And That Happened

Giants 1, Nats 0: That's how you play a game on getaway day! The teams combined for 11 hits and no walks, and the whole deal was done in two hours on the nose. Cain pitched a four hit shutout, and the only Giants' run came on an eighth inning sequence of single/sacrifice/single that had fundamental-loving traditionalists pitching tents in their sansabelt slacks.

Mets 3, Phillies 1: Talk about not getting a win you deserve: Oliver Perez (7.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 12K) shuts the Phillies down, but gets in a jam in the eighth, makes way for Aaron Heilman who throws three pitches, and then who goes on to claim the win for himself when the Mets rally in the bottom of the inning. Of course the real culprit was the Mets' offense, who couldn't do a thing against Old Man Moyer, but a win's a win, and the Mets are now all alone in first place.

Blue Jays 7, Orioles 1: Lots of dominant pitching performances yesterday, no? Halladay gives up one run over seven, making quick work of the O's. Yesterday lots of folks were reporting that the Jays were shopping Halladay. Late in the day the Jays denied it. If I had to guess, they are shopping him, as any team in their position should be given the kinds of returns teams are getting for starters this year. Sabathia, Harden, and Bedard all brought back value, and given how well Sabathia has pitched in particular, you can bet that there are some teams out there thinking about how to get the same kind of magic on their side.

Blue Jays 5, Orioles 1: Because this was the continuation of the suspended game, A.J. Burnett picked up a win some 14 hours after the game began. Such a thing hasn't happened since Steve Trachsel was DFA'd last month.

Pirates 9, Padres 1: The Padres were blanked for six innings by a 27 year-old rookie who, before this game, had given up 13 earned runs on 19 hits in his previous six innings over the course of two games.

Brewers 4, Cardinals 3: Ryan Braun homered to left center off of Ryan Franklin, blowing the game in the top of the ninth. Right now, the Cardinals are in the midst of an 18-game stretch without a day off, and as I'm typing this, they are showering off an awful loss and preparing to take a bus to a charter flight that will take them to New York to face the Mets. In the face of all of that, it will take every bit of magic genius dust in La Russa's possession to get this team off the mat. I'm often wrong in these situations, but for now, this humble blogger is left with the distinct feeling that we have seen the last of "St. Louis Cardinals: pennant contenders" this season. Sorry, Sara.

Cubs 6, Marlins 3: It's nice to be home. After a 2-4 road trip, the Cubs right the ship at Wrigley behind Zambrano and a big fifth inning. Eight and a half games separated the Cubs and Brewers a little over a month ago. Now the lead is one. They have A LOT of games left to play against one another. Whereof what's past is prologue, what to come is in Chicago's and Milwaukee's discharge.