The Pennant Race - 8/12

The Mets bullpen imploded once again yesterday afternoon. After building a 5-1 lead, the Mets frittered it away. The Pirates cut the deficit to 5-4 and then scored 3 runs in the ninth off of Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoenweis.

The Mets lost no ground though because the Phillies lost to the Dodgers 8-6 and the Marlins were beaten by the Cardinals 4-2. Manny Ramirez drove in another 2 runs and James Loney drove home 3 as the Dodgers built a 7-1 lead and then hung on for dear life. LA is now one back of Arizona in the NL West.

Joel Pineiro out pitched the Marlins' Anabel Sanchez and Yadier Molina and Joe Mather homered for the Cardinals.

The Brewers pasted the Nationals 7-1 to complete a four game sweep and picked up a half-game on the idle Cubs.

The Twins victory over the Yankees moved them into first place in the AL Central after the White Sox fell to the Red Sox 5-1. White Sox starter Joe Danks had a perfect game through five innings and still had a no-hitter going after hitting Jacoby Ellsbury in the sixth. But things fell apart in the seventh when he allowed a one out single to Kevin Youkilis to snap the no-no bid and then walked Mike Lowell. J.D. Drew then really ruined Danks' night with a 2-run double that put the Red Sox up for good. The Red Sox moved a half-game closer to idle Tampa Bay with the win.

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American League Around the Horn - 4/28

We can't think of too many people who would have predicted they would wake up on April 28 and the Tampa Rays and Baltimore Orioles would be atop the AL East. Or the Detroit Tigers would be in the AL Central basement. Or for that matter, the Oakland A's would be six games over .500 and tied with the Los Angeles for first place in the AL East.

The Rays are riding the hottest streak now. They went into Boston and took three straight and have won six in a row overall. The Red Sox were starting to roll, a six game winning streak of their own. Then they lost a pair in a row before the Rays came to town and out did them. The Rays (11-6) and Yankees (9-8) are the only teams with winning records against their AL East foes.

There were some classically pitched games in the series. The Red Sox Clay Buchholz had a 1-hitter going entering Saturday's 8th inning. Two seconds later he was losing 2-1 when Dionner Navarro singled and Aki Iwamura hit his first home run of the season. On Sunday, Josh Beckett gave up 4 hits and struck out 13 in 7 innings, and lost! James Shields threw a complete game 2-hit shutout to beat him.

The Mariners lost 2 of 3 to Oakland after doing the same with the Orioles. Felix Hernandez was dominating the A's on Sunday, but gave up 4 runs in the 8th inning to take the loss in a 4-2 game.

The Rangers were involved in another blow out, except this time they were on the winning end. Vincente Padilla blanked the Twins, who had scored 12 runs on Saturday, 10-0.

The White Sox and Orioles had a great pitcher's duel on Saturday. Sox starter John Danks had a perfect game through five innings, before Adam Jones singled and eventually scored. Guillermo Quiroz then hit his first major league home run. Orioles starter Brian Burres allowed just 3 hits in 8 innings for the win. The White Sox Carlos Quentin managed to get with the bases loaded in both games to get a pair of bruises and RBI.

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Around the Horn - 4/21

The Boston Red Sox exposed the Texas Rangers bullpen time and time again this weekend. On Sunday, the Sox rallied from a 5-0 deficit for a 6-5 win. Rangers closer C.J. Wilson didn't retire any of the 5 batters he faced in the 8th inning and let an inherited runner score as well. This was on the heels of Saturday's blown game when Manny Ramirez capped a 3-run 8th inning rally with a 2-run game winning home run. The two teams are at it again right now as part of the Patriots Day celebration in Beantown.

Dustin McGown pitched the Blue Jays to a 3-2 win over the Tigers on Saturday. On Sunday it was light hitting shortstop David Eckstein taking the Tigers down with a 3-run home run. And the Jays released disgruntled and slumping DH, Frank Thomas.

Andy Sonnastine pitched a complete game shut out of the White Sox on Saturday and the White Sox avenged it with a shutout of their own on Sunday. John Danks allowed just 3 hits over 7 innings and struck out 8 to pick up his 2nd win. Jim Thome had 4 hits, including career home run #512, tying him with Ed Mathews and Ernie Banks for 19th on the all-time list.

Twins pitching dominated the Indians over the weekend. Nick Blackburn lead a 3-0 shutout on Saturday, helped by a Justin Morneau home run. Morneau played the hero on Sunday when he singled in the game winner in the 10th inning of a 2-1 game.

Ervin Santana's trade value was near zilch after the 2007 season. Right now the Angels have to be ecstatic that they kept him He tossed 8 innings of 3-hit, 8 K ball on Saturday as the Angels beat the Mariners, 4-1. Santana improved to 3-0 with a 2.67 ERA. The Mariners salvaged the final game of the series with a 4-2 win on Sunday. Miguel Batista pitched 7+ shutout innings and Richie Sexson stayed hot with a home run.

The Mets beat the Phils for the 4th straight time on Saturday, but Chase Utley and the Phillies snapped that streak on Sunday Night Baseball. Utley's two home runs, giving him 3 in 2 days, gave the Phillies a 4-0 lead. The Mets rallied to tie it before Pedro Feliz won the 'Pedro' battle over Pedro Feliciano with a solo home run in the 7th. Perhaps Pedro Martinez should have intervened.

The Braves swept the Dodgers in a 3-game set behind Mark Teixeira's 5 RBI in the two weekend games. Andruw Jones finally hit his first home run as a Dodger in Saturday's loss. The once 4-2 Dodgers have lost 9 of 12.

The Marlins put two more in the Nationals loss column. After Kevin Gregg blew a 2-run lead in the 9th on Saturday, Wes Helms got him off the hook with a walk-off RBI single in the Marlins half of the frame. On Sunday, Scott Olsen dominated the Nats over 7 innings to improve to 3-0 in Florida's 6-1 win.

The Pirates pitching staff is hurting this morning after allowing 13 runs in both weekend games to the Cubs. On Saturday Derek Lee and Daryl Ward pounded 2-run home runs in a 13-1 win. Sunday's 13-6 rout saw Aramis Ramirez and Ryan Theriot get 4 hits each and combine for 6 RBI.

Aaron Cook pitched the Rockies back above .500 with a 3-2 win over the Astros. But the Rockies pen quickly dropped them back on Sunday, blowing a 4-3 lead late. Kaz Matsui and the fast aging Miguel Tejada combined for 3 RBI in the 8th inning.

The Brewers and Reds played back-to-back 10 inning games. Bill Hall's 2-run double won it for the Brew Crew on Saturday, but Eric Gagne blew a 2-run lead in the bottom of the 10th on Sunday. Ken Griffey Jr. singled in the game winner as the Reds took the finale of the 3-game series.

The Giants took two of three from the Cardinals with a weekend sweep. Tim Lincecum and the bullpen shut the Cards out 3-0 on Saturday and the Giants bats came alive on Sunday in an 8-2 win. Bengie Molina drove in 3 runs and Jonathan Sanchez tossed 5 shutout innings. The Cards finally scored 2 in the 9th to avoid back-to-back shutouts.

The Diamondbacks followed up their 9-0 drubbing of the Padres on Friday with a 10-3 drubbing on Sunday. The Dbacks scored 6 runs in the 8th inning to put the game out of reach. The Padres finally came back with some offense on Sunday in a 9-4 win. Justin Huber hit his first major league home run, a 3-run shot off of Randy Johnson.

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Around the Horn - 4/16

Scores

For the first time this season the Tigers have won two straight. The Minnesota Twins were the victims once again as Miguel Cabrera homered for the first time, since opening day, in a 6-5 Tigers win.

The Red Sox beat the Indians in the 9th inning for the second straight game. Jason Varitek smacked the game winning home run in the 5-3 triumph.

The Angels came back from a 4-0 deficit to beat the Rangers 7-4. Gary Matthews Jr. drove in 3 runs.

The Blue Jays slapped around Steve Trachsel and the Orioles 11-3. Aaron Hill paced the way with a 3-run home run.

Jose Lopez and Yuniesky Betancourt combined for 7 RBI in the Mariners 11-6 win over the Royals. The victory moved the M's to within one game of .500, but they lost Erik Bedard to the DL with a bad hip.

Carlos Quentin belted a 3-run HR and John Danks threw 7.2 shutout innings in the White Sox 4-1 win over the A's.

Mike Pelfrey improved to 2-0 as the Mets blanked the Nationals 6-0. David Wright homered and drove in 5 runs. Tragedy struck after the game when a fan lost his footing on an escalator and fell to his death.

Connor Jackson and Chris Young homered in the Diamondbacks 8-2 drubbing of the Giants. Michah Owings improved to 3-0 with the win.

The Phillies rallied for 4 runs in the 9th to beat the Astros 4-3. Shawn Chacon tossed 8 shutout innings, but closer Jose Valverde would retire only one batter in the 9th. Chris Snelling started the comeback with a solo home run. Then Pat Burrell tied the game with a 2-run blast. Finally, Pedro Feliz delivered a walk-off double to complete the comeback.

Scott Olsen went 7 innings in the Marlins 4-0 win over the Braves. The Marlins lead the NL East at 8-5.

Derek Lee and Mark DeRosa homered and drove in 3 each in the Cubs 9-5 win over the Reds. But the Cubs might be without Alfonso Soriano for quite some time. Sori left the game in the 1st inning with a strained calf.

Padres starter Randy Wolf pitched 6.2 no-hit innings before the Rockies Brad Hawpe broke it up with a single to center. The Padres won anyway 6-0, scoring all their runs in the 5th inning.

In the battle of beer towns, the Cardinals beat the Brewers 5-1 as Braden Looper notched his 3rd win. Looper had control troubles, issuing 5 walks in 5 innings, but the Cards bullpen shut down the Brewers the rest of the way.

The Dodgers thumped the Pirates 11-2 behind Jeff Kent's home run and 3 RBI, and the 5 innings of relief work done by Esteban Loaiza.

News

Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter will throw his first live batting practice on Monday as he recovers from off-season elbow surgery.

Tigers outfielder Curtis Granderson could be closer to returning he put in a pain-free batting practice.

The Dodgers expect to get Nomar Garciaparra back form the DL on Friday.

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