Yankees 9 - Blue Jays 3
- CC Sabathia struck out 10 batters over 7.1 innings of 2-run ball. He walked just 1 batter with 6 hits allowed. He's now struck out 10 batters in back-to-back starts against just 3 walks total. In the AL he ranks 2nd in innings pitched (218.1), 2nd in strikeouts (211), 7th in ERA (2.97), and 13th in WHIP (1.17).
- Brett Cecil took the loss after he pitched 6 innings and allowed 5 runs (4 earned). He gave up 5 hits with 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, and 2 homers served. A Jeter 3-run homer in the 3rd innings was the beginning of the end for him. He has now given up at least 4 earned in each of his last 3 starts and at least 1 homer in his last 8 straight starts.
- Edwin Encarnacion went 3-4 with a run. E5 is hitting .277/.335/.462 this season with 15 home runs.
- Derek Jeter went 2-5 with a 3-run homer, 5 RBI, and a run. On the season he's hitting .298/.356/.389.
- W: CC Sabathia (19-7), L: Brett Cecil (4-8)
- HR: Jose Bautista (40), Derek Jeter (5), Alex Rodriguez (15), Nick Swisher (22)
- SB: Brett Gardner (42)
Rangers 11 - Red Sox 4
- It was the good Matt Harrison as he pitched 7 innings and allowed 2 earned runs for his 11th win. He gave up 7 hits with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. In his last start he gave up 7 earned runs over 5 innings.
- John Lackey was up to John Lackey things as he gave up 6 earned runs over 5 innings on 8 hits and 3 walks. He struck out just 1 batter in what is pretty much a lost season for the big Texan. He's given up at least 3 earned runs in 8 straight starts.
- Ian Kinsler and Josh Hamilton each had a triple and 3 RBI. Kinsler, who also had a homer, is hitting .245/.346/.458 on the season, while Hamilton is hitting .299/.344/.524.
- Kevin Youkilis went 2-4 with a run. The hits were his first since coming back from the DL (back).
- W: Matt Harrison (11-9), L: John Lackey (12-11)
- HR: Ian Kinsler (25), Mike Napoli (23)
Rays 8 - Orioles 1
- Jeremy Hellickson tossed a 1-run complete game on 4 hits. He struck out none with just 1 strikeout. The lack of strikeouts is surprising considering Hell Boy had a 6.14 K/9 strikeout rate coming in. He's now 12-10 with a 2.90 ERA (5th best in the AL).
- Jeremy Guthrie took his AL leading 17th loss, after he pitched 5 innings and gave up 7 runs (3 earned). He gave up 7 hits with 4 walks and 5 strikeouts. He hasn't pitched that well that season as evidence from his 4.45 ERA, but he's certainly not deserving of 17 losses.
- Adam Jones went 2-3 with a double and homer. The RBI was his first in 8 games, the second longest streak of his season.
- Matt Joyce was 1-3 with a homer and sac-fly. On the season he's hitting .282/.349/.496 with 18 homers and 63 RBI.
- W: Jeremy Hellickson (12-10), L: Jeremy Guthrie (6-17)
- HR: Adam Jones (23), Matt Joyce (18), Sean Rodriguez (7)
Indians 9 - Royals 6
- Jeanmar Gomez allowed just 1 run over 5.1 innings for his second win of the season. He struck out 2 batters with 3 walks and 6 hits. He has now pitched 11.1 innings with only 1 earned allowed since coming back up from the minors.
- Jeff Francis was par for the Jeff Francis course as he pitched 5 innings and allowed 4 earned runs. He struck out no batters and issued 3 walks to go with his 9 hits allowed. He's now 5-15 with a 4.72 ERA.
- Shelley Duncan went 2-4 with two homers, 5 RBI, 2 runs, and a walk. The extra base hits were his first in nearly a month. He's hitting .260/.321/.447 over 165 plate appearances.
- Billy Butler went 3-4 with two doubles, a run, and a walk. The DH is batting .299/.372/.466 this season with 38 doubles.
- W: Jeanmar Gomez (2-2), L: Jeff Francis (5-15), SV: Chris Perez (32)
- HR: Shelley Duncan (5, 6)
- SB: Ezequiel Carrera (9), Jason Donald (3)
Angels 4 - Twins 1
- Joel Pineiro allowed just 1 earned run over 7 innings for his 6th win. It was the first time he had gone 7 innings since July 9th. Coming off of back-to-back seasons with sub-4.00 ERAs, his 5.11 ERA over 130.1 innings is now what his owners were expecting.
- Kevin Slowey pitched 7 innings with 2 earned runs on 7 hits, no walks, and 4 strikeouts. In his 4 starts since coming back up from the minors he's pitched 24.1 innings with 15 earned runs, 14 strikeouts, and 4 walks.
- Joe Mauer went 1-2 with a solo shot and 2 walks. It was his first homer since July 27th. He's batting .295/.357/.373 over 270 plate appearances.
- Torii Hunter went 2-4 with a RBI. He's batting .265/.337/.425 this season which is well below what he's used to hitting. I seriously hope the chatter about him retiring after next season isn't true. He's been my favorite player for some time now and I'd hate to see him go.
- W: Joel Pineiro (6-6), L: Kevin Slowey (0-4), SV: Jordan Walden (28)
- HR: Joe Mauer (2), Bobby Abreu (7)
- SB: Howie Kendrick (13); CS: Jason Kubel (1), Danny Valencia (5)
A's 8 - Mariners 5
- Trevor Cahill allowed 1 earned run over 5 innings for his 10th win. He struck out 4 batters with 2 walks and 5 hits allowed. Cahill has had a rough go of it lately with 37 earned runs allowed over his last 43.1 innings, coming into this one. His xFIP this season is pretty close to that which he posted last season, but you'd never know that from his 4.20 ERA.
- Blake Beaven wasn't nearly as sharp as he allowed 4 earned runs over 5 innings. Over 70.2 innings he has a 4.33 ERA with 28 strikeouts and 13 walks.
- Dustin Ackley hit a homer and was one of five Mariners hitters with two hits. The other batters were Ichiro Suzuki, who had a stolen base, Franklin Gutierrez, Justin Smoak, and Kyle Seager.
- Hideki Matsui went 3-5 with a double and 3 runs. He's batting .264/.328/.399 this season with 11 homers and 68 RBI.
- W: Trevor Cahill (10-13), L: Blake Beavan (3-5), SV: Andrew Bailey (19)
- HR: Dustin Ackley (6)
- SB: Ichiro Suzuki (34)
Tigers 18 - White Sox 2
- Max Scherzer threw 7 shutout innings with 5 hits, no walks, and 6 strikeouts. Considering his last start was an utter disaster (3 IP, 7 ER), this was a welcomed bounce back effort. His 5.45 ERA in the month of August was his highest for any month this season.
- Mark Buehrle was torched for 8 runs (7 earned) over 3.1 innings on 10 hits and 2 walks with 4 strikeouts. His ERA came in at 3.05 and left at 3.34.
- Every Tigers hitter had at least 1 hit. Alex Avila led the way with 4 hits, one of which was a double, with 2 RBI, and 2 runs. He's been the best catcher in baseball this season.
- Andy Dirks and Miguel Cabrera each hit a homer with 4 RBI and 2 runs. This was officially the nail in the coffin that is the White Sox 2011 season. See you next season when you've hopefully fixed Adam Dunn, Alex Rios, Gordon Beckham, and ironed out your manager situation.
- W: Max Scherzer (14-8), L: Mark Buehrle (11-7)
- HR: Andy Dirks (7), Miguel Cabrera (26)
- CS: Alex Rios (6)
Marlins 5 - Phillies 4
- Roy Halladay took a no-decision after he pitched 6 innings and gave up 3 runs (2 earned). He struck out 4 with 1 walk and 9 hits allowed. He now has just 1 win over his last 4 starts, which is his longest stretch with just 1 win. He remains 16-5 with a 2.49 ERA.
- Anibal Sanchez pitched 6 innings with 2 runs allowed (0 earned) on 6 hits and 3 walks with 5 strikeouts. He has now allowed 3 earned runs or less in 5 of his last 6 starts, of course that one that wasn't was a 5 earned run thrashing over just 1.2 innings. He's one of the few starters this season to strikeout over a batter per inning (173 K, 171.1 IP).
- David Herndon pitched 3.2 innings with 7 walks, the last of which sent the game winning in to score. In fairness to him, he did walk two of those batters intentionally and probably shouldn't have been out there, but it was the 14th inning.
- Omar Infante was 3-6 with a RBI, run, walk, and stolen base. The three hits are the most he's had since right before he went on the DL and had three straight games with 3 hits.
- Ryan Howard was 2-3 with 2 RBI and 3 walks. Those who believe he should garner MVP votes will point to his 106 RBI, which are 2nd in the NL. I'd point to his .343 OBP (35th in the NL) as evidence that he's not even in the conversation.
- W: Clay Hensley (3-6), L: David Herndon (1-3)
- SB: Omar Infante (4), Bryan Petersen (4)
Braves 4 - Dodgers 3
- Clayton Kershaw struck out 10 batters with no walks as he pitched 7 innings and allowed 3 runs (2 earned). He gave up 8 hits in the no-decision as his offense never bothered to pick him up. In the NL Kershaw ranks 1st in innings pitched (205.2), 1st in strikeouts (222), 2nd in ERA (2.45), and 2nd in WHIP (1.02). He's a very strong candidate to win the NL Cy Young award. Oh and he went 2-3 with a run at the plate… pretty, pretty, pretty good.
- Randall Delgado made a spot start in place of the injured Jair Jurrjens and gave up 3 earned runs over 5 innings, in a no-decision. He gave up 4 hits with 3 walks, 4 strikeouts, and 1 homer served. He could hang around in the rotation for the remainder of the season, for those looking for a NL arm to gamble on.
- Matt Kemp went 1-3 with a 3-run homer and a walk. He's now batting .320/.401/.570 with 32 homers, 105 RBI, 90 runs, and 37 stolen bases.
- Jose Constanza went 2-4 with a RBI, 2 runs, and a caught stealing. He's batting .337/.376/.432 over 104 plate appearances.
- W: Craig Kimbrel (4-2), L: Blake Hawksworth (2-5)
- HR: Matt Kemp (32)
- SB: Dee Gordon (15); CS: Jose Constanza (4)
Mets 6 - Nationals 3
- Mike Pelfrey pitched 4.2 innings with 3 earned runs allowed, in a no-decision. He struck out 3 with 5 walks and 5 hits allowed. He has one win over his last 7 starts.
- Livan Hernandez gave up 6 earned runs over 5.1 innings with 1 walk and 1 strikeout. He's given up at least 4 earned runs over 3 of his last 4 starts. With his next start, he'll likely have eaten over 180 innings for his 14th straight season.
- Danny Espinosa went 3-3 with a double, RBI, run, walk, and stolen base. He's been one of the best rookies in the NL this season, but likely lose out to Craig Kimbrel for the Rookie of the Year.
- David Wright went 2-4 with a run. The 3B is batting .278/.369/.468 this season over 347 plate appearances.
- W: Ryota Igarashi (3-1), L: Livan Hernandez (8-13), SV: Bobby Parnell (5)
- HR: Lucas Duda (9)
- SB: Jayson Werth (16), Danny Espinosa (14)
Brewers 4 - Astros 0
- Shaun Marcum held the Astros to just 1 hit over 7 scoreless innings with 8 strikeouts and 1 walk. He has allowed 2 earned runs or less over in each of his last 5 starts. His 3.11 ERA is 13th lowest among starters in the NL.
- Wandy Rodriguez turned in a quality start with 3 earned runs allowed over 6 innings with 8 strikeouts. He issued 3 walks with 6 hits allowed, 2 of which were home runs. He now has 148 strikeouts over 166 innings with 60 walks.
- Ryan Braun went 3-3 with a homer, 3 RBI, run, walk, and caught stealing. He has 26 homers with 94 RBI, 95 runs, 31 stolen bases, and a .335/.404/.590 batting line. Braun's defense could cost him the MVP. Then again he could split votes with Prince Fielder and lose votes too.
- W: Shaun Marcum (12-5), L: Wandy Rodriguez (10-10)
- HR: Ryan Braun (26), Jonathan Lucroy (11)
- SB: Jerry Hairston Jr. (3); CS: Ryan Braun (6)
Reds 3 - Cardinals 2
- Edwin Jackson held the Reds to just 2 runs over 7 innings, in a no-decision. He struck out 8 batters with 2 walks and 8 hits. He has now allowed just 4 earned runs over his last 3 starts combined (20 innings).
- Bronson Arroyo was just as good as he pitched 8 innings and allowed 2 earned runs. He struck out 5 batters with no walks and 10 hits allowed. His 5.00 ERA isn't close to his 3.80-ish ERA's he's posted the last two seasons, but his xFIP is right in line with the 4.50 & 4.42 he's posted in those seasons.
- Juan Francisco went 4-5 with a double and RBI. It was his 3rd start since coming up from the minors this time around. At Triple-A this season he hit .307/.334/.540 over 314 plate appearances with 15 homers and 50 RBI.
- Jon Jay went 2-4 with a homer. The CF is batting .301/.349/.435 over 420 plate appearances with 9 homers and 33 RBI.
- W: Bill Bray (5-2), L: Fernando Salas (5-6), SV: Francisco Cordero (30)
- HR: Edgar Renteria (5), Jon Jay (9)
Cubs 6 - Pirates 3
- Randy Wells pitched 6 innings and allowed 1 run on 7 hits and 2 walks. He's allowed just 2 earned runs over his last 3 starts (21.1 innings), which were all wins, with 15 strikeouts and 5 walks.
- Charlie Morton walked 5 batters and gave up 7 hits on his way to allowing 4 runs (3 earned) over 4.1 innings. Remember when his ERA was 2.52 back in June and he was keeping his walks to a minimum? Yeah, I don't either.
- Derek Lee went 3-4 with a RBI, and run. In the two games he played against his former team he went 6-9 with a homer and 6 RBI.
- Starlin Castro went 2-5 with a RBI and stolen base. The sophomore SS is batting .305/.333/.429 this season with 20 stolen bases.
- W: Randy Wells (7-4), L: Charlie Morton (9-9), SV: Sean Marshall (4)
- HR: Neil Walker (12)
- SB: Alex Presley (7), Starlin Castro (20), Tony Campana (18), Aramis Ramirez (1), Marlon Byrd (3)
Padres 7 - Rockies 2
- Mat Latos struck out 8 Rockies batters with 1 walk as he pitched 7 innings of 2-run ball. Since the All-Star break he has a 3.36 ERA over 64.1 innings with 58 strikeouts and 20 walks. Sounds like the Latos of last season to me.
- Aaron Cook served up a quality start as he pitched 6 innings and allowed 3 earned runs on 4 hits, 4 walks, and 2 strikeouts. He has 38 strikeouts and 35 walks over his 91 innings this season.
- Dexter Fowler went 3-4 with a triple and run. He has three doubles, two triples, and two homers over his last five games.
- Anthony Rizzo went 0-3 at the plate as he played 1B. Jesus Guzman shifted over to LF an went 3-3 with a run and walk. It was Rizzo's first game back up from the minors. He'll likely split time at 1B with Guzman.
- W: Mat Latos (7-13), L: Aaron Cook (3-9)
- SB: Cameron Maybin (33)
Diamondbacks 4 - Giants 1
- Daniel Hudson pitched 7 innings and let the Giants offense do the rest as they scored 1 run on 3 hits and 1 walk. He struck out 5 batters and put the Diamondbacks up 7 games on the defending WS Champs. Like the White Sox, the Giants season is officially over in my opinion. The only race in question now is the AL West, where the Rangers have a 3.5 game lead on the Angels.
- Ryan Vogelson pitched 7.1 innings and allowed 2 runs on 5 hits and a walk with 6 strikeouts. He's now 10-6 with a 2.62 ERA over 154.1 innings.
- Cody Ross went 1-4 with a homer as the only offense the Giants could muster.
- Ryan Roberts went 1-4 with a homer. With a .259/.354/.449 batting line, 18 homers, and 54 RBI, he's been a real find for those in NL leagues this season.
- W: Daniel Hudson (15-9), L: Ryan Vogelsong (10-6), SV: J.J. Putz (36)
- HR: Ryan Roberts (18), Cody Ross (12)
- CS: Aaron Hill (5)