The Pennant Race - 9/28

It's been an amazing final weekend of the 2008 season, with several playoff spots still up for grabs. The Phillies clinched the NL East with a win over Washington on Saturday, but the Mets victory, combined with the Brewers loss, meant the wildcard would come down the final Sunday, and possibly Monday.

The Marlins had crushed the Mets dreams in 2007, jumping all over then Met Tom Glavine in the first inning and cruised to an 8-1 victory. Johan Santana had put the Mets into position with a masterful shutout on Saturday. Sunday was a match of a pair of left-handers, Scott Olsen for the Marlins, and Oliver Perez for the Mets.

The two teams were scoreless in the sixth inning when the Marlins finally broke through. Cameron Maybin led off with a double and scored on John Baker's single for a 1-0 lead. Jorge Cantu followed with a single and both runners moved up on Mike Jacobs fly out. Jerry Manuel elected to intentionally walk Dan Uggla, but reliever Joe Smith walked Josh Willingham to force in a run. Smith wiggled out of further trouble and the Mets came right back.

Robinson Cancel started the home half of the sixth with a walk. One batter later Carlos Beltran drove the Shea crowd crazy with a game tying 2-run home run, his 27th of the season.

Meanwhile in Milwaukee, the Brewers trailed the Cubs 1-0 on an unearned run. CC Sabathia was doing everything he could to win it for the Brewers, but Milwaukee couldn't break through against an array of Cubs pitchers.

Carlos Zambrano was originally slated to start the game for Chicago, but Lou Piniella end up opting for Angel Guzman, who gave him two innings of work. Chad Gaudin, Neall Cotts, and Kevin Hart kept Milwaukee off the board through six innings.

Veteran Ray Durham greeted reliever Scott Marshall with a lead off double in the seventh. Ryan Braun's ground out moved Durham up to third, and Prince Fielder was intentionally walked to set up a potential double play. Piniella went to Mike Wuertz, who walked J.J. Hardy to load the bases. Wuertz then struck out Craig Counsell for the second out, but walked Corey Hart to force in the tying run.

The Marlins and Mets moved to the eighth inning back at Shea, still tied at 2-2. But Wes Helms connected off of Scot Schoenweis for just his fifth home run of the season and a 3-2 Marlins lead. Two batters later, Dan Uggla slugged his 32nd home run of the year off of Luis Ayala for a 4-2 Florida advantage.

With the Mets falling behind, the Brewers took it to the Cubs in the eighth. Mike Cameron singled with one out and two batters later, second year sensation Ryan Braun belted his 37th home run of the year off of Cubs set up man Bobby Howry. Braun has 71 home runs in 264 big league games.

At Shea, Jose Reyes smacked a double off of Kevin Gregg with two outs in the eighth. A Beltran walk brought up the Mets biggest hitter in the second half, Carlos Delgado. Fredi Gonzalez countered with lefty specialist Arthur Rhodes. Delgado drilled a 1-1 shot to left, but the ball stayed in the park for the third out of the inning.

In Milwaukee, Sabathia completed his seventh game in 17 Brewers starts, Ryan Theriot singled with one away, but Sabathia got Derrek Lee to bounce into a game ending double play.

A quite Shea Stadium held their breath and heads, and prayed as Matt Lindstrom came on in the ninth for the Marlins. David Wright popped out to second base and Endy Chavez hit a comebacker for the first two outs of the inning. Damon Easley drew a walk, giving the Mets on more shot with the tying run at the plate, but Ryan Church flied out to deep center to end the ball game and another disappointing Mets season.


Over in the American League, the AL Central was coming down to the last Sunday. With a half-game separating the two teams, the White Sox needed a win in order to play their 162nd game against the Tigers on Monday. The game being a make up of an earlier rain out. The Twins held destiny in their own hands, knowing that a win would ensure them, at the very least, of a one game playoff on Tuesday.

Pitching was the name of the game for both teams. Chicago's ace Mark Buehrle pitched like one. After losing the first two games against the Indians, the White Sox needed their best to give them his best. Buerhle did just that, allowing one run over seven innings to earn his 15th win of the season. Paul Konerko's solo home run highlighted a 3-run second inning that gave the White Sox the lead for good. Jermaine Dye added some big insurance with a 2-run single in the seventh before Matt Thornton and Bobby Jenks sealed the win.

Meanwhile in Minnesota, the Twins had struggled against the Royals for two days, but Scott Baker was huge on Sunday. The Twins right-hander allowed just four hits, and struck out eight over seven innings, and the Twins rolled to a 6-0 victory. Joe Mauer and Delmon Young drove in two runs each for the Twins, who won their 88th game.

Gavin Floyd will start for Chicago on Monday, while former White Sox star Freddy Garcia goes for the Tigers. Should the White Sox win, they will face the Twins in a one game showdown in Chicago on Tuesday.

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Rivera Records Record Save

The Yankees don't have anything to play for on a team level, and Mariano Rivera will be the first to tell you he doesn't care about individual stats, but last night he moved into sole possession of second place on the all-time saves list when he closed out the Yankees 4-2 win over the White Sox.

In recording his 36th save in 37 attempts, and third in as many days, Rivera moved ahead of Lee Smith with 479 career saves. The victory was the Yankees third straight, the first time they achieved that feat at home since July.

Al Aceves had another impressive start, limiting the White Sox to two runs over six innings. Phil Coke pitched a scoreless inning to pick up his first major league win and has not been scored on in eight innings this season.

Xavier Nady crushed a Mark Buehrle pitch to straight away center to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead in the second inning. It was Nady's 11th home run since joining the Yankees from Pittsburgh, and his 24th of the season overall. It also gave him 90 RBI between the two teams.

Dewayne Wise tied things up in the fourth with a 2-run shot of his own, his fourth home run of the season, but Aceves and the Yankees pen would be unscored on the rest of the night.

Ehren Wassermann replaced Buerhle to start the seventh inning and immediately walked Nady. Chad Moeller successfully sacrificed Nady into scoring position, so Joe Girardi sent up Wilson Betemit to pinch-hit for Cody Ransom. Ozzie Guillen countered with lefty Horacio Ramirez to force Betemit to switch around to his weaker right side. But Betemit drilled a one hopper over the wall in left-center field for a ground rule double and a go ahead RBI.

Betemit moved to third base on Brett Gardner's fly out and scored on a single to right by Johnny Damon for a 4-2 Yankees lead. The Yankees then went to the power arms out of the pen. Joba Chamberlain struck out two in the eighth inning and Rivera retired the side in order in the ninth, for "just another save".


News and Notes

Derek Jeter went 0-4 in his attempt to pass Lou Gehrig for the most hits in Yankee Stadium. He did catch Gehrig for second place in team history for number of at-bats though with 8,001. Mickey Mantle is the franchise leader with 8,102. Jeter also passed Bernie Williams over the weekend for 5th place in plate appearances.

Robinson Cano was benched as a continued punishment for lack of hustle on Sunday.

Pitcher Humberto Sanchez and catcher Francisco Cervelli were recalled from the minor leagues. Cervelli, as you may recall, suffered a broken wrist during spring training when the Rays' Elliot Johnson steam rolled him at home plate.

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Around the Horn - 4/15

Scores

The Red Sox rallied from a 4-1 deficit to beat the Indians 6-4 last night. Manny Ramirez capped the comeback with a game winning 2-run HR in the 9th off of Joe Borowski. It was career HR number 493 for Man-child. Many people, us included, picked the Indians to win the AL Central based on the strength of their bullpen. The ERAs of their top 3 in the pen? Borowski (18.00 - actually not a shock), Rafael Betancourt (5.14), and Rafael Perez (8.41). Borowski also said after the game that his arm felt tired. He hit only 83 mph on the radar gun.

UPDATE 1:50 p.m EDT: Joe Borowski has been placed on the 15-day DL with a strained tricep. One day too late.

The Tigers got the offensive explosion they've been waiting for all year, in an 11-9 win over the Twins. Detroit scores 6 runs in the 8th to rally from a 9-4 deficit. Carlos Guillen and Ivan Rodriguez drove in 3 runs each.

Miguel Olivo had 3 hits, including a home run, in the Royals 5-1 win over the Mariners. Zach Grienke tossed a complete game 4-hitter to improve to 3-0 with a 0.75 ERA.

Kevin Millar homered and drove in 3 in the Orioles 4-3 win over the Blue Jays. The win kept the O's in 1st place in the AL East.

Ervin Santana improved to 2-0 with 7 solid innings in the Angels 7-4 triumph over the Rangers. More importantly, Scot Shields and K-Rod were lights out in relief.

Greg Smith went 7 innings to earn his first major league win in the A's 2-1 triumph over the White Sox. Mark Buerhle (7 IP 2 ER) was the hard luck loser. Kurk Suzuki went 4-4 with an RBI and is hitting .370.

Nate McLouth hit a game winning 3-run HR in the 9th off Takashi Saito in the Pirates 6-4 win over the Dodgers. The win put the Pirates a game over .500 (7-6).

Randy Winn had 2 RBI and 2 stolen bases in the Giants come from behind 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks. Arizona, which has lost 2 straight, welcomed back Randy Johnson. The Big Unit allowed 3 unearned runs in 5 innings, walked 4, and struck out 7.

News

Erik Bedard is hoping to avoid the disabled list with a sore hip. The Mariners left-hander will throw a side session to determine where he goes from here.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal is reporting that the Brewers have signed free agent pitch Jeff Weaver to a 1-year, incentive laden deal.

Mets GM Omar Minaya said Pedro Martinez will be out until at least the middle of May and possibly the beginning of June. Not good news for our projected comeback player of the year.

Angels 2nd Baseman Howie Kendrick is out until at least the weekend with a strained hamstring. He may yet end up on the DL.

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Around the Horn - 4/7

Frank Thomas and the Blue Jays ruined Josh Beckett's return as the Jays completed a 3-game series sweep in Toronto. Thomas hit career HR #515, a grand slam off of Manny Delcarmen, in the Blue Jays 7-4 win over the Red Sox. Roy Halladay won his first game of the year.

The Tigers are now 0-6 after the White Sox thumped them 13-2 in a Sunday night nationally televised game. Joe Crede went 4-5 with 3 RBI as Mark Buerhle beat Justin Verlander.

With J.J. Putz on the DL, Mariners manager John McLaren is using a closer by committee. It didn't work out too well on Sunday when the Mariners blew a 2-0 lead in the 9th to the Orioles. Felix Hernandez had dominated the O's on 5 hits over 8 innings, but Eric O'Flaherty and Mark Lowe couldn't protect the lead. Luis Hernandez had been 0-6 on the season before singling in the game winner.

Brett Tomko tossed 5 shutout innings against the Twins to help the Royals snap their 2 game losing streak. Alex Gordon drove in 2 runs in the 2nd and it stood up in a 3-1 win. Joakim Soria struck out the side in the 9th for the save.

Gerald Laird homered twice and drove in 6 in the Rangers 10-4 pounding of the Angels.

The Indians nipped the Angels 2-1. Ryan Garko's walk with the bases loaded in the 7th proved to be the difference.

The Cubs came at the Astros with heat yesterday and won 3-2. Carlos Zambrano threw 7 innings, followed by an inning each for Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood. Derek Lee's home run in the 7th was the game winner.

Ben Sheets has made two starts this season and has not allowed a run. The Brewers right-hander tossed a complete game shutout in the Brew Crew's 7-0 blanking of the Giants. Barry Zito gave San Fran another sub par performance (5 IP 5 R 3 ER).

The Cardinals blanked the Nationals 5-0 for their 5th straight win. Kyle Lohse won his first game for the Redbirds, helped by a home run and an RBI double by Rick Ankiel.

The Diamondbacks rallied in the 9th to tie the Rockies (Mark Reynolds 2-run HR), blew the lead in the bottom of the 9th (Matt Holliday HR), and then scored 3 times in the 10th to win it (that incl. a Stephen Drew HR).

The Reds pounded the Phillies 8-2 behind Jeff Keppinger's 3 hit, 3 run, 3 RBI day. Ken Griffey Jr. hit his first home run of the year and #594 for his career.

Chin-Lung Hu had the game winning single in the top of the 9th in the Dodgers 3-2 win over the Padres.

Xavier Nady hit his 3rd home run and the Pirates banged out 15 hits in their 9-2 drubbing of the Marlins.

The Braves still have the Mets number. Johan Santana pitched a gem, but Tim Hudson came away with a victory in the Braves 3-1 win. Mark Teixeira's 2-run HR off of Aaron Heilman in the 8th proved to be the difference.

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Around the Horn - 3/31

Nice try kid. They kept ya out of school for nothing.

Plenty of opening days did go off today, and last night. How about Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals breaking in the new ball park with a walk off home run last night against the Braves.

It only took the Tigers Miguel Cabrera two at-bats to hit his first American League home run. Justin Verlander only allowed 1 hit through 5 innings, then blew a 3-0 lead. The game is now in extra innings.

The White Sox Mark Buehrle must be looking for a do over. The Indians tagged him for 7 runs in just 2 2-3 innings. Jim Thome has smacked a pair of 2-run homers off of C.C. Sabathia. Thome had been 0-11 against him entering the game.

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Buehrle Tosses No-No for White Sox

The Chicago White Sox' Mark Buehrle has thrown the first no-hitter of the season tonight. Buerhle faced the minimum of 27 batters in defeating the Texas Rangers. The Rangers only base runner was Sammy Sosa, who drew a walk. But Buehrle promptly picked him off.

Buerhle threw 106 pitches, 66 for strikes. In the 9th, he struck out Matt Kata and Nelson Cruz, before Gerald Laird bounced out to 3rd Baseman Joe Crede for the no-no's final out.

Over the last 2 games, Buehrle has retired 41 of the last 49 batters he's faced.

It was the 16th no-hitter in White Sox history and their first in 16 years. Wilson Alvarez no-hit Baltimore on August 11, 1991. The last time the Rangers were no-hit was in 1984, when the Angel's Mike Witt tossed a perfect game against them.

It was the first no-hitter in the major leagues since the Marlins' Anibal Sanchez threw one against Arizona on Sept 6, 2005.

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