Philadelphia 3 – Florida 1
W: Kyle Kendrick (8-6) L: Anibal Sanchez (8-8) S: Ryan Madson (31)
HR: Logan Morrison (20)
SB: Emilio Bonifacio (37)
- Kyle Kendrick held the fish hitless until the fifth inning when Logan Morrison homered. Kendrick has a shot to make the postseason roster with the strong outing. The Phillies bullpen continues to be outstanding as the three key players all have superb ERAs – Ryan Madson (2.63), Brad Lidge (1.29) and Antonio Bastardo (1.98).
- Hanley Ramirez underwent shoulder surgery and is expected to be ready for the 2012 season. Keep in mind he might not be 100 percent to start the season and he'll be one of the more difficult players to rank next season.
Washington 10 – New York 1
W: Tommy Milone (1-0) L: Chris Schwinden (0-2)
CS: Angel Pagan (7)
- This was actually a good pitcher's duel as the two starters combined to allow only two earned runs over a total of 10.2 innings. Pedro Beato and Manny Acosta then combined to get shelled to the tune of seven earned runs over only 1.2 innings.
- It was the sixth straight loss for the Mets who have only scored five runs over their last four games. David Wright committed his sixth error in his last six games.
Philadelphia 2 – Florida 1 (10)
W: Michael Schwimer (1-0) L: Burke Badenhop (2-2)
HR: Jose Lopez (8), John Mayberry (14)
- Cliff Lee turned in another dominant performance before allowing the game-tying solo shot to Jose Lopez in the ninth. He struck out 12 and walked none in the no-decision.
- The Marlins now have scored one run in each of their last four games. Logan Morrison has filed a grievance for being demoted a few weeks back and citing these last four games will likely help his cause.
Tampa Bay 9 – Boston 2
W: Jeremy Hellickson (13-10) L: Kyle Weiland (0-2)
HR: Evan Longoria (27) Casey Kotchman (10), B.J. Upton (21)
CS: Evan Longoria (2)
- How good were the Rays pitchers this game? Zero extra base hits allowed. The Rays have some of strange control on the BoSox this year and could make the Wild Card a very interesting race if they can keep this up.
- Josh Beckett (ankle) vs. James Shields (1-8 at Fenway) should be very interesting Friday night.
Cincinnati 8 – Chicago 6
W: Nick Masset (3-5) L: James Russell (1-6)
HR: Carlos Pena (28), Marlon Byrd (8), Brandon Phillips (16), Chris Heisey (17), Jay Bruce (31)
SB: Miguel Cairo (3)
- Brandon Phillips is on quite some streak going 5-for-15 (.333) with four homers and five RBI his last five games.
- Jay Bruce hit a pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the 11th to get the win for the Reds. Oddly enough, the over/under in Vegas on Bruce homers for the year was 31.5. Think he'll get it?
San Francisco 8 – Colorado 5
W: Ryan Vogelsong (11-7) L: Jhoulys Chacin (11-12) S: Santiago Casilla (4)
HR: Pablo Sandoval (20), Brandon Belt (6), Jordan Pacheco (2), Chris Ianetta (13)
- Pablo Sandoval hit for the cycle, leading the Giants to fifth straight win. In an odd development, Bruce Bochy said after the game he was actually rubbing Sandoval's legs to get them loose to leg out a triple, which he did. Name the last Giant to hit for the cycle – hint, he plays in the National League for a team that wears red.
- Name the other player to hit for the cycle this season (easy one here). If you follow me on Twitter - @KCPayne26 – you'll know Friday's starter, Madison Bumgarner has a 2.34 ERA with a 63:14 K:BB ratio over his last eight starts (56.1 innings).
Texas 7 – Cleveland 4
W: Alexi Ogando (13-8) L: Fausto Carmona (6-15)
HR: Adrian Beltre (25), Josh Hamilton (22)
SB: Endy Chavez 2 (10)
- Alexi Ogando tossed six scoreless innings and appears to have settled down after a 7.14 ERA in August (six starts, 29.0 innings).
- Keep in mind that Fausto Carmona was an All-Star last season and is 6-15 with a 5.26 ERA and a 1.410 WHIP this year.
Kansas City 7 – Chicago 2
W: Jeff Francis (6-16) L: Mark Buehrle (11-9)
HR: Melky Cabrera (18), Billy Butler (19)
SB: Juan Pierre (27)
- The White Sox are officially eliminated from the playoffs. I know, a shocker. The Royals have now won five straight.
- The Royals have shut down Luke Hochevar after 198 innings. Hochevar had a 3.52 ERA in 79.2 innings since the All-Star break.
Oakland 6 – Detroit 1
W: Brandon McCarthy (9-8) L: Max Scherzer (14-9)
HR: Delmon Young (9), Cliff Pennington (8), David DeJesus (9), Kurt Suzuki (14)
SB Coco Crisp (41), Brandon Allen (3)
- Brandon McCarthy hurled seven strong innings, allowing only one run while striking out eight and walking two. The Tigers only managed two extra base hits against the Oakland starter.
- Jemile Weeks missed his second consecutive game with leg cramps.
Pittsburgh 6 – Los Angeles 2
W: Ross Ohlendorf (1-2) L: Dana Eveland (2-1) S: Joel Hanrahan (38)
HR: Ross Ohlendorf (1), Russ Mitchell (2)
SB: Dee Gordon (19), Alex Presley (8), Chase D'Arnaud (11)
CS: Andrew McCutchen (10), Matt Kemp (10)
- Ross Ohlendorf helped his cause with a three-run homer while allowing only two runs over seven innings. It helped that Matt Kemp and James Loney were the only Dodger regulars in the lineup.
- Joel Hanrahan earned the save by getting Aaron Miles to fly out with the bases loaded in the ninth inning.