Thursday, July 5, 2007

Rockies Roll Mets; Santana Strums Yankees

American League Cleveland 4 Detroit 6 - The Tigers snapped the Indians' 6-game winning streak and clawed back to within 2 games in the AL Central. Ivan Rodriguez and Carlos Guillen each had run-scoring triples in the game. Minnesota 6 NY Yankees 2 - The Yankees had won two straight from the Twins, so it was up to Minnesota's ace, Johan Santana (right) to quell the uprising, and he did, with 7 innings of 4 hit work, allowing only 2 earned runs while striking out 5. Santana got win #10 against 5 losses and kept Minnesota 7 12 behind the Indians and 5 1/2 behind 2nd-place Detroit in the AL Central. The Twins will have ample opportunity to make up some of that ground later this month as they play a series at home against the Tigers and visit Cleveland late in July for a 3-game set. Seattle 4 Kansas City 0 - Jarrod Washburn (8-6) hurled 8 innings of shutout ball and J.J. Putz finished the game with a perfect 9th for his 25th save of the season, getting manager John McLaren his first win as manager of the Mariners. Coupled with the Angels' loss at Texas, Seattle has drawn to within 3 1/2 games of LA in the AL West. Other AL Scores Tampa Bay 5 Boston 7 - Boston leads AL East by 11 1/2 Toronto 10 Oakland 3 - D. McGowan, W (5-4) 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER Baltimore 9 Chi White Sox 6 LA Angels 2 Texas 4 National League NY Mets 7 Colorado 17 - David Wright blasted a 3-run homer in the top of the first to give the Mets an early lead, but it didn't last long as Colorado scored in every inning from the 2nd through the 8th, hammering out 20 hits and getting 10 free passes from Mets' pitchers. The Rockies accomplished the unthinkable - sweeping both the Mets and the Yankees in the same season. Todd Helton and Garrett Atkins both tallied 5 RBI in the game and Matt Holliday boosted his league-leading average to .352 with 3 hits in 3 at-bats while being the recipient of 3 walks. The schizophrenic Rockies, who went 11-3 from June 6-21, then lost 8 straight, have bounced back to win four of their last five. They are still in the NL West mix, in 4th place, 7 games behind San Diego. San Francisco 9 Cincinnati 5 - If rookie Fred Lewis (right) could get more playing time, fans might just forget all about Barry Bonds and his steroid-induced assault at Hank Aaron's home run record. Lewis cracked his second grand slam homer of the season. In just 99 at-bats, he's already hit for the cycle in one game and won two others with bases-loaded long balls. At .291, Lewis could easily challenge for rookie of the year honors with more plate appearances, but, as we all sadly know, this season is supposed to be all about Barry, so, step aside, youngster, there's history being made. (Meanwhile, Giants fans are drooling over the kids obvious skills.) Philadelphia 8 Houston 3 - With the Mets stumbling at Colorado, the Phillies have fought back to within 4 games of New York and are just a game behind Atlanta in the NL East, where it's beginning to look like an all-or-nothing proposition as the wild card will almost surely come from the Western division. The Phils banged out 4 homers against the Astros, including Ryan Howard's 20th. The Phils have their work cut out for them, with three games at the suddenly-hot-again Rockies, then, after the All-Star break tree at home against St. Louis followed by 3 at LA and 4 at San Diego. Should the Phillies survive that stretch, they may be in position for another run at the Amazins' and perennial NL East contender Atlanta. Florida 0 San Diego 1 - Chris Young stopped Florida on 5 hits over 7 innings, but the Padres waited until the bottom of the 9th to score when the Miguel to Miguel connection came up empty. With the bases loaded, Kevin Kouzmanoff grounded to Miguel Cabrera at third, who threw home to Miguel Olivo. Olivo couldn't handle the throw and dropped the ball, allowing Mike Cameron to score. The Padres took a 1-game lead on the Dodgers, who lost to Atlanta. Other NL Scores Chi Cubs 0 Washington 6 - M. Chico, W (4-5), 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER Arizona 4 St. Louis 5 Milwaukee 3 Pittsburgh 5 Atlanta 5 LA Dodgers 2

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