The Pennant Race - 8/13

AL EAST

The Red Sox gained a game on the the Rays with a win in one of the wildest games in recent memory. The Sox jumped out to a 10-0 first inning lead with David Ortiz hitting a pair of 3-run home runs. As the Fenway faithful were yelling, "This is wicked awesome!", the Rangers started chipping away and put up an eight spot in the fifth inning. Trailing 12-10, the Rangers responded with a 5-run sixth inning. Suddenly the Rangers had a 16-14 lead. But no lead is safe in Fenway and it always helps to bat last. The Sox battered the Rangers bullpen for four more runs in the eighth, capped off with Kevin Youkilis' second home run, a 3-run shot. Texas got one back off Jon Papelbon in the ninth, but the Red Sox held on for a 19-17 win.

The Red Sox look like they have one more loss though, Mike Lowell to the DL with a strained oblique. Shortstop Julio Lugo isn't expected back until September, so Youkilis will probably move to third base, with Sean Casey taking over at first.

Meanwhile A's rookie Gio Gonzalez picked up his first major league victory with five innings of work in Oakland's 2-1 win over Tampa. The Rays have to be concerned about their offense now with Evan Longoria out until approximately September 1, and Carl Crawford done for the season with a tendon tear in his finger. One month of Barry Bonds? A deal for Gary Sheffield?


AL CENTRAL

The White Sox leaped over the Twins and back into first place with a 9-0 white washing of the Royals. Javier Vazquez struck out 10 in eight innings to improve to 9-10. The home run happy Chisox got blasts from Jermaine Dye, A.J. Pierzyinski, and Nick Swisher.

Tigers owner Mike Illitch had enough of Gary Sheffield's mouth and ordered the team to put him on waivers. Sheffield responded by hitting two home runs. The Tigers look like they may also shut down Joel Zumaya with continuing arm problems.


AL WEST

The Angels won for a change, 7-3 over Seattle. K-Rod picked up his 44th save. Mark Teixeira has 10 RBI in 12 games with the Halos.


NL EAST

Mets fans and radio talking heads have been getting on Johan Santana for his habit of giving up leads as soon as the Mets get them. The two time Cy Young winner blew two leads last night, but the Mets pulled out a 4-3 win when Damion Easley was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Santana earned his 10th win.

The Mets picked up a game on the Phillies, whose bullpen blew a lead late to the Dodgers. Cole Hamels departed the game with a 3-2 lead after seven innings, but Chad Durbin gave up the tying run in the eighth and J.C. Romero was tagged for a walk-off single by LA's Andre Ethier for a 4-3 loss.

The Phillies pen took another hit when it was learned that they will probably be without Tom Gordon for the rest of the year.

Hanley Ramirez's second inning 3-run home run withstood the Cardinals and a lengthy rain delay, in the Marlins' 4-3 win. Rookie Chris Volstad outpitched 13-game winner Kyle Lohse for his fourth win.


NL CENTRAL

With the Cubs and Braves rained out, the Brewers were able to gain a half-game in the standings with a 5-2 win over the Padres. Jeff Suppan pitched 4-hit ball for eight innings and Mike Cameron and Prince Fielder went deep.


NL WEST

The Diamondbacks retained their one game lead on the Dodgers with a 4-2 triumph over the Rockies. Randy Johnson earned his 10th win of the season and career win number 294. Newcomer Adam Dunn was 1-3 with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts.

The Arizona Republic reported that Micah Owings may be one of the players going to Cincinnati in exchange for Dunn.

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Around the Horn - 4/22

Short schedule in the AL with just 2 games being played. The Red Sox completed a 4-game sweep of the Rangers with an 8-3 Patriots Day win. Former Red Sox Kason Gabbard threw 2 scoreless frames for the Rangers, but had to leave with back spasms and the Sox lineup jumped all over the Rangers pen. David Ortiz continued to come out of his slump with a pair of doubles and RBI. Clay Buchholz tossed 6 shutout innings for his first win of the year.

Armando Galaraga improved to 2-0 in the Tigers 5-1 win over the Blue Jays and Shaun Marcum. Hot hitting Edgar Renteria homered.

Big series at Wrigley in the NL, Mets vs. Cubs. It started out with a good pitching match up as well, John Maine against Carlos Zambrano. Z's Cubs lead 2-1 in the 8th when the North siders blew the game open against a struggling Aaron Heilmann. Felix Pie capped the inning off with his first major league home run off of Jorge Sosa. Harry Caray would have been yelling CUBS WIN...7-1.

The Marlins still sit atop the NL East after a 10-4 win over the Pirates. The fish banged out 16 hits, including 2 by light hitting pitcher (redundant?) Mark Hendrickson. Hanley Ramirez, Josh Willingham, and Dan Uggla each went deep.

The Dodgers pounded the Reds 9-3. Rafael Furcal lead the game off with a home run and LA rolled from there. Nomar Garciaparra and James Loney knocked in 3 runs each.

The Braves won again, their fifth straight, 7-3 over the struggling Nationals. Tim Hudson picked up the win and drove in 2 runs.

The Cardinals blew 2-0 and 3-2 leads, but Skip Shumaker's single in the 9th gave them a 4-3 win over the Brewers.

The Astros pounded the Padres 10-3. Miguel Tejada may be older, but he's also heating up. A 4-hit, 3 RBI, 3 run scored game put him at .342.

Micah Owings joined teammate Brandon Webb at 4-0 when the Diamondbacks topped the Giants 4-2. Orlando Hudson, Eric Byrnes, and Mark Reynolds each homered.

Chase Utley homered for the 5th straight game and also thwarted a Rockies rally with his glove in the Phillies 9-5 win. Pat Burrell and Jayson Werth also went deep for Philly.

News and Notes - UPDATED 2:05 p.m. EDT

ESPN the Magazine has an intriguing story on a big time family feud between Edgar Renteria and Orlando Cabrera. (Gracias to the The Big Lead for that one)

The Indians placed Jake Westbrook on the 15-day DL with a strained intercostal muscle (that has nothing to do with the Panama Canal) and called up outfielder Ben Francisco.

Mark Mulder's rehab process is getting slower than expected, pushing the Cards' left-hander timetable back further.

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Around the Horn - 4/10

The city of Detroit is breathing a sigh of relief this morning. The Tigers won themselves a ball game last night, 7-2 over the defending champion (ugh) Boston Red Sox. The Tigers scored almost half their total for the entire season up to that point. Jeremy Bonderman got the much coveted victory.

Mike Lowell left the game in 2nd inning with a sprained thumb. Tigers catcher Ivan Rodriguez picked up his 2,500th career hit.

The Angels slugged 4 home runs, including Mike Napoli's 1st career grand slam, in their 9-5 win over the Indians.

The A's rallied for 4 runs in the 9th against Jeremy Accardo to beat the Blue Jays 6-3. Mark Ellis had himself a nice day- 4 hits, 1 RBI, 1 run scored, and 2 stolen bases. Oh, if Bobby Crosby can stay healthy. He's hitting .306 and drove in 3 runs last night.

The Mariners pounded the Rays 7-1. Jamie Burke's 3-run home run, the 2nd long ball of his career, put the game out of reach.

Jason Kubel hit a grand slam and drove in 6 in the Twins 12-5 pasting of the White Sox. Chisox starter John Danks gave up 7 runs in 2.1 innings pitched.

The Orioles and Rangers were rained out. They'll play a twi-night doubleheader today.

The Mets finally snapped the Phillies dominance, 9 straight wins, of them with an 8-2 win at Shea. 4 Phillies errors lead to 6 unearned runs and a Mike Pelfrey win.

Micah Owings improved to 2-0 in the Diamondbacks 4-3 win voer the Dodgers. Eric Byrnes had 3 hits, 2 RBI, and run scored.

Kerry Wood blew his first save, allowing a game tying home run to Jason Bay in the 9th, but the Cubs went on to beat the Pirates, 6-4 in 15 innings. The Cubs had a chance to win it in the 14th with a pair of runs, but Adam LaRoche hit a game tying home run off of Kevin Hart. Hart finally picked up the win on Felix Pie's 2-run single.

Youngsters Justin Germano and Jonathan Sanchez hooked up in a pitchers duel as the Padres and Giants put up goose eggs through 8 1/2 innings. Dan Ortmeier finally doubled in the game winner in the bottom of the 9th.

Mike Jacobs homered twice and drove in 4 in the Marlins 10-4 drubbing of the Nationals. Jorge Cantu hit his first home run in a Marlins uni. It was the 6th straight loss for the Nats.

Adam Dunn and Corey Patterson homered in the Reds 12-4 rout of the Brewers.

One more blow out- the Rockies handed one to the Braves, 12-6. Ryan Spilborghs and Yorvit Torrealba combined for 9 RBI.

The Cardinals beat the Astros 6-4 behind Albert Pujols' first two home runs of the year.

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Around the Horn - 4/5

The Tigers skid to start the season was extended to 4 games yesterday when the White Sox beat them 8-5. A.J. Pierzynski drove in 5 runs, including the game winning 3-run home run in the 8th. Starters Jose Contreras and Nate Robertson both stunk.

Ramon Hernandez, Kevin Millar, and Melvin Mora homered in the Orioles 7-4 win over the Mariners. Former Mariner set up man George Sherrill picked up his 2nd save as the O's closer.

Shaun Marcum limited the Red Sox to 3 hits over 7 innings in the Blue Jays home opening 6-3 win.

The Twins got a new centerfielder and lead off man, Carlos Gomez, in the Johan Santana deal. Last night he gave the Twins what they were hoping for-3 hits, 2 stolen bases, and a run scored. The Twins beat the Royals 4-3, handing KC their first loss.

Angels starter Dustin Moseley beat out highty touted prospect Nick Adenhardt for the 5th starter's spot. Moseley may be looking over his shoulder after allowing 5 runs in 5 innings while Adenhardt tossed 5 shutout innings inTriple-A. Ben Broussard took Moseley deep for a grand slam in the Rangers 11-6 win.

Justin Duscherer has been a reliable set up man in his brief career, but last night he limited the Indians to 1 run in 5 innings of work before leaving with bicep tightness. The A's beat the Tribe 6-3, but they have to be concerned about closer Huston Street. He's allowed at least 1 run in each of his 3 appearances and has given up a home run in each game.

Bill Hall homered twice and drove in 6 runs in the Brewers 13-4 drubbing of the Giants.

Miguel Tejada tripled in the go-ahead run in the Astros 4-3 win over the Cubs. Rookie of the year candidate J.R. Towles hit his 1st home run of the year.

Micah Owings got a hit as usual, but it was his pitching, 2 hits allowed, 9 Ks in 6.2 innings that dominated the Reds. The Diamondbacks got home runs from Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds in their 8-1 win.

The Dodgers scored 6 runs in the 7th to beat the Padres 7-1 making Hiroki Kuroda's MLB debut a successful one. The Japanese born right-hander limited the Pads to 3 hits in 7 innings.

The Cardinals improved to 3-1, beating the Nats 5-4 behind Rick Ankiel's HR and Braden Looper's pitching.

Chase Utley just keeps on hitting. The 2nd Baseman, off to a .357 start, homered twice in the Phillies 8-4 win over the Reds.

The Mets and Braves were rained out, delaying Tom Glavine's start against his last team.

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