Harrison, Cruz lead Rangers past Ms (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 08 August 2011 11:02:23 PM. © MLB News Blog

Matt Harrison pitched seven strong innings for his career-high 10th victory, Nelson Cruz homered, and the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 9-2 on Monday night. Harrison (10-8) allowed two runs and five hits with six strikeouts and no walks in 104-degree heat, surpassing his nine-win rookie season in 2008.

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A Strong Hochevar Start Overshadowed

post from Royals Review on 08 August 2011 11:01:30 PM. © Royals Review

Luke Oplakia Hochevar

So that happened...

A first-pitch 96 MPH Blake Wood fastball up on the outer edge of the strike zone was deposited just past the fence in straight-away center field by Casey Kotchman, erasing the memory of a pretty impressive pitcher's duel.

For Luke Oplakia Hochevar, it was the sort of night that made you wonder if he has finally put it all together. We all know how this dance goes. Luke flashes brilliance regularly. Four innings of dominance followed by an implosion. For the past few starts, however, the implosion hasn't come, leaving the world's population to wonder if the world has tilted off its axis. He pitched seven strong innings, sending down seven via the thought-to-be extinct strikeout from a Royals' starting pitcher. He allowed five hits and walked two batters, one of whom was walked intentionally. He baffled Rays hitters through six, got touched up a little in the seventh, but narrowly escaped, ceding his first run of the game.

Unfortunately, that one run matched what the Royals offense had been able to do against Rays rookie Jeremy Hellickson, which consisted of an Alex Gordon double, a Melky Cabrera single, and a check-swing single to shallow left center off the bat of this kid called Eric Hosmer.

In the ensuing eighth inning, the Royals were unable to capitalize on Billy Butler's one-out single, even after getting the grittiest pinch-runner in the history of the game Chris Getz all the way to third base.

Aaron Crow, in what has become expected of both him and other early-season middle relief workhorse Tim Collins, pitched an erratic bottom half of the eighth. He did, however, manage to hold the tie. The bottom of the order came up in the top of the ninth for the Royals and managed to do nothing against Professor Kyle Farnsworth, and Blake Wood did what it seemed like Crow would do in the inning prior, only at this point in the game the Royals had no chance to answer.

I suppose another strong Hochevar start means more in the greater scheme of things than a mere win in a lost season, but that doesn't seem to make a crushed homer from the over-performing Casey Kotchman any more palatable.

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Braves Survive Scott Proctor; Beat Florida 8-5

post from Talking Chop on 08 August 2011 11:01:27 PM. © Talking Chop

Dan Uggla extended his hitting streak to 29 games with an infield single in the fifth inning.

Atlanta's offense exploded for eight runs and survived an appearance from Scott Proctor as the Braves beat Florida 8-5 in front of 17 people at Sun Life Stadium.

The Braves got the scoring going in the second inning, as David Ross walked with one out. Jose Constanza singled to left field for Derek Lowe who bunted the runners up to second and third with two outs. Michael Bourn followed with a single to right that scored Ross and advanced Constanza to third to make 1-0.

A Martin Prado ground-rule double to left-center scored Constanza to make it 2-0 and put runners on second and third for Freddie Freeman who singled to score both runners to give Atlanta an early 4-0 lead against Marlins starter Brad Hand.

Florida finally got on the board in the third inning as Hand started things off with a single to center. An Emilio Bonifacio single put runners on first and second for Alfredo Amezaga who singled to load the bases for the powerful Mike Stanton.

Lowe walked Stanton to bring in the first run and make it a 4-1 game. Gaby Sanchez then grounded out to second base, allowing Bonifacio to score and cut the Braves lead to 4-2.

The rest after the jump

Dan Uggla extended his hitting streak to 29 games in the fifth inning as he beat out a soft ground-ball to shortstop to begin the frame. Chipper Jones singled to center to put runners on first and second for Alex Gonzalez, who crushed a Hand fastball to left for a three-run home run. Gonzalez's blast gave Atlanta a 7-2 lead.

Hand left after the fifth inning, finishing with a line of 5 IP, 9 H, 7 R (all earned), 3 BB, 3 K.

Atlanta finished its scoring in sixth inning against Marlins reliever Brian Sanches. Michael Bourn singled to start the inning, then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher John Buck.

After an intentional walk to Freddie Freeman, Dan Uggla hit a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Bourn to give the Braves an 8-2 lead.

Lowe threw six solid innings, giving up six hits and two runs while walking three and striking out three.

Florida plated a run on a solo home run from Greg Dobbs against Cristhian Martinez in the bottom of the eighth inning to cut the lead to 8-3.

Scott Proctor came on to pitch the ninth inning and predictably got hit hard. Proctor walked Mike Cameron to begin the inning and two batters later gave up a two-run home run to Buck to cut the lead to 8-5.

Craig Kimbrel had to come in and record the final two outs to record his 35th save of the season.

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Ortizs 4 hits help BoSox rally by Twins (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 08 August 2011 10:32:22 PM. © MLB News Blog

David Ortiz had four hits and three RBIs and delivered the go-ahead single with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Boston Red Sox to an 8-6 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night. Ortiz, a former Twin, hit a two-run homer in the sixth and finished a triple shy of the [...]

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Classic Yankees: Orlando Hernandez

post from Bronx Baseball Daily » Bronx Baseball Daily, a New York Yankees blog on 08 August 2011 10:27:12 PM. © Bronx Baseball Daily » Bronx Baseball Daily, a New York Yankees blog

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Ugglas streak at 29, Braves top Marlins (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 08 August 2011 10:23:22 PM. © MLB News Blog

Dan Uggla extended his hitting streak to 29 games and Alex Gonzalez hit a three-run homer to help the Atlanta Braves beat slumping Florida 8-5 Monday night, dropping the Marlins to 0-5 on their homestand. Uggla beat out a grounder to short for an infield single in the fifth inning to extend the longest active [...]

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White Sox win fourth straight, beat Os (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 08 August 2011 10:05:27 PM. © MLB News Blog

A.J. Pierzynski homered and drove in three runs, Alex Rios singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-6 on Monday night for their fourth straight victory. Gordon Beckham also connected for the White Sox, who blew a four-run lead before rallying to secure their [...]

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Kotchman homers in 9th to give Rays win (AP)

Casey Kotchman led off the ninth inning with a home run to lift the Tampa Bay Rays to a 2-1 win over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night. Kotchman drove the first pitch from Blake Wood (5-1) over the center field fence. He also knocked in the other Tampa Bay run with a run-scoring [...]

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Game Thread – August 8, 2011

post from LADodgerTalk.com - Daily Dodger Talk, LA Dodger News, Dodger Minor League Reports and Dodger Chatter on 08 August 2011 10:02:17 PM. © LADodgerTalk.com - Daily Dodger Talk, LA Dodger News, Dodger Minor League Reports and Dodger Chatter

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