Rockies 3 Orioles 2
Based on the offensive numbers that these two teams have been putting up lately, we should have expected this 11 combined hit performance. Carlos Gonzalez came back tonight after missing 4 games with a bruised wrist, but went 0-4 and didn't hit the ball out of the infield. Cole Garner got a chance to play in his second career game after Charlie Blackmon broke his left foot in yesterday's game. Cole did not disappoint going 1 for 3 with an RBI.
The real excitement in this game is when Ty Wiggington hit a comebacker in the 4th inning that deflected off of pitcher John Lannan's face. John was forced from the game with a nasal contusion after striking out 5 of the first 10 batters he faced. This series of events started a 3 run inning for the Blake Street Bombers that ended up being the difference in the game.
Jonathan Herrera (2-3, 2 singles)
Ty Wiggington (1-2, 2 BB, SB)
Rangers 8 Oakland 5
One day after the tragic death at The Ballpark in Arlington, the Rangers took the field in 105 degree heat. Gio Gonzalez was not going to be saved by the weather this time, as the Rangers poured on 7 runs in the first two innings. Mike Napoli goes 3-4, including a double and a grand slam in the first inning.
A little bit of speed on the base paths from Crisp and DeJesus, and a little bit of pop from Sizemore was not enough to overcome the big lead, and the Rangers take this one on the hottest day in Ranger history.
Diamondbacks 7 Cardinals 6
Ian Kennedy is starting to show some real poise as he notches another solid outing. The Cardinals tried to work up the pitch count on Kennedy, but he managed to get 6 full innings with only a couple of small hiccups, including a homerun in the second to Lance Berkman.
Other than having a really cool sounding name, Daniel Descalso has made some great spot starts for the redbirds this year. Tonight Descalso went 2-3 with a run, two RBI, a walk and a double. The real story tonight however, was Kelly Johnson who hit a grand slam in the 7th inning. Even after a late surge in the 8th by the Cardinals, which included a homerun by Matt Holliday, Kelly's grand slam ended up being the deciding factor.
Twins 8 White Sox 5
The Twins seem to have the White Sox number this year. This win improves their record to 6-0 against their divisional rivals. This also marks 9 straight wins over the team from the south side of Chicago. It seemed like it was going to be a high scoring affair after starter Nick Blackburn gave up 5 runs in the first frame, including 3 doubles and a two-run blast to Adam Dunn. Hoping for some light at the end of Adam Dunn's unimpressive season, the White Sox unfortunately failed to put any more runs on the board as Nick Blackburn and his sub-par bullpen put on the finishing touches.
Australia native Luke Hughes' 3 run blast in the 4th inning put the Twins ahead for good. The players commonly adorning your fantasy roster had really good games.
Joe Mauer (2-4, 2 runs, 2B)
Michael Cuddyer (2-4, RUN, 2 RBI)
A.J. Pierzynski (2-4)
Dodgers 1 Padres 0
What seemed to be a game where good offense would be ample; we got a pitcher's duel instead. Both starting pitchers went late into the game, and both threw darts all game. The only mistake….if you can call it that, came in the 8th, when A.J Ellis singled, Carroll then sacrificed him to second, Tony Gwynn Jr. singles him to third, and then Rafael Furcal singles him home. These two teams are great at small ball, and should be considering they both play in pitcher parks.
James Loney (1-4)
Ryan Ludwig (0-4)
Jason Bartlett (1-5, 2B) Solid hit, but left 7 on base tonight
Angels 4 Mariners 3
This was a well played and well coached game. Hits and runs came at a premium and everything was done well to execute every opportunity. This game even had a Cinderella ending when rookie Mark Trumbo hit his 15 homerun in walk off fashion.
The Angels used their 4 solo shots to help pull this one out in the 9th. Both veteran Ervin Santana, and rookie Blake Beavan pitched phenomenal games, but at the end the Angels were just a little better thanks to Mike Trout's great center field grab in the 9th and the rookie's solo walk off.
Ichiro Suzuki (1-4, RBI, SB)
Justin Smoak (0-3, RBI)
Vernon Wells (3-4, HR)
Mark Trumbo (2-4, HR)
Tigers 6 Royals 4
The Tigers got good work from Rick Porcello and their bullpen. Moving Phil Coke to the setup role seemed to be a smart move, and the Tigers move back to a half a game out of the AL Central. After giving up 5 runs in the first three innings, it seemed like it was going to be another Kyle Davies debacle. Though Davies found his groove in the 4th, it was a bit too late as the 5 runs were all that was needed in this 6-4 win. Brennan Boesch went 0-5, but many of the fantasy favorites played well tonight.
Magglio Ordonez (2-3, 2 Runs, 2 RBI, HR, BB)
Miguel Cabrera (1-4, RBI, 2B)
Victor Martinez (1-4, RBI)
Jhonny Peralta (2-4, Run, RBI, 2B)
Melky Cabrera (3-4, 2 Runs, RBI, 2B, SB, BB) looked good tonight
Alex Gordon (3-4, RBI, SB, BB) also looked good tonight
Brewers 8 Reds 7
This game was probably the best one to watch today. It had all the twists and turns one could want. You expected a good pitching game with Zack Greinke on the hill, but instead the big boys brought their bats. All the great fantasy players scored well in this game, and even though the Brewer's star outfielder missed his sixth straight game, his replacement ended up being tonight's hero.
Ryan Braun has been out for the last 6 games with a leg injury which made all his fantasy owners scramble to find a replacement. It was said that he was going to be healthy enough to pinch hit tonight, but they did not need him, as his replacement Mark Kotsay put tonight's game on his shoulders. This game was back and forth, with both teams exploding with big innings. Mark Kotsay hit a solo shot in the sixth to help Milwaukee take a 5-4 lead. They fell behind again in the 7th when the Reds put up 3 more, but in the last frame Nyjer Morgan helped bring the deficit to 1, and with 2 outs Mark Kotsay singled in two runs to walk-off a tremendous game.
Rickie Weeks (2-5, 2 Runs, HR, 2 RBI, 2B)
Nyjer Morgan (2-5, RUN, 3B, 2 RBI)
Corey Hart (3-5, RUN)
Mets 5 Giants 2
With young fireballer Ryan Vogelsong took the hill against Texas Ranger castaway R.A. Dickey, you would assume that a Francisco would have the last laugh. You would be right, though it would come from Mets pitcher Francisco Rodriguez when he closed the door after a big New York 9th. After a couple of strong performances from New York's leading men and seven solid innings from R.A. Dickey, the stage was set for veteran journeyman Scott Hairston to become the unlikely hero. I swear when he hit that homerun in the top of the ninth, I got a chill and had a reveries of Lee Mazzilli's pinch hitting genius in my mind for the rest of the game.
Angel Pagan (1-5, 2 Runs, 2 RBI, HR, SB) looked fantastic
Carlos Beltran (3-5, RUN, RBI, 2B)
Daniel Murphy (3-4)
Nate Schierholtz (1-2, HR, 2 RBI, BB)
Marlins 6 Astros 3
The battle of two last place teams was as exciting to watch as it sounds like. The Astros have a couple of batters that are very fun to watch, but absolutely no pitching, and the Marlins have a couple of great pitchers that are fun to watch (when they are healthy), but no offense worth writing home about. When your leadoff hitter hits in the cleanup spot….you are in trouble.
Some decent play by the superstars on a hot sticky night in Florida and closer Leo Nunez notched his 24th save. Hanley Ramirez stays hot as the only real offensive threat. Bourn, Pence and Lee looked good but couldn't get enough runs on the board.
Michael Bourn (2-5, RUN)
Carlos Lee (1-4, 2B)
Hanley Ramirez (3-3, RUN, HR, 3 RBI, BB)
Gabby Sanchez (2-4, 3 Runs, 2B)
Red Sox 10 Orioles 3
Do you know what's worse than getting a right hook from Big Papi in the 8th inning's, bench clearing brawl tonight? The answer would be giving up 33 runs in the last 3 games! The Orioles are on a downward spiral right now and it seemed to finally boil over tonight. I was really rooting for Zach Britton to get things turned around, but after giving up 8 first inning runs, I knew they still have not hit rock bottom yet.
After such a huge first inning, the Red Sox played the rest of the game fairly laid back and that was all that was needed for Josh Beckett to get his 8th win. Great fantasy numbers all around in this game, even if your league has a point scale for how many times you brush back David Ortiz.
Adrian Gonzalez (2-2, RUN, RBI, 2 BB)
Dustin Pedroia (2-4, 3 Runs, HR, RBI, BB)
David Ortiz (2-4, RUN, 3 RBI, BB)
….and even a 2 run double for Denver, CO native Darnell McDonald who is only hitting .143 this year.
Adam Jones (2-4, RBI)
Derrek Lee (2-4, HR, 2B) though isn't doing as well as when he was a cubbie, he looks better in Oriole Orange.
Blue Jays 11 Indians 7
Seeing that both starting pitchers going into tonight's game are known for giving up a run or two, you expected a high scoring affair. However, you did not expect that the "Local Hardware Store - Stars of the Game" would go to Edwin Encarnacion, Travis Snider, Rajai Davis, Michael Brantley & Jack Hannahan. Tonight was a night that the 7-8-9's came out to play. The only downside of tonight's game was that the Tribe was on the loosing side of it, which allows the rest of the AL Central to gain some ground, and a little bit of division leader respect falls to the wayside.
Michael Brantley (4-6, 2 Runs, 2 RBI)
Jack Hannahan (3-5, RUN, RBI, 2B)
Edwin Encarnacion (4-5, 4 Runs, 2B)
Travis Snider (3-5, 2 Runs, HR, 5 RBI, 2B)
Rajai Davis (3-4, 2 Runs, 4 RBI, 2B, 2 SB)
Pirates 7 Cubs 4
In any other season in the last 10 years, this game would be a matchup of who will finish last and next to last in the NL Central. This year however, the Bucs have put together just enough ingredients to be one game out of first place as they approach the All-Star break. Now let's just play along with this and believe that the guy who keeps the league standings doesn't actually have a couple dozen typos in there, I am amazed at how well they are playing with this rag-tag group of guys.
The Cubbies pulled out a late winner yesterday and were hoping that momentum would carry over to tonight's game. It was a close game until the 8th inning when part-time catcher and Rockie castaway, Michael McKenry blasted a 3 run shot. With the way Joel Hanrahan has been pitching, you know that homerun was a death blow to the Cubbies tonight.
Josh Harrison (3-4, RUN, RBI, 2B)
Andrew McCutchen (1-2, HR, BB)
Aramis Ramirez (2-4, 2 Runs, HR)
Alfonso Soriano (2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI)
Marlon Byrd (3-3, 2 Runs, BB, SB)
Phillies 3 Braves 2
This is the series that everyone has their eyes on. It is now clear that no one in baseball has a pitching staff like either of these two clubs. The Phils have Halladay, Lee, Hamels & Oswalt and a pretty decent offense. The Braves are not nearly as good offensively, but Tommy Hanson, Jair Jurrjens, Jonny Venters & Craig Kimbrel are untouchable….not to mention they also have a guy who was one of the best closers in baseball a couple years back (George Sherrill), and he is their 7th inning guy.
So on a night were Halladay was going up against rookie Brandon Beachy, you would figure the Phillies would easily take this game. The truth though was that Beachy pitched a gem, and the game was not decided until the 10th inning when Raul Ibanez hit a walk off homerun. This is going to be a great series to watch all year….may the best team win.
Chipper Jones (2-4, RUN, 2B)
Nate McLouth (1-4, 3B)
Freddie Freeman (1-4, RBI)
Jimmy Rollins (2-5)
Raul Ibanez (2-5, 2 Runs, RBI, HR)
Carlos Ruiz (2-2, HR, BB)
Rays 0 Yankees 0 …Postponed
This game was postponed due to weather and is rescheduled for Thursday September 22nd.