who held Seattle to one earned run on three hits in seven innings. Franklin Gutierrez also went deep for Seattle in the 1st inning, but the Mariners ended up losing their 67th game of the season.
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