Friday, September 29, 2006
9/28/06 recap
American LeagueThe AL Central race has become a lot closer than the Tigers had been hoping it would, but a playoff spot isn’t the prize now, they are just trying to hang on and win the division and avoid playing the Yankees. The Tigers fell behind 7-0 in Toronto after just 4 innings, but then rallied for 6 runs over 4 innings to make it a one-run lead. Toronto’s bullpen would not fail however, and the Jays were able to hang on and win 8-6.
If it weren’t for Joe Mauer, however, the Twins would still be a game out. The Royals and Twins engaged in a low-scoring battle that was scoreless through 8 and a half innings except for a 2 out RBI double in the 2nd by Kansas City rookie Paul Phillips. The Royals sent closer Joe Nelson, who allowed a run in his save the night before, to the mound for the bottom of the 9th. He retired Nick Punto and Jason Kubel to start the inning before Joe Mauer connected for his 13th home run of the season to tie the game. Joe Nathan pitched for the 5th consecutive game with a scoreless 10th. The Royals turned to Scott Dohmann to try and hang on to a tie. The Twins managed to load the bases with 1 out for Jason Bartlett, who sent the 2nd pitch of the at-bat deep to center field and past outfielder David DeJesus drive in the winning run.
For the 4th time this month, a pitcher has taken a no-hitter into the 9th inning, and only once has he gotten it. Today it was the Orioles’ Daniel Cabrera that came close to a no-no but gave up the 9th inning hit. Through 8 innings, one Yankee after another was sent back to the dugout wondering what went wrong in his turn at the plate. Cabrera, who had allowed 20 runs in his last 26.1 innings, got Johnny Damon to ground out for the first out of the inning. Just two outs to go. It was Robinson Cano, with 1 out in the 9th who would refuse to let his team be no-hit. After falling behind 0-1, Cano ripped a pitch into left field, and no effort by O’s outfielder Jeff Fiorentino could keep it from falling. Cabrera had to settle for a one hitter and Baltimore defeated the Yankees 7-1. The only run for New York came on 2 Oriole errors in the 7th.
National League
Just when Cardinal fans thought they might be starting back up in the right direction, their team proved them wrong. The Brewers had a comfortable 9-1 lead over St. Louis after just 4 innings and Doug Davis managed to hold the lead despite walking 8 batters in 6 innings. The Cardinals were asking starting pitcher Jason Marquis to come up big with a win, but he allowed 6 runs on 5 hits in 2 innings and his ERA rose above 6.00 and the Cardinal offense couldn’t even come close to a comeback.
Even more bad news for Cards fans, the Astros shut out Pittsburgh 3-0 thanks to a great performance by Roy Oswalt to narrow the gap between Houston and St. Louis to half a game. Oswalt pitched 7 scoreless innings and improved to 15-8 with a 2.98 ERA and Brad Lidge pitched a scoreless 9th for his 32nd save of the season, while the offense scored 3 in the 5th inning to support the pitching staff. Pirates pitcher Tom Gorzelanny cruised through the first 4 innings without allowing even a base runner, but hit a wall in the 5th, as 3 of the first 4 batters he faced singled. He then hit Ausmus to load the bases with one outs and walked Oswalt to make it 2-0 Astros. A force at home got him his 2nd out, but he then walked another batter to give Houston their 3rd and final run. He got out of the inning a few pitches later with no more damage and pitched a hitless 6th and 7th before leaving for a pinch-hitter.
Today’s game between the Dodgers and Rockies was a reminder of what Coors Field used to be like. The Rockies took the 1st lead of the day on a 3-run homer by Matt Holliday. Even after Brad Penny left after 1 inning with a sore back, the Dodgers bounced back for 4 runs in each the 2nd and 3rd. Their 8-3 lead would not last long, however, as new Dodger pitcher Chad Billingsley allowed 6 RBI singles in the 4th, allowing the Rockies to take a 10-8 lead. It could have been a lot worse, though, if Jeff Baker had not been picked off at 2nd for the 2nd out of the inning and Matt Holliday’s fly out to end the inning had gone a few feet further. The Dodgers would still not give up though, scoring 2 to tie the game in the 5th, and rallied for their own 7 run inning in the 6th. In the Dodgers’ 6th, 1st baseman James Loney hit a 2-run homer, his 2nd home run of the game, and his 9th RBI of the game. His season total for RBIs improved from 8 to 17. The Dodgers ended up winning 19-11 to keep up with the Padres’ pace.
The Dodgers win also widened their lead over the Phillies, who lost 3-1 to the Nationals in a game that started at nearly midnight eastern time. They didn’t finish until 2:07 am. This was just 1 day after the two teams played 14 innings in a Philly win. Ryan Church homered in the 2nd to give Washington the first lead of the day, 1-0. An error by Nats’ 3rd baseman Ryan Zimmerman in the 5th cost them that lead, but they were able to keep the score tied 1-1. The Phillies’ downfall began in the 6th inning as Washington was able to load the bases with no outs on 3 singles, and after an out, Nationals’ catcher Brian Schneider singled to right scoring the decisive 2 runs. The loss means the Phillies are 2 out for the Wild Card. It also means that the Padres, who beat Arizona 12-4, have clinched at least a tie for a playoff spot, and one more Padre win or Philly loss clinches a playoff spot for sure.
After being outscored 25-1 in the first 2 games of the series, the Mets defeated the Braves 7-4 thanks to a solid start by Orlando Hernandez and 4 RBIs from Carlos Delgado. Carlos Beltran hit his 41st homer of the season and Jose Reyes stole his 64th base of the season for the Mets. Braves pitcher Kyle Davies has now allowed 13 earned runs in his last 6 innings pitched. The Mets also found out that they will be without Pedro Martinez in the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle. Martinez was 9-8 with a 4.48 ERA before the injury.
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