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There was a load of MLB fixtures on Wednesday so we’ll recap some of them starting in Baltimore where the Orioles went down 3-2 thanks to a 2 run 7th innings by the visiting L.A Angels. This loss meant the Angels swept the Orioles 2-0 in the short road series after L.A fought back from going behind early in the ballgame. In the bottom of the first Baltimore first baseman Huff hit a sac fly to center to score Roberts before Morales tied the game for the Angels in the 4th with an RBI triple to deep center field to score Izturis. Los Angeles then had to wait a while before their winning runs, in the 7th Hunter homered to left to make it 2-1 before Morales batted in his second run of the game with a homer to center to make the lead 3-1. In the 8th Nick Markakis pulled one back for the Orioles when he hit a single to right center to score Jones and in doing so extended his hit streak to 16 games. However this couldn’t rally Baltimore to get the tying run and they dropped to 9-
13 after nearly a month has been played in the season.

In a pitching battle in Milwaukee the Brewers’ Yovani Gallardo triumphed over the Pittsburgh Pirates to see his team to a 1-0 win. Not only did he pitch 8 complete innings in which he struck out a career high 11 batters but he only gave up 2 hits and 1 walk. The best however was to come after he had pitched his 7th innings when he came up to bat and hit a home run to left field from a pitch that stayed up and begged to be hit. After this Villanueva earned his 2nd save of the season after pitching out the 9th and striking out one but the plaudits go to Gallardo who won the game with stellar pitching and his second home run of the season.

In New York the Florida Marlins overcame the Mets thanks to a Cody Ross 2 RBI single in the 8th innings to see the Fish to a 4-3 victory and a 2-1 series victory overall. Florida were 2-1 up after one thanks to a Will Helms sac fly and a Jose Cantu home run before Jose Reyes pulled one back for the Mets on a Cora sac to first. Raul Castro then singled to left center to score Tatis in the 4th to pull the Mets level before Tatis himself homered to left to put New York up 3-2 in the 6th. Before the 8th Johan Santana had kept the hot Florida offense relatively quiet striking out 7 and giving up only 5 hits but as soon as he went off the whole thing fell apart. Putz earned the loss for his 8th innings performance that gave Ross the winner and walked 2 in the process while Mike Lindstrom got his 5th save of the season for the Marlins.

In Chicago the White Sox moved to a .500+ record in this early part of the season thanks to a 6-3 win over the Seattle Mariners that also secured them the series win, 2-1. Trailing 3-1 going into their half of the 6th innings Betemit doubled to right to score Paul Konerko before Ramirez hit a sac fly to center to score Pierzynski to tie the game at 3-3. Then in the 7th Carlos Quentin homered to right before Jermaine Dye did exactly the same thing, Quentin then put the icing on the cake in the 8th by singling to left center to score Ramirez to make the game 6-3. In a fairly unspectacular pitching effort by both sides Jenks earned his 5th save of the season after he pitched out the ninth for the White Soxs.

In Colorado the Rockies managed to take 2 games out of 3 from the San Diego Padres after a 7-5 win to move to 8-12 on the season. Colorado raced into an large lead before San Diego could get into gear and by that time the game was just about wrapped up. It all started in the 2nd when Iannetta homered to left field to score Stewart and himself before Helton hit a solo in the next innings. The Rockies then had to wait a while for their next runs which all came in the 6th innings, firstly Iannetta singled back past the pitcher to score Tulowitzki to make it 4-0. Fowler then sac flyed to right to score Barmes before Helton singled to right to see Iannetta and Smith home to make it 7-0. The Padres finally got going in the 7th with a Gonzalez solo jack before Blanco managed one better than that with a 2 run homer and Gonzalez then gave the Padres some more hope with homer to center field that scored himself and David Eckstein. Unfortunately the Padres couldn’t keep it going into
the 9th and eventually lost.

In Arizona the Diamondbacks easily saw off the Chicago Cubs to win their home series 2-1. The D’Backs won this one 10-0 in a shut out of the Cubbies with Doug Davis earning the win after pitching 7 complete innings during which time he gave up only 2 hits and struck out seven to move to 2-3 on the season. On the offense side Arizona were up 4-0 at the start of the 7th before a car crash of an innings, Carlos Marmol had been sent in to relieve Ryan Dempster of his starting duties after Dempster had walked Roberts, Marmol then proceeded to walk the next batter before Ojeda sacrificed to the catcher to move the base runners to second and third. Tracy was then intentionally walked to load the bases before Reynolds was unintentionally walked to score Roberts before the same happened to Jackson that sent Lopez home. Samardzija then entered the game for Marmol, who could only manage one out, and started well by striking out the batter for the second out before giving up a bases cl
earing double to Upton to score 3 runs and put the game beyond doubt.

In Atlanta the Braves carried on their so-so start to the season with a series losing loss to the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3. The Braves were ahead 3-1 going after the 3rd innings and a Francoeur RBI single before Francoeur himself scored on an Adam Wainwright wild pitch. Unfortunately for the home team they gave up the lead in the 5th innings after they gave up, what were to be, the game winning 4 runs. Firstly Adam Wainwright singled to center to score Thurston before Albert Pujols singled to center to score Barden and Duncan hit into left center field to score Wainwright. Finaly Rick Ankiel singled to right to score Pujols to make it 5-3 before the Cards relief pitching kicked in a gave up only 1 hit in the final 3 innings.

In the Motor City the New York Yankees came out of the Tigers’ den with an 8-6 win that gave them a 2-1 series win and took them to 11-10 on the season thanks to a 7 run 4th innings. Earlier in the 3rd the Tigers had opened the scoring with Polanco sac fly that sent Inge home but the Yankees started to swing their bats in the 4th with Nick Swisher homering to left to score Matsui and Posada to give the Bronx Bombers a 3-1 lead. After this Johnny Damon doubled to right to score Miguel Cabrera before Matsui doubled to left to clear the bases and score Jeter, Damon and Teixeira to make it 7-1. Swisher then hit his second homer of the day in the 5th this time a solo to make it 8-1. After that Detroit couldn’t get back in the game and despite scoring 5 in the bottom of the 9th they fell two runs short to fall back to 11-10.

Finally in Cleveland the Boston Red Soxs improved to an impressive 14-7 after a 6-5 extra innings win over the Indians that ended their series with Cleveland, a series that they won 2-1. Cleveland were ahead 5-0 by the 4th thanks to a Victor Martinez RBI triple in the first along with a Choo sac fly, a Mark DeRosa homer in the second and a Kevin Shoppach 2 run jack in the 4th. Then in the sixth the BoSoxs kicked in and scored two to lessen the deficit, these runs came courtesy of a Mike Lowell RBI double that scored Bay and a Jason Varitek double that scored Lowell. In the 8th the Soxs then tied the game with a Ellsbury single to center that scored Bailey after Van Every and J.D Drew each hit RBIs. Van Every then homered to center in the 10th to seal the win.

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15 games were played in the Major Leagues last night starting in Cincinnati where the Atlanta Braves prevailed thanks to some early power hitting. The Braves were up 6-0 by the 2nd innings as 3rd baseman Jones hit a RBI single to right field in the 1st before hitting a 3 run jack in the second to make it 6-0. The Reds tried to hit back immediately with a 2 run homer from short stop Gonzalez but Atlanta made sure of the win in the 6th innings when Ross hit an RBI double before Escobar homered to left center to score Ross. The game ended 10-2 and with it the Braves moved into a 2-0 lead in the 3 game series. Lowe pitched the win after 7 complete innings during which he only gave up 4 hits and 2 runs while striking out 8. Arroyo moved to 3-1 for Cincy after giving up 9 earned runs in 5.2 innings.

Next up in New York the Mets beat the Washington Capitals 8-2 after an explosive first three innings during which they scored 5 runs. After that they were in cruise control and starter Pelfrey was able to earn the win, pitching 5.2 innings allowing 6 hits and only 2 earned runs. An error by Washington center fielder Elijah Dukes allowed Wright to be get a 2 RBI double that scored Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado to make it 2-0 in the first before Church hit an RBI single to center field to score Wright. Beltran then hit an infield single to score Luis Castillo in the second and Santos scored on a fielder’s choice in the third. The Nats tried to come back in the 4th and 6th when the aforementioned Dukes hit first an RBI single and then an RBI triple to make it 5-2 but the Mets hit back immediately in the 6th and scored 3 runs including an 2 RBI single to center by Church that scored Beltran and Wright. Young Nats starter Daniel Cabrera had a poor game, giving up 6 hits, 5 r
uns, 1 earned run and 4 walks in only 2.1 innings before he was pulled off the field.

In Oakland the A’s won their 6th game of the season when they beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-2 to tie the series at 1-1. In a low scoring game the A’s were up early thanks to a Buck home run to right field in the 3rd innings and a Nomar Garciaparra 3 RBI double to center field in the 4th that scored Cabrera, Giambi and Cust to make it 4-0. Tampa responded in the 5th when Iwamura RBIed to center but Jason Giambi effectively ended the game in the 7th with a solo home run to right to make it 5-2. The Rays added another run in the 8th but it wasn’t enough and Oakland held on. Braden got the win for Oakland after pitching 5.2 innings allowing 4 hits, 1 earned run and 3 walks whilst striking out 2 before Ziegler got the save in the 9th innings.

In a shootout at Fenway Park the Boston Red Sox triumphed over their AL East rivals the Yankees 16-11. New York managed to give away a 6 run lead that they had accumulated in the first 4 innings when the Soxs scored 5 in the bottom of the 4th before taking the lead in the 5th when they scored 3 more. New York made it 8-8 in the 6th but only held a tie for a half innings as Boston responded with 1 run in the bottom of the 6th to make it 9-8. The lead then changed hands again when the Yankees scored two in the 7th to make it 10-9 before the Red Soxs hit 3 runs to make it 12-10. The Yankees tried to find another response but could only muster one run to make it 12-11 before the Soxs but the game to bed in the bottom of the 8th with 4 runs. This of course led to some horrific pitching stats, Burnett, New York’s starter, pitched 5 innings and gave up 8 hits, 8 earned runs, 3 walks and 2 home runs before being carted off the field. It didn’t get any better from there and the Ya
nkees went through their entire bullpen trying to find someone that would stabilize their defense, none of which did. The 6 relievers that they tried all failed to complete one innings with Albaladejo taking the loss after he gave up 3 earned runs in 0.1 innings.

In St. Louis the Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 8-2 thanks to some nice hitting in the 4th and an Albert Pujols grand slam in the 7th to make it 7-1. Before that though Greene hit an RBI double to deep left to score Ludwick before Barden followed up with a single to left that scored Molina and Greene to make it 3-0. Theriot then responded for the Cubs with a single to left that scored Marshall in the 5th to make it 3-1 but Pujols stole the show with his hit to left field in the 7th to make it 7-1 before Thurston hit an RBI single to right to score Greene in the 8th. Theriot then hit another RBI in the 9th but by then the game was over and with it the Cardinals took the series with one game to go as they were now up 2-0.

In Baltimore the Texas Rangers guaranteed at least a tied series as they beat the Orioles 6-5 to take a 2-0 lead in their 4 game road series. Texas were up 5-0 by the end of the 3rd innings as firstly Kinsler homered in the first, Davis homered in the second and Kinsler again homered in the third and in the process scored Andrus before Jones capped off the innings with another homer to make it 5-0. Baltimore then responded with an RBI single courtesy of Wigginton but Byrd sac flyed in the top of the 5th to make it 6-1 to the Rangers, a lead they nearly, but in the end didn’t, give away. In the 6th Wigginton again scored with a home run to center before Izturis hit a double to deep left to score Zaun in the bottom of the 9th. Jones then followed up by singling to right center to score Montanez and Izturis to make it 6-5. Alas the Orioles just couldn’t complete the comeback and with it the Rangers’ starter Feldman earned the win off of 5 completed innings in which he gave
up only 4 hits and 1 run while striking out 2.

In Chicago a 6 run 5th innings took the game away from the Toronto Blue Jays in a 10-2 win for the White Soxs. After trading runs in the 2nd innings to make it 2-2 the White Soxs exploded in the 5th when Paul Konerko singled to center to score Fields before Anderson singled to left to score Dye and move Konerko to third. Ramirez then scored Konerko, Miller and Anderson with a grand slam that made the scoreline 8-2. Jermaine Dye then hit a home run to left field in the next innings to score Quentin to make the 10-2 and end the game. With this it gave Buehrle his 3rd win of the season as a starter for the Chisoxs, he got through 6 complete innings and gave up only 6 hits, 2 earned runs and 3 walks while striking out 4 and has an impressive E.R.A of 3 on the season.

In Cleveland the Twins gave a good performance in an easy win over the Cleveland Indians to make sure of a series win in the second game of their 3 game series. Minnesota now lead the series 2-0 and won this one 7-1 after a good performance by starter Kevin Slowey in which he pitched 8 full innings and gave up only 8 hits while striking out 7. He gave up the one Indians run in the 9th before being taken off but will still be happy with his 3 win of the season to take him to 3-0 despite an E.R.A of 4.44. Morneau started the scoring for the Twins with a single to right in the 1st that scored Casilla before Young singled to left in the 4th to score Joe Crede. It didn’t end there in the 4th though as Redmond singled to right to score Cuddyer to make it 3-0. Jason Kubel then homered to right to make it 4-0 in the 5th before Span hit a sac fly to left to score Young in the 6th. To make sure of no Indians comeback Jason Kubel and Joe Crede each hit a solo home run in the top of th
e 9th to make it 7-0 before Shoppach tacked on Cleveland’s only run with an RBI single to left center in the 9th to score Martinez.

Milwaukee needed extra innings to get past the Astros in Houston but triumphed thanks to a Braun RBI single in the 11th to win 9-8. With this DiFelice got his first win of the season for the Brewers after pitching the last Houston innings in the bottom of the 11th during which he struck out 2 of the 3 outs. The runs didn’t get flowing for a while though with the first one coming in the 4th as Fielder homered to left to put Milwaukee 1-0 up. Houston then responded with 3 runs of their own with a 2 run homer from Lee to center field to score Berkman before Matt Hampton RBI singled to right to score Geoff Blum. Bourn then hit a solo homer in the 5th to make it 4-1 before Milwaukee tied the game in the 6th with a Hall 3 run jack that scored Braun and Hardy. They then took the lead with a Hall RBI single in the 8th before Kendall hit a sac fly in the same innings to score Cameron to make it 6-4. The hitting didn’t stop there though as Houston regained the lead in the bottom of
the 8th as Towles singled to shallow center to score Blum before Matsui doubled to left to score Towles and Erstad to make it 7-6 in favour of Houston. Fielder then stepped up to hit a 2 run homer to left field in the top of the 9th to make it 8-7 Milwaukee before Pence got safely on base thanks to a throwing error by the third baseman that scored Berkman and tied the game at 8-8. With this we went into extra innings and finally after an innings of nothingness Braun stepped up to single to right to score Hart and eventually win the game after DiFelice did his business.

In Kansas City the Detroit Tigers tied up their 3 game road series with the Royals after they won 9-1 on Saturday night. The Tigers won this won in the 6th innings during which they scored 4 runs, an Anderson 2 RBI triple to deep right and a Paul Polanco 2 RBI double to deep left to score the aforementioned Anderson and Curtis Granderson. This made the score 8-0 and despite a Mike Jacobs ground out that scored Coco Crisp immediately after that Detroit flurry of runs the Royals couldn’t find anything else and eventually lost this one 9-1 after a Ordonez homer to left center in the 9th. Detroit starter Miner therefore got the win after his pitched 5 innings during which he only gave up 3 hits and 1 earned run before the Tigers’ relievers kicked in and did their job.

In Florida the Marlins carried on their bad run of form with their second loss in the same number of days to the Phillies, 6-4. Despite being up 4-2 after a 4 run 4th innings the Marlins couldn’t hang on. In that innings Cantu homered to center to score Baker and Ramirez before Dan Uggla hit a solo home run to make it 4-2 but Philly fought back and tied the game in the 9th when Bruntlett grounded out to third to score Werth and therefore took the game into extra innings. It didn’t take long for the winning runs to come though as Chase Utley RBI singled to center to score Victorino before Werth again RBI singled to center to score Utley and make it 6-4 in the 10th. Brad Lidge then got his 4th save of the season as he struck out each out despite giving up a run and two walks as the Phillies took the series regardless of what happens in tonight’s game as they made it 2-0 in the 3 game series.

In Colorado the Los Angeles Dodgers won their 13th game of the season with a 6-5 win over the hapless Rockies. The Dodgers were ahead early in this one thanks to a Ethier RBI single that scored Furcal, a 2 RBI single that scored Ethier and Loney off of the bat of Martin and a Blake single to right that scored Martin. All of these in the first innings that made it 4-0. Colorado never really recovered despite getting 3 runs back in the 3rd after Smith singled to right to score Jimenez and Hawpe singled to right to score Fowler and Smith. After that the Dodgers made sure of the win when Martin singled to shallow center to score Hudson and Ethier to make it 6-3. Colorado gained another 2 runs after Atkins homered to left to score himself and Helton in the 5th but couldn’t find that extra run to take the game to a tie in the remaining innings and the Dodgers escaped with a series win whatever happens in the last game as they took a 2-0 lead in the best of three.

In Arizona the San Francisco Giants moved to .500 in their so far short season after they beat the Diamondbacks 5-3. The Giants move to 8-8 in an NL West division where you don’t have to be that great to win it and did so after a 4 run 5th innings eventually won the game for them. 2-0 down after Upton homered to left to score Young for the D’backs the Giants responded with Renteria’s double to deep center that score Ishikawa and Torres before Winn homered to left to score Renteria himself to make it 4-2. While a Byrned home run made it 4-3 in the bottom of the innings Arizona couldn’t find anything else and San Fran made sure of the win in the 6th when Burriss singled to center to score Schierholtz to make it 5-3. Despite only giving up 3 runs the Giants used 6 pitchers and in those 6 Miller got his first win of the season as he pitched out the 4th and 5th Arizona innings and gave up only 1 hit and 1 run in his 1.2 innings of chucking.

In Anaheim the L.A Angels couldn’t complete a late comeback against the Seattle Mariners and went down 9-8 in the second game of the 3 game series (which Seattle now leads 2-0). Trailing 5-3 after 5 innings the Angels proceeded to give up 4 runs in the next two Seattle innings. First up Johnson hit a sac fly to left to score Branyan in the 6th before Ken Griffey Jr. singled to right to score Ichiro, Beltre singled to center to score Chavez and Branyan singled to right to score Griffey Jr. to make the game 9-3 in the 7th. Then the Angels started to play but despite a Bobby Abreu RBI single in the 7th, Kendrick double to deep center in the 8th that scored Morales and Rivera and Hunter 2 run homer in the 9th Los Angeles just fell short and lost 9-8.

Finally in San Diego the Padres lost in a blow out to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10-1, and in doing so moved to 10-7 after a good start. This win for Pittsburgh tied the series at 1-1 and they managed it thanks to some great pitching from Duke who pitched 8.1 innings during which he gave up only 6 hits, 1 earned run and 2 walks and struck out 5. Thankfully his effort wasn’t in vain as the runs flowed for Pittsburgh. Monroe hit an RBI single in the first to score Morgan before Adam LaRoche grounded into a double play at first that scored Sanchez in what turned out to be the winning run. The Pirates didn’t stop there though and in the 4th Duke hit a sac fly to center to score Vazquez before Morgan did the same to score Jaramillo in the same innings to make it 5-0. In the 6th Monroe doubled to deep right to score Morgan and Sanchez before Gonzalez got San Diego’s only run after he grounded out to second to score Hairston to make it 8-1. Pittsburgh then polished off their win with a 2 run 8th innings in which Hinske singled to right to score Sanchez while Adam LaRoche hit a sac fly that scored Monroe to make it 10-1.

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With 16 games played in the MLB on Wednesday it seems stupid not to talk about that instead of 3 NBA play-off games that produced little in terms of excitement. First up in Pittsburgh the Pirates completed their sweep of the Florida Marlins and in doing so gave the Marlins’ their 4th loss of the season. The Pirates were successful in this 3 game home stand because they limited the Marlins’ explosive offense, before last night’s game the Marlins had only scored 2 runs in the last 2 games and only scored 4 in this game. Architect of this was Paul Maholm, who gained the win despite giving up 4 earned runs and 8 hits in 6 complete innings, thankfully for the Pirates though their middle and late relief came through the final 3 innings without giving up a run and in the 9th closer Matt Capps earned his 5th save of the season.

In the first of two games in Boston the Red Sox won the game that had been postponed on Tuesday due to rain 10-1 thanks to some early power hitting. With another game coming up later that evening the Red Soxs wanted to keep their bullpen relatively fresh and luckily for them the gods were smiling. Rain again came down in the bottom of the 7th which would end the game prematurely but since enough innings had been played Boston and pitcher Tim Wakefield took the win. Wakefield thus became the oldest Red Sox pitcher to complete a game and now moves to 2-1 on the season, in this game he only gave up the 1 earned run (the only run of the game for Minnesota) and 5 hits while striking out 4. As for the Sox’s offense that came in quick 2 run bursts to take the game away from the Twins early. In the 1st Kevin Youkilis homered to right to score David Ortiz and himself, in the 2nd Nick Green homered over the Green Monster to score George Kottaras and himself and in the 3rd Mike Lowell
homered again over the Monster to score J.D Drew and himself. After that the game was in Boston’s hands and they didn’t let Minnesota see it adding 4 more runs in the 7th before the game ended.

In New York the Yankees created another piece of history at their new stadium against the A’s by scoring the first walk-off home run. They won this one 9-7 after a long period of extra innings as the game was tied at 7 after 9. With C.C Sabathia starting the Yankees hoped for a long outing that would spare their shaky middle relief from another outing, he gave them 6 and 2/3rds innings but gave up all 7 Oakland runs and 4 walks. Thankfully then for New York their relief kicked in and held the A’s to only 3 more hits in the next 7 and 1/3rd innings eventually leading to Jose Veras to get the win after Miguel Cabrera hit a 2-run homer into right field to score Nick Swisher in the bottom of the 14th.

In Arizona the Diamondbacks shut out the Rockies and won the game thanks to a Ryan Roberts RBI single in the 7th followed by a walk when the bases were loaded. They won this game 2-0 but most of the plaudits go to their pitching, starter Dan Haren came into this game 0-3 but hit back at his critics by pitching 7 complete innings giving up only 6 hits while striking out 9. His work was backed up in the 9th by Chad Qualls who earned his 4th save of the season despite giving up 2 hits.

In another tight game in the West the San Francisco Giants won their 6th game of the season in extra innings thanks to a Brad Molina RBI ground rule double in the 10th against San Diego. Brain Wilson was given the win after he pitched the final two innings for the Giants but starter Barry Zito did no harm to his E.R.A with a 7 innings outing that saw him strike out 5 and give up 6 hits. This win gave San Francisco a 2-0 win in a short series with the Padres and improves them to 6-8 after a couple of weeks gone in the season.

In Baltimore the White Soxs tied their 3 game road series against the Orioles with an 8-2 win. Thanks to some early hitting Chicago were up 4-0 by the end of the 3rd as Baltimore couldn’t find a way of coping with John Danks’ pitching, Danks earned the win pitching 7 complete innings during which he allowed only 4 hits and 1 earned run to improve to 2-0 on the season with an impressive E.R.A of 0.95.

In Cleveland the Kansas City Royals levelled their 3 game series with the Cleveland Indians with a 2-0 win on Wednesday night. Cleveland have looked inconsistent in the early runnings and carried on that kind of play with only 5 hits all night as the Royals pitching was dominant. Brian Bannister started for the Royals and pitched 6 complete innings giving up 4 hits and striking out 1 for his first win of the season while Joakim Soria earned his 5th save of the season by pitching out the 9th. Kansas City were ahead early when in the 1st David DeJesus hit a sac fly to right to score Coco Crisp from third before right fielder Willie Bloomquist hit an RBI single to center in the 7th to score designated hitter Mike Jacobs.

In Washingon the Nationals were subjected to a cruel loss at the hands of the Atlanta Braves thanks to a walk when the bases were loaded to lose this one 1-0. Despite this loss they still took their first series of the season beating Atlanta 2-1 and are 3-11 on the season. Jair Jurrjens started for the Braves and gave 7 and 2/3rds innings of seamless pitching during which he gave up 6 hits and struck out 4. It wasn’t him that got the win though, that went to Mike Gonzalez despite Gonzalez pitching only 1 out in the bottom of the 8th. Rafael Soriano then pitched out the 9th with the 1 run lead to get his 2nd save of the season.

In Philadelphia the reigning champions carried on their questionable form this time losing at home to the Milwaukee Brewers 3-1. The game was won for the Brewers in the middle innings when they broke through the Phillies defense to score 3. In the 5th short stop J.J Hardy hit a homer to right before in the 6th center fielder Mike Cameron hit a 2 RBI double to score Corey Hart and Ryan Braun. Despite giving up a run in the bottom of the 9th Todd Coffey earned his second save of the year to tie the 3 game series at 1 each.

In Toronto the Blue Jays levelled their home stand with the Texas Rangers at 1-1 thanks to a walk off RBI single by Kevin Millar that scored Vernon Wells in the 11th innings. The game ended 8-7 and the Blue Jays must have feared the worst when closer B.J Ryan blew a 3 run lead in the top of the 9th but thankfully their smoking hot offense came through again to keep them at the top of the AL East at 11-5 on the season.

Back in Boston the rain had stopped by the time had come to start the other game of the day against the Twins and the Red Sox duly won that one as well, 7-3. It was another quick start by the BoSoxs as in the 2nd first baseman Jeff Bailey hit a 3 run homer to score himself, J.D Drew and Jason Varitek before an innings later David Ortiz doubled to left to score Josh Ellsbury and David Pedroia. 5-0 and Boston never looked back despite giving up 2 runs in the 4th to complete a day sweep of the Twins in a rainy series.

In Chicago the Cubs failed to score against the tame Cincinnati Reds and as a result lost 3-0. Despite keeping relatively close to the Reds all game the Cubs only had 6 hits in a convincing outing by Reds starter Johnny Cueto who pitched through 7 innings and gave up only 4 hits. Francisco Cordero earned his 6th save of the season in the 9th and was helped earlier in the innings when Cincinnati put another run on the board to make it 3-0. This win ties the series at 1 each with one to play.

In Houston the Astros beat the high flying Dodgers to at least win the series and will have a chance at a sweep tonight. Houston won this one 6-5 thanks to a 2 run 8th innings that saw them retake the lead, Ivan Rodriguez won the game with a 2 RBI single to center to score Hunter Pence and Geoff Blum. Los Angeles starter Randy Wolf will be disappointed to have gone so deep into a game and not earn the win, he didn’t get the loss though, that went to Ronald Belisario who gave up the all important single in his one innings on the mound.

In St. Louis the Cardinals can thank starter Joel Pineiro for their win against the New York Mets as he earned his 3rd win of the season pitching 8 innings in the process. Two Albert Pujols RBIs set the Cards on their way and they were 5-1 up by the 5th innings in a game where the Mets’ offense was stifled. Ryan Franklin came in to pitch the final out and in the process earned his 4th save of the year.

In Anaheim the Detroit Tigers won their 8th game of the season a shootout, 12-10. In a game where quality pitching was nowhere to be found each team signalled their intent early with the Angels leading 3-2 after one innings after Kevin Morales 3 run jack. With so many runs scored it would take too long to go through all of them in a game where 10 pitcher were used with the unlucky one being Scot Shields who didn’t manage an out at the start of the 7th innings as he gained the loss after giving up 4 earned runs and 2 walks. L.A have made a slow start to the season and are only 5-9 after nearly a tenth of the season has been played.

Finally in Seattle the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Mariners thanks to some relentless scoring in the first 6 innings. Tampa were 7-0 up before Seattle got on the board thanks to a Jose Lopez 3 run homer but couldn’t find anything else where as the Rays added another 2 to see the game out easily.

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No games were played in the NBA last night so today’s recap will focus on opening day in the MLB season:

Firstly two games were postponed due to bad weather with some pundits asking why the decision was made to start Boston’s and Chicago’s season at home when the weather was more likely to be bad rather than away to teams in the Sun Belt, where the weather would have been fine.

So the first game actually played on Monday was between the New York Mets and the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, the first game in a three game series. Most teams started with their main pitchers for opening day and the Mets weren’t different. Johan Santana pitched 5.2 innings in which time he struck out 7 Reds batters and only gave up 3 hits and 1 run, the only run scored by Cincy in the whole game.

On a cold day in Ohio the Mets just sneaked this one due to the Reds poor batting and managed to win 2-1 despite leaving 12 men on base all game. Left fielder Daniel Murphy hit a home run in the 5th and ground out in the 6th in a play that saw Luis Castillo score from third for the Mets winning run before Brandon Phillips replied in the bottom of the 6th with a sac. fly that scored Darnell McDonald.

Next up Texas made easy work of the Cleveland Indians in Texas, winning 9-1. The damage was done mostly in the 2nd innings when Rangers catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia (that’s easy for you to say!) singled to right to send Blalock and Byrd to home plate before Kinsler singled to shallow left center to send the aforementioned Saltalamacchia and Andrus through to score. By the time Cleveland did manage to get their solitary run it was too little, too late, by that time Texas were up 7-0 and the Rangers then proceeded to score two more runs with Saltalamacchia getting himself a homer before Young had an RBI single. Kinsler ended the day 3 for 5 with 2 RBIs and a run. Rangers’ pitcher Kevin Millwood managed to complete 7 innings, striking out 5 and only giving up the one run to collect the win.

In Arizona the Diamondbacks ground out a victory in an opening day thriller at Chase Field, 9-8, over the Colorado Rockies. There were a total of 22 hits in this game and 8 home runs in a real shootout in the mid-West. I don’t think anyone wants to see the pitching stats so we’ll just look at the batting stats where D’Backs third baseman Chad Tracy hit 3 of 4 for 2 runs and 2 RBIs and tied Rockies right fielder Brad Hawpe for the game’s best stats, Hawpe also went 3 of 4 for 3 RBIs and 1 run.

In Baltimore the Orioles had their fans dreaming of a shot at the play-offs later this year with a strong performance over the Yankees. The O’s batting line-up managed to send C.C Sabathia packing after only 4.1 innings, Sabathia gave up 8 hits, 6 earned runs and 5 walks and no strike outs before being replaced while opposing pitcher Jeremy Guthrie completed 6 innings but gave up 7 hits and 3 earned runs despite earning the win, the Orioles won this one 10-5.

A total of 18 runs were scored in Florida as the Washington Nationals fell to the Marlins 12-6. Most of the damage was done in the first 3 Marlins’ innings with 6 of their 12 being scored, after these 3 horror innings Nationals’ starter John Lannan was rightly taken out of the game after giving up 2 home runs and 6 earned runs but no Nats’ pitcher really got a hold of the game. Ricky Nolasco earned the win but gave up 6 hits and 4 earned runs in a batter’s game.

Pittsburgh stunned the St.Louis Cardinals in the top of the 9th to win 6-4 at Busch Stadium in the first of a three game series. Trailing 4-2 thanks to a Ryan Ludwick homer and a Ad LaRoche RBI in the 8th the Pirates rallied thanks to 3 RBI double from Jack Wilson when the bases were loaded. Paul Maholm threw 6.2 innings for the Pirates, giving up only 1 earned run and 7 hits but failed to get the win, that was claimed by John Grabow who only completed .2 innings before Matt Capps earned his first save of the season by closing out the bottom of the 9th and striking out one.

The team from the North side of Chicago won their first game of the season in the first game of their 3 game series in Houston thanks to second baseman Mike Fontenot’s 2 runs and a early surge from the Cubs that saw them 3-0 up by the end of the 4th innings. Carlos Zambrano pitched 6 innings for the Cubbies and struck 6 out and allowing only 1 earned run to collect the win before Kevin Gregg earned the save in the 9th innings.

James Loney’s 2 RBIs set up the Dodgers for their first road win of the season at San Diego along with a strong pitching performance from Hiroki Kuroda, who only gave up 1 earned run. Loney hit 3 of 4 and including the first two Los Angeles runs in the 1st inning before Jonathon Broxton got the save late on to close out this 4-1 win.

Another team hoping for a good first half of the season to finally push for the American League play-offs are the Toronto Blue Jays. Their star pitcher Roy Halladay put in a strong performance to delight the home crowd and frustrate Detroit in a strange game where there had to be a 10 minute delay in the bottom of the 8th due to fans throwing objects onto the outfield. Toronto won this one 12-5 after an explosive first innings when they scored 4 runs before an even better 4th innings when they scored 5 including a Travis Snider home run. Halladay kept the Tigers at bay for 6 innings before giving up 4 runs in the 7th, despite this the Jays had enough firepower to see off the Tigers and their star batter in this game was Adam Lind who was 4 of 5 on the day and batted in 6 runs.

The Seattle Mariners shocked the Minnesota Twins in the first game of the season winning 6-1 away from home in a series where the Twins were heavily favoured to sweep.  The Mariners pulled away in the 6th when Franklin Gutierrez scored a 2 run homer to center field before scoring two more in the 9th to see the game out. Most pundits are predicting a long season for the Mariners but they’ll take heart from wins like this and will hope to take at least one game in every road series.

Finally the L.A Angels coasted to victory at home to the Oakland Athletics, 3-0, on the back of a solid pitching performance by Joe Saunders who completed 6.2 innings while giving up only 3 hits in a tame batting performance by the A’s. Howie Kendrick was responsible for the majority of the Angels’ 3 runs scoring an RBI single in the 3rd before hitting a homer in the 5th. The Angels will hope to sweep the Athletics to signal their intent in the AL West.

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The Houston Astros (64-62) will face the Milwaukee Brewers (72-55) this afternoon. Houston is currently 13.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. Milwaukee is 6 games back of the Cubs, but they are the current NL Wild Card holders, with a 2.5 game lead over St. Louis. Houston is 7.5 games behind Milwaukee in the Wild Card. Game time is scheduled for 2:05 PM Eastern in Milwuakee, Wisconsin.

Consider these criteria when determining a pick between the Astros and the Brewers:

- Wandy Rodriguez (7-5, 4.15) will start for Houston

- Manny Parra (9-6, 4.12) will start for Milwaukee

- Parra is 2-2 against Houston in 4 career starts, all from this season

- Parra has a 5.91 ERA against Houston this season

- Houston is 14-5 in the month of August

- Rodriguez is 1-2 with an 8.68 ERA in his last four starts

- This is the final matchup between these two NL Central teams, both teams have won 7 games versus each other

- Houston is 30-34 on the road

- Milwaukee is 37-24 at home

- Houston is 7-3 in its last 10 games

- Milwaukee is 6-4 in its last 10 games

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Tonight, the Detroit Tigers (61-64) will take on the Texas Rangers (62-64). Detroit is 10.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central, and Texas is 15.5 games behind the Angels in the AL West. The reason to watch this game is for the pitching, as both starters are among the top of the league in terms of wins. Game time is scheduled for 8:05 PM in Texas.

Consider these criteria when determining a pick between the Tigers and the Rangers:

- Armando Galarraga (11-4, 3.11) will start for Detroit

- Vicente Padilla (12-6, 4.85) will start for Texas

- The Rangers have lost 10 out of their last 12 games

- The Rangers top ranked offense has only scored 11 times in the last 5 games, and have been shut out 4 of their last 10 games

-  The Rangers have the worst pitching staff in the league

- Detroit’s SP Galarraga has opponents hitting .217 against him, the third lowest in MLB

- Texas is without their leading hitter, Ian Kinsler

- Detroit is 28-36 on the road

- Texas is 32-29 on the road

- Detroit is 5-5 in its last ten games

- Texas is 2-8 in its last ten games

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The Los Angeles Angels (76-46) take on the Tampa Bay Rays (75-48) in a matchup of the two top teams in the American League. The Angels are currently a virtual lock for the playoffs, as they have a 15.5 game lead over the Texas Rangers in the AL West. The Rays, in a tougher division, have a 4.5 game lead over the Boston Red Sox in the AL East. Game time is scheduled for 7:10 PM Eastern.

Consider these criteria when determining a pick between the Angels and the Rays:

- Jon Garland (11-7, 4.26) will start for Los Angeles

- Andy Sonnanstine (12-6, 4.35) will start for Tampa Bay

- Garland has won 3 of his last 4 starts

- Los Angeles comes into the game with an ML Best road record, 39-23

- The Angels have won 10 of their last 15 home games

- Tampa Bay is 14-4 in their last 18 games

- Tampa Bay has won 41 of its last 51 home games

- The Angels are 6-4 in their last 10 games

- Tampa Bay is 7-3 in its last 10 games

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The Milwaukee Brewers (70-52) will face the Los Angeles Dodgers (62-59) tonight in a game that both teams need a win in.  Milwaukee is 4.5 games behind Chicago in the NL Central and they need to keep winning to remain with the Cubs. The Brewers are 3 games ahead of St. Louis in the NL Wild Card. Los Angeles is tied atop the NL West with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Game time is scheduled for 10:40 PM Eastern at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.

Consider these criteria when determining a pick between the Brewers and the Dodgers:

- Manny Parra (9-5, 4.02) will start for the Brewers

- Chad Billingsley (11-9, 3.07) takes the mound for the Dodgers

- Los Angeles is on a six game home winning streak

- Before losing on Thursday, Milwaukee had an eight game winning streak

- The Brewers are 13-3 on the road since the All Star break

- The Dodgers just completed a four game sweep of Philadelphia

- The Brewers are 34-29 on the road this season

- Los Angeles is 36-27 at home this season

- Milwaukee is 8-2 in its last 10 games

- Los Angeles is 6-4 in its last 10 games

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The St. Louis Cardinals (67-56) are scheduled to take on the Florida Marlins (63-58) tonight. The Cardinals lead the four game series 2-1 heading into the last meeting between the two tonight. St. Louis is 7.5 games behind Chicago in the NL Central, and 3.5 behind Milwaukee in the NL Wild Card.  Florida is 1.5 games behind New York and Philadelphia in the NL East. Game time is scheduled for 7:10 PM Eastern at Dolphin Stadium in Florida.

Consider these criteria when determining a pick between the Cardinals and the Marlins:

-Todd Wellemeyer (9-4, 4.01) starts for St. Louis

-Scott Olsen (6-7, 4.04) will pitch for Florida

-Olsen is 1-3 with a 5.20 ERA in his last five starts

-St. Louis is 34-28 on the road

-Florida is 34-28 at home

-St. Louis is 5-5 in its last 10 games

-Florida is 4-6 in its last 10 games

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Tonight, the Philadelphia Phillies (64-55) will take on the Los Angeles Dodgers (60-59) in the third game of the series. The Phillies currently hold a 1 game lead in the NL East over the New York Mets, and the Dodgers are 1 game behind the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West. Game time is scheduled for 10:10 PM Eastern time at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.

Consider these criteria when determining a pick between the Phillies and the Dodgers:

-Joe Blanton (1-0, 3.27) will start for Philadelphia

-Brad Penny (6-9, 5.66) will start for Los Angeles

-The Phillies have lost 4 of their last 6 games

-Penny is 8-4 with a 3.33 ERA in 19 career starts against the Phillies

-Blanton won his only previous start against the Dodgers on June 18, 2006

-The Phillies are 32-28 on the road

-Los Angeles is 34-27 at home

-The Phillies are 5-5 in their last 10 games

-Los Angeles is 6-4 in its last 10 games

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