Around the Horn - 5/14

Good NL East battle last night between the Braves and Phillies. Atlanta jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the 1st, but Jayson Werth came up big in 3 spots for a 4 RBI night in the Phillies 5-4 win.

The Phillies victory moved them to within a game and a half of the first place Marlins after Florida lost to the Reds 5-3. Josh Hamilton is leading the AL in RBI, but no one in Cincy is complaining about the deal that brought them Edinson Volquez. The 24-yr old improved to 6-1 last night and has a 1.12 ERA. The news wasn't all good for the Reds though. Starting shortstop Jeff Keppinger broke his kneecap after fouling a ball off of it. Keppinger was hitting .324 and was third in the NL with RISP.

The Mets got a big time performance from rising star John Maine, who limited the Nats to 2 hits over 6 innings. The Mets took the game 6-3 thanks to Ryan Church's 4 RBI. There was a lot of criticism from Mets fans when the team dealt Lastings Milledge for Brian Schneider and Church, but there's nary a peep now. Church is in the top 10 in the NL in RBI and is hitting .324.

Sean Estes hadn't won a major league since 2005 and hadn't even seen a major league mound in 2007. But that all changed last night when he got the start and the win in the Padres 4-3 victory over the Cubs. Khalil Green's 3-run home run gave Estes the support he needed. Alfonso Soriano homered for the 2nd straight game for the Cubbies and is 8-14 over the last 3 games.

Ryan Braun stayed red hot, doubling in a pair of runs in the 5th to put the Brewers ahead for good in a 5-3 win over the Dodgers. Eric Gagne returned to the closer's role with mixed results. He nailed down the game without allowing a run, but did give up a hit and a walk.

The Pirates are within a game of .500 after pasting the Cards 8-4 in 10 innings. Adam LaRoche drove in 3 runs and Nate McLouth hit his 10th home run. That's tied for 4th best in the NL. The Cardinals have dropped 6 of 7.

Stephen Drew hit a 3-run home run to help Randy Johnson win his 287th career win in the Diamondbacks 8-4 win over the Rockies.

Matt Cain homered and went 8 innings to help the Giants snap the Astros 4-game winning streak.

Ryan Garko hit a 3-run home run and Paul Byrd tossed 7-plus innings in the Indians 4-0 over the A's. The Indians starting staff hasn't allowed an earned run in 34 innings.

Mark Teahen's 8th inning single snapped a 2-2 tie and the Royals sent the Tigers to their 8th loss in 11 games.

Hand Josh Beckett a 3-0 lead in the 1st inning and you figure the Red Sox have themselves a win. That wasn't the case last night when Luke Scott belted a 3-run home run and the Orioles pulled out a 5-4 win. The Sox have dropped 3 straight and 4 of 5.

Ramon Vazquez drove in 2 runs to help the Rangers beat the Mariners 5-2. The loss dropped them M's 11 games under .500. Eddie Guardado pitched the 9th to pick up his first save since 2006.

Jesse Litsch improved to 5-1 and Matt Stairs homered in the Blue Jays 5-3 win over the Twins.

John Danks and Jered Weaver (7 IP 1 H) hooked up in a good pitcher's duel as the White Sox and Angels were scoreless through 7.5 innings. Mike Napoli and Rob Quinlan each drove in a run in the 8th inning to give the Angels 2-0 win.

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