Wednesday's Peak Performers and Fabulous Flops
American League
Jerrod Washburn earned his first victory of the season, shutting out the Oakland A's on 3 hits, and 2 walks.
The complete game was the 7 of his career and his 3rd shutout. Washburn struck out only two and needed 104 pitches (72 for strikes) to mow down the A's hitters. He began the night setting down the first nine batters he faced and the Seattle infield turned a pair of double plays in support of his outstanding performance. The loss dropped the A's into a first place tie with the Angels in the AL West. 7-9 Seattle is only 1 1/2 back.
Magglio Ordonez went 3-4 with a double and 3 RBI - giving him 20 on the season - as the Tigers won at Chicago, 4-2 and climbed to within a 1/2 game of AL Central leader, Cleveland. In the contentious division, the White Sox are only 1 game back, followed by the Twins, 1 1/2 behind.
Other AL Scores
Boston 6 Baltimore 1 - C. Schilling (W, 3-1) 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER
Cleveland 8, Texas 7, 11 innings
Kansas City 4 Minnesota 3 - D. DeJesus, 3-4, HR (4)
LA Angels 9 Tampa Bay 1 - J. Lackey (W, 3-2)
National League
Jake Peavy (right) struck out 16 Diamondbacks - at one point fanning 9 straight - but his stellar effort was wasted when
Stephen Drew smacked a 2-out, 2-run walk-off homer against Trevor Hoffman in the 9th to earn Arizona's 3-2 victory over the Padres. Peavy was nothing short of spectacular, allowing just 2 hits and 3 walks over 7 innings. All but 5 of the outs he recorded were by strikeout. With no decision, Peavy remains 3-0, lowering his ERA to 1.67 with a 1.05 WHIP.
Todd Helton singled twice and doubled twice, driving in 3 runs and scoring twice as Colorado upended the NY Mets at Shea. John Mabry chipped in with 4 RBI and a 3-run homer. Matt Holiday drove in 3 runs with a pair of singles and Willie Taveras stroked 5 singles in 6 at-bats.
Derrek Lee singled, doubled twice and hit his 1st home run of 2007, pacing the Chicago Cubs to a 9-3 win over the visiting 1st place Brewers. Lee scored twice and drove in a pair. His 5th inning HR was a solo shot.
Other NL Scores
St. Louis 5 Cincinnati 2
Pittsburgh 4 Houston 3, 16 innings
Florida 4 Atlanta 3
Philadelphia 9 Washington 3 - J. Rollins, HR (8), C. Utley, 5-5
San Francisco 6 LA Dodgers 4 - B. Bonds, HR (7), Giants, 7 straight wins
Jerrod Washburn threw a one-hit shutout against the Baltimore Orioles, the only hit coming off the bat of Nick Markakis with two out in the 4th inning. With the 5-0 win, the Mariners kept within striking range in the AL West, 3 1/2 games behind the Angels and 2 1/2 back of second place Texas. Washburn (5-6) didn't allow a walk and no batter made it past first base. He put down the first 11 in order, and the final 16 after Markakis' scratch single.
Despite his record, Washburn still sports high quality stats, with a 3.08 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP, is allowing opposing batters to hit at a .230 clip in 2008.
National League
The Phillies struck for 10 runs in the first inning en route to a 22-1 beating of the Reds, the worst defeat in Cincinnati's storied history. The first inning was a bona fide disaster, with three walks, a batter hit by pitch, one single, two doubles and three home runs. Most of the damage was done to Reds' starter Johnny Cueto, who allowed all the hits and walks except Chase Utley's three-run blast which completed the scoring for the inning.
Philly wasn't nearly done, however, banging out 21 hits (10 for extra bases), including a Jayson Werth grand slam and five RBI, a single, double and two RBI by Phillie starter Cole Hamels, and four hits for part-timer Greg Dobbs. But the best plate performance went to Shane Victorino, who homered, singled and cracked a pair of doubles in 5 at-bats, scoring 5 times and driving in 4 runs. He wore out the dish as well as the Reds pitching staff.
The win gave the Phillies some breathing room in the NL East, as the Marlins lost to San Francisco, 5-4, dropping them 2 games back. Despite the pounding, the game still counts as just one loss for the Reds, who fell to 5th place, 3 1/2 behind St. Louis in the tight NL Central.
