Verlander's 2-Hit Gem Strangles Tribe; Delgado Leads Mets to 5th Straight Win

Players of the Day for Friday, May 8, 2009 American League Justin Verlander outdueled Cleveland's Cliff Lee, allowing 2 hits and 2 walks in Detroit's 1-0 squeaker over the Indians. Verlander allowed a single in the first inning, but gave up no more hits until Victor Martinez's 1-out double in the 7th. Martinez was the only Indian baserunner to reach second. Improving his record to 3-2, Verlander punched out 11 batters on strikes and faced just two more than the minimum, in complete command throughout the complete game - the fourth of his career - despite the tight score. The Tigers didn't get on the board until the top of the eighth, but Detroit's ace made it stand up. Verlander has won 3 straight and has allowed just 11 hits and 1 earned run in his last 23 innings, while striking out 31. National League The NY Mets won their fifth straight as Carlos Delgado provided 5 RBI in their 7-3 win over the visiting Pirates. After singling home a pair of runs in the first inning, Delgado delivered the game-changing blow with a three-run homer in the 8th inning, as the mets erupted for 5 runs in the inning. An uneventful single in the 6th rounded out a 3-for-5 night for the All-Star first baseman. New York is now tied with the Marlins, both 1/2 game behind Philadelphia in the NL East. Off to somewhat of a slow start, Delgado's home run was just his 4th of the season. He needs just 27 more long balls to join the 500 club. That would make his eventual entry into the Hall of Fame nearly a certainty. He already has surpassed 2000 hits and 1500 RBI in his exceptional career.

Burnett, Jays Dump ChiSox; Delgado Homers Lead Mets

Players of the Day from Tuesday, September 9, 2008 American League A. J. Burnett (17-10) shut down the White Sox on one hit over 7 innings, allowing just one unearned run, as the Blue Jays won their 9th straight, 3-1, over Chicago. Burnett, the AL strikeout leader with 208, struck out 7 and walked one in the first of two against Central division leader Chicago. In the second game, Marco Scutaro, Vernon Wells and Scott Rolen each homered and the Blue Jays distanced the White Sox by an 8-2 score. The Blue Jays have now won 10 straight and are becoming involved in the AL divisional and wild card races. The double kill on Chicago left the Jays 8 1/2 behind Tampa Bay in the East and 7 behind Boston for the wild card. Tampa topped Boston, 5-4, to up their division lead to 1 1/2 games. The Jays' wins were especially helpful to the Twins, who gained 1 1/2 on the White Sox and are just one game out of first place in the Central. Notes: Alex Rodriguez hit his 33rd home run and had 3 RBI to help the Yankees defeat LA, 7-1. The Angels' magic number remained at 2 as the Rangers beat Seattle, 7-3. Rodriguez has 95 RBI. Rodriguez needs 2 RBI to reach 1600 for his career and 5 to reach 100 for the 11th consecutive season. National League Carlos Delgado smacked his 34th and 35th home runs, drove in 3 runs and scored 3 times as the Mets outlasted the Nationals, 10-8. Coupled with Philly's 10-8 loss to the Marlins, the Mets improved their edge in the East to 2 1/2 games. Notes: In the Central, the Cubs and Brewers both lost, so the lead remains 4 1/2 games for Chicago. In the West, the Dodgers won for the 9th time in their last 10 outings, topping the Padres, 6-2, while the Diamondbacks were losing their second straight to the Giants and 5th straight overall, 5-4. That gave LA a 2 1/2 game lead in the division. The race in the West may well be over. LA doesn't face another contending team for the remainder of their season. Following their series wrap-up on Wednesday with the Padres, the rest of the games are against Colorado (3), San Fran (6), San Diego (3) and Pittsburgh (4).

Yankees' Season Withers on Pedroia Slam; Delgado Puts Mets Back in First

Players of the Day from Wednesday, August 27, 2008 American League Dustin Pedroia may have finally delivered the blow that ended the Yankees' post-season hopes. With the Red Sox already ahead 7-2 in the and three runs already plated in the 8th inning, Pedroia drove a David Robertson offering to left center, up and over the wall, a grand slam that finally, maybe mercifully, ended New York's season. The Red Sox won, 11-3, the second straight one-sided Boston win over the Yankees, leaving New York 7 games behind Boston in the wild card race with only 30 games left to play. The task seems too gargantuan, the opposition too strong, for the Yankees to do anything except slip quietly into the oblivious off-season. Notes: Tampa Bay got another exceptional performance from Matt Garza (12-7), topping Toronto, 1-0, to remain 3 1/2 ahead of Boston in the East. The Central is still very much up in the air as the White Sox lost and the Twins won, leaving Minnesota a game behind Chicago. The Indians won their 10th straight, a 9-7 win over Detroit, solidifying their hold on third place, 10 1/2 back, but hopelessly out of any kind of playoff contention. In the West, the Angels dropped a 6-5 decision to Oakland, keeping their magic number at 15. National League Carlos Delgado is feeling it. A night after the Mets blew a 7-run lead and lost to the Phillies in extra innings, Delgado stepped up with a pair of solo homers and an RBI single to lead the Mets to a 6-3 win over Philly and back into first place by 1/2 game. Delgado has hit 4 homers (30) and driven in 9 runs (93) in his past 3 games. Notes: The Marlins beat Atlanta, 4-1, and remain 5 1/2 back in the East. The Cubs got some help from the Cardinals, who beat Milwaukee, 5-3, while Chicago was winning, 2-0, over the Pirates. That left Chicago 6 games in front of Milwaukee and the Brewers hanging onto a 3 1/2 game edge over the Cards in the wild card. The Dodgers lost their 6th straight and Arizona lost their 4th straight, as the West race turns into a war of attrition. All of a sudden, the Rockies are just 6 games back. The Diamondbacks are the only team in the West with a winning record, at 68-65.

Sizemore Joins 30-30 Club; Delgado Bombs Astros

Players of the Day from Monday, August 25, 2008 American League Grady Sizemore socked a pair of solo home runs to become the latest member of the 30-30 club as the Indians downed the Tigers, 4-3, in 11 innings. Sizemore hit his 30th and 31st homers, along with his 34 stolen bases, puts him in an elite class with 13 other AL players who have hit 30 homers and stolen 30 bases in a season. Notes: The White Sox actually won one and lost one on Monday, losing the completion of an April 28 game which was halted by rain in the 11th inning with the score tied 3-3. The game was finished in the 14th, as the Sox played the role of home team at Camden Yards, with the Orioles coming out on top, 4-3. In the regularly scheduled game, Jim Thome cracked his 535th career home run to give the Sox a 4-3 win and move past Jimmie Foxx into 15th place on the all time home run list. Thome needs one more homer to tie Mickey Mantle. The "split" gave Chicago a 1-game edge over the Twins in the Central division as Minnesota dropped their third straight, losing 4-2, at Seattle. Boston visits the Yankees for three games beginning Tuesday night in the most crucial series of the season, especially for New York. The Yankees have been hanging around, and are 5 games behind the Red Sox in the AL East and wild card standings. Unless the Yankees take at least 2 out of these 3 games, their season may be all but over. National League With just two swings, Carlos Delgado bombed the Houston Astros and kept the NY Mets in first place in the NL East. Delgado unloaded with a pair of three run homers as the Mets toppled Houston, 9-1, and remained 1/2 game in front of the Phillies in the division. The Mets visit Philly for two games beginning Tuesday before a 3-game trip to Florida on Friday. It should prove to be the most important 5-game road trip of the season for the Mets. Florida is only 5 1/2 behind. Notes: The Cubs won their 3rd straight, 12-3, at Pittsburgh, to improve to a 5 game lead over second place Milwaukee, idle on Monday. Philadelphia completed a 4-game sweep of the Dodgers, winning 5-0 on Monday. Arizona also lost, 4-2, at San Diego, to remain 3 games in front of LA.

Delgado Starts Subway Series with 9-RBI Bang; Sabathia Blanks Reds

Players of the Day from Friday, June 27 2008 American League After a rough start to the season, C. C. Sabathia has turned things around in a hurry. Over his last four starts (3 wins), he's allowed just 20 hits and 4 earned runs over 32 innings. On Friday, he was in complete control, blanking the Cincinnati Reds on 4 hits over 8 innings in a 6-0 Cleveland win. Sabathia (6-8) struck out 11, including Ken Griffey Jr. three times, while walking two. Generally pitching better than his record indicates, Sabathia carries an ERA of 3.78 and a 1.24 WHIP. Cleveland trails the White Sox by 7 1/2 games and the red-hot Twins, who have won 10 straight, by 7. Notes: The American League onslaught continued against their undermanned NL opponents, winning 11 of 15 interleague games on Friday night. That boosts the AL's record since June 13 to 123-70 over the NL. National League Carlos Delgado didn't get off to a very promising start, flying out with a man aboard to end the first and striking out in the 3rd inning as the Yankees forged a 4-3 lead. All of that changed in the 5th inning, as Delgado doubled home a pair of runs, then hit a grand slam in the 6th, followed up with a 3-run homer in the 8th, as the Mets buried the Yankees, 15-6, in the Shea Stadium game of a home and home subway series. Delgado drove in 9 runs, a Mets single-game record. Notes: In the Yankee Stadium nightcap, the Yankees turned the tables, blanking the Mets, 9-0, getting 6 innings out of starter Sidney Ponson. Streaking Bobby Abreu went 4-for-4, with a double and three singles, driving in 4 runs. Over his last 5 games, Abreu is 10-for-20, with two homers and 9 RBI.

Boston rookie no-hits O's; Mets top Braves again

American League Baltimore 0 Boston 10 - Less than a week ago, Clay Buchholz was pitching for Pawtucket in the International League. On Saturday night, he became the toast of the American League. Buchholz (right), in just his second major league start, twirled a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles, who lost for the 10th time in their last 11 games and were also recent victims of a 30-3 whipping by the Texas Rangers, so the rookie picked the right night and the right team for his best stuff. The rookie, now 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA, wasn't overpowering, but changed speeds well and followed the game plan of catcher Jason Varitek nearly flawlessly, striking out 9 and walking 3 batters. Buchholz was called up on Saturday when teams were allowed to expand their rosters. According to manager Terry Francona, he'll probably stick with the big club for a while. Tampa Bay 6 NY Yankees 9 - Alex Rodriguez socked his major league-leading 45th home run in the first inning - a 2-run job - and added a 2-run double in the 4th to pad his MLB-best RBI total to 129. He also singled, going 3-4 for the night. New York continues to chase Boston in the East, 5 games back, but they now have a 2-game edge in the wild card standings as Seattle has lost 8 straight. Chi White Sox 0 Cleveland 7 - While the Mariners have been a picture of collapse, the Indians have been exactly the opposite, winning 9 in a row and opening up a 5 1/2-game lead on Detroit in the Central. Paul Byrd blanked Chicago with a his second 4-hit complete-game shutout in less than a month. Bryd (14-5) matched his effort of August 6 at Minnesota, when he shut out the Twins, 4-0. Other AL Scores Kansas City 4 Minnesota 6 Seattle 1 Toronto 2 Texas 7 LA Angels 6 Detroit 6 Oakland 1 National League NY Mets 5 Atlanta 1 - A couple of guys named Carlos led the Mets to their second straight win over the fading Braves. Carlos Beltran (right) went 3-4 with a solo homer - his 26th - and scored three times, and Carlos Delgado homered for the 2nd straight game (21), driving in 2 runs. The Mets increased their lead over Philly to 3 games and dropped the Braves to 6 1/2 back. The Mets will try for the sweep on Sunday afternoon in Atlanta. Pittsburgh 3 Milwaukee 12 - Kevin Mench singled, doubled and homered in 3 at-bats, scored four times and drove in 3 runs as the Brewers banged out 15 hits to remain 1 1/2 back of Chicago in the NL Central. Cincinnati 3 St. Louis 11 - The Cardinals made it back to the .500 mark again, and stayed 2 games behind the Cubs. Former pitcher Rick Ankiel went 3-4, drove in 3 runs, scored twice and is batting .354. LA Dodgers 0 San Diego 7 - Jake Peavy struck out 9 and blanked the Dodgers on 2 hits over 7 innings to improve his record to 16-5 and drop his ERA to 2.10, best in the majors. The Padres remained .001 ahead of the Diamondbacks in the NL West race. Colorado 7 Arizona 13 - Arizona scored 12 runs in the first three innings and never looked back. Tony Clark stroked a 3-run homer in the second inning and drove in two more with a single in the third to help keep the D-Backs even with the Padres. Other NL Scores Houston 3 Chi Cubs 4 Philadelphia 6 Florida 12 San Francisco 1 Washington 4

Baker 1-hits Royals; Delgado breaks out

American League Kansas City 0 Minnesota 5 - Twins' starter Scott Baker (right) worked a perfect game through 8 innings, but then gave up a walk to Jose Batista to open the 9th and gave up a single with one out in the inning to Mike Sweeney and settled for a perfectly respectable one-hit complete game shutout. Baker (8-6) mowed down the Royals on 111 pitches, throwing an incredible 81 for strikes. Texas 6 LA Angels 7, 10 innings - The Angels are now up 6 1/2-games in the AL West as they won their 5th straight, improving their home record to 45-20, tops in the majors. Howie Kendrick singled home Garret Anderson with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th with his 3rd hit and 3rd RBI of the game. Other AL Scores Kansas City 9 Minnesota 4 Baltimore 9 Boston 8 - O's end 9-game skid Tampa Bay 9 NY Yankees 1 Chi White Sox 5 Cleveland 8 Seattle 5 Toronto 7 - Mariners lose 7th straight Detroit 4 Oakland 5, 10 innings National League NY Mets 7 Atlanta 1 - Carlos Delgado (right) socked a 3-run homer off Atlanta's Tim Hudson and John Maine stymied the Braves on 3 hits over 7 innings, giving up just 1 earned run as the Mets snapped their 5-game losing streak. New York dropped Atlanta to 5 1/2 games back in the NL East while maintaining their 2-game lead over Philly. Delgado also doubled and scored in the 9th while Jose Reyes doubled, homered and stole his MLB-best 73rd base. Cincinnati 5 St. Louis 8 - Rick Ankiel's 6th inning grand slam erased a 4-3 Cincinnati lead as the Cardinals closed in on the Cubs in the NL Central. St. Louis is 2 games back and 1/2 behind 2nd place Milwaukee in the division. LA Dodgers 4 San Diego 6 - The Padres took over first place in the NL West by .001, winning for the 8th time in the last ten games. The Dodgers trail both San Diego and Arizona by 4 games. Other NL Scores Houston 6 Chi Cubs 1 Philadelphia 9 Florida 2 San Francisco 3 Washington 2 Pittsburgh 2 Milwaukee 3 Colorado 7 Arizona 3, 10 innings

Beckett's Back: Goes to 8-0; Hudson's 4 Hits Lead D-Backs to 6th Straight

American League Josh Beckett (right) returned to the mound on Tuesday after a brief stint on the DL. It was like he never left, as the Red Sox ace worked over the Indians for 7 innings, allowing just 3 hits and a walk and the resultant 2 earned runs in Boston's 4-2 win at Fenway - their 5th straight. Beckett appeared to have command of all his pitches, throwing 87, striking out 7 and joining the Angels' John Lackey as the only pitchers in the majors with 8 wins. While Lackey has suffered a pair of losses, Beckett still has a zero in the "L" column. He's also down with the leaders in ERA, at 2.65 and WHIP, 0.97. If all goes well, Beckett will be on the mound again on Sunday, as the Sox host the Yankees. Gary Sheffield pounded a two-run homer, a three-run shot, singled, scored twice and drove in 5 runs as the Detroit Tigers routed the Devils Rays, 14-2, in Tampa. The win moved the Tigers closer to the AL Central leading Indians - Detroit is 1 1/2 back. Starter Jeremy Bonderman improved to 4-0, allowing only 1 earned run over 6 1/3 innings while striking out 8. Justin Morneau doubled twice, cracked his 16th home run and drove in 4 runs to lead the Twins to a 9-2 win over the visiting White Sox. The Twins and Sox are tied for 3rd in the AL Central, 5 1/2 games back, both chasing Cleveland. Other AL Scores LA Angels 4 Seattle 1 - I. Suzuki - 22-gm. hitting streak Toronto 3 NY Yankees 2 Texas 4 Oakland 0 - A's, 3-6 last 9 gms. Baltimore 6 Kansas City 2 - O's, 4 straight wins National League Orlando Hudson (right) rapped out 4 singles, drove in 4 runs and scored once over 6 at-bats, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to an 11-5 win at Philly, their 6th straight. The D-Backs trail the Dodgers by 1/2 game and moved into 2nd place in the NL West as San Diego lost at Pittsburgh. The Phillies, meanwhile, seem incapable of handling success well. After finally exceeding the .500 mark at 26-24, they've lost two straight to Arizona, putting them in danger of falling below the even mark again as they try to avoid the sweep tonight. Carlos Delgado spanked his 2nd home run of the night in the bottom of the 12th inning to send Mets fans home happy with a dramatic 5-4 win over the Giants. Delgado's 7th homer of the season provided the winning margin after the Giants had taken a 1-run lead in the top of the inning. But in the bottom frame, Jose Reyes walked, took second on a balk by reliever Armando Benitez, was sacrificed to third and scored on Benitez's second balk. That set the stage for Delgado who send a blast into the right field stands. Brad Penny threw shut out ball for 6 1/3 innings and the LA Dodgers routed the Nationals, 10-0 at Washington. Penny didn't miss a beat, becoming the 4th National Leaguer to reach 7 wins, allowing just 4 hits and a walk. Penny has lost just once this season. The wheels are coming off for the St. Louis Cardinals, but they're rolling right along for the Rockies. Colorado won their 7th straight, an 8-3 chuckler over the struggling Cardinals who lost their 3rd straight and 9th of their last 13. Worse yet, the loss went to Braden Looper, who has been the most reliable starter for St. Louis. Looper was victimized by catcher Yorvit Torreabla's first home run of the season. Naturally, it was the bases-loaded variety. When things are going bad, they just go bad. For Colorado, they have to just keep winning as, despite their recent success, they still trail the LA Dodgers by 5 1/2 and have Arizona and San Diego in front of them in the action-packed NL West. Other NL Scores Pittsburgh 4 San Diego 1 - T. Gorzelanny (W, 6-3) Cincinnati 2 Houston 1 - Astros, 9 straight losses Milwaukee 5 Atlanta 4

Overbay Heroic in Jays' 9-8 Win; Delgado's 5 RBI Lifts Mets

American League Lance Overbay hit a 2-run home run (7) and singled in the game winning run in the 13th to complete a 3-7, 4 RBI day in Toronto's 9-8 win at Minnesota. Seattle catcher Kenji Johjima banged a 4th inning grand slam and Richie Sexson has a 3-run shot in the 9th as the visiting Mariners pounded Kansas City, 9-1. Johjima, from Sasebo, Japan, in his 2nd full season, may be a real fantasy find, batting .324 with 7 homers and 22 RBI. He's had at least one RBI in each of his last 5 games. Last season, he quietly hit .291 over 140 games driving in 76 runs and smacking 18 homers. Mariners' center fielder, Ichiro Suzuki, extended his hitting streak to 19 games, currently the longest in the majors. C.C. Sabathia became the 4th AL pitcher to reach 7 wins, as visiting Cleveland stretched their lead in the AL Central to 1 1/2 over Detroit with a 6-3 win. Sabathia wasn't razor sharp, but good enough to go 7 innings, allowing 3 earned runs on 6 hits and a walk while fanning 6. The highlight of the game may have been Marcus Thames' 4th inning broken bat home run which cleared the wall in right center with ease. Why isn't this guy starting? Kelvim Escobar (6-2) won for the 5th time in his last 6 starts, occluding the Yankees in a 3-1 Angels win in NY.

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Escobar allowed just 6 hits and a walk over 7 innings, allowing 1 earned run while getting 8 Yankees on Ks, including Alex Rodriguez twice and leadoff hitter Bobby Abreu 3 times. He also stopped Derek Jeter's 19-game hitting streak, limiting the shortstop to an 0-4 effort. The West-leading Angels are 4 1/2 in front of Seattle, while the Yanks dropped to 11 1/2 behind Boston and tied for 3rd in the AL East. The Angels will look to complete the sweep of the Yankees on Sunday afternoon. Other AL Scores Tampa Bay @ Chicago White Sox, rained out Baltimore 8 Oakland 3 - B. Roberts, 3-4, 3 RBI, SB (17) Boston 7 Texas 4 - Red Sox, 7-3 last 10 gms. National League The NY Mets cemented their dominance in the NL East with a 7-3 win at Florida on Saturday, highlighted by a pair of home runs by Carlos Delgado (right) who smacked a two-run shot in the 3rd inning, followed by a 3-run blast in the 5th. The Mets' first baseman also singled and scored in the 2nd inning, giving him 3 hits in 5 at-bats. Delgado, who's been in a prolonged early-season slump, was moved down to 5th in the batting order and responded with his 4th and 5th homers. A perennial RBI leader, he now has 28 on the year. The Mets lead Atlanta by 3 1/2 games and surging Philly (8-3 in their last 11) by 6 1/2. The Phillies won at Atlanta, 6-4, to go over .500 for the first time this season (25-24). Antonio Alfonseca worked the ninth inning, allowing just one hit for his first save since 2002. San Diego's rookie starter, Justin Germano, tamed the Milwaukee Brewers over 6 innings, en route to a 4-2 home win for the Padres and Germano's 3rd win without a loss in 4 starts. Germano allowed only 5 hits without walking a batter, giving up 2 earned runs on solo home runs by Geoff Jenkins and Ryan Braun. Germano's stats are bordering on the ridiculous. Through 25 innings pitches, his ERA is 1.08 and WHIP is 0.76. Not a strikeout artist, Germano has only 9 Ks, but has only walked two. The Padres' win, coupled with LA's 4-2 loss to the Cubs, put those two into a tie for 1st place in the NL West at 28-21. Arizona is one game back (28-23). Aaron Cook hurled his first complete game of the season and 5th of his career, as the Colorado Rockies knocked off the Giants, 6-1, in San Francisco. Cook allowed just 5 hits and 4 walks, and kept Barry Bonds grounded, inducing groundouts to 1st, short, and twice to 2nd. Bonds has now gone homerless and without an RBI in his last 14 games. Saturday's 0-4 effort reduced his batting average to a pedestrian .265. Bonds had been at .329 on May 8, when he last homered. Other NL Scores St. Louis 8 Washington 6 Pittsburgh 9 Cincinnati 5 Arizona 5 Houston 4 - C. Lee, HR (10), 3 RBI (44) leads NL, J. Valverde, S (18) leads NL

Cleveland to Play Home Set in Milwaukee; Marlins' Cabrera at .500

Monday's Peak Performers and Fabulous Flops American League Alex Rodriguez continued his single-handed attack on AL pitchers with his 5th home run last night, but Bobby Abreu stole some of his thunder with a 2-run shot of his own and a pair of run scoring singles in the Yankees' 8-2 win at Minnesota. Abreu finished the night 3 for 5, with 4 RBI and 3 runs scored. He's batting .348 in his first full season with New York. Toronto's A. J. Burnett bounced back from a horrid first outing (2 innings, 5 hits, 4 walks, 6 earned runs on April 4 at Detroit) with a solid 6 2/3 innings against Kansas City. Burnett allowed the visiting Royals just 1 earned run on 3 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 5. The Blue Jays' bats provided more than enough offense for the 9-1 win. Jim Thome (right) crashed a solo homer in the 4th inning and drove in another run in the 8th with a single to right, providing all the offense starter Jose Contreras would need in the 4-1 White Sox win at Oakland. Thome added another single to go 3-4, while Contreras scattered 4 hits and 4 walks for 1 earned run over 6 innings, evening his record at 1-1. The Cleveland Indians had their games against Seattle canceled for the 4th straight day Monday after freak, heavy snow has kept the Indians and Mariners inside since Cleveland's home opener was cut short Friday night. The Indians were leading 4-0 with 2 outs in the 5th inning, but the game was called and the players haven't seen the field since. In an unprecedented move, MLB has ordered their series against the LA Angels, which was scheduled to start Tuesday in Cleveland, moved to Milwaukee's Miller Field which has a retractable roof and is in good playing shape. With the Brewers on the road until April 18, the Indians can call Milwaukee home, though officials feel that the team should be able to play their 3-game series with the White Sox - which is supposed to begin Friday - at Jacobs Field in Cleveland. As of yesterday, there was still about a foot of snow on the ground in Cleveland and another storm threatening a rain/snow mix tonight. The four games with Seattle have not yet been rescheduled. National League San Diego's Chris Young outdueled San Francisco's Matt Cain for the 1-0 Padres' home win. Young allowed just 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5. Cain gave up just 1 hit, but the Padres pushed across the only run of the game in the bottom of the 7th with pinch hitter Geoff Blum's sac fly plating shortstop Kahlil Greene. Braden Looper, who began his major league career with the Cardinals in 1998, but spent the next 8 seasons working out of the bullpen, has become a key in St. Louis' rotation, hurling a dandy 2-hitter at the Pirates last night in chilly Pittsburgh. Looper was re-acquired by the Cards in 2006 and used exclusively in relief, but got his first win in just his second start in 2007, going 7 innings without allowing a run in the 3-0 St. Louis win. The NY Mets welcomed the Phillies into Shea Stadium for a three-game set with an 11-5 thrashing, turning a 5-4 deficit around by scoring 7 runs in the 8th inning. Carlos Delgado (right) led the assault, going 3 for 3 with a pair of RBI while scoring twice. The 5-2 Mets have shown a propensity for scoring runs in bunches. Last night marked the third time they've put up 10 or more runs. The Houston Astros are never going to be confused with a power ball club, but through 7 games they're averaging only 2.71 runs per game. One reason the Astros aren't scoring has to be the failure of first baseman and cleanup hitter Lance Berkman to produce. Berkman drove in just his 3rd run of the season in last night's 5-3 loss at Chicago. He's gone 4-24 (.167) with 8 Ks to start the season. Berkman is a career .303 hitter, so he's either going to get it going soon or the Astros are really going to struggle. Florida's Miguel Cabrera may be the best 3rd baseman in the majors. Cabrera led the Marlins to a 5-3 home win over Milwaukee last night with a sac fly and a 2-run homer (his 3rd of the season) and kept his batting average at .500. If the season were to end today (actually, there's about 155 games left on most schedules), Cabrera would win the NL Triple Crown. His 11 RBI are second in the majors to A-Rod's 13. The Arizona Diamondbacks improved to 6-2 and 1st place in the NL West with a 3-2 home win over Cincinnati. As has been the case in 4 of those wins, closer Jose Valverde finished up in the ninth, though this one wasn't pretty, giving up a walk and a hit in the one inning of work. Valverde has allowed just 1 earned run in 4.2 innings this season.