Baseball Today
SCOREBOARD
Monday, Aug. 24
San Francisco at Colorado (8:40 p.m. EDT). Jason Marquis (14-8, 3.58 ERA) gets the ball for NL wild card-leading Colorado in the finale of its important four-game set against San Francisco at Coors Field. Barry Zito (8-11, 4.26) is scheduled to start for the Giants.
STARS
Sunday
—Eric Bruntlett, Phillies, turned an unassisted triple play to finish Philadelphia’s wild 9-7 victory over the New York Mets.
—Michael Cuddyer, Twins, homered twice in an eight-run seventh inning to help Minnesota break open a close game for a 10-3 victory at Kansas City.
—Albert Pujols, Cardinals, hit his 40th homer in St. Louis’ 5-2 win at San Diego.
—Jack Cust, Athletics, homered twice and drove in four runs in a 9-4 victory over Detroit.
—CC Sabathia, Yankees, became the majors’ first 15-game winner, pitching New York to an 8-4 win over Boston.
—Brian McCann, Braves, hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth inning and matched a career high with five RBIs, leading Atlanta to a 7-5 win over the Florida Marlins.
—Scott Feldman, Rangers, struck out a career-high 11 in seven innings to win his fifth consecutive road start as Texas avoided a three-game sweep by beating Tampa Bay 4-0.
—Ubaldo Jimenez, Rockies, pitched eight strong innings to help Colorado beat Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants 4-2 at Coors Field.
—Angel Pagan, Mets, homered twice, including an inside-the-park shot, in New York’s 9-7 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
—Travis Snider, Blue Jays, went 3 for 3 with a homer and a walk in Toronto’s 8-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
—Jake Fox, Cubs, went 4 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs in Chicago’s 3-1 win at the Los Angeles Dodgers.
—Homer Bailey, Reds, tossed seven sharp innings to help Cincinnati win 4-1 at Pittsburgh.
NICE FIRST IMPRESSION
John Smoltz had a brilliant debut with the St. Louis, striking out a season-high nine — including seven straight — and holding San Diego to three hits over five scoreless innings in a 5-2 victory. Smoltz also had a bunt single and scored the first run. The 42-year-old Smoltz (1-0) signed with the Cardinals on Wednesday after he cleared waivers following his release from the Red Sox. He had a dreadful performance with Boston, going 2-5 with an 8.32 ERA after attempting a comeback from shoulder surgery.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Michael Cuddyer homered twice in Minnesota’s eight-run seventh inning and the Twins beat Kansas City 10-3. Cuddyer hit the first pitch of the seventh for a homer, then added a two-run shot that put Minnesota up 9-1. Playing his sixth straight game at first base in place of Justin Morneau (ear infection), Cuddyer became the first Twins player to hit two homers in an inning and the first in the majors since Boston’s David Ortiz did it against Texas last August.
WHAT A PLAY
Second baseman Eric Bruntlett’s unassisted triple play in the Philadelphia’s 9-7 victory over the New York Mets was the 15th in major league history — the second that ended a game. Detroit Tigers first baseman Johnny Neun also accomplished the feat on May 31, 1927, completing a 1-0 victory over Cleveland, according to STATS LLC. It also was the first unassisted triple play since Cleveland second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera turned one in the fifth inning on May 12, 2008, against Toronto.
NOT SO PERFECT
Mark Buehrle (11-7) yielded five runs and 11 hits in 5 1-3 innings for the Chicago White Sox in a 5-4 loss to Baltimore. The All-Star lefty is 0-4 with a 6.22 ERA in six starts since his perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 23.
THE UPSHOT
After beating Boston 8-4 Sunday night to take two out of three in the series, The Yankees improved to 16-4 in their last 20 games and won their 10th series out of 11 since the All-Star break. They lead the second-place Red Sox by 7 1/2 games in the AL East.
BETTER, AT LEAST FOR A DAY
The woeful Arizona Diamondbacks and Washington Nationals snapped losing streaks. Ryan Roberts matched a career high with four hits and Arizona beat the Houston Astros 7-5 to snap a season-high seven-game skid. Ryan Zimmerman, Cristian Guzman and Adam Dunn homered, and the Nationals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 8-3 to stop a five-game slide.
HEROES BACK HOME
Miguel Cabrera had three hits, including his 200th homer, in Detroit’s 9-4 loss at Oakland. Cabrera is the fifth player from Venezuela with at least 200 homers, joining Tony Armas, Bobby Abreu, teammate Magglio Ordonez and Andres Galarraga.
FINDING HIS FORM
Fausto Carmona pitched seven strong innings for his first win in more than three months, leading Cleveland to a 6-1 victory over Seattle. Carmona (3-8) gave up Ken Griffey Jr.’s 624th homer, but otherwise was in command while winning for the first time in nine starts since beating Tampa Bay on May 14. He allowed five hits, walked one and had a season-high eight strikeouts. A 19-game winner in 2007, Carmona’s control abandoned him in 2008 as he went 8-7 with a 5.44 ERA and 12 more walks than strikeouts. The right-hander opened this season with a 2-6 record and 7.42 ERA before being sent to the minors on June 5. In five starts since he was recalled July 31, the 25-year-old is 1-2 with a 2.79 ERA.
YOUNG GUNS
Ricky Romero (11-5) pitched Toronto to an 8-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels, tying Tampa Bay’s Jeff Niemann for the AL rookie lead in wins.
SPEAKING
“What a bizarre ending. I don’t know what happened there. The game’s over, so I’m happy with that.” — Phillies closer Brad Lidge after second baseman Eric Bruntlett turned a rare unassisted triple play to preserve Philadelphia’s 9-7 victory over the New York Mets.
SEASONS
Aug. 24
1905 — The Chicago Cubs beat the Phillies at Philadelphia 2-1 in 20 innings behind the complete game pitching of Ed Reulbach.
1940 — Outfielder Ted Williams pitched the last two innings for the Boston Red Sox against Detroit at Fenway Park. He allowed one run on three hits, but struck out Rudy York on three pitches. The Tigers, behind Tommy Bridges, won 12-1.
1951 — St. Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck gave over 1,000 fans behind his dugout YES and NO placards, allowing them to have a part in the strategy of the game. The fans flashed the cards when asked by the coaches what the Browns should do and it worked as St. Louis beat the Philadelphia Athletics 5-3.
1971 — Ernie Banks hit the 512th and final home run of his career as the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-4. Banks’ shot came off Jim McGlothin in the first inning.
1975 — Ed Halicki of San Francisco pitched a 6-0 no-hitter against the New York Mets to lead the Giants to a sweep of a doubleheader. On the same day, Dave Lopes of Los Angeles stole his 38th consecutive base in the seventh inning against the Expos. Lopes’ streak was snapped in the 12th inning by Gary Carter. The Expos won 5-3 in 14 innings.
1989 — After six months of denial, defense and delay, Cincinnati manager Pete Rose was banned for life from baseball by Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti for gambling. Rose, baseball’s all-time hit leader and holder of 19 major-league records, signed a five-page agreement with Giamatti in which he agreed to a lifetime penalty but did not admit to gambling on baseball.
2001 — Colorado starting pitcher Jason Jennings went 3-for-5 in his major league debut, including a homer and an RBI single, while giving up five hits and striking out eight in a complete game shut out over the Mets, 10-0. The right-hander became the first pitcher in modern history to throw a shutout and hit a homer in his first game.
2003 — Ramon Hernandez and Miguel Tejada hit grand slams as Oakland routed Toronto 17-2.
2006 — Boston beat the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 to hand rookie Jered Weaver his first loss. Weaver (9-1) was trying to become the third pitcher in major-league history to win his first 10 decisions as a starter.
2007 — Greg Maddux became the first pitcher to win 10 games in 20 consecutive seasons, tossing seven solid innings in the San Diego Padres’ 14-3 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies.
2008 — Francisco Rodriguez earned his 50th save, striking out two in a scoreless ninth inning to secure the Los Angeles Angels’ 5-3 victory over Minnesota.
Today’s birthdays: Brett Gardner 26; Kevin Correia 29; Cal Ripken 49.
