With a lead of 2.5 games in the NL Wild Card race, the Colorado Rockies very much needed a win on Wednesday against the second place San Francisco Giants. Up 4-0 heading into the ninth inning, the victory appeared to be in hand.
Not so fast.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Giants began the inning with three straight singles. Eventually, Nick Schierholtz was at the plate with the tieing run at third base. However, Rafeal Betancourt struck out Schierholtz to end San Francisco’s rally.
The Rockies MVP of the game was undoubtedly starting pitcher Jorge De La Rosa. He went …read more

If you missed Tuesday’s game between the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays, you missed a noteworthy brawl. For a video of the brawl, check the end of this entry.
The two main characters in the brawl were New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada and Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Jesse Carlson. In the eighth inning, Carlson through a pitch behind Posada after two Blue Jays were hit by pitches.
The fireworks really went off in the eighth when Posada scored and bumped Carlson after crossing the plate. That bump cleared both benches and created a relatively physical brawl.
As …read more

Cole Hamels hasn’t been too impressive this season. After leading the Philadelphia Phillies to the 2009 World Series championship, the lefty hasn’t looked like a champion this season. However, on Tuesday Hamels snapped out of his funk and led the Phillies to a 1-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
Pitching all nine innings, Hamels gave up only two hits and one walk while striking out nine batters. It was his best start of the season and evened his record at 8-8 in addition to lowering his ERA to 4.26. Considering that he was 0-3 in August with a 4.91 ERA, …read more

Entering the 14th inning in the contest between the Colorado Rockies and the San Francisco Giants, there wasn’t much action. The game was 1-1 and the Denver crowd was quiet. But then one of the most exciting innings took place that featured a game-winning grand slam by Rockies outfielder Ryan Spilborghs.
In the top half of the 14th, Eugenio Velez hit a two-run triple and later scored on a ground out. Up 4-1, the Giants had to be confident. But after a bases loaded walk made the score 4-2, Spilborghs hit his game-winning grand slam that ignited a while celebration in …read more

Ryan Howard and J.A. Happ were masterful on Sunday as the Philadelphia Phillies toppled the Atlanta Braves by a final count of 4-1. With the win, the Phillies were able to build their advantage in the NL East to 4.5 games over the Florida Marlins and 6 games over the Braves.
In the second inning, Howard connected on his 29th home run of the year. His 30th homer of the year came in the sixth when he hit a three-run blast. Happ, the rookie starting pitcher, did the rest.
In 7.2 innings of work, Happ gave up only three hits and one …read more

On Monday, tempers started to erupt in the ballgame between the Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers. On Tuesday, there was a full-blown brawl. You can see a video of the brawl between the Red Sox and Tigers at the end of the entry.
To lead off the second inning, Rick Porcello hit Kevin Youkilis. Youkilis reacted by dropping his bat and running toward Porcello. On his way to the mound, Youkilis threw his helmet. A couple seconds later, both players were on the ground.
When the dust settled, the Red Sox had beaten the Tigers by a final count of …read more

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox played a classic game on Friday. In a game that was scoreless into the bottom of the 15th inning, Alex Rodriguez hit a 15th inning two-run homer to give the Yankees an emotional win.
With Derek Jeter on base, Rodriguez hit a home run off of Junichi Tazawa. Tazawa is a Red Sox reliever who was making his baseball debut. Rodriguez is now hitting .261 with 20 homers and 62 RBIs this season.
On the mound, both starters pitchers were great. A.J. Burnett allowed only one hit in his 7.2 innings of work. For …read more

To begin the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Roy Halladay will be on the mound for the American League and Tim Lincecum will be on the mound for the National League.
Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays has recently been the subject of trade rumors. Considering how talented he is, that’s of little surprise. On the season, Halladay has a 2.85 ERA, a record of 10-3 and a WHIP of 1.10. He’s on his way to winning 16 or more games for the fourth straight season.
Lincecum is the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner. In 2009, he’s threatening to …read more

Heading into extra innings, the Florida Marlins did something they have done many times this year — they pulled out the victory. In the top of the 11th, Jeremy Hermida hit a three-run bomb to put the Marlins up for good by a final count of 9-6.
With the win, the Marlins are now 10-1 on the season. That marks the best start in franchise history after 11 games.
The team that took the loss on Saturday isn’t new to the loss column. The Washington Nationals are now 1-9 after ten games.
The Nationals actually appeared to be heading to a victory with …read more

You’ll have to excuse the Los Angeles Angels if they seem to be a bit more emotional than usual. Just a few days after Angels starting pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed by a drunk driver, the Angels brawled with the Boston Red Sox before coming out victorious at the end.
The brawl started after Josh Beckett threw a ball over Bobby Abreu’s head after the slugger had called time. Abreu began jawing with Beckett and then both benches came onto the field. Angels’ outfielder Torii Hunter, pitcher Justin Speier and hitting coach Mickey Hatcher ended up being ejected from the ballgame.
Abreu …read more