The Pennant Race - 8/21

You just get the feeling that for the second straight year, the Mets and Phillies will come down to the final weekend to determine the NL East winner. The Mets are playing good baseball, but they haven't been able to put much cushion between themselves and the Phillies since moving into first place.

Mike Pelfrey has really stepped up this season and did again last night, limiting the Braves to three hits in a complete game, 6-3 Mets victory. David Wright continued his run at the NL MVP with his 24th home run and 97th RBI. Rookie Dan Murphy's two RBI gave him 11 in 18 games and he's batting .404 in 47 at-bats.

The Phillies got a complete game of their own from Brett Myers, who scattered nine hits in shutting down the Nationals 4-0. Washington has lost 12 straight. After a brief stint in the minors, Myers has returned to form and is 3-1, 1.47 in his last five starts.

The Marlins' hopes are fading away. They dropped a 6-5 game to the Giants last night that put them 5 games behind the Mets and 7.5 behind the wildcard-leading Brewers. Florida rallied for 3 runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game, but Bengie Molina's sac fly won it for the Giants in the bottom of the ninth.

Speaking of the Brewers, they got themselves back to within 5 games of the Cubs with a 5-2 win over the Astros. J.J. Hardy hit a 2-run home run to help Manny Parra win his 10th game. Ryan Braun sat out for the 9th time in 11 games due to lower back soreness.

The Reds edged the Cubs 2-1 despite starter Ted Lilly allowing just two hits over seven innings.

The Cardinals remained 2.5 behind the Brewers in the wildcard with an 11-2 thumping of the Pirates. Todd Wellemeyer won his career-high 11th game and reached the century mark in strikeouts for the first time.

The Diamondbacks moved two games ahead of the Dodgers with an 8-6 win over the Padres. Neither starter Dan Haren nor Jake Peavy was good, but after allowing four runs in the first inning, Haren settled down to get the win. Adam Dunn belted a 3-run home run, his 34th of the season.

The Rockies played spoilers, beating the Dodgers 4-3. The Dodgers lead 3-0 early, but Brad Hawpe almost single-handedly beat LA. He reached on an error that cut the lead to 3-2, singled in the game-tying run in the seventh, and singled again in the ninth to drive in the go-ahead run.


There was no movement in the AL Central standings as both the White Sox and Twins were daytime winners. Chicago got four home runs in a 15-3 rout of the Mariners. Ken Griffey Jr. tied Sammy CheaterSosa with his 609th career home run, and his first in Chicago. Gavin Floyd earned his 13th win.

Francisco Lirano and four pitchers pitched the Twins to a 3-1 win over the A's. Little-used reserve Mike Redmond drove in two runs.

The AL East's top two teams remained 4.5 apart as they both lost last night. The Angels beat the Rays 5-4, overcoming an early 3-0 deficit, and then winning after blowing a 4-3 lead. Garret Anderson's ninth inning single was the game winner. K-Rod notched his 48th save.

The Red Sox jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but it was all Baltimore after that as the Orioles won it 11-6. Melvin Mora, who had four RBI, and Ramon Hernandez each hit 3-run home runs. Clay Buchholz was hammered for five runs in 2.1 IP and is reportedly headed back to Pawtucket.

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The Pennant Race - 8/11

The Rays just keep on trucking. They squashed the Mariners, 11-3, on Sunday to set a franchise record with their 71st win. They also moved 4.5 games ahead of the Red Sox in the AL East after Boston lost to the White Sox, 6-5 on Sunday. The Yankees dropped back to 8.5 out.

The AL Central will be a fight to the finish with the Twins continuing to breathe down the White Sox' necks. Just a half-game separates the two teams. The Twins are also just 1.5 back of the Red Sox for the Wild Card.

The Angels, of course, are racing to the finish line in the AL West.

The Phillies continue to cling to the lead in the NL East, 2 games ahead of the Mets and 2.5 ahead of the Marlins. The Cubs have a healthy 4 game lead over the Brewers, while the Cardinals continue to fade, 7 games back, though just 3 out of the Wild Card.

And in the not so wild West, the Diamondbacks lead Manny and the Dodgers by 1.5 games.

The Diamondbacks got a big time performance on Sunday from their ace, Brandon Webb, who went out and became the majors' first 17-game winner. Bad news too though for AZ, as second baseman Orlando Hudson was lost for the year with a dislocated wrist.

The Diamondbacks go on the road to face the Rockies and Astros this week.

The Dodgers and Giants have always crushed each other's hopes no matter who was better, and that continued this weekend as the Giants took two walk-off wins in their three games. The Dodgers led 2-1 in the 10th on Saturday, but after the Giants tied the game on an error, Aaron Roward sent the Giants home as winners with a single.

A two run rally in the 9th on Sunday gave the Giants another come-from-behind win. With the score tied 4-4, light hitting Eugenio Velez provided the game-winning hit.

Manny is still doing his part though, hitting .459, 4-11 in 9 games. Tough week ahead for the Dodgers though, as they host the Phillies and Brewers.

The Mets were hoping to get a sweep over the Marlins, but Josh Johnson again showed how much Florida has missed him. He allowed 2 runs and 5 hits over 7 innings to improve to 3-0, 3.19, in his 6 starts this season. After establishing himself as the most consistent Mets starter after Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey has gotten pounded in two of his last three starts.

The schedule is favorable for the Mets this week as they go on the road to face the Nationals and Pirates.

The Phillies dropped the first game of their series with the Pirates on Friday, but got a huge start from Brett Myers (7.2, 1 ER, 5 H) on Saturday and came from behind on Sunday when Chase Utley belted a 2-run home run. It was Utley's first home run at home in over a month.

The Phillies go west for the Padres and Dodgers before returning home for a big 8-game homestand.

The Cubs took 2 of 3 from the Cards with a big outing from Ryan Dempster on Sunday. Dempster recorded 85 saves over the last three seasons, but has really stepped up in his return to the rotation, recording his 13th win in a 6-2 Cubs victory.

The Cubs visit the southeast this week to take on the Braves and Marlins.

CC Sabathia's reps must be drooling all over themselves. They had to be concerned when their big left-hander was slow out of the gate, but after turning things around in Cleveland, he has been dominating National League hitters with the Brewers. Sabathia tossed a complete game shutout of the Nationals on Friday. It was his fourth complete game in seven starts since the trade to the NL, and he now has seven complete games on the season. That total in today's game is like completing 35 games back in the 1970's.

Another pending free agent, Ben Sheets, gave the Brewers another lift on Saturday, when he tossed a complete game shutout of his own. Ned Yost finally relented and used the pen on Sunday in a 10 inning Milwaukee win. It came on a Gabe Kapler walk-off home run. Yost does have a concern now though: Ryan Braun's lower back. The stud second-year player injured it on Saturday and missed yesterday's game.

The Brewers visit SoCal this week to face the Padres and Dodgers.

Wait a minute. Are we imagining things? Well, not in this case. That really was Rocco Baldelli in Tampa's lineup on Sunday. The injury-prone outfielder went 1-4 with an RBI in his first major league game since May 15, 2007. His timing was perfect with Carl Crawford landing on the DL with a hand injury. Crawford felt something pop in Saturday's game and its been diagnosed as a tendon problem.

Tampa managed just a split of the four game series after blowing a lead in Saturday's game, but they still extended their lead with the Red Sox losing 2 of 3 over the weekend. Boston and Chicago go at it for a fourth time tonight.

The Rays travel to Oakland and Texas this week.

Much has been made of Clay Buccholz in Boston, especially after his September no-hitter, but the right-hander has struggled in his first full season in Beantown. Yesterday's loss dropped him to 2-8, 6.32 this season. The Red Sox also lost Tim Wakefield to the DL with a sore shoulder and Bartolo Colon has been slow in rehabbing an injured back. The Red Sox may turn to David Pauley or could pull Justin Masterson back out of the bullpen to take Wakefield's spot in the rotation.

The Red Sox start a 6-game homestand on Tuesday with Texas and Toronto coming to town.

The White Sox have hit five home runs in the first three games of their series with the Red Sox, and have belted a major league-leading 165 for the season. They have seven players in double figures, with Carlos Quentin leading the team with 31. Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome are both closing in on the 30-mark while Nick Swisher and Joe Crede are approaching the 20 home run level.

The White Sox host KC for a 3-game series and then go out west to face the slumping A's for 3 games.

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Around the Horn - 7/31

The Phillies and Mets continue to play leap frog in the NL East. The Phils took a half game lead last night with an 8-5 win over the Nationals. Chase Utley and Shane Victorino both went deep to help Jamie Moyer pick up his 240th win, 12th best (tied with Frank Tanana) among left-handers.

The Mets meanwhile couldn't hold an early lead and red hot Mike Pelfrey was cooled off by the Marlins 7-5. The Marlins sit just 1.5 games back.

Garret Anderson put up a 4-hit, 4 RBI night as the Angels beat the Red Sox 9-2. It was LA's second three game sweep of the Red Sox this month. The Rays gained a game on Boston with a 3-2 win over the Blue Jays.

Colorado still can't make up its collective mind as to buy or sell today. Had they lost three straight to the Pirates they probably would have been sellers. But the Rockies snapped the 2-game losing streak last night, 7-4, as Aaron Cook won his 14th game.

Dan Haren won his 11th game of the season in the Diamondbacks 7-3 win over the Padres. That kept them one game ahead of the Dodgers, who got a complete game shutout from Chad Billingsley in a 4-0 win over the Giants.

The Diamondbacks have to wonder what their offense would be like had they kept Carlos Quentin. The White Sox outfielder continued his breakout season with his 28th home run and drove in 4 runs in the Chisox 8-3 win over the Twins. Quentin has 83 RBI for the season.

The Cubs beat the Brewers for the third straight night, this time 7-2, behind a strong outing by Ryan Dempster, who picked up his 12th win. The Brewers will try to salvage the finale of the series, but they're up against Rich Harden.

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Take the 7 or the D or the 4 or...

With no rain outs and barring a miracle that would put both teams in the World Series, this weekend will be the final meeting between the Yankees and Mets this season, as well as the end of interleague play (with the exception of make up games).

The Mets won the first two meetings at Yankee Stadium, with one game rained out. That game will be part of today's two stadium, day-night doubleheader. The biggest change since the teams met last was of course the replacement of Willie Randolph, as Mets manager, with Jerry Manuel.

After the Mets Sunday victory at Yankee Stadium, they were 22-19, while the Yankees dropped to 20-24. Since then the Mets have gone 16-20, while the Yankees are 22-12. It's a similar change to last season when the Mets were the toast of New York during the first meeting and were burnt toast in the second meeting.

The Yankees are probably holding their collective breaths today with Dan Giese, making his second major league start, and Sidney Ponson, being Sidney Ponson, starting the doubleheader. Mike Pelfrey will oppose Giese in the opener at 2 p.m. at Yankee Stadium. Pedro Martinez (2-1, 6.57) goes for the Mets tonight at Shea in his first start against the Yankees since May 20, 2006.

Martinez is 11-10, 3.03 in 31 career starts against the Yankees. He's lost 4 of his last 6 regular season games against his old nemesis ("Who's your Daddy?").

Yankees vs. Martinez

Abreu 3-22 (.136) 1 HR 1 RBI 7 BB
Betemit 0-5
Cabrera 1-3
Cano 0-10
Damon 4-21
Giambi 7-48 (.146) 1 HR 5 RBI 19 K
Jeter 21-83 (.253) 3 HR 5 RBI 10 BB 22 K
Matsui 4-28 (.143) 1 HR 1 RBI
Moeller 0-3
Molina 0-6
Posada 11-60 (.183) 4 HR 10 RBI 33 K
Rodriguez 16-53 (.302) 1 HR 4 RBI 18 K


Mike Pelfrey (4-6, 4.30) has never faced the Yankees or any of their hitters.

Like Pelfrey, Dan Giese (1-2, 0.64) will facing his opponent for the first time. He has not faced any of the Mets current roster.

Sidney Ponson (3-0, 3.89) is 1-1, 2.86 in 3 career starts against the Mets, but hasn't faced them since August 12, 2003.

Mets vs. Ponson

Anderson 3-14 (.214)
Beltran 12-25 (.480) 2 HR 6 RBI
Castillo 1-3
Chavez 0-3
Delgado 10-41 (.244) 2 HR 7 RBI
Easley 5-13 (.385) 1 RBI
Heilman 1-2
Nixon 10-31 (.323) 4 RBI
Reyes 2-4 1 RBI
Schneider 1-8 (.125) 2 RBI
Tatis 1-2

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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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