Ryan Franklin gives it up
1. Knocked off: It’s almost hard to remember a time when the Cincinnati Reds were not leading the Wild Card. They’ve had control of the lead ever since the All Star break and despite numerous competitors have not let go. Until now. The Reds lost their 5th game in a row, a stinging 16-inning defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The game was tied at 6 for ten innings until pinch-hitter Ramon Martinez hit an improbable walk-off homerun, only his second jack of the year. The Dodgers, who have won 4 straight, find themselves three games up on their NL West competitors. The Reds are 3.5 back in their division and now a half-game back in the Wild Card.
2. New teams on the block: So which contenders overthrew the Reds to take the Wild Card lead? Well, the outright leaders are now the
San Diego Padres, who beat the Diamondbacks 8-3 yesterday behind the strong pitching of Chris Young. Young, who was a legit All Star contender after a few great performances before the break, had posted a 5.21 ERA afterwards. But he rebounded to his capable form, striking out 11 batters while allowing just 1 run last night. His 10th win of the season, along with Mike Piazza’s 19th dinger on the year, helped send SD to the WC lead. Also, Philadelphia is now a half-game back after another win. Ryan Howard hit his MLB-leading 48th homerun and 125th RBI of the season in the win. And don’t overlook the Florida Marlins as contenders as well. They have won 9 in a row after defeating the Cardinals yesterday.
3. Complete games galore: Of yesterday’s six AL games, three featured a complete game by a pitcher. C.C. Sabathia of the Cleveland Indians tossed his majors-leading 5th complete game of the year. He struck out 6 and allowed just 4 hits as the Indians beat the Blue Jays 5-2. Now let’s go to our favorite All Star: Mark Redman! He tossed a shutout for the Kansas City Royals against the Twins, allowing just 5 hits on the night. He improved to a glorious (by Royal standards) 8-8 on the season. And now for the last CG, throw by Kevin Millwood of the Rangers. He allowed 4 runs to the Orioles but received plenty of run support in a Rangers win.
4. Taking it back: So much for the Twins leading the Wild Card. The Chicago White Sox took advantage of their loss by winning against the D-Rays 12-9. Freddy Garcia allowed 5 runs but still won as he got all the run support a pitcher could ask for. Jermaine Dye continued his recent streak with a homerun (39) and 4 RBIs. Joe Crede improved his average to over .300, going 4-5 with two knocked in. The losing Devil Rays also had something to smile about. In his major league debut, Delmon Young hit a two-run homer. Young is well-known for his infamous bat-throwing incident with a minor league umpire earlier this year, but he has served that suspension and was called up yesterday. The ChiSox lead the Wild Card by a half-game.
5. Tripped up: The Braves showcased their offense yesterday in a 13-8 blowout against the Giants. Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones, and Adam LaRoche all went deep for the Braves, but it will be one of Andruw’s two shots that is most memorable. Jones tripped and fell on his way to first during his homerun trot, causing an array of laughter in the
Braves’ dugout. (Here is video of the incident.) For the Giants, Barry Bonds had one of his better games of the year. Bonds went deep twice, giving him 19 homers on the season and 727 for his career. He also made a homerun-saving catch in the loss.
