Red Sox 4 - Orioles 0
- Andrew Miller pitched 5.2 shutout innings on 2 hits and 6 walks for the win. In his 6 starts (31 innings) he has a 4-1 record and a 16/22 K/BB ratio. Hopefully your opponents see his record and continue to start him.
- Jake Arrieta pitched 7 innings and allowed 3 earned runs. He gave up 9 hits, two of which were Jacoby Ellsbury solo shots. That's three straight games that Arrieta has given up 2 homers… not exactly a streak any pitcher wants.
- Jacoby Ellsbury now has 15 homers and 28 stolen bases with a .316/.375/.509 batting average. He's well on his way to a career season.
- Josh Reddick went 2-3 with a run and a walk. He's batting .378/.432/.671in 95 plate appearances. Now if that Crawford guy could only get going.
- Adrian Gonzalez went 4-5 with a run… it's what he does.
- W: Andrew Miller (4-1), L: Jake Arrieta (9-7)
- HR: Jacoby Ellsbury (14, 15)
- SB: Dustin Pedroia (18), Carl Crawford (10)
Twins 7 - Indians 5
- Nick Blackburn allowed 4 runs (1 earned) over 6 innings on 6 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 7 batters, which surprisingly isn't a season high (8). He took a no-decision and remains 7-6 with a 3.87 ERA.
- Josh Tomlin also took a no-decision, pitched 6 innings, and gave up 4 runs, but all of his were earned. He doesn't have dominant stuff (only 2 strikeouts in this game), but he's shown excellent command this season as he now has 15 walks in 126.2 innings.
- Danny Valencia broke up the 4-4 tie in the 8th with an RBI single. It was his lone hit of the game.
- Lonnie Chisenhall went 2-4 with a solo homer. Now if only Jason Kipnis was there to watch.
- Alexi Casilla went 3-4 with two doubles, a RBI, and two runs. He's hitting .259/.319/.369 this season.
- W: Matt Capps (3-5), L: Tony Sipp (4-2), SV: Joe Nathan (6)
- HR: Lonnie Chisenhall (2)
- CS: Ezequiel Carrera (2), Austin Kearns (4)
A's 7 - Tigers 5
- Duane Below pitched 5 innings and allowed 3 runs (1 earned), in a no-decision. It was his MLB debut as he subbed in Charlie Furbush. In 115 innings this season at Triple-A he had 83 strikeouts and 37 walks in 115 innings with a 3.13 ERA.
- Brandon McCarthy allowed 4 earned runs over 5 innings on 6 hits and 1 walk. He came in with a 4.81 road ERA and pitched like it (2.33 home ERA). He took a no-decision and remains 2-5 with a 3.74 ERA.
- Hideki Matsui went 3-4 with a home run, 3 RBI, and a run. The 37 year old is batting .223/.302/.348 this season.
- Carlos Guillen went 2-4 and is now 6-14 since coming off the DL on Saturday.
- Brandon Inge was designated for assignment. Remember when he had 21 homers in the first half of the '09 season? Yeah, I don't either.
- W: Joey Devine (1-1), L: David Purcey (1-2), SV: Andrew Bailey (10)
- HR: Hideki Matsui (7)
- CS: Cliff Pennington (8)
Blue Jays 11 - Mariners 6
- Brandon Morrow pitched 7 innings and allowed 3 earned runs on 7 hits and 3 walks. Talk about huge home/road splits… Morrow has a 6.04 home ERA and a 2.88 road ERA. His peripheral numbers say that's pretty flukey, but it's stunning, none-the-less. Morrow is now 5-0 over his last 7 starts.
- Jason Vargas got knocked around for 5 earned runs over 3 innings. The Blue Jays batted around in the 2nd inning as Vargas gave up 4 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks.
- Travis Snider went 2-4 with a homer, 5 RBI, and a run. It was his 11th extra base hit and 17th RBI since coming up on the 4th of July.
- Dustin Ackley went 2-4 with a RBI double, 2-run homer, and walk. He hasn't been up long (barely 100 plate appearances), but he's already 3rd on the Mariners in WAR.
- Edwin Encarnacion went 3-5 with a double, homer, and 4 runs. He's batting .271/.311/.431 this season and should be worried about his job with Brett Lawrie hovering.
- W: Brandon Morrow (7-4), L: Jason Vargas (6-8)
- HR: Dustin Ackley (4), Adam Kennedy (7), Adam Lind (18), Edwin Encarnacion (7), Travis Snider (3)
- SB: Brendan Ryan (8), Edwin Encarnacion (3, 4); CS: Travis Snider (3)
Yankees 4 - Rays 0
- Freddy Garcia tossed 6.2 scoreless innings with no walks and 7 strikeouts. With a 3.21 ERA, 69 strikeouts, and 31 walks in 103.2 innings this season, the Yankees have gotten tremendous value out of Garcia. Do we know if Bartolo Colon injected him with some of his fat?
- David Price held the Yankees to 2 runs over 7.1 innings with 5 strikeouts, in a loss. Despite his 3.67 ERA, he's having his best season yet (137/29 K/BB in 142.1 innings). The Rays are now 6.5 back of the Yankees in the chase for the Wild Card.
- Casey Kotchman went 3-4 with a double and is now hitting .337/.396/.467 on the season.
- Curtis Granderson went 1-3 with a 2-run homer. He's now at 10 homers off of lefties this season. To give perspective, he had 11 from '08 through '10.
- W: Freddy Garcia (8-7), L: David Price (9-8)
- HR: Curtis Granderson (26)
- SB: Derek Jeter (9), Eduardo Nunez (12, 13), Brett Gardner (30); CS: Curtis Granderson (8)
Royals 2 - White Sox 1
- John Danks came off the DL (oblique) and pitched 7 shutout innings with 5 hits, 1 walk, and 6 strikeouts. Only two batters reached second as he dominated the Royals. Before his injury he was 3-8 with a 4.21 ERA.
- Bruce Chen was just as good as he gave up only 1 earned run over 8 innings on 4 hits, 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. The lone run came via a Carlos Quentin homer in the 5th inning. Like Danks, he took a no-decision in this one. Chen has a 3.30 ERA, yeah, this is now the era of pitching.
- Eric Hosmer went 2-3 with 2 walks and is now hitting .269/.323/.432 over 288 plate appearances.
- Mike Moustakas on the other hand, went 0-5 and is now batting .190/.252/.241 over 128 plate appearances.
- W: Aaron Crow (3-2), L: Chris Sale (2-1)
- HR: Carlos Quentin (19)
- SB: Alex Rios (7), Jeff Francoeur (16); CS: Alexei Ramirez (3)
Angels 9 - Rangers 8
- Dan Haren got knocked around for 7 earned runs over 4.1 innings. Time to start up the "Dan Haren is a first half pitcher" talk. For the record, his 1st half career ERA is 3.19, while his 2nd half ERA is 4.09.
- Derek Holland followed up his back-to-back complete game shutouts with a 7 earned run stinker. He pitched 5.1 innings with 9 hits, 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Who knew that shutting down the A's & Mariners wasn't going to carry over?
- Howie Kendrick went 3-5 with a double, 4 RBI, and a run. Should the Angels' best hitter (.296/.352/.452) really be hitting 6th? Time for Torii Hunter (.237/.310/.383) to slide down in the order.
- Mike Trout went 1-3 with a RBI, run, and walk. The real question is what happens when Peter Bourjos is ready to come off the DL.
- Michael Young went 3-5 with two doubles, 2 RBI, and 2 runs. He's batting a sparkling .325/.362/.484 this season.
- W: Hisanori Takahashi (3-2), L: Tommy Hunter (1-1), SV: Jordan Walden (22)
- HR: David Murphy (5), Torii Hunter (12)
- SB: Bobby Abreu (14)
Reds 3 - Pirates 1
- Johnny Cueto held the Pirates to just 1 run over 6 innings on 4 hits and 2 walks. With a 1.98 ERA, he'd lead the NL in ERA if he had enough inning to qualify (he has 95.2 innings). It hasn't been all roses as this was his first game to have more strikeouts than walks in 4 games.
- Jeff Karstens pitched 7 innings and allowed 3 runs (1 earned) on 7 hits and 1 walk. He's now 3rd in the NL in ERA at 2.28. He's obviously not this good, but why not ride the wave while you can?
- Jay Bruce went 2-2 with 2 walks, a run, and stolen base. He's hitting .266/.345/.496 this season.
- W: Johnny Cueto (6-3), L: Jeff Karstens (8-5), SV: Francisco Cordero (19)
- SB: Jay Bruce (7)
Astros 3 - Nationals 2
- Brett Myers pitched 7 innings and allowed 2 earned runs on 8 hits and 2 walks. A 2-run homer was the lone damage he gave up. With the no-decision he remains 3-10 with a 4.74 ERA. As an Astros fan, I really hope Ed Wade can get something meaningful for him in a trade.
- Livan Hernandez is still breathing, so he's still pitching. In this game he allowed 2 earned runs on 7 hits and 1 walk over 6 innings. At 36 years old he's sporting a 4.04 ERA.
- Jose Altuve made his MLB debut, going 1-5. Fun stat, the Astros are undefeated with Altuve in their lineup.
- Jayson Werth went 3-5 with 2 doubles, a homer, and 2 RBI. He's hitting a disappointing .218/.324/.370 this season. Good thing his contract is ending soon… oh, wait.
- W: Wilton Lopez (2-4), L: Todd Coffey (3-1)
- HR: Jayson Werth (11)
- SB: Roger Bernadina (16)
Phillies 9 - Cubs 1
- Vance Worley held the Cubs to 1 run over 8 innings on 4 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 7 in what was another terrific outing for the rookie. He's now 6-1 with a 2.02 ERA.
- Ryan Dempster went Dumpster Diving as he allowed up 6 earned runs over just 3 innings. He gave up 7 hits with 3 walks and 5 strikeouts. Oddly enough, he struck out the side in the 2nd inning, but in process gave up 3 runs on 3 doubles and a single.
- Jimmy Rollins went 3-5 with 2 homers, a double, 4 RBi, and 4 runs. That's now 3 homers over his last 3 games. He's hitting .277/.344/.410 in this, a contract year.
- Chase Utley went 2-3 with 2 doubles, 2 RBI, a run, and a walk. Since coming back, he's shown more speed (10 SBs) than power (.163 ISO), which wasn't expected by many.
- W: Vance Worley (6-1), L: Ryan Dempster (7-7)
- HR: Jimmy Rollins (10, 11)
- SB: Michael Martinez (2, 3); CS: Shane Victorino (3)
Dodgers 1 - Giants 0
- Clayton Kershaw pitched 8 shutout innings on 3 hits, 1 walk, and 12 strikeouts. Talk about domination… Kershaw now has 3 of the top 9 pitching game scores in the NL this season. He's reached double digits in strikeouts six times this season. He's the NL strikeout leader with 167, which is 21 more than second place, who just happens to be…
- Tim Lincecum pitched 7 innings of 1-run ball on 5 hits, 4 walks, and 7 strikeouts. In five out of his last six games, he's allowed 1 run or less. This pitcher's duel was 0-0 going into the 7th, where Dioner Navarro led the inning off with a solo shot off of Timmay.
- Jeff Keppinger went 0-1 in a pinch hit appearance. Emmanuel Burriss shouldn't eat into too much of his playing time down the stretch.
- W: Clayton Kershaw (11-4), L: Tim Lincecum (8-8), SV: Javy Guerra (6)
- HR: Dioner Navarro (3)
- SB: Tony Gwynn Jr. (13), Mike Fontenot (4), Emmanuel Burriss (10)
Padres 14 - Marlins 3
- Aaron Harang allowed 3 earned runs over 5.1 innings, in a win, his 8th. With a 13 run lead, he didn't have to hold back. Since coming back from a foot injury, he has a 15/7 K/BB over 18.1 innings.
- Ricky Nolasco, aka Harang's brother from a different mother, got destroyed for 9 earned runs over 1.1 innings. Always known as someone who is consistently inconsistent he's now back to pitching like it's 2009 all over again. For better or worse, he's not hurt (that we know of).
- Ryan Ludwick went 2-4 with 4 RBI and a run. Hopefully the scouts were watching this one, as he is rumored to be on the trading block.
- Jesus Guzman went 3-5 and also collected 4 RBI with a run. Wait, who? It was that kind of day for the Padres hitters as all of the starters got at least 1 hit.
- Hanley Ramirez went 1-3 with a solo shot. After a very slow start, Han-Ram now has 9 extra base hits this month. There's no reason he can't go back to being the stud of years past in the last 2 months.
- W: Aaron Harang (8-2), L: Ricky Nolasco (6-7)
- HR: Will Venable (3), Hanley Ramirez (10)
Mets 6 - Cardinals 5
- Kyle McClellan had a ho-hum start with 4 earned runs allowed over 6 innings. He now has 2 quality starts over his last 7 starts. Dave Duncan is going to have to put in some serious overtime if the Cardinals are going to win this division.
- R.A. Dickey also gave up 4 earned runs as he went 6.1 innings, in a no-decision. The knuckle ball wasn't exactly knuckling as he staked the Red Birds to a 4-0 lead after 3 innings.
- Fernando Salas gave up a walk-off shot to Angel Pagan in the 10th as Jason Isringhausen picked up the win. For those keeping track of the Mets closer/late innings situation, Bobby Parnell pitched the 8th and gave up 1 run, while Isringhausen pitched scoreless 9th and 10th innings with 3 strikeouts.
- Carlos Beltran went 1-4 with a 2-run homer and a walk. His stock probably just went up a tick as he's the hot name on the trade market right now.
- W: Jason Isringhausen (2-0), L: Fernando Salas (5-4)
- HR: Carlos Beltran (15), Angel Pagan (4)
- SB: Jason Pridie (5)
Rockies 3 - Braves 2
- Juan Nicasio tossed 7 innings of 1-run ball on 5 hits and 1 walk. In his 6 home starts this season he's allowed 7 earned runs over 40 innings with 27 strikeouts and 7 walks. Small sample size for sure, but it's all we got.
- Tim Hudson allowed 2 earned runs over his 7 innings in a no-decision. In true Hudson fashion, he got 10 ground balls to just 3 fly balls. Too bad one of those fly balls was a 2-run homer from Todd Helton.
- Carlos Gonzalez singled in Dexter Fowler for the walk-off win. Car-Go is batting .288/.357/.482 this season.
- Jordan Schafer stole two more bases to put him at 15 for the season. He has trouble getting on base (.301 OBP), but when he does, he's giving you some speed.
- W: Huston Street (1-3), L: Eric O'Flaherty (1-3)
- HR: Todd Helton (11)
- SB: Jordan Schafer (14, 15); CS: Dexter Fowler (7)
Brewers 5 - Diamondbacks 2
- Chris Narveson twirled 7 shutout innings with 4 hits and no walks. Is it the beginning of the season again? To his credit he has 4 quality starts over his last 5 games.
- Joe Saunders allowed 2 earned runs over 7 innings, also in a no-decision. From May on, he's actually been pretty useful with a 3.23 ERA over 97.2 innings with a 52/33 K/BB.
- Stephen Drew slide into home plate and broke his right ankle. If you saw the video, it looked as if he put his foot on backwards. He's most likely out for the season. Well that puts a damper on the NL West race.
- Carlos Gomez made a diving/rolling catch in center field and in the process broke his left clavicle. This doesn't hurt fantasy owners or the Brewers much as Nyjer Morgan was starting in CF.
- In non-injury related news Ryan Braun went 3-5 with a homer, 2 RBI, and a run. He's batting a svelte .320/.397/.569 this season.
- W: Takashi Saito (2-1), L: Ryan Cook (0-1), SV: John Axford (26)
- HR: Ryan Braun (18)
- SB: Rickie Weeks (8), Kelly Johnson (10); CS: Yunesky Betancourt (3), Justin Upton (7)