Sunday's Peak Performers and Fabulous Flops
American League
David DeJesus (right) doubled twice and stroked a pair of singles in 6 at-bats to help the Kansas City Royals to their most lopsided win of the season, an 11-1 decision over the White Sox in Chicago. DeJesus, one of the few bright spots for the otherwise dismal Royals, is batting .292 out of the leadoff spot. On Sunday, he drove in 2 runs and scored 3 times, more than enough needed by starter
Jorge de la Rosa, who allowed just one run on 3 hits and 3 walks over 7 innings to improve his record to 4-3. The 11 runs scored by the Royals matched their season high from April 20, an 11-7 win over Minnesota.
Jack Cust capped a 5-run 9th-inning rally with a 3-run homer to give the Oakland A's a 10-7 win over visiting Cleveland. The game-ending blast was his 5th home run in the last 4 games and 6th in 7 games total since joining the A's. Cust also doubled and scored in the 4th inning. Cust has 9 hits in 26 at-bats (.346), 7 of which have been for extra bases.
Boston 6 Baltimore 5 - the Red Sox scored all 6 of their runs in the bottom of the 9th inning, capped off when O's reliever Chris Ray dropped the toss from Kevin Millar on Julio Lugo's grounder, which would have been the final out, but instead allowed Jason Varitek and Eric Hinske to score the tying and winning runs. The win gave Boston 2 of 3 in their home series against Baltimore and put them 8 games up on both the O's and Yankees.
The Twins weren't about to let Detroit embarass them with a sweep at home, especailly not on national TV and
Torii Hunter (right) made extra sure it didn't happen, leading Minnesota to a monstrous 16-4 beating of the Tigers. Hunter hit a 3-run homer in the 1st, doubled in a pair in the 4th and blasted a 2-run bomb in the 7th inning to account for a 3-5, 7 RBI night with 2 runs scored. Hunter, who had a 23-game hitting streak snapped on May 10, is batting .324 with 8 homers and 29 RBI through 35 games.
Other AL Scores
Tampa Bay 2 Toronto 1 - J. Seo (W, 2-3) 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
Texas 7 LA Angels 6
Seattle 2 NY Yankees 1
National League
Just called up this past Thursday when Dave Roberts was put on the 15-day DL, rookie
Fred Lewis (right) hit for the cycle Sunday, going 5 for 6, driving in 4 runs and scoring 3 times as the San Francisco Giants slaughtered the Rockies, 15-2, to split their 4-game series in Colorado. Lewis led off the game with a double and scored on a balk. He then homered with two aboard in the 4th inning, tripled to drive in another run in the fifth, and singled twice in the 7th, scoring once again.
Each of Lewis' extra base hits were his first of the season and the triple and homer the first of his major league career. Lewis played in 13 games last season for the Giants, going 5-11. Today's totals made him 7-14 with 7 RBI and 5 runs scored. Not a bad start for a leadoff center fielder.
Rafael Furcal went 4-4, including two doubles, stole a pair of bases, scored twice and drove in a run and
Nomar Garcaiparra stroked 3 singles in 5 at-bats, drove in 3 runs and scored once as the LA Dodgers completed a 3-game sweep of the visiting Cincinnati Reds with a 10-5 win.
NY Mets 9 Milwaukee 1 -
Damion Easley went 3-5, including his 5th home run of the season (a 2-run shot), drove in 4 total and scored twice in support of the 2-hit pitching of
Oliver Perez who struck out 6 over 8 1/3 innings and allowed a run on Bill Hall's 1-out homer in the 9th. Prior to that, the only hit off Perez (4-3) was by opposing pitcher Chris Capuano, who faced defeat for the first time this season (5-1).
Rookie
Justin Germano worked 7 innings, allowing just 3 hits as San Diego whitewashed the visiting St. Louis Cardinals, 3-0. Germano didn't allow a walk and struck out 3 in his second start of 2007. Called up to replace Clay Hensley in the Padres' rotation, Germano pitched 6 innings at Atlanta on May 8, gave up just 3 hits and a run, but did not figure in the decision as the Padres lost, 3-2.
Both Perez, who came to New York via trade in 2006 from Pittsburgh, and Easley, acquired in the off-season from Arizona, have solidified the Mets and contributed to their success. Perez sports an ERA of 3.00 and has 43 Ks in 42 innings. Easley is batting a solid .283 and often bats in the pivotal #2 hole. In his last 4 games as a regular, he's 8-16 with a pair of homers.
Pittsburgh's
Chris Duffy went 3-4, stole his 6th base of the season, drove in 2 runs and scored 3 times as the Pirates throttled the visiting Atlanta Braves, 13-2.
Other NL Scores
Washington 6 Florida 4 - Nationals sweep 3-game series from Marlins
Chicago Cubs 4 Philadelphia 1 - A. Soriano, 0-4, snaps 20-gm. hit streak
Houston 5 Arizona 2
This season's version of the Oakland A's has not quite lived up to expectations, but Jack Cust is having another solid season. In Oakland's 9-4 win over the Tigers - the AL Central leaders - Cust took starter Rick Porcello out of the yard twice, with a three-run poke in the 4th inning and a solo smack in the 6th. Cust also singled in the second and walked and scored in the 8th, going 3-for-3 at the plate with 3 runs and 4 RBI. He has 19 homers and 74 RBI.
Mired in last place, the best the A's can do the rest of the way is scout and try out new talent and play the role of the spoiler. In that regard, taking two of three from a division leader like Detroit is a positive. The Tigers, having lost two straight, still lead the divison by 2 1/2 over the White Sox, who were also in the process of dropping two out of three to a last place team, the Orioles, over the weekend. The Twins made the most of their series with KC, winning all three games to pull to within 4 1/2 of the division lead.
National League
Eric Bruntlett certainly wasn't starting at second base for the Phillies because of his bat. Batting just .128, he was in the lineup replacing dinged-up Chase Utley, mostly for his defensive skills. So, his 3 singles in 5 at-bats were a bit of a surprise to the Phillies' coaches, but what happened in the 9th inning was one for the record books.
With the Phillies up 9-6 to begin the inning and Angel Pagon on third following a fielding error by first baseman Ryan Howard, Luis Castillo slapped a grounder in Bruntlett's direction, which he booted, allowing Pagan to score the 7th run for the Mets. D>>> Murphy then ripped a grounder between Bruntlett and second base, which Bruntlett was able to field on a dive, but not make a play. With both Castillo and Murphy on the move, Jeff Francoeur lined a 2-2 pitch almost right at second base. Bruntlett, who was moving over to cover the bag, made an easy grab of the drive, touched second, forcing out Castillo and tagged the shocked Murphy to end the game with an unassisted triple play.
It was only the second time a game was ended on an unassisted triple play, the first accomplished by Detroit's Johnny Neun in 1927 and only the 15th unassisted triple play in MLB history. The play ended what was a wild affair, won by Philly, 9-7, including a 6-run first inning by the Phillies and a leadoff inside-the-park homer by Pagan. It also overshadowed Phillies' starter Pedro Martinez's return to New York, and his first win over his former team.
Bruntlett raised his batting average all the way to .154, but that will long be forgotten as his feat in the field lives on in baseball history.
NOTES: With the wild finish in New York, the Yankees taking 2-of-3 in Boston and the continued excellence of the Cardinals, the NL East, AL East and NL Central divisions appear to be runaways for the Phillies (up 6 1/2 games), the Yankees (+7 1/2), and the Cards (+8). Wild card standings have tightened in the AL, with Boston now just one game ahead of the Rangers and three better than the Rays.
In the National League, the Rockies took 2 out of 3 from San Fran and are now just 3 1/2 behind the Dodgers in the NL West, in addition to their 3-game edge over the Giants in the wild card race. Colorado also leads the Braves by 4 and the Marlins by 5. The Rockies, who are 14-7 in the month o August, can make a big move this week as they finish their four-game series with the Giants on Monday, then host the Dodgers for three and go on the road to San Francisco for three more with the Giants over the weekend. The Dodgers are just 10-12 thus far in August.
Following that, they play 13 straight games against the Indians and Yankees, their principal division and wild card foes.
In Friday's win by the A's, Jack Cust (right) delivered two devastating blows. First, a bases-loaded double in the 3rd, then, in the 6th inning, a grand slam homer, his 18th round-tripper. Cust finished 2-5 with 7 RBI.
Minnesota 1 LA Angels 10 - Starter Kelvim Escobar improved to 12-6, allowing one earned run on 5 hits over six innings as his teammates scored 2 in the third and 4 in each of the 6th and 7th innings. The win increased the Angels' edge in the division to 3 1/2 games over Seattle.
Other AL Scores
Boston 5 Baltimore 6 - Boston blows 5-1 lead
Toronto 2 Kansas City 1
Seattle 3 Chi White Sox 5
Tampa Bay 4 Texas 7
National League
Atlanta 4 Philadelphia 5 - With the Mets losing to Florida, the two main contenders for the top spot in the NL East squared off in the opener of a crucial 3-game series, with the home boys taking the advantage. A couple of subs accounted for the game-winner, as Greg Dobbs singled home Jayson Werth in the bottom of the 7th, snapping a 4-4 tie. 
After J.C. Romero and Antonio Alfonseca held the lead in the 8th, Tom (Flash) Gordon (right) recently back from the DL, picked up his first save since May 1 with a scoreless 9th. The Phillies took a 1.2-game edge over the Braves and trail the Mets by 3 1/2. Cole Hamels (13-5) got the win.
Chi Cubs 6 Colorado 2 - The Cubs won their 2nd straight at Colorado, remaining 1/2-game back of Milwaukee in the NL Central. Jason Marquis (9-7) didn't allow an earned run over 6 2/3, giving up 5 hits and no walks, while striking out 5.
Washington 4 Arizona 11 - The D-backs maintained their 3-game edge in the West, winning their 3rd straight and 8th of their last 10. Conor Jackson smashed a pair of home runs (9) and drove in 4,on a 3-3 night.
San Diego 12 Cincinnati 7, 11 innings - Adrian Gonzalez went 3-4, with a pair of doubles and a 3-run homer - his 19th - and scored three times as the Padres kept pace with Arizona, putting up a 5-spot in the top of the 11th for the win. Ken Griffey Jr. homered for the Reds, his 27th.
Pittsburgh 8 San Francisco 7 - Barry Bonds homered for the 4th time in his last 6 games, giving him 24 on the season and 758 lifetime. His 3 RBI, however, could not prevent another San Francisco loss, as the last-place Giants fell to 49-65, 15 1/2 games out in the NL West.
Other NL Scores
Florida 4 NY Mets 3
Milwaukee 5 Houston 4, 11 innings
LA Dodgers 2 St. Louis 1