Braun's Blasts Buoy Brewers; Johjima Stars as Seattle Falls Short

Players of the Day from Monday, May 12, 2008 American League Baseball being a team sport, sometimes your best effort just isn't enough. Thus was the case last night for Seattle catcher Kenji Johjima, who singled, doubled, and hit his first home run of the season in the ninth inning with two men aboard to tie the game with Texas at 12. Despite going 3-for-4 with 4 RBI and a pair of runs scored, the Mariners were overcome by Texas, 13-12, in 10 innings when Rangers' third baseman Ramon Vazquez homered with one out in the bottom of the 10th. The loss - the 8th in the last 10 for Seattle - pushed the Mariners further into last place, 8 1/2 games out, while the Rangers got to within shouting distance of division-leading Oakland, 4 1/2 games behind. Notes: Cleveland and Toronto traded a pair of 3-0 wins in their double-header on Monday. The Indians took the opener as Fausto Carmona (4-1) blanked the Jays on 5 hits for a complete game shutout, the second of his career. In the nightcap, AL ERA-leader Cliff Lee (0.67) shut out the Blue Jays for nine innings, extending his scoreless streak to 16 innings, only to be outpitched by Toronto's Shaun Marcum, who allowed only 2 hits over 8 innings. Toronto erupted for three runs in the 10th off reliever Rafael Betancourt for the split. For Real: Tampa Bay closed to within 1/2 game of Boston in the AL East with their 5th straight win, a 7-1 conquest of the Yankees. National League Milwaukee's Ryan Braun hoisted a pair of solo homers and scored three times as the Brewers dropped the Cardinals, 8-3, Monday night. Braun homered in the first, scored after being walked in the third and smacked his 9th bomb of the season in the fifth inning, which put the Brewers up 7-1. The win got the Brewers to .500 (19-19), 4 games behind division leader Chicago, which has won 4 straight. The Cards dropped a game off the pace, while Houston won for the 9th time in their last 10, with a 7-3 victory at San Fran. Notes: Cincinnati snapped Florida's 7-game win streak, 8-7, at Cincy. The Marlins remain 2 1/2 in front in the East.

Johjima Slams Tigers; Glavine #298; Burrell Adds Phillies Punch

American League Texas 5 LA Angels 9 - John Lackey improved to 12-5 and Vladimir Guerrero stroked a pair of singles and drove in 2 runs, giving him 77 RBI for the season, 2 ahead of Justin Morneau, but still 10 behind league-leader Alex Rodriguez. The Angels' win kept their lead on the Mariners at 3 games, as Seattle beat Detroit. Detroit 4 Seattle 6 - Catcher Kenji Johjima (right) belted a grand slam in the 6th inning off Tigers' starter Kenny Rogers, lifting the Mariners over Detroit for the 2nd time in 3 games. The loss for Detroit enabled Cleveland to remain just 1/2-game back in the AL Central, despite their 6-5 loss to KC. Oakland 3 Minnesota 4 - The Twins gained ground on both Detroit and Cleveland and are just 6 back. Minnesota has won 3 straight and 5 of their last 7, while the A's are losers of 6 straight. The Twins have an interesting week ahead, with a pair of 3-game series at home against division leaders; first the Tigers on Tues.-Thurs., followed by the Angels on the weekend. Other AL Scores Kansas City 6 Cleveland 5 Chi White Sox 6 Baltimore 7, 10 innings Toronto 4 Boston 9 - D. Matsuzaka (W, 11-6), D. Ortiz, 2-4, 2-run HR (15) NY Yankees 6 Tampa Bay 4 National League St. Louis 4 Philadelphia 10 - Add Pat Burrell (right) to the arsenal of Phillies' hitters and you've got an incredible 1-6 lineup. Yesterday, we looked at the top 5 Phillies' hitters, but if Burrell has a few more games like Saturday's, we'll have to call them the Sizzlin' Six instead of the Fab Five. Burrell went 3-3, drove in 4 and scored a run, as the Phils kept pace in the resurgent AL East. The top six for Philly accounted for all 14 hits (in 25 at-bats) and all but one of the runs and RBI as they hammered the hopeless Cardinals for the 2nd straight day. The Phillies will be seeking the sweep tonight at 6:05. Burrell, who is batting only .227, may be coming out of a first-half funk. With a five game hit streak (9-15), 2 homers and 9 RBI (at least one in each of the five games), Burrell adds serious sock to an already awesome attack. The rest of the league better beware. The Phillies are poised for a post-season run. Cole Hamels picked up the win Saturday. He's 11-4. Houston 3 Chi Cubs 9 - Of teams making the most noise, the Cubs are among the loudest. Since June 22nd, the Cubs have punched out a 14-4 record and trail Milwaukee by 3 1/2. Aramis Ramirez went 3-4, driving in 4 runs and Alfonso Soriano crashed a 3-run homer in the 6th in Saturday's rout. The Cubs will be seeking the 3-game sweep on Sunday afternoon. This coming week should be telling for the NL Central leaders as the Cubs and Brewers swap home games against San Francisco and Arizona. LA Dodgers 8 San Francisco 7, 12 innings - The Dodgers squandered leads of 6-0 and 7-2, but finally sent the Giants to their 3rd straight loss and 2nd since the All-Star break. The Dodgers also kept Barry Bonds quiet, as the slugger went 0-5 and marked his 6th straight game without a home run. Bonds still needs 4 to catch Henry Aaron for the career mark of 755. The added frames proved fortuitous for the Dodgers, as Rafael Furcal's sac fly in the top of the 12th provided the winning edge. Coupled with San Diego's loss, the Dodgers wrested control of first place in the tight NL West, by 1 game over the Padres, 2 1/2 over Arizona, with Colorado 5 1/2 back. Cincinnati 1 NY Mets 2 - Tom Glavine (right) pitched his best game of the season, and moved closer to 300 wins with #298. Glavine (8-6), worked 8 stellar innings, allowing just 2 hits, the only run coming off the bat of Brandon Phillips in the 2nd, who belted his 19th home run. The Mets finally broke the 1-1 deadlock in the 8th, when Lastings Milledge singled home Shawn Green. Glavine was prepared to work the 9th, but with the lead run in, closer Billy Wagner came on to get the final 3 outs and pick up his 19th save. Glavine finished with 5 Ks without walking a batter. Other NL Scores Washington 2 Florida 5 Colorado 1 Milwaukee 2, 10 innings Pittsburgh 4 Atlanta 5 San Diego 4 Arizona 5 - J. Valverde, S (27)