Red Sox 9, A's 8 (14 innings)



- those of you expecting a low-scoring pitcher's duel because Josh Beckett was facing Trevor Cahill... surprise!

- neither starter was terrible. Cahill allowed five runs on eight hits and a walk over seven innings, striking out eight, while Beckett was touched for three runs on four hits and three walks in six innings, striking out four.

- once the bullpens got involved though, all bets were off. Jonathan Papelbon imploded in spectacular fashion, brought on by a botched grounder to Dustin Pedroia that should have been a game-ending double play and instead sparked a four-run rally by the A's. Papelbon (and Jason Varitek) both got ejected in the ninth after feeling that the home plate umpire was being a little stingy with the outer corners of the plate.

- Andrew Bailey, feeling bad for his brother in the Closers Union, blew his own save opportunity in the 11th on back-to-back doubles by Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jacoby Ellsbury.

- the eventual hero was J.D. Drew, who shook off an in-game Golden Sombrero (he struck out in four straight at-bats) to knock home the winning run in the 14th.

- other big bats for the Sawx were Ellsbury, who went 4-for-7 with a run scored and two steals, and Carl Crawford who also went 4-for-7 with a couple of doubles, two runs scored, three RBI and a steal.

- Hideki Matsui went 1-for-7 and left six men on base. Remember how last year at about this time people were writing David Ortiz off and saying he was done? Well, Matsui is done.

W: Alfredo Aceves (3-1) HR: Adrian Gonzalez (11) SB: Ellsbury 2 (22), Crawford (8) CS: Drew (1)





Cardinals 5, Cubs 4 (12 innings)



- Albert Pujols did a spot-on Albert Pujols impression, going 3-for-4 with two home runs including a walk-off shot in the 12th.

- until then the bullpens were the story. Both starters (Randy Wells and Kyle Lohse) lasted 5.2 innings and gave up four runs, after which came 5.1 scoreless frames until Pujols' heroics.

- Matt Carpenter made his big league debut and went 1-for-5 with a double while looking smooth in the field. Honestly, though, I wouldn't get my hopes up with him Cards fans. If he reminded me of anyone at the plate it was Dave McCarty back in his rookie season... a tall, skinny kid who looked like a good fastball could knock the bat out of his hands (the double was a soft liner the other way down the left field line, not exactly a ball hit with authority). Given that Carpenter's already 25 it's not like he'll grow into his frame either. He's at best a stop-gap until Zack Cox is ready, or someone better comes along.

W: Eduardo Sanchez (2-1) HR: Carlos Pena (8), Pujols 2 (12) CS: Yadier Molina (4)





Rockies , Giants 1



- that should probably read 'Troy Tulowitzki 2, Giants 1'. The Rockies' shortstop went 3-for-4, drove in one run and scored the other. He was the only guy on either team to have a multihit game.

- the two stingy pitchers locked in this duel? Jhoulys Chacin and Madison Bumgarner. Chacin fought his control but still gave up just one run on four hits and three walks over six innings, striking out two. Bumgarner lasted seven innings, and was charged with two runs (one earned) on seven hits and a walk while striking out six.

- oddly, Rafael Betancurt was back working the eighth inning for the Rox with Matt Lindstrom coming on in the seventh. It's hard to imagine Betancourt getting the save chances should Huston Street go down again, but it's worth noting at least.

W: Chacin (6-4) SV: Street (15) HR: Cody Ross (5) SB: Tulowitzki (4) CS: Carlos Gonzalez (2)





Dodgers 11, Reds 8 (11 innings)



- believe it or not, this was a 1-0 game through five innings, with Clayton Kershaw in one of his zones and Johnny Cueto hanging with him. Then Joey Votto homered in the sixth, Cueto left after seven and the Dodgers eventually won by a field goal. Kershaw's final line shows little trace of his early dominance: 6.2 innings, six runs on six hits and two walks, nine K's. Cueto fared much better in his no-decision: seven frames, two runs on five hits and a walk with three K's.

- Matt Kemp homered in back-to-back innings, the seventh and eighth, finishing the game with six RBI.

- Jamey Carroll went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI from the leadoff spot for the Dodgers, while Aaron Miles hit second and went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBI.

W: Javy Guerra (1-0) HR: Kemp 2 (15), Votto (8) CS: Votto (4)





Rays 3, Mariners 2



- Jeremy Hellickson was on cruise control, leaving the game after 7.1 innings with a 3-0 lead but getting charged with a run after Miguel Olivo tagged a pinch-hit home run off Joel Peralta. Hellickson gave up just three hits and a walk while striking out four.

- speaking of strikeouts, I'm not sure how this happened but Doug Fister is acatually getting the ball by people this season. He was humping his fastball up to 93 mph when he needed to in this game, and while he would up allowing three runs on seven hits and four walks over seven innings he did strike out six, which gives him a 6.35 K/9 rate so far in 2011.

- Evan Longoria left the game after three innings when he felt more tightness in his left side. Hopefully he didn't re-aggrevate his oblique strain.

- Ben Zobrist collected multiple hits for the third time in four games, going 2-for-5 with two RBI.

W: Hellickson (7-3) SV: Kyle Farnsworth (11) HR: Olivo (6) CS: B.J. Upton (4)





Pirates 6, Phillies 3



- Charlie Morton outdueled... oh, never mind, it was only Kyle Kendrick. Morton gave up two runs on six hits over seven innings with a 5:2 K:BB ratio, while Kendrick managed to hold the mightly Pittsburgh offense to just four runs on eight hits over five innings with nary a K or a BB.

- Andrew McCutchen went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a run scored and two RBI.

- Brandon Wood hit his first home run as a Pirate. It was his only hit in the game, and he's still batting just .185 since joining the team. Sadly, his 6:24 BB:K ratio in 32 games is acatually a big improvement over his plate discipline as an Angel.

W: Morton (6-2) SB: Matt Diaz (3) CS: Xavier Paul (2)





Rangers 4, Indians 0



- for once Derek Holland was aggressive and efficient, and the result was a five-hit shutout with a 5:1 K:BB ratio. Granted the Indians lineup was missing Shin-Soo Choo, Travis Hafner and Matt LaPorta, but still, there's a lesson in there somewhere.

- Josh Hamilton homered for the second straight day, and is now 6-for his last-13. Guess he didn't take too well to having a sub-.300 batting average.

- Nelson Cruz also homered for the second straight day. He's got an eight-game hitting streak going, with a .382 batting average, four home runs and eight RBI over that stretch.

W: Holland (5-1) HR: Hamilton (3), Cruz (12) CS: Yorvit Torrealba (1)





Orioles 5, Jays 3



- Jake Arrieta battled his control but still walked away with the win, giving up three runs on five hits and four walks over six innings while striking out only one.

- Ricky Romero made a bunch of little mistakes and one big one, serving up a grand slam to Mark Reynolds en route to a five runs on 11 hits and three walks in 7.2 frames performance. He at least struck out five.

- Corey Patterson went 3-for-4 with a solo shot.

- Nick Markakis had a rough day on the bases, going 2-for-4 but getting thrown out both times (once getting picked off first base, once thrown out at second on a steal attempt).

W: Arrieta (7-3) SV: Kevin Gregg (10) HR: Reynolds (8) SB: Rajai Davis 2 (18) CS: Mike McCoy (1), Markakis (1)





Mets 5, Braves 0



- Gee! No, GTE... sorry, '80s flashback. I meant yes, Dillon Gee did it again, running his record to 6-0 with seven shutout innings. He's just the second Met ever to win his first six decisions, following in the footsteps of... Jon Matlack. Hmm. That seems a bit anti-climactic as trivia answers go. I was expecting a Gooden or a Seaver or something.

- Jair Jurrjens matched Gee with six shutout innings before the wheels came off in the seventh, although the actual big blow was a Jose Reyes bases loaded triple off Scott Proctor. Jurrjens' ERA is still 1.75 after this one.

- Daniel Murphy and Josh Thole were the only two guys on either team to manage even two hits.

W: Gee (6-0) SB: Justin Turner (3) CS: Martin Prado (5)





Tigers 4, White Sox 2



- Miguel Cabrera crushed a Jesse Crain slider the other way in the top of the 9th in a 2-2 game for the decisive runs. He's slashing .313/.435/.576 right now, and for the first time in his career Cabrera is walking more than he's striking out (43:34 BB:K ratio). Remember, he's only 28. His current level is outstanding (seven straight seasons with .290+ batting average, 25+ HR and 100+ RBI, and well on pace for those numbers again this year) but he may not have found his peak yet.

- Justin Verlander and Edwin Jackson were both strong, each giving up just two runs. Jackson lasted six innings and allowed seven hits and four walks while striking out five, while Verlander stayed in through eight and gave up seven hits and a walk while striking out seven.

- Austin Jackson went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a steal.

- Adam Dunn had another 0-for-4, three strikeout day. He's now at .178/.321/.317 with 75 K's in 52 games. It went mostly unnoticed, but last year he set a career high in strikeouts and a career low in walks in a full season. That may have been a harbinger of an early career collapse that you see in players with "old skills". On the other hand, no matter how much he's lost it's hard to imagine he's collapsed THIS much.

W: Verlander (6-3) SV: Jose Valverde (15) HR: Brennan Boesch (5), Cabrera (12), Gordon Beckham (5) SB: Guy (0) CS: Guy (0)





Brewers 3, Marlins 2



- Yovani Gallardo won his eighth game, allowing two runs (one earned) over six innings with a 5:2 K:BB ratio.

- Chris Volstad came up a little short, giving up three runs over seven innings with a 4:1 K:BB ratio.

- Nyjer Morgan led off the game with a home run, his first of the season.

- the Marlins' offense was basically two guys, Chris Coghlan (3-for-5 with a run scored) and Gaby Sanchez (3-for-4 with a run and an RBI). The entire rest of the team manages two singles and two walks.

W: Gallardo (8-2) SV: John Axford (15) HR: Morgan (1), Prince Fielder (13) SB: Rickie Weeks (7) CS: Ryan Braun (3), Coghlan (6)





Twins 7, Royals 2



- with most of the big hitters on the shelf, the Twins went the death by a thousand papercuts route. Alexi Casilla went 4-for-5 with a double, run scored and two RBI. Ben Revere went 2-for-5 out of the leadoff spot with two runs scored and an RBI. Matt Tolbert went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored. And Michael Cuddyer went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI.

- Luke Hochevar took the brunt of those flea bites, giving up six runs in six innings on 11 hits.

- Nick Blackburn only lasted five innings but still got the win, allowing two runs on seven hits.

- Alex Gordon, Melky Cabrera and Eric Hosmer all collected two hits for the Royals out of the top three spots in the order, but they were all singles and they couldn't string them together enough to get the offense going.

W: Blackburn (5-4) HR: Cuddyer (7) SB: Mike Aviles (9), Cabrera (6)





Diamondbacks 2, Nationals 0



- how bad is the Nats' offense? So bad they made Joe saunders look good. Saunders tossed seven shutout innings, giving up just two hits and two walks while striking out five. When are they calling Bryce Harper up again? Oh, right, not until 2012.

- Livan Hernandez was solid again, allowing just two runs on four hits and four walks over seven innings while striking out three. He's now 3-7 on the year despite a 3.76 ERA, mainly because Washington has been shut out an incredible five times while Livan was on the hill.

- Jerry Hairston Jr., getting a start at third base, was the only guy on either team to manage two hits.

W: Saunders (3-5) SV: J.J. Putz (17) SB: Jayson Werth (7), Ian Desmond (17) CS: Kelly Johnson (1)





Padres 6, Astros 3



- Aaron Harang almost had an awesome box score that featured nothing but 6's and 2's. He lasted 6.2 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks, but he ruined everything by striking out three.

- Aneury Rodriguez remained winless but didn't pitch too badly, also going six innings and getting touched for three runs on five hits and three walks with two K's.

- Michael Bourn went 2-for-5 with an RBI and was the only guy on either team to manage a multi-hit game.

- Ryan Ludwick went 1-for-2 with a walk and three runs scored. Brad Hawpe went 1-for-2 with a run scored and two RBI.

- J.R. Towles went 0-for-3 with an RBI, and got called for catcher interference. He's 1-for-12 in June after a .100/.167/.200 May. No wonder the Astros keep drafting catchers.

W: Harang (6-2) SV: Heath Bell (16) HR: Clint Barmes (3)





Yankees 3, Angels 2



- C.C. Sabathia came within one out of a complete game, giving up two runs (one earned) on eight hits and a walk while striking out three. After Maicer Izturis drove in Peter Bourjos with two outs though, Mariano Rivera trotted in for the cheap one-out save.

- Ervin Santana was solid on a night when solid wasn't enough, allowing three runs on seven hits and three walks over seven innings while striking out three.

- Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez each went long, while Derek Jeter went short for a single and inched his way closer to 3000 hits.

- Bobby Abreu was the one guy Sabathia couldn't solve, going 3-for-3 with a steal.

W: Sabathia (7-3) SV: Rivera (15) HR: Cano (12), Rodriguez (10) SB: Abreu (9) CS: Curtis Granderson (3)