And That Happened

Cubs 11, Braves 7: Mark Kotsay hit for the cycle and Jeff Francoeur -- who now admits what everyone has long known -- went 3-5 with 3 RBI. Nevertheless, the Braves still lost because Tom Glavine got his future Hall of Fame ass handed to him (4 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 4 BB) in his first start in over two months. Personally, I am disappointed to see the Kotsay cycle, because he now supplants Albert Hall as the answer to the trivia question about which Brave did it last. For the past twenty years, you could bet your children that if someone on the Braves got a triple, Skip Caray would mention Albert Hall's name. Now Skip is gone and Albert's mark is gone, and I'm probably going to have to go and have a good cry. There. Are you happy 2008 Braves season? You've made a grown man cry.

Padres 3, Brewers 2: No matter how bad it gets for the Padres, at least they have one of the best pitchers in baseball on their team to break bad streaks and occasionally remind the rest of the guys what good baseball looks like. Jake Peavy gives up one unearned run on four hits over seven to snap the Brewers' winning streak and stop Ben Sheets.

Cardinals 3, Marlins 0: I wish the Cardinals were still in the NL East. I'd much rather see them in the playoffs than New York, Philly, or Florida.

Mets 9, Nationals 3: Before this game, Lastings Milledge's line against the Mets this year was .171/.275/.229. In this game: 0-3 with a walk. Also, Brian Schneider hit a two run home run. Upshot: Ryan Church's head notwithstanding, I don't think New York has lived to regret the trade yet.

Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 2: Dan Haren did it all, pitching eight innings of two run ball and adding two hits and a run of his own on offense.

Rays 7, A's 6: Brad Ziegler gives up a run on two hits and a walk, ending (a) his scoreless innings streak; and (b) the only thing worth watching about the A's season. Wait, that's not true. Jack Cust is seriously chasing Ryan Howard's single-season strikeout record of 199 -- Cust is on pace for 206 -- so there's still a reason for East Bay fans to tune in.

Astros 7, Giants 4: I've mocked the Astros delusions of friskiness a lot lately, but credit where it is due: they have won eight in a row, are over .500, and have looked good doing it, and I don't think anyone could have predicted before the season began that they'd be playing as well as they are.

White Sox 9, Royals 2: Thome, Konerko, Ramirez, and Uribe go back-to-back-to-back-to-back in the bottom of the sixth. Lance Broadway -- which, coincidentally, is my porn star name -- gets the win.

Reds 3, Pirates 1: Chris Dickerson has spent eight seasons in the minors. There's some evidence that he has passable on base skills, but he has never had corner-outfielder power and, of course, due to the presence of Griffey and Dunn, he's never had a corner spot to play. He probably doesn't have any business being the starting left fielder for a major league team, but because of the Dunn trade, there he is. Last night he went 2-5 with two doubles and an RBI. Because of this, and because he's not Adam Dunn and this is Cincinnati, he's probably going to get more Major League plate appearances than he'll ever deserve over the next few years, so hey, let's hear it for right place-right time.

Tigers 5, Blue Jays 1: I was chatting with The Daily Fungo's Mike McClary as this game was happening. I asked him what he was up to. He said "just watching the Tigers lose again." Our chat ended before the 8th inning rally, but I was happy to see Detroit win this one, because Mike is a nice guy and I have this feeling that he had planned on blogging a championship run this year as opposed to Gary Sheffield turmoil stories.

Orioles 11, Indians 6: While Neyer outlined a handy-dandy game rating system yesterday (subscription only) that may help you figure out what to ignore, I feel obligated to write about every game, no matter how inconsequential. This is difficult, because as the season progresses and the playoffs get closer and closer, the meaningfulness quotient of this sort of matchup approaches zero. Still, I've so far resisted the urge to give games like these a pass, as it were, and I spend a little extra time to try and find something worth saying. This one took a while, but here you go: Orioles starter Daniel Cabrera leads the AL in walks, wild pitches, and hit batsmen. There should be some kind of Three True Outcomes honor to give him for winning such a dubious triple crown, shouldn't there?

Red Sox 10, Rangers 0: The Rangers gave up 37 runs in this three game series.

Dodgers 3, Phillies 1: The last time L.A. swept the Phillies in four games the starters were Johnny Podres, Stan Williams, Sandy Koufax, and Joe Moeller. Joe Torre was twenty-one years old and catching for the Milwaukee Braves. Charlie Manuel? Amazingly enough, he was still sixty-four years-old, heavy, and had a head of white hair. It was the damnedest thing.