Archives for August 2009

Joe Blanton got just enough run support for a change. Ruiz hit a two-run, go-ahead double in the seventh inning and Joe Blanton pitched seven strong innings to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday night.

"I was missing on the plate," he said. "You just keep plugging away and sometimes you find it, sometimes you don't. It just happened to click in today."Blanton (9-6) allowed one run on three hits in seven innings, making it 12 straight starts he has allowed three earned runs or less. "Anytime in our starting rotation when we get our pitchers very consistent that makes our club much better and he's definitely been that," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "He's been very consistent for a long time now."

Due to a lack of run support, though, the right-hander was just 4-3 in his previous 11 appearances. It looked like more of the same Sunday night until the seventh inning when Ruiz broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run double to left.

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J.A. Happ looked like a rookie on the key pitch of the game, and Garrett Jones didn't. The result was the National League's best first-year pitcher was beaten by arguably its best first-year hitter, and the Pirates pulled off another surprising comeback against the Phillies.

Jones hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning against Happ, fellow rookie Andrew McCutchen also went deep and the last-place Pittsburgh Pirates rallied for the second time in three nights to beat the division-leading Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 on Thursday night.

Charlie Morton shook off a rough first inning to limit the Phillies to two runs over six innings, Denny Bautista (1-0) pitched two shutout relief innings in only his second appearance of the season and Matt Capps earned a save after struggling in two previous appearances against the Phillies this season.

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Pa. Steven Cardone smiled as he jogged off the field after San Antonio, Texas escaped with another win at the Little League World Series. He had a big reason for the look of relief on his face. Actually, three big reasons. Cardone and San Antonio's makeshift defense erased three bases-loaded threats with double plays and John Shull had two RBIs in a 4-1 win Wednesday night over Staten Island, N.Y.

"That's pretty standard," Shull's father, Texas manager Mike Shull, joked about the timely defense. Texas moves on to play Georgia or California in Saturday's U.S. final while New York was eliminated.

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Andrew McCutchen made up for a defensive gaffe earlier in the ninth inning by hitting a game-ending two-run homer off closer brad Lidge and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-4 on Tuesday night.

In a game in which both closers couldn't hold leads, the Pirates tied it against Lidge (0-6) on singles by Luis Cruz and pinch-hitter Brandon Moss, and right fielder Jayson Werth's error for misplaying Moss' hit. McCutchen then won it by hitting Lidge's pitch into the seats in center for his eighth homer.

The Phillies lost for only the second time in nine games despite two homers by Jimmy Rollins on the first two pitches he saw from Pirates starter Ross Ohlendorf. Steve Pearce hit a two-run shot and Ryan Doumit added a solo drive for the Pirates against Joe Blanton.

Lidge allowed hits to all three batters he faced to blow his ninth save in 33 attempts, the most such failures in the majors. Matt Capps (3-7) won it for the Pirates despite being roughed up in the ninth for the second time in as many games against the Phillies, giving up two runs.

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Travis Hafner and Luis Valbuena each hit three-run homers, powering Cleveland past the hapless Kansas City Royals 10-6 Monday night. Hafner drove in four runs, tacking on an RBI double to sink the Royals even deeper into the AL Central basement.

The Royals took a 5-4 lead in the seventh on Yuniesky Betancourt's sacrifice fly off Jeremy Sowers.

But Kansas City closer Joakim Soria (3-2), who does not usually come in before the ninth, started the eighth and gave up singles to Jhonny Peralta and Hafner before Valbuena hit a 1-1 pitch over the fence in right for a 7-5 lead.

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Derek Jeter hit the first pitch of the game for one of New York's five homers off Josh Beckett, CC Sabathia became the majors' first 15-game winner, and the Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 8-4 Sunday night.
The expected pitchers duel between the AL's only 14-game winners never materialized, as the Yankees scored in each of the first five innings and the Red Sox had four runs off Sabathia before he left with two outs in the seventh.

The aces of their pitching staffs figured to shut down streaking offenses that produced a 20-11 win by New York and a 14-1 rout by Boston in the first two games of the series. That prospect faded early when the score was tied at 2 after two innings. Sabathia (15-7) won his fifth straight start but gave up three earned runs. He had allowed a total of three runs in his previous three starts. But he had excellent control with eight strikeouts and no walks.

Beckett (14-5) was hurt by the long ball for the third straight game, allowing a career-high five homers. He's given up 10 in those three games, the same amount he allowed in his other 22. He lasted eight innings but gave up eight runs on nine hits while striking out five and walking none. He allowed seven runs in his previous start. The Yankees improved to 16-4 in their last 20 games and won their 10th series out of 11 since the All-Star break. They lead the second-place Red Sox by 7 1/2 games in the AL East.

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Jonathan Sanchez tossed five solid innings, Aaron Rowand hit a three-run homer and the San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 6-3 on Friday night in the opener of an important four-game series.
Sanchez (6-10) allowed an unearned run and two hits to win for just the third time since his no-hitter against San Diego on July 10. The left-hander's strong outing couldn't have come at a more opportune time for the Giants, who pulled within a game of the Rockies in the NL wild-card chase.

Colorado played without star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who was ill, and ace right-hander Aaron Cook headed to the clubhouse with a sore right shoulder in the fourth inning. Sanchez struck out eight and walked four in handing the Rockies a rare setback at Coors Field, where Colorado had won 25 of its first 35 games under Jim Tracy, who took over from fired manager Clint Hurdle on May 29.

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Nelson Cruz homered in his return to the Texas lineup, Marlon Byrd connected twice and speedster Julio Borbon had the first of his career in the Rangers' 11-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night.
Borbon went 3 for 5 with three RBIs, and is hitting .536 (15 for 28) in seven starts since being recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City while Cruz was hurt. Michael Young and Hank Blalock also had three hits for the Rangers, who snapped a two-game skid to remain within a game of Boston for the AL wild-card lead.
Cruz was activated from the 15-day disabled list before the game after the All-Star slugger missed 15 games because of a sprained left ankle sustained while chasing a game-winning hit by Oakland's Rajai Davis on Aug. 3. His 26th homer leading off the sixth put the Rangers up 5-1.

Derek Holland (7-7) allowed one run in 5 1-3 innings to win his third straight start. The rookie left-hander got another needed victory for Texas after beating the Red Sox and AL West-leading Los Angeles Angels his previous two starts. All four Texas homers came in 5 1-3 innings off rookie right-hander Anthony Swarzak (3-7), who gave up six runs to lose his fourth consecutive start.

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Carlos Gonzalez homered for the fourth straight game and Clint Barmes connected in his third in a row, helping the Colorado Rockies beat the Washington Nationals 5-4 on Wednesday night.

Gonzalez has homered in six of the last eight games. Before this stretch, he had six homers in 130 career games. His latest landed above the Nationals' out-of-town scoreboard in right field to lead off the eighth inning.

The NL wild card-leading Rockies won despite leaving the bases loaded three times and improved to a season-high 14 games over .500 with a 67-53 record.

Jason Marquis (14-8) gave up nine hits and three runs over six innings, with one walk and one strikeout.

Huston Street pitched the ninth for his 31st save in 32 attempts. He has now converted a team-record 23 save chances in a row, despite giving up a home run to Josh Bard on his first pitch.

The Rockies looked like they had a chance to take a big lead right from the start as Colin Balester (1-3) struggled with his control.

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Joe Mauer homered twice and Delmon Young hit a tiebreaking two-run shot in the seventh inning to help the Minnesota Twins spoil Ivan Rodriguez's return to Texas with a 9-6 victory against the Rangers on Tuesday night.

Young also had a tying two-run double for the Twins, who piled up 12 hits and eight runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings as part of their rally from a 5-0 deficit. The Rangers, who acquired their former All-Star catcher earlier Tuesday in a trade with the Houston Astros, dropped into a tie with Boston for the AL wild-card lead. Ian Kinsler hit a three-run homer for Texas, and speedy leadoff hitter Julio Borbon went 3 for 4 with four steals, giving him nine hits and seven steals in three starts since Friday.